"A vote last week by the United Nations General Assembly Human Rights Committee has LGBT and human rights activists outraged over the decision to remove "sexual orientation" from a resolution that protects people from arbitrary executions.

The Obama administration got a new "shellacking" this morning, this one entirely voluntary. In the name of improving America's image abroad, it sent three top officials from the State Department to Geneva's U.N.

"South Africa on Friday accused the UN Security Council of moving faster to end conflicts in regions outside of Africa, as African nations demanded more help for peacekeeping operations."

"After Israel says it 'reserves the right' to prevent Lebanese ships from accessing Hamas-ruled enclave, Ban's spokesman says world body's stated preference remains that aid to Strip should be delivered by established routes

An indignant President Obama complained last week, "I can't spend all of my time with my birth certificate plastered on my forehead." Fine.

"It's Not Just About Israel" "The whole emphasis on Israel's salience in this matter, and of the related idea of subcontracting a strike to the Israeli Defense Forces, is an evasion, somewhat ethnically tinged, of what is an international responsibility."

"Muslim states said on Wednesday that what they call "islamophobia" is sweeping the West and its media and demanded that the United Nations take tougher action against it.

The Israeli government has defended the raid on a ship carrying 600 pro-Palestinian campaigners, two thirds of them Turks, during which nine people were killed and many more injured.

QUESTION: Should we believe the administration that they are not pursuing a change in US policy towards Israel voting at the Security Council?

"Women who fled violence in Sudan's Darfur region are being regularly raped in refugee camps in neighbouring Chad, despite the presence of U.N.-trained forces, Amnesty International said on Wednesday.

"But it passed with less support this year than last year, which is good news."

During a debate at the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Iran has tried to brush aside allegations that it regularly resorts to torture, executions and mass detentions of opponents of the regime and claimed instead that it promotes and defends human rights.

"Freedom of speech is under physical and legal threat not only from terrorists but also at the UN.

The UN Human Rights Council has begun discussions about Iran's controversial record on human rights. A review was underway on Monday as part of a UN mechanism intended to hold all member states accountable on a range of human rights issues.