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Wednesday, April 24, 2024
News and Views from the Global South
U.N. Security Council, the Land Where Time Stands Still
At the U.N.'s annual weeklong cacophony of back-to-back speeches held to open its new General Assembly session, certain things can be counted on: the flