‘Our world is in peril’: At UN, leaders push for solutions
The world’s problems seized the spotlight Tuesday as the UN General Assembly’s yearly meeting of world leaders opened with dire assessments of a planet beset by escalating crises and conflicts that an aging international order seems increasingly ill-equipped to tackle, Associated Press reported.
After two years when many leaders weighed in by video because of the coronavirus pandemic, now presidents, premiers, monarchs and foreign ministers have gathered almost entirely in person for diplomacy’s premier global event.
But the tone is far from celebratory. Instead, it’s the blare of a tense and worried world.
“We are gridlocked in colossal global dysfunction,” Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, adding that “our world is in peril — and paralyzed.”
He and others pointed to conflicts ranging from Russia’s six-month-old war in Ukraine to the decades-long dispute between Israel and the Palestinians. Speakers worried about a changing climate, spiking fuel prices, food shortages, economic inequality, migration, disinformation, discrimination, hate speech, public health and more.
Priorities varied, as did prescriptions for curing the humanity’s ills. But in a forum dedicated to the idea of bringing the world together, many leaders sounded a common theme: The globe needs cooperation, dialogue and trust, now more than ever.
“We live in an era of uncertainty and shocks,” Chilean President Gabriel Boric said. “It is clear nowadays that no country, large or small, humble or powerful, can save itself on its own.”
Or, as Guterres put it, “Let’s work as one, as a coalition of the world, as united nations.”
It’s rarely that easy. As Guterres himself noted, geopolitical divisions are undermining the work of the U.N. Security Council, international law, people’s trust in democratic institutions, and most forms of international cooperation.
“The divergence between developed and developing countries, between North and South, between the privileged and the rest, is becoming more dangerous by the day,” the secretary-general said. “It is at the root of the geopolitical tensions and lack of trust that poison every area of global cooperation, from vaccines to sanctions to trade.”
While appeals to preserve large-scale international cooperation — or multilateralism, in diplomatic parlance — abound, so do different ideas about the balance between working together and standing up for oneself, and about whether an “international order” set up after World War II needs reordering, according to Associated Press.
“We want a multilateralism that is open and respectful of our differences,” Senegalese President Macky Sall said. He added that the U.N. can win all countries’ support only “on the basis of shared ideals, and not local values erected as universal norms.”
After the pandemic forced an entirely virtual meeting in 2020 and a hybrid one last year, delegates reflecting the world’s countries and cultures are once again filling the halls of the United Nations headquarters this week. Before the meeting began, leaders and ministers wearing masks wandered the assembly hall, chatting individually and in groups.
It was a sign that that despite the fragmented state of the international community, the United Nations remains the key gathering place for global leaders. Nearly 150 heads of state and government have signed on to speak during the nearly weeklong “General Debate,” a high number that illustrates the gathering’s distinction as a place to deliver their views and meet privately to discuss various challenges -- and, they hope, make some progress.
Guterres made sure to start out by sounding a note of hope. He showed a photo of the first U.N.-chartered ship carrying grain from Ukraine — part of a deal between Ukraine and Russia that the U.N. and Turkey helped broker — to the Horn of Africa, where millions of people are on the edge of famine It is, he said, an example of promise “in a world teeming with turmoil.”
Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine topped the agenda for many speakers.
The conflict has become the largest war in Europe since World War II and has opened fissures among major powers in a way not seen since the Cold War. It also has raised fears of a nuclear catastrophe at a large power plant in Ukraine’s now Russia-occupied southeast, Associated Press reported.
Iran protests: Women burn headscarves in anti-hijab protests
Female protesters have been at the forefront of escalating protests in Iran and have been burning headscarves, after the death in custody of a woman detained for breaking hijab laws, BBC reported.
Demonstrations have continued for five successive nights, and reached several towns and cities.
Mahsa Amini died in hospital on Friday after spending three days in a coma.
In Sari, north of Tehran, large crowds cheered as women set their hijabs alight in defiant acts of protest.
Ms Amini was arrested in the capital last week by Iran's morality police, accused of breaking the law requiring women to cover their hair with a hijab, or headscarf, and their arms and legs with loose clothing.
She fell into a coma shortly after collapsing at a detention centre.
There were reports that police beat Ms Amini's head with a baton and banged her head against one of their vehicles, Acting UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada al-Nashif said.
The police have denied that she was mistreated and said she suffered "sudden heart failure". Ms Amini's family has said she was fit and healthy, according to BBC.
The 22-year-old was from Kurdistan Province in western Iran, where three people were killed on Monday as security forces opened fire on protesters.
