(CNSNews.com) - Imposing tough new sanctions against Pyongyang, as proposed by a bipartisan group of senators, would only hurt the poorest people in North Korea and would be unlikely to force the communists to dismantle their nuclear weapons program, national security experts said Tuesday.

(CNSNews.com) - The United Nations' record of discord with the Bush administration, particularly on social issues, is making Americans increasingly leery of turning over decisions on the prosecution of the war on terrorism to the U.N. Security Council, a national research group has found.

Washington (CNSNews.com) - The United Nations is becoming increasingly irrelevant in terms of authorizing appropriate military responses to acts of terrorism or in taking action against member nations suspected of developing weapons of mass destruction, U.N. experts said this week.Their comments came as the Bush administration apparently edged closer to launching an invasion of Iraq without the U.N.'s explicit authorization and just days before U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix is expected to update the U.N. Security Council on efforts to disarm Iraq.

Arlington, Va. (CNSNews.com) - Today's politicians should take heed of a warning once issued by George Washington regarding the danger of "entangling alliances" with foreign governments, conservative policy experts said over the weekend.Specifically, the conservatives declared, the United States should beware of signing United Nations' treaties that ultimately could cost Americans their sovereignty.

(CNSNews.com) - A United Nations proposal to give special assistance to women as part of the effort to relieve southern Africa's humanitarian crisis would unjustly discriminate against African men, who are disproportionately affected by illnesses and war-related injuries, a group of health organizations said.The group took issue with a recent statement by Carol Bellamy, executive director of the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF), who said women and children must be at the center of any response to southern Africa's humanitarian crisis, particularly the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

(CNSNews.com) - After a heated debate, the U.N. Human Rights Commission dropped discussion of a resolution to add "sexual orientation" to the U.N.'s definition of discrimination.But family groups warn that supporters of the issue, which include most European countries and Canada, will lobby harder to pass the resolution when it comes up for a vote again next year."This issue never goes away," said Douglas Sylva, director of research at the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute in New York, which opposed the resolution.

(CNSNews.com) - With the support of liberal Republicans, Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) has reintroduced legislation that would expand federal hate crime laws to include crimes motivated by a victim's "sexual orientation."Co-sponsored by Republican Sens. Arlen Specter (Pa.) and Gordon Smith (Ore.), Kennedy's bill would add the new classification to existing laws that target violence because of race and religion, in effect granting special protection to homosexuals as a class of people.

Washington (CNSNews.com) - A coalition of pro-life groups announced it is aunching a national drive to register eligible Christians to vote in the 2004 election. But a religious liberty organization warned that churches could jeopardize their tax-exempt status if they permit the coalition's pamphlets to be distributed at church locations.In what they hope will be the first step to putting pro-life candidates into public office, pro-life groups announced Monday they will distribute flyers beginning Father's Day encouraging churchgoers to register to vote.

(CNSNews.com) - The European Union is calling on its members to monitor more closely the activities of U.S. pro-life groups in Europe, which officials believe are undermining EU efforts to provide financial support for the U.N. Population Fund.Poul Nielson, the European commissioner for Overseas Development and Humanitarian Aid, warned members of "the divisive tactics used by a small group of extremists," the New York-based Catholic Family and Human Right Institute (C-FAM) reports.