On Wednesday, President Obama made clear his opposition to the Palestinian National Authority's bid for statehood through the United Nations Security Council. "Ultimately it is the Israelis and the Palestinians, not us, who must reach agreement on issues that divide them," Obama said. Israel has criticized the Palestinian Authority's efforts as undermining the peace process, and the United States has been leading the pressure against the PA's application. Will Obama's remarks affect other countries' approaches to the bid? And what are the Palestinian Authority's chances at statehood anyway?

Syria’s government is attempting to crush the democratic uprising, sending tanks, armored vehicles and snipers into the rebellious city of Hama for the fourth straight day of Ramadan. Unverified footage taken from YouTube and obtained by The New York Times depicts tanks shooting at civilians. Human rights groups say more than 140 people have been killed since Sunday, compounding a civilian death toll of more than 1,600 since March. The United Nations Security Council condemned the crackdown, but is the international condemnation too slow? 

A United Nations Security Council Resolution sanctioned military intervention in Libya to safeguard civilians from attacks led by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. But now reports of cluster bombs, sea and land mines, and deaths from aerial bombing has the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs concerned that the toll on civilians might be too great. The agency has called for a weapons' pause to allow humanitarian supplies and investigators safely into the country.

Over the past few months, throughout the Middle East and Northern Africa, there have been countless testimonies about the human rights abuses committed by dictators clinging to power. Protesters in Egypt and Libya have struggled to draw international attention to abuses of power in their countries by leaders Hosni Mubarak and Moammar Gadhafi. In Ivory Coast, human rights observers warned of a possible genocide as hundreds were killed during Laurent Gbagbo's final weeks in power. But what happens to the leaders after they're ousted? And what's the role today of the International Criminal Court in pursuing these cases? 

It’s the fourth day of allied attacks against Colonel Moammar Gaddahfi’s loyalist forces in Libya. Correspondent for The New York Times, David Kirkpatrick reports from Tripoli on the rebel fighters and their intended goal. While the rebels fight on, the question remains as to what the future leadership might look like, and whether the country is experiencing a civil war. Is it a fight for democracy or just one side against the other?

Lebanon was one of the sponsors of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, which authorized the no-fly zone over Libya. Lebanese ambassador to the UN Security Council, Nawaf Salam was the only Arab voice on the Security Council. Amb. Salam talks about the point of view of Arab nations as American and European forces continue their barrage of cruise missiles against Col. Moammar Gadhafi’s forces. He says he had hoped that the "mobilization of force would deter Gadhafi's forces."

U.S. and European allies attacked Col. Moammar Gadhafi's forces by air and sea throughout the weekend. The allies also instituted a no-fly zone over Libya, allowing rebel forces to strengthen their hold on the eastern city of Benghazi. But the long-term implications of American military intervention are unclear. Although the Obama administration has called for Gadhafi’s ouster, the U.N. Resolution that authorized intervention did not. And the U.S. is already fighting two wars. How long will the conflict in Libya last?

The West African country of Ivory Coast has been on the brink of civil war since incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo lost November’s democratically held elections to Alassane Ouattara, by 8 percent of the vote. With the backing of the nation’s army and much of its population, Gbagbo has refused the UN's ultimatum for a “last chance” to peacefully step down.

The whistle-blowing site WikiLeaks has released a second set of documents out of Iraq — the “Iraq War Logs.” While the nearly 400,000 field reports detailing events seen and heard by the U.S. military troops on the ground in Iraq offer little information about the inner-workings of American detention facilities, they show that the U.S. military was not only aware of torture carried out by the Iraqi army and police — and perhaps even condoned and facilitated it.

Takeaway Special Correspondent Femi Oke traveled to U.N. Headquarters in New York — and beyond — for a deeper look at the Millennium Development Goals. With five years left to achieve the ambitious goals, which aim to alleviate hunger, poverty and illiteracy worldwide, massive challenges remain, but some nations have seen success.

One of the major items on the United Nations' agenda this week is the Millennium Development Goals — an eight-pronged initiative laid out in 2001 by nearly 200 U.N. member states to help end extreme poverty around the world by 2015. Today, Secretery General Ban Ki-moon has called a meeting to evaluate the initiative, and 150 national leaders are expected to attend. Many of the leaders will likely acknowledge what may seem obvious: some progress is certainly evident, but much more remains to be done. What is the role the United States is playing — or failing to play — in this global quest?

The United Nations General Assembly kicks off this week, starting with a summit on the Millenium Development Goals, which aim to cut world poverty in half by 2015. As world leaders converge on New York for this event, they will also join leaders of the corporate and non-profit world for the 6th annual Clinton Global Initiative.

The last convoy of U.S. combat troops left Iraq last night under cover of darkness. 440 troops of the 4/2 Stryker Brigade crossed into Kuwait, leaving behind another 56,000 U.S. service members in support and training roles. 6,000 are scheduled to withdraw by September 1st; another 50,000 will remain behind into 2011. 

Ambassador Hans Blix, former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, led a team of UN inspectors into Iraq before the 2003 invasion, searching for weapons of mass destruction. They found none, but the invasion went ahead as planned. 

Read a full transcript.

North Korea has threatened to wage a "full-scale war" against South Korea after the country accused its northern neighbor of sinking a warship on March 26. The South Korean government says it has forensic evidence that North Korea sank one of its warships, killing 46 sailors, but North Korea denies the charges and says the formal accusations could escalate tensions. The country has also threatened to engage in military action if South Korea implements punishments.

Anti-government unrest continues in downtown Bangkok and has spread to other areas of the capital, leaving at least 37 dead and hundreds injured in four days. On Sunday, the Thai government ruled out U.N.-backed mediation talks, which had been suggested by protest leaders; the government says no outside help is needed.  

It's not often that you hear a UN Chief described as a "badass," but that’s the way retired Lieutenant Colonel Shayne Gilbert is described by his team.  His official title is Chief of the Joint Operations and Tasking Center for the United Nations in Haiti.

Alongside the hundreds of thousands of casualties from the Haiti earthquake, there are even more individual stories that have yet to be told. One of those stories comes from Gabo Arora, who was working with the United Nations in Port-au-Prince on the day the earthquake struck. We hear Gabo's tale of survival and his feelings about returning to the country.

Until December 2009, Haitian journalist Michele Montas was on call 24/7 for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon. When she retired from her post as his spokesperson to Port-au-Prince, she vowed to do "three months of nothing".  However, that was before an earthquake destroyed her home city. 

Iran announced yesterday it wouldn't comply with a demand by the United Nations' nuclear agency to stop work on a once-secret nuclear fuel enrichment plant, and said it would construct 10 more such nuclear plants.

The New York Times chief Washington correspondent, David Sanger, joins us to talk about the latest move by Iran in its nuclear manuevering, and how the international community might respond.

BBC Tehran correspondent Jon Leyne joins us to examine the most recent move in Iran's nuclear chess game. Iran yesterday said it would not comply with a demand by the International Atomic Energy Agency to stop work on a once-secret nuclear fuel enrichment plant, and escalated the confrontation by declaring it would construct 10 more such plants.