WASHINGTON -- Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., and Rep. Tracey Mann, R-Kan., led their Republican colleagues in sending a bicameral letter to U.S. President Biden, urging him to reject a proposal before the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization’s Council that they say “would alter governance and leadership arrangements at the FAO, strengthen China’s position in the organization, and weaken American agricultural leadership on the world stage.”
Insider reporters
2 Jan 2025
INSIDER NEWSDESK
ROME — Iran has demanded the release of an Iranian-Swiss drone engineer detained in Milan in exchange for Cecilia Sala’s freedom, the Corriere della Sera reported.
A United States federal court issued an international arrest warrant for Mohammad Abedini-Najafabad on 13 December, accusing the Iranian-Swiss national of supplying weapons and drones to terrorist groups. Three days later, Italian police tipped off by American intelligence arrested the engineer after he flew to Milan Malpensa airport from Istanbul.
30 Dec 2024
John Phillips
VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis on Tuesday opened the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica, inaugurating the special Jubilee holy year dedicated to the theme of "hope." Before knocking on the door where he arrived in a wheelchair, the 88-year-old pontiff recited a prayer, saying "pilgrims and witnesses of peace, we enter the time of mercy and forgiveness, so that for every man and woman the way of hope that does not delude may be unlocked."
24 Dec 2024
JAN FILIPOWICZ
ROME – FAO donors spearheaded by European Union countries have frozen funds for as many as 200 professional positions at the FAO because of disgruntlement with the way the Chinese Communist Director General Qu Dongyu is spending donor funds profligately as he launches a campaign for an unconstitutional third term of office and a salary increase, diplomatic sources say.
20 Dec 2024
Insider View
Sir, The legal action against the Italian Insider by the United Nations Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is a crass, cruel and outrageous attack on the freedom of the press which the world body is sworn to uphold.
The agency’s decision is crass because the U.N. system has given itself an almost impenetrable shield against all legal claims. At its very first session in 1946, the United Nations granted itself legal immunity through a treaty endorsed by member states. This makes it impossible to sue the UN.
29 Nov 2024
Tarquin Parry-Wingfield
22 Nov 2024
Grace Stathatos
29 Dec 2024