United Nations: U.S. opposes budget vote

The latest: The U.N. General Assembly voted 142 to 1 to approve a two-year budget of $4.17 billion on Saturday, with the United States casting the only vote against the measure.

The problem: The United States said it was forced to oppose the measure because of the insistence by some developing nations that the budget include $6.7 million for a follow-up meeting to the 2001 World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa, which the United States walked out on because it said the meeting had become a forum for attacks on Israel.

The numbers: Because of inflation and exchange rates, the budget is expected to hit $4.4 billion by the time the money is used. The United States, which pays 22 percent of the U.N.'s regular budget, made "a lot of progress" in bringing it down to about $4.17 billion, U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said.

A call for more compromise: The budget is traditionally approved by consensus, but the United States demanded a vote because of the conference dispute. In a statement, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed regret that the vote broke a 20-year tradition of consensus approval and urged U.N. members to demonstrate a greater sense of flexibility and compromise.

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