May 25, 2013
The week's top five must-sees,
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The week's top five must-sees,
delivered to your inbox.
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Description
The United Nations is the world's largest, foremost, and most prominent international organization. The stated aims of the United Nations include promoting and facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, civil rights, civil liberties, political freedoms, democracy, and the achievement of lasting world peace. The UN was founded in 1945 after World War II to replace the League of Nations, to stop wars between countries, and to provide a platform for dialogue. It contains multiple subsidiary organizations to carry out its missions.
At its founding, the UN had 51 member states; as of 2011, there are 193. From its offices around the world, the UN and its specialized agencies decide on substantive and administrative issues in regular meetings held throughout the year. The organization has six principal organs: the General Assembly; the Security Council; the Economic and Social Council; the Secretariat; the International Court of Justice; and the United Nations Trusteeship Council. Other prominent UN System agencies include the World Health Organization, the World Food Programme and United Nations Children's Fund. The UN's most prominent position is that of the office of Secretary-General which has been held by Ban Ki-moon of South Korea since 2007.
(via Freebase)
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![Violence escalates in Syria despite UN pressure [BBC Arabic, UK]](/images/image_cache/base-3616000/3616553/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=141ba17dce70a49c03279d46234bca6a)
![Dozens killed in Hama after UN observers' visit [BBC Arabic, UK]](/images/image_cache/base-3526000/3526220/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=ddffae8e332ddfc5dd9a45b435a7b5f6)
![UN chief calls for expanded monitoring mission in Syria [New TV, Lebanon]](/images/image_cache/base-3348000/3348004/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=49340b441df13b2737ed3c86ac391db7 "A handout photograph released by Syria's national news agency SANA, shows Moroccan Colonel Ahmet Himmiche, leader of the first UN monitoring team in Syria, during a visit with his team to a Damascus suburb, one of the locations of protests against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad April 18, 2012: REUTERS/SANA/Handout")
