General Assembly | featured news

The United Nations voted overwhelmingly Thursday to recognize a Palestinian state, a victory decades in the making for the Palestinians after years of occupation and war. It was a sharp rebuke for Israel and the United States....

Israel also toned down threats of countermeasures after Thursday’s vote in the General Assembly, which is virtually certain to pass, aware that a harsh reaction would only isolate it further.

The French foreign minister says France plans to vote in favor of recognition of a Palestinian state at the U.N. General Assembly this week.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will make his case against Iran before the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, arguing that time is quickly running out to stop the Islamic Republic from becoming a nuclear power and the threat of force must be seriously considered.

Wading into a tense foreign policy dispute, Republican presidential candidates Rick Perry and Mitt Romney on Tuesday criticized the Palestinian Authority's effort to seek a formal recognition of statehood by the U.N. General Assembly. The GOP rivals also used the jockeying at the U.S. to assail President Barack Obama's policy toward Israel.

The U.N. General Assembly voted Friday to give Libya's seat in the world body to the former rebels' National Transitional Council which led the rebellion that ousted Muammar Qaddafi. The vote means that a senior council official will be able to join world leaders and speak for Libya at next week's ministerial session of the General Assembly and also participate in meetings.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is unanimously re-elected to serve a second five-year term, in a vote at the UN General Assembly.

As world leaders began gathering for the General Assembly, the puzzle of how to confront Iran and North Korea continued to stymie diplomats.