Ban Ki-moon

Current Secretary General of the United Nations. Born in South Korea in 1944, Ban has served both as president’s foreign policy and national security adviser. Ban took up his current role with UN on 1 January 2007 before unanimously re-elected in 2011. His major initiatives at the UN include chairing the 2007 Climate Change Summit; advocating for women’s rights and gender equality; setting up a disarmament agenda to maintain nuclear safety security; and seeking new measures to ensure United Nations’ operations are more transparent.

SYRIA

Russia plays down uproar over Syria arms sales

17 May 2013

Russia’s foreign minister said on Friday he did not understand the international uproar created by Moscow’s continuing weapons co-operation with regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

4:26AM

UN warns against escalation after Israeli strikes in Syria

6 May 2013

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned against escalating a fraught situation in Syria after Israel struck targets near Damascus on Sunday, targeting what its officials said were...

3:22PM

UN's Ban Ki-moon urges North Korea to consider South’s dialogue offer

18 Apr 2013

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged North Korea on Wednesday to “seriously” consider an offer of dialogue from the South concerning the future of the closed Kaesong industrial zone.

10:07AM

South Korea raises alert level as North readies missile test

10 Apr 2013

South Korea raised its military watch alert to “vital threat” on Wednesday ahead of an expected North Korean missile launch, as UN chief Ban Ki-moon warned the Korean Peninsula may be slipping out...

1:50AM

North Korea crisis ‘has already gone too far’, says UN’s Ban Ki-moon

2 Apr 2013

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Tuesday that tensions had already soared too high on the Korean Peninsula and warned Pyongyang against making nuclear threats.

8:41AM

West calls for UN inquiry into Syria chemical attack reports

21 Mar 2013

Britain, France and the United States called on Wednesday for a United Nations inquiry into accusations by the Syrian government and the opposition of chemical weapons attacks.

8:19AM

Opinion

Michael Cox

The last straw for Terry Wong?

2:53PM

Jake Van Der Kamp

iBonds are little help in easing inflation and a bad bet financially

3:55AM

UN chief Ban Ki-moon makes a rare intervention in South China Sea row

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon made a rare intervention yesterday in the deepening South China Sea sovereignty dispute, urging an "amicable" settlement but offering assistance if need be.

5:46AM

UN chief urges ‘amicable’ end to Philippines, China sea dispute

UN leader Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday called for an “amicable” settlement to a mounting South China Sea territorial dispute between China and other Asian nations.

9:54AM

Assad won’t stop Syria’s ‘terrible suffering’, says Ban

UN leader Ban Ki-moon said on Monday that President Bashar al-Assad’s speech setting out his terms for peace would not help end “the terrible suffering” of the Syrian people.

10:01AM

UN chief appalled by escalating terrorist violence in Pakistan

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was "appalled by the escalating terrorist violence in Pakistan", after 19 Shiite pilgrims died in a car bomb and 21 kidnapped soldiers were killed.

6:15AM

CLIMATE CHANGE: ANALYSIS

Analysis of UN climate deal in Doha finds more questions than answers

The fractious debate at the UN climate talks in Doha point to a rocky road ahead to a new, global 2020 deal on saving the earth from calamitous global warming.

4:12AM

Talking points