UN budget, staff reduced

The U.N. General Assembly approved a budget of $5.53 billion to cover the organization’s regular operations in 2014-15, cutting it for a second successive time. The 193-member body voted to reduce the budget by 1 percent from the final spending level set for 2012-13. It also approved a 2 percent reduction of staff positions, or 221 jobs, and a one-year freeze of compensation for staff members. The regular operating budget does not include the United Nations’ far-flung peacekeeping operations, which are financed by a separate budget that is currently more than $7 billion a year.