UNITED NATIONS – Sweden and Kazakhstan won contested elections for coveted seats on the Security Council on Tuesday, and the Netherlands and Italy ended a battle for another seat by agreeing to split the two-year term on the UN’s most powerful body.
The UN General Assembly met to choose five new council members, and it overwhelmingly elected Ethiopia and Bolivia, who faced no opposition for seats earmarked for Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean.
But after five rounds of voting, the Netherlands and Italy who belong to the Western group of countries were deadlocked with each receiving 95 votes – and needing 127 votes to win.
After two recesses called by General Assembly President Mogens Lykketoft, the Netherlands and Italian foreign ministers announced the deal, saying Italy will hold the Security Council seat in 2017 and the Netherlands in 2018.
The agreement needs to be endorsed by the group of Western nations that will meet Wednesday morning and are virtually certain to approve it.
BERLIN – Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Cabinet has agreed upon new measures that would tighten controls on Germany’s spy agency.
The dpa news agency reported Tuesday that the Cabinet had agreed upon a 60-page proposal setting new parameters for the Bundesnachrichtendienst, or BND, including tighter controls of its surveillance activities.
The BND came under fire last year over allegations it spied on officials from the European Union and other allied nations and failed to vet lists of eavesdropping targets it received from the U.S. National Security Agency.
The new measures would allow such surveillance only if certain categories are fulfilled, like suspicion of a danger to Germany’s security.
JERUSALEM – Israeli police on Tuesday banned non-Muslims from a contentious Jerusalem holy site until the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan following two days of clashes with Palestinians at the site.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said rocks and other objects were hurled toward police forces and Jewish worshippers in a nearby plaza. A 73-year-old woman was lightly wounded and police arrested 16 suspects in the disturbances, which have been going on for three days, Rosenfeld said.
As a result, police decided to close access to Jewish worshippers and other visitors for the remainder of the week to prevent tensions with Muslim worshippers.
Since Sunday, Palestinians had holed up in the Al-Aqsa Mosque atop the mount and attacked officers with fireworks and other objects stockpiled inside.
The mosque is part of a compound sacred to both Muslims and Jews.
Associated Press
