There is nothing like the warmth of home during the holidays. In this spirit, the Vice President and I hosted an early Thanksgiving Dinner last night for servicemembers and their families at our home, the U.S. Naval Observatory. It was the Biden family’s small way of saying thank you to these heroes, and we could […]
It’s amazing that after so many months debating health insurance reform, sometimes a myth we see being spread about it can still surprise us. In October, for example, we saw a rather shocking claim that one bill being debated in the Senate "could be used to ban guns in home self-defense." Politifact appropriately dismissed that claim as […]
Others Address: African Refugees; Human Rights Council Report; UN Support For Elections; Religious Intolerance; Office of the Human Rights Council President After calling a do-over vote for technical reasons, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today approved the wording of a decision that would have the General Assembly welcome the outcome document of the […]
High Representative Cites ?Confusions? in Briefing on Latest Developments Despite a political impasse in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the country was at a crossroads in its bid for Euro-Atlantic integration and required continued international support for that effort, Valentin Inzko, High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, told the Security Council today. ?Let us remember that […]
Following is the text of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon?s video message for the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Bravery Awards, in London today, 23 November: IMO Secretary-General [Efthimios] Mitropoulos, Excellencies, Distinguished guests, Ladies and gentlemen, In recent years, pirates operating from Somalia have been hijacking ships in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, and holding […]
Following are the remarks by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the presentation of the report of the Commission on Effective Development Cooperation with Africa, in New York today, 23 November: Prime Minister [Lars Løkke] Rasmussen, we have been working very closely together on climate change. I commend your Government’s engagement and your own personal involvement […]
Following is the text of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks delivered by teleconference to the seminar for his Special and Personal Representatives and Envoys in Mont Pelerin, Switzerland, today, 23 November: It is a pleasure to join you, even if only by teleconference. I regret that my schedule and pressures in New York has kept […]
One out of four people in the world lived in the dark, without access to electricity or fuel, and 2 million died every year from diseases associated with exposure to indoor pollution owing to reliance on solid fuels, Olav Kjorven, Assistant Administrator and Director of Development Policy at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), said […]
Nearly six months after Sri Lanka?s 26-year civil war came to an end, the Government planned to close all camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) by the end of January 2010, with some 1,000 to 3,000 people returning home daily, John Holmes, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, said today at a Headquarters […]
Speaking at a press conference ahead of the launch of the Africa Commission?s report — Realizing the Potential of Africa?s Youth — at Headquarters at 1.15 p.m. today, Ulla Tornaes, Minister for Development Cooperation of Denmark, stressed the relevance of that survey?s recommendations for the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals, particularly as the General […]