An aide to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei paid a visit to Ms Amini's family on Monday and told them that "all institutions will take action to defend the rights that were violated", state media reported.
Senior MP Jalal Rashidi Koochi publicly criticised the morality police, saying the force was a "mistake" as it had only produced "loss and damage" for Iran, BBC reported.
Ukraine war: West condemns Russian plans for 'sham' Ukraine vote
Western nations have condemned Moscow's plans to hold urgent so-called referendums in parts of Ukraine that are currently under Russian control, BBC reported.
The votes have been called by Russian-backed officials in four Ukrainian regions to ask whether they should become part of Russia.
The US, Germany and France have said they would never recognise the results of such "sham" ballots.
The Nato military alliance said the plans spelt an escalation in the war.
Plans to run polls for five days, starting on Friday, have been announced in the eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk - as well as Zaporizhzhia and Kherson in the south.
The quartet represent around 15% of Ukrainian territory - or an area the size of Hungary, according to Reuters news agency.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz blasted the Russian plans for "sham" votes, while French President Emmanuel Macron labelled them a "parody" of democracy.
"If the Donbas referendum idea wasn't so tragic it would be funny," Mr Macron told reporters in New York, where he is attending the United Nations General Assembly.
Any referendum planned by invading forces contravenes international law and will have no legal force, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said in a statement, according to BBC.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked his partners for their support in the face of Russia's "noisy news".
There were reports that Russia's President Vladimir Putin would give his own, rare address on Tuesday evening - potentially discussing the planned votes, or a wider troop mobilisation in Ukraine. But no speech came, and speculation shifted to Wednesday.
The plans to hold votes within a matter of days is widely seen as a push by Mr Putin to accelerate Russia's annexation of Ukraine.
It comes after a sweeping Ukrainian counter-offensive, in which Kyiv claims to have retaken 8,000 sq km (3,088 sq miles) this month, putting Russia on the back foot.
Cementing its control over Ukrainian land could enable Russia to make the claim that its territory - not just its army - was coming under attack from Western weapons as hostilities continue. This is because several western nations have been supplying Ukraine with weapons to help in its defence.
It is feared that this could lead to an intensification of the already-bloody conflict.
Pro-Russian leaders in the four Ukrainian regions have supported the referendums.
The head of the Russian proxy administration in Luhansk, Leonid Pasechnik, said it was "our common dream and our common future".
The deputy head of Russia's Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, said that the votes would restore "historical justice" and be irreversible.
Russian proxy administrations have operated in Donetsk and Luhansk since 2014. Both were controversially recognised as independent by Mr Putin three days before he launched his invasion on 24 February, BBC reported.
The subsequent onslaught saw Russia take full control of Luhansk for a time - although Ukraine has now reclaimed some territory.
The latest moves to call for "referendums" has echoes of Russia's annexation of the southern peninsula of Crimea in 2014.
A vote was also called there in an attempt to legitimise Moscow's rule, however that vote, too, was labelled illegal and condemned by the international community.
PM Deuba calls for investment in Nepal's tourism, hydropower
Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has urged the Indonesian Ambassador to Nepal to facilitate in order to bring in investment from Indonesia in hydropower, tourism and other potential sectors of Nepal. Prime Minister Deuba made this urge during the meeting with the Indonesian Ambassador to Nepal, Heru Hartanto Subolo. The Indonesian Ambassador had reached the official residence of the Prime Minister at Baluwatar to pay a courtesy call on PM Deuba today. 'The Prime Minister asked the Ambassador Subolo to facilitate in order to bring in Indonesian investment in tourism, hydropower and other potential sectors of Nepal and promote mountain tourism of Nepal among tourists of Indonesia", said Honorary Consul of Indonesia in Nepal and senior vice-president of Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Chandra Prasad Dhakal quoting the Prime Minister. On the occasion, Prime Minister Deuba urged the Indonesian government for the establishment of a residential embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Nepal. The Prime Minister through Ambassador Subolo also requested the people of Indonesia to visit Nepal, the birthplace of Gautam Buddha. Similarly, Ambassador Subolo said he was positive for the establishment of a residential embassy in Nepal and will convey this message of the prime Minister to the Indonesian government. An agreement would be signed between the two countries soon for visa facilitation for diplomatic and government passport holders, he added. The Indonesian Ambassador shared that he would play a role for bilateral trade and investment between Nepal and Indonesia in course of promotion of 'Trade Expo'. The trade expo is to be organized in Indonesia in October.
