of the united nations. for me personally, it was the place where my passion as a young boy to be a global citizen, my passion was born here in san francisco in 1962. more than half a century ago, 1962, i came to the united states as a part of a young student group, international student sponsored by the american red cross society. i was just 18 years old at the time. our trip began right here in san francisco in the bay area. it was my first ever foreign trip. you may understand, it was my eye opening to the world, greater world. i was hosted by very kind [inaudible] a wonderful family in nuvauto. [inaudible] is here with us. she's now 97 years old. what a admireable lady. thank you very much. she is my american mom. thank you. ladies and gentlemen, the drafting of the charter was a glorious gamble. delegates from dozens of countries [inaudible] on humanity. so much faith was lost in the trenches and gas chambers of 2 world wars in the space of just one generation, but they dared to believe in something big

ambassador was in the united nations. i cannot compare. but it's clear to me from what i see that these emerging powers feel that they don't have enough share of the say. and this goes beyond the security council only. and that often the agenda is not shaped with their participation in a very, very established manner. and just to give an example talking about the design of mandates by the security council and their participation as a stay holders, tcc or pccs is something they continuously ask to be more open and more direct participation. so no doubt that they see themselves in a manner that is not fully reflected in the way we work. >> let's go back to the audience. so i'll start up here and work my way back. >> in a few weeks a report on global governance will come out that madeleine albright and ibrahim have co-authored. i think you've been briefed on it. one thing they talked about in the report is we ought to take an optic to the 75th anniversary and really work on building support for major changes. and i'm wonderi

she works with the secretary-general of the united nations. a moment ago we were chatting about her job and how interesting it is and how tough it is. i am sure she brings to those particular challenges, her own distinguished and indeed deeply experienced career. as many of you will know, she proceeded this present job which she undertook in march 2012 by a four year stint as undersecretary general for field support. an extremely challenging job dealing with between 80 and 120,000 peacekeepers around the world. many missions with the united nations and many taxing and challenging questions. she stated about her present job, it is everything between the bombing of sonata on one hand and 10 minutes later a fire in the grudge of the united nations. hopefully, today there are no fires in the u.n. garage that are being untended by your presence here. prior to her work at the undersecretary general for field support, she had also a distinguished career in the world food program which undertakes the burden of providing to those needy all around the w

states say, yes, we need to be engaged but be careful how far and how much, it's clear that the united nations is a key potential tool that can serve the view and the perspective of the united states, as long as that is agreed with others. so yes, it's true that when you get to that, you are not the only one, and that sometimes may be perceived as a down side by the americans. i think it's precisely the opposite. if you are well involved, well engaged, the chances you have to make your case, to have your foreign policy well represented through the united nations is very high. so it's a win for me. i don't see it any other way. >> brookings is about to turn 100 and we go through our strategic planning process to think about what that means but i subject that your job is harder as the u.n. turns 70 and you adapt the organization and its extraordinary complexity to the world around you. the u.n. is often in the news for fire fighting and failures but it's an enormous privilege to see upfront and upclose the talent of the people who actually make it work and make a contribution, so thank you for b

the united nations is such a amazing idea and it's declaration of human rights. what a unimaginable idea at the time. elnor roosevelt was ininstrumental in making that happen and those many years when the countries of russia and china and america and all these other major countries got together after all the killing and suffering and holocaust to inshine this hope, the united nations committed to universal declaration of rights. well, what a wonderful thing and we are not there yet. but it gives me hope that something that was completely unimag nnl when this united nations charter was adopted in san francisco, that is marriage equality has become a realty. so i think we can take great comfort and hope from the fact that something that people didn't even conceive of not so many decades ago, has become a realty by the united states supreme court all over this country. marriage equality, the right of same sex couples now recognized by the highest court in the land. who would have ever thought that even 5 years ago but it happened. it happened. and so it is never tim

hugh burroughs. >> we are talking about the united nations 70th charter. we are also going to talk about united religions initiative which was started here in san francisco as the charter was signed 20 years ago by then bishop bill swing. remind us, you or i, what do we need to know? >> great story, bill swing has a great start because at the start of the charter, bishop bill swing was asked to gather people of all religions for a celebration at grace cathedral a wild idea which he took on not knowing, as he says, what he was going to do with this and created an extraordinary celebration to mark medication. it was at that time that he came up with the idea that the nations of the world would never be in peace unless the religions of the world were at peace. and so he launched into creating what has become the united religions initiative. a global grassroots initiative in more than 85 countries, 700 grassroots groups working to bring people of all religions together to build peace in their communities and peace in the world. >> and you are both a part of thi

we're discussing and describing here really reflects why some of us don't have faith that the united nations, considering that there's a cuban head of the human rights commission that we don't have faith the u.n. is going to be doing the right thing to create a better world than the united states has to play perhaps a more active direct role rather than trying to spend our time maneuvering through the united states, all kund kund kinds of different resolutions. with that said, i'd like to ask you a little bit about ukraine. do you -- you were mentioning the -- being shelled at by the russian allies there in ukraine. how many civilians have died since this whole incident began? do you know? >> 6,300 is the official number, but we think there's underreporting because the separatists don't allow access. >> of those 6,300 how many were separatists, in separatist towns and villages? >> that i don't know off hand. >> when i ask that question almost nobody knows. but it was my understanding. i went over to europe and met with some people involved in intelligence agencies in various countries, and t

the ambassador was in the united nations. i cannot compare. but it's clear to me from what i see that this emerging powers feel that they don't have enough share of the same. this goes beyond the security council only and that often the agenda is not shape their participation in a very very established maern manner. just to give an example talking about the design of mandate by the security council, and their participation asks the stakeholders pccs is something they continuously ask to be more open and a more direct participation. so no doubt that they see themselves in a manner that is not fully reflected in the way we work. >> let's go back to the audience. so i'll start up here and work my way back. >> thank you, bob. i was a senior adviser to four different parts of the u.n. in a few weeks, a report on global governance will come out and madeleine albright and cobari have coauthored. and i think you probably have been briefed on it. one thing they've talked about in the report is that they ought to take an optic to the 7

ambassador was in the united nations. i cannot compare. but it's clear to me from what i see that these emerging powers feel that they don't have enough share of the saying. this goes beyond the sturdy council only come and that often the agenda is not shared with her participation in a very very established manner. to give an example talking about the design of mandates by the security council, and their participation as stakeholders tcc or pccc something they continued to ask to be more open and more direct participation. so no doubt that they see themselves in a manner that is not fully reflected in the way we work. >> let's go back to the audience. so i will start. and i will work my way back. >> thank you. i was senior advisor to four to the part of human to in a few weeks of report on global governance will come out of madeleine albright and others have co-authored they think you probably have been briefed on it. one thing to talk about in the report is that we have to take an opt in to the 75th anniversary of will

the coalition effort has gotten a lot of legitimacy at the united nations. we have 60 countries that are part of a rack -- that are part of it. iraq came to the security council and asked the united states to step up militarily. we used means against isil -- it is a venue in which coalition countries come together and compare notes to find out what more we can be doing. this is a long campaign that has a lot of ups and downs. it is going to be critical that we seek the military line of effort moving at the same time some of the governance issues get addressed. so that people are not attracted to isolate. at the same time we work the social media piece. financing can be run through revenue and other resource streams. building on international cooperation. so much of the isil equation is a product of crossing borders. this again where united nations shows its indispensable at the because it is one organization that can impose a standards that can hold people accountable . it can be a venue for naming and shaming. >> thank you. we'll go to representative karen b

it undermines the credibility of the united nations. will that i am confident that you will continue to make clear that the united states will continue to oppose any biased or one-sided resolutions that the u.n. and that we will not shy away from using our veto at the security council if necessary despite some of the rhetoric we have heard from president obama. even with strong american involvement, he u.n. has been virtually paralyzed when it comes to a range of challenges around the world because other members of the security council continue to block meaningful action. i would like to mention just a few. i am eager to hear your views on these topics. i will start with the civil war in syria. half of the population of that country has been displaced. entire generations are growing up in refugee camps. the u.n. has done a lot for refugee families in jordan lebanon, and turkey and most of the assistants for the syrian people inside syria has flowed through the u.n. but russia's intransigence has prevented syria from having a better futur

when the united nations continues to attack israel it undermines the credibility of the united nations. i'm confident that you will continue to make clear madam ambassador, that the united states will continue to oppose any biased or one-sided resolutions at the u.n. and that we will not shy away from using our veto at the security council if necessary despite some of the rhetoric we heard from president obama. even with strong american involvement, it's been paralyzed when it comes to a range of challenges because other members of the security council continue to block meaningful action. i would like to mention just a few, and i am eager to hear your view on these topics. i'll start with the civil war in syria. half the population of that country has been displaced and the entire generation is growing up in refugee camps. to be sure the u.n. has done a lot for refugee families in jordan, lebanon and turkey for syrian people inside syria as thrown through the u.n. but russian intransigence has prevented the u.n. in playing a more active role in helping the syrian people chart a better

