Foreign Minister Bob Carr has said Australia’s United Nations priorities for early 2013 would include talks on the future of international involvement in Syria, and Security Council consideration of responses to the North Korean rocket launch on 12 December.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has saluted Kevin Rudd for his key role in Australia winning a UN security council seat, as the opposition talked down the achievement and talked up the cost.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard was talking, but how many people were listening?

Foreign Minister Bob Carr will have his first meetings with the who’s who of world leaders during a tour of the US and Europe.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard says China and Russia have failed in their international responsibilities by vetoing a United Nations resolution against Syria’s regime.

The head of the United Nations’ refugee agency will visit Australia later this month.

POLL POSITION | The debate around the bid for Palestine statehood at the United Nations is dividing both those in the region as well as the international community.

The next boat load of asylum seekers to arrive in Australian waters will be sent to Malaysia, after the signing of a swap deal between the two countries in Kuala Lumpur.

Burma’s opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is likely to press Australia to take a more active role in the setting up of a United Nations commission of inquiry into human rights in Burma, rights groups say.