wanted to ask you about the united nations. sounds like crunch time what is going on in geneva. what is the united nations going to do to salvage the talks in any way, shape or form? it is a difficult situation. yesterday the houthi leader was critical of saudi arabia and what is happening saying that international players are trying to undermine the talks and influence the united nations envoy. i think the next coming hours will be crucial in the sense that the united nations will have to come to an agreement with the representatives to move forward, and start genuine talks about the humanitarian truce, and the elements of that truce. is it going to be an end of hostilities across yemen, with security arrangements or is it just going to be a stop of the fighting on the ground much the government representative insists that it is not just a gampt it has to be simultaneous and the air strikes accompanied by uty from the areas controlled. >> the details - there are things to be pinned down by members of the international communit

that we're discussing and describing really reflects why some of us don't have faith that the united nations, considering that there is a cuban at the head of the human rights commission and we don't have faith the u.n. will be doing the right thing to create a better world. the united states has to play perhaps a more active direct role rather than trying to spend our time maneuvering through the united nations all kinds of different resolutions and policies that could have the opposite in fact of what we are looking for. with that said, i'd like to ask you a little bit about ukraine. you were mentioning the people who were shelled a family, that you know or you described being shelled by the soviet, or actually russian allies that they are in ukraine. how many civilians have died since this whole incident began do you know? >> 6300 is the official number but we think there's underreporting because the separatists don't allow access. >> well, about 6300 how many were separatists and separatist towns and villages speak with that i don't offhand. >> you know what i ask that question almost no

at the united nations. she answered questions about how she plans to use her position to further u.s. interests and the u.n.'s role in iran nuclear negotiations. this is just over two hours. >> this hearing will come to order and this morning we look at the role of the united nations and we look at the role of the u.s. there with ambassador samantha power. she has spent two years as the u.s. permanent representative to the u.n. and the ambassador has approached her job with great energy, great determination and perhaps best shown during last year's ebola crisis in west africa and in that case the administration and congress worked together to contain ebola and to save lives. ambassador, thank you for those efforts and thank you for joining us today and the ambassador's testimony comes at an important time. if a final iran nuclear agreement is reached and the deadline is in two weeks, then the security council will be expected to remove international sanctions while preserving the ability to react to iranian

>> basically it's been almost a week that the international community and the united nations have been trying to bring the war be factions to agree on a political settlement or ceasefire that would be implemented across the country. that didn't happen. as we speak, they haven't been even able to sort of initiate talks with the houthis and have them onboard for the time being. most of the talks have been basically as follows. the united nations envoy would shuttle back and forth go to the hotel of the houthis and the hotel of the yemeni government in a desire to try to see how to move forward. this is exactly why the yemeni foreign minister is skeptical

and scots are a migrant nation themselves. in the united states and all over england. it's not just the scots born recently, but many generations of scots have moved about for hundreds of years, how in this modern age where it's difficult to define a nation can scotland play a role as a model with these conflicts. and one of the big issues in the united kingdom itself, the future of the peace process, and what would happen if scotland did become independent. so i'm wondering how you can address this issue. it's not just a question of being a nation. what does a nation mean in a modern context, and how can scotland really be a model? >> i think that's a very good question. and the contribution scotland can make in the area you're talking about here is not to intervene or start to express opinions if whether catalonia should be independent or not, it should lead by example in how we conduct these debates and how we seek to resolve them as we dit last year. to get to the heart of your question, what is a nation in the modern world. scotland's in the happy position of its t

he is a member of united nations apart from being a member of au but his country is part of the united nations. >> reporter: the court ordered the government to investigate how basheer returned to sudan. >> the government chose to ignore the rule of law, in favour of an agreement with african union that sitting heads of state should not be arrested. >> this is in line with sentiment that the i.c.c. targets african states, and lacks credibility. >> this is 2015, not 1715. the concept of a european funded ngo, trying to enforce a european directed and funded courts, forcing black africans to send other black africans to europe in chains is incdible an incredible travesty. >> the au intend to set up an african court of justice. there's no indication if the court would take up the allegations against basheer the president of philippines praised the milf for laying down its arms. tuesday marks the first days of a decommissioning process for the rebel group to prove that it's committed to peace. have the fighters started to hand over their weapons? >> yes, indeed they have. it's a small port

ambassador to the unites nations says they are considering another restless lining to stop it. >> toe it clear to the world that just because chlorine say household product doesn't headache it not a chemical weapon in when it is put in a barrel bomb and drop odd civilians. >> reporter: at the same time, the u.n. envoy to syria is in damascus meeting assad. he is there to try to push if a political solution to end the conflict. he also urged assad to stop hitting civilians. since 2011, human rights groups have do you wanted 230,000 deaths in syria. half of those are people not involved in the fighting. victims such as those in the attack on douma. this time there were shouts of joy as a girl was pulled alive from the rubble of a building blown up by assad's air force. while underneath her brother could still be heard calling for help. caroline malone, al jazerra. >> as we mentioned syrian doctors will be testifying in front of the u.s. congress on wednesday and here is what one of the doctors had to say. >> translator: poisonous gases mostly chlorine are being used regularly and syste

if you get them to the negotiating table programs the international community perhaps the united nations will be able to prevail phenomenon yemenis and the saudis, can be the come to agreement. >> city of damascus has been under siege for the past two years. the city in idlib problems of struggled to release an injured child after she was trapped under rubble. >>> launching air strikes in various part of anbar province to try and retake it from i.s.i.l. in the city of samara, five i.s.i.l. destroyed and killed more than 65 members of the group. >>> u.s. state department spokesman john kirby despite the recent advances by the armed group. >> we know that the most important boots on the ground in iraq are going to be iraqi boots on the ground and prime minister abadi has also made that clear that is army which he wants to fight i.s.i.l. our president our commander in chief has made clear that there's not going to be u.s. troops on the ground in a combat role. that doesn't mean we don't have troops there as you well no, 3,000 there as advisors and trainers trying to help the iraqi security

the united nations special envoy to libya orchestrated the negotiations between the two sides and morocco. after months of talks, a fourth version was presented on tuesday with the aim of forming a national unity government with widescale backing from world leaders, he remained hopeful. >> all i can say for the moment is that the reaction as positive -- is positive. i think there's a possibility of reaching a consensus. i don't wish to say there's a sense of optimism, but there's lots of hope. >> but his talks wrapped up, no consensus had been reached. the government rejected the proposal and withdrew from the talks, saying several sticking points still remain. nearly four years after the fall of gaddafi, two rival parliaments still clamor for power. on the one side, the eastern government formed of liberals, and on the other, the government in tripoli who all champion the 2011 revolution. one of the main challengers of this peace accord is who will control the army. the right against the islamic state organization could also become a common objective with jihadists capturing another town

the united nations, a spokesperson for the united nations said earlier that still they hopes there mayme sort of agreement later in the day but understand from our sources that the government delegation is flying back to riyadh tomorrow and the houthi delegation is flying back to sanaa on sunday. the likelihood of a deal to be pinned down here at geneva is really slim. >> so it seems like it was just a futile exercise and all the while this is happening the humanitarian crisis continues to worsen in yemen. has anybody addressed that? >> well, united nations agencies operating in sanaa held a press conference here saying that basically they are concerned about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the country and appealing on the different parties to observe a humanitarian truce so their people could travel across the country to provide aid to those who need it and reach out to the thousands of people who have been stranded and to deliver food medicine and aid to millions of yemen people. the biggest concern that continues this month, this situation would further get worse. now th

ambassador to the united nations is the u.n.urity council is considering another resolution to stop it. >> to make it very clear to the world just because chlorine is a household product doesn't make it not a chemical weapon when it is put in a barrel bomb and drop odd civilians 67 the u.n. envoy to sear is syria is meeting assad. he is trying to push a resolution to end the conflict. and also urged assad to stop hitting civilians. since 2011 human rights groups have documented 230,000 deaths in syria. half of those are people not involved in the fighting. victims such as those in the attack on douma. this time there were shouts of joy as a girl was pulled alive from the rubble of a building blown up by is sad's air assad's air force while underneath her brother could still be heard calling for help. ca lawrence malone, al jazerra. >> syrian doctors will testify in front of the u.s. congress on wednesday, here is what one of those doctors had to say. >> translator: toes unis gases mostly chlorine the i'm not to kill because barr

the united nations a spokesperson for the united nations said earlier that still he hopes there might be some sort of agreement later in the day, but we do understand from our sources that the government delegation is flying back to riyadh tomorrow and the that the houthi delegation is flying back to sanna on sunday. the likelihood of a deal to be pinned down here in geneva is really slim. >> reporting from geneva. >> police body cams are being introduced into democrats across the country. some argue the cameras may reveal too much. inspiring. entertaining. talk to al jazeera. only on al jazeera america. >> welcome back to aljazeera america. it is 7:46, eastern standard time. taking a look at today's top stories, hundreds of visitors evacuated as a 10,000-acre fire burns through the san bernadino national forest west of los angeles. the blaze is only 5% contained. officials are also worried about 40-mile an hour wind gusts that could spread the embers. >> delaware's governor signed a law decriminalizing marijuana. pot smokers may possess up to an ounce for private use. those caught in

when the united nations continues to attack israel, it really undermines the credibility of the united nations. i'm confident that you will continue to make clear madame ambassador, that the united states will continue to oppose any biased or one-sided resolutions at the u.n. and that we will not shy away from using our veto at the security council if necessary despite some of the rhetoric we've heard from president obama. but even with strong american involvement, the u.n. has been virtually paralyzed when it comes to a range of challenges around the world because other members of the security council continue to block meaningful action. i'd like to mention just a few and hear your views on these topics. i'll start with the civil war in syria. half the population of that country has been displaced. an entire generation is growing up in refugee camps. to be sure the u.n. has done a lot for refugee families in jordan, lebanon and turkey, and most of the assistance for syrian people inside syria has flowed through the u.n. but russia's prevented the u.n. in playing a more active role in

>> the united nations envoy is meeting with houthi representatives as we speak and allies of the former president ali abdullah saleh and trying to talk about how to move forward and agree on a ceasefire. i was talking to a member of the houthi delegation. he said basically that he had absolutely no problem with talking with the members of the yemeni government, but biggest problem for them, they say the saudi-led airstrikes should come to an end then they are ready fog for political negotiations. the government on the other hand say it is absolutely not ready to talk with the houthis, to say these are people who used force to seize power, they have to disband, pull out from the areas, then we will talk to them. it's a very delicate situation a mammoth task for the united nations envoy trying to bring them together to start talks about how to move forward. >> where do we stand with the ceasefire and will they talk more about some of the substantive issues, hashem? >> that's going to be a long way to go, because i think once they agree on a ceasefire and that we have to wait to see whethe

james bays, al jazeera at the be united nations. >> survivors of an israeli attack on a u.s. naval ship have marked the anniversary of the incident by calling for another inquiry. from arlington cemetery in virginia allen fisher reports. >> walking through graveyard looking for skipper richard returns almost every year to remember his shipmates and mark the anniversary of the attack which killed 34 of them. >> when they said stand by to receive torpedo hit and it picked up this ship and the ship started rolling over, i said i'll never get out of this mess alive. we were running because i shut myself off i said i with would never get out of this. >> when the u.s. liberty was attacked a spy ship, it was hit with rockets and cannons and missiles then torpedos you cut a hole in the side of the ship. 171 sailors were injured. israel claimed it was a case of mistaken identity. but richard brooks does not accept that. >> it was not atragic accident, it was a deliberate attack. they knew who we were. they wanted us out either to bring the americans into the war or we picked up some i

>> reporter: well the russian ambassador to the united nations has just begun speaking.here is a briefing from u.n. officials and also the osce which has been monitoring that's fire in ukraine. and everyone is concerned about this escalation just yesterday, thursday the president of the ukraine, petro poroshenko warned a possibility of large-scale violence reigniting was very real. he warned that russian troops had amassed on the border and we're seeing increasing violence in a strategic town. the european union has sounded alarm bells as well. so they are getting an update on the information there. the osce representative told the council he is definitely concerned about a decrease in the security situation there, but also seemed to calm down the tensions by saying this was not necessarily a further intense indication of the violence but just a movement to a different area, because this ceasefire has been shaky in the past several months but a warning that two parties in this conflict have not given up the military tract for a more political one, and the united nations

. >> now the united nations peacekeeping forces take too long to deploy. that is the conclusion of the panel which was asked to look at the effectiveness of peacekeeping missions. there is are chronic problems such as too much bureaucracy and lack of leadership. >> chairman of that independent panel, which relieves the report on peacekeeping. he joins us live from new york. thank you for being with us on the program. were you shocked with what you found when you undertook the whole wholesale review of the united nations? >> it was a humbling feeling that the secretary general entrusted me and my colleagues to review one of the most important feelers of the whole system, and in peace and security to reveal the special legal operations. and how to make them more effective, how to have a system and not a security council to deliver troops with enabling capacity, the way they're airborne capabilities, and also clear mandates. what we stated also in our report is that every mission has to have a political strategy. there has to be politics and command. you cann

the coalition effort has gotten a lot of legitimacy at the united nations. 60 countries are part of it. iraq came to the council and ask for the united states and the rest of the international community to step up military and through using diplomatic political and other means against isil. so it is also a venue in which coalition countries come together to compare notes and figure out what more we can be doing because this is a long campaign with a lot of ups and downs and it is critical that we keep the military line of effort moving and at the same time the governance get as dress to people are not attracted to isil and we counter violent extremism in our own countries as people are getting alienated and radicalized and work the media piece and the foreign financing and done through oil or other revenue resource streams that we've sought to degrade and building on the international equation but the product of things crossing borders and that is again where the united nations for all of the flaws shows thein dispensability because it is the one organization that can impose standards

. >> hello, the united nations secretary general ban ki-moon has expressed his concern after courts in cairo upheld the death sentence. it could have a negative effect on stakeout in egypt. they called it moley motivated. we have reports on the trial. >> death by hanging. this judge upheld his court's previous verdict against egypt's deposed president mohamed morsi. >> the court has ruled firstly that first and with consensus of opinion to punish each of the following defendants by execution by hanging. >> morsi along with other top leaders of the muslim brotherhood were sentenced over a mass prison break during egypt's revolution. the muslim brotherhood say that the case is politically motivated. >> this is a shocking one. in a separate case members were sentenced to life in prison on charges of spying for hamas hezbollah and iran. but many question the judicial years decision. some say that the case is the trial of the 2011 2011 revolution. >> these trials are not delivering the justice we are truly hoping for. no one should be above the law but what is happening is a form of politic

. >> former head of the united nations in sudan. he was there in 2003 and 2004 when darfur genocide is alleged to have stain place. he joins us from geneva, good to have you with us. first off let's start with what happened in south africa. does that leave the country in breach of its icc obligations? >> it certainly does. i think it's very disappointing that the country whose people who fought against the -- whose people fought against the evils of apartheid should have allowed this to happen. they have let all africans down and the world down. >> as far as what happened in darfur, you were there tell us about that sort of evidence and whether it can go away with time. >> well, the sort of evidence was snuff. i saw this with my own eyes. to alternative president the first sitting president of a sovereign nation to get indictments against crimes against humanity against genocide. that evidence of ethnic cleansing on a grand scale had tens of thousands of people who decide just simply because they were black darfuri tribes. you have

the united nations feeshz fears all out civil war if the talks collapse. they don't seem to have a united approach on how to sof solve the country's problems but all agree the situation must end. hashem ahelbarra. al jazeera. >> investigating sexual abuse and exploitation by u.n. peace keepers. the report which was widely leaked last week alleged what the u.n. workers widely pay for sex with women using cash anden goods. >>> in 2003 it placed a ban on peace keepers paying for sex in countries where they were deployed. well earlier we spoke to stefan de ja jarek. >> peace keeping is a situation with those member states who give us the troops. the u.n. has no legal authority over those soldiers. so once those soldiers go back home after they may be expelled it is incumbent on those countries to help us track down what is actually happened. have they gone to court have they gone to jail? have they paid a price for crimes they've committed? it is the secretary-general's intention to name the countries of origin of troops who have committed sexual abuse in his n

the united nations hasn't been able to narrow differences between the rival factions.absence of progress here in geneva, yemen's only hope is an agreement between the region's key players and the international community when a humanitarian truce and have all the parties in yemen accept it and stop the suffering of people. al jazerra geneva. >>> houthi fighters in yemen have been accused of targeting residential areas in the city of taiz they are backed troops loyal to the former president is laugh. they bombed areas near the ancient citadel. witnesses say a mosque was also hit and they pounded a hotel and homes in the mere by mountain region. >>> prayer vigils have been held across the united states for nine victims of the charleston shootings, candles cards and nowers were also laid around the church in sacramento about the black worshipers were shot during bible class a 21-year-old white man is being questioned about the hate crime. barack obama is condemning what he calls the senseless shooting of nine people in this class in this church. as andy gallagher reports t

compare and contrast the league of nations and the united nations? a couple of articles and how one developed from the other if that was the case. professor macmillan: the u.n. certainly developed from the league of nations. the league existed until 1945. initially, there was some talk of resurrecting the league and redoing it. they decided it was so much identified with the outbreak of the second world war that it would not be worth doing so they decided to set up a new united nations. many of the league organizations carried over into the united nations. some of the associated bodies of the united nations have a longer history than the united nations itself, and many personnel carried over. i suppose the key difference with united nations is the security council has five permanent members with vetoes. that was to reassure the great powers their interests would always be listened to. the problem is they reflect the wrong people. that was one of the key differences. what happened with the league is there would be four permanent members -- five permane

the united nations envoy was hoping to bring together the country's rifle factions to negotiate a deale framework deal called for a national unity government based in tripoli but it's also recognizes the house of representatives based in tobruk as the legitimate body. he deal is to serve as libya's highest body with the power to resolve disputes. it will create a national army. calls for disarming militias. implementation of a cease-fire and the drafting of a constitution. >> they, the people of libya have the right on this gathering that the country and the people from conflict. >> but the country's rival factions remain skeptical. each has its own government, parliament. tripoli controls mortar tore as the government in tobruk has the backing of the united nations. this is the man at the center of libya's political divide. general haftar is the most powerful commander in the east. he launched operation dignity a major military offensive against militias that went on to form libya dawn, which is backed by the tripoli-based national congress. for tripoli a deal would only happen if haf

james bays, at the unite nations. >>> one of the largest rebel groups in the philippines is startingst phase of a decommissioning process part i've peace deal signed with the government last year. the liberation front will hand over weapons and fighters. but just who are the m.i.l.s. the group's 11,000 members have been fighting the philippine government for four decades. it's fighting for autonomy in the muslim south of the country. the philippine is his predominantly cath let the president sign aid peace deal with the rebels in march of 2014 followed by intense negotiations negotiations. the rebellion is said to be responsible for 150,000 deaths in the fill fines steve rood is the representative for the asia foundation, he says the peace deal is significant even if the number of weapons being handed over seems low. >> sometimes they refer to it as the symbolic decommissioning. the first time they are doing it. the plans are for over the next several months to start doing thousands of such fighters as the independent decommissioning body has storage for the weapons. there are guards

he is a member of the united nations. apart from being a member of the au. and being the head of state, his country is being part of the united nations. the court was ordered to investigate how basheer returned to sudan. obligations were upheld to the i.c.c., the government ignored the rule of law in favour of an agreement with the african union that sitting heads of state should not be arrested. >> this is in line with sentiment that the i.c.c. targets african states and lacks credibility. >> this is 2015 not 1715. the concept of a european funded ngo, trying to enforce a european directed and funded course forcing black africans to send other black africans to europe in chains is incdible travesty. >> the au intend to set up an african court of justice. there's no indication if the court would take up the allegations against basheer >>> jonathan betts joins us with a closer look at basheer, and the charges at the center of the controversy. >> omar basheer is the only head of state wanted on genocide charges. he seized power in a coup, and four years later

ambassador to the united nations is the u.n.y council is considering another revolution to stop it. >> to make it very clear to the world just because chlorine say household product doesn't make it not a chemical weapon when it is put in a barrel bomb and dropped on civilians. >> reporter: at the same time, the u.n. envoy to syria is in damascus meeting assad he's there to try to push for a political solution to end the conflict. he also urged assad to stop hitting civilians. since 2011, human rights groups have documented 235,000 deaths in syria. half of those are people not involved in the fighting. victims such as those in the attack on dual a this time there were shouts as joy as a girl was pulled alive from the rubble of the building blown up by is assad air force while underneath her brother could still be held calling for help. >> almost 20,000 syrian refugees have fled to turkey. syrian kurdish forces now control four hommie kilometers of on the turkey-er is queen border. they are a us coulded of forcing out arabs and tu

the 70th anniversary of the united nation is june 26th in a few weeks. the preamble says to unite our strength. to maintain peace and security. we can do that. unite our strength to maintain peace and security. let's reinvigorate the united nations and make the next 70 years even better. as part of our efforts to wage peace, let's be bold. some of our bravest and most patriotic americans are stationed all over the world. it isn't an easy career and they deserve the best in sport and respect. as president, i would institute a ban on ambassadorships for sale. that means no more of these posts going to big political donor donors. i want the best trained people doing this important work. and it's critical that the integrity of the office of secretary of state never be questioned. i want america to be a leader and an inspiration for civilized behavior in this new century. we will abide by the geneva con veng, which means we will not torture prisoners. our sacred constitution requires a warrant before unreasonable searches, which includes a phone record. let's

because he is a member of united nations. poord fromapart from being a member of au, his government is part of ununited nations. >> the u.n. has ordered south africa to determine how he was able to leave the country. this is in line with growing au sentiment that the icc unfairly targets african states and lacks credibility. >> this is 2015, not 1715. the concept of a european funded ngo, trying to enforce a european directed european funded court trying to force black africans to send other black africans back in chains, that's incredible sort of travesty. >> there's been no indication yet if that court would take up the allegations against al bashir. al jazeera johannesburg. >> kurdish forces and the islamic state of iraq and the levant fight for control of a key border town. kurdish ypg fighters say they have taken control of tal abyad. bernard smith reports from akchakalay on the turkish side of the border. >> their flag now flies over this border crossing. the three week assault by the ychgypg on tal abyad u.s. air strik

james bays, al jazeera, united nations. >> u.s. supreme court has ruled that citizens born in jerusalem not have are israel on their passport. shiebshihab rattanzi has more. >> executive officer authority the need for the u.s. to speak with one voice when it came to foreign policy. in 2006, congress passed a law allowing americans born in jerusalem to list israel as country of birth on their passport, president obama has refused to enforce that law. also in 2002, menachem was born in jerusalem. his parents wanted israel listed as his country of birth. that is why the case came all the way to the u.s. supreme court. it's been the u.s. policy to not recognize any country having sovereignty over jerusalem. that is only thing that can be sorted out between the israelis and the palestinians. >> be draft being of a much delayed constitution. under the deal nepal will have eight different states. constitution was to be drafted in 2010 but the process has stalled because of political divisions. >>> to south korea now where seven people hav

. >> reporter: the pope's action comes more than a year after the united nations issued a scathing report calling on the vatican to end a code of silence on sex abuse cases, enforcing rules requiring church leaders to report abuse to the authorities. also last year, the chicago archdiocese released thousands of the pages of documents alleging abuse from 350 children dating back to the 1950s. it paid out more than $130 million to settle claims by abuse victims, the most recent coming a month ago to more than $1.2 million. blaine says her organization gets 6,000 schools from victims. she is skeptical, but hopes it will do some good. >> it's hard to think that they are good at policing themselves. it would be nice if someone would hold them accountable >>> hundreds of thousands of people are advised to evacuate in the southern japanese island of ky issue after heavy rain triggered landslides and floods. rescue workers are checking the area to make sure there were no casualties after several houses were buried in rubble and mud. streets and fields were covered after the area was pounded >>> l

ambassador to the united nations says the u.n. security council is considering another revolution to stop it. >> to make it clear to the world that because chlorine is a household product doesn't make it not a chemical weapon when put in a barrel bomb and dropped on civilians. >> reporter: at the same time ner meeting bashar al-assad pushing for a solution to end the conflict and urged bashar al-assad to stop hitting civilians. since 2011 human rights groups documented 230,000 deaths in syria. half are those not involved in the fighting. victims such as those in the attack on douma. this time there were shouts of joy as a girl was pulled alive from the rubble of a building blown up by the air force. for this her brother could be heard calling for help >>> as we mentioned syrian doctors will testify in front of the u.s. congress on wednesday, here is what a doctor told the media earlier on. >> poisonous gases, mostly chlorine you used regularly and systematically. the aim is not to kill because barrel bombs and war planes kill a la

thank you for updating us on the situation there. >>> the united nations inquiries say that eritrea may have committed crimes against humanity. the u.n. has released a report following a year-long investigation saying that the government has committed extra judicial killings sexual slavery and forced labor. and they operated a shoot-to-kill policy to stop stop people were leaving. hundreds are left the country and many are seeking refuge in europe. we're joined from geneva via skype. crimes against humanity, it doesn't get much more serious than that, and this is leveled at the government, the president of eritre. it is astonishing. >> it is, indeed. it's a very broad conclusion with high-ranking officials in a given indicate, state and in this case high ranking officials including president for committing human rights violations and we consider this big in the human rights. >> give us ideas of the cases that you're talking about? >> well, there are many of them. they include extra victims who have been detained in places there have been torture. >> given that it has been going on for s

that's why there is a mechanism if place and being talked about at the united nations, the u.s. ambassador to the united nations samantha power suggesting there should be an attribution mechanism to have absolutely certainty about who is behind these attacks. >> kimberly halkett joining me live from washington, d.c. thank you. 33 people have been killed in and around damascus by fighting between the army and opposition forces. nine people died when the shells struck the syrian capital's capital. returning from damascus, they bring up the issue of doing more to protect civilians. he talked about the ongoing killing in syria. >>> now some of the 23,000 syrian refugee who is fled to turkey over the past two weeks have started returning home. they were forced out when it was seizeds by isil fighters. the town was retaken by kurdish fighters supported by syrian rebels. bernard smith reports from the turkey syrian border. >> deciding it was better to go home than to squeeze through the packed refugee camps these syrians crossed back on wednesday. only two days ago syrian-kurdish ypg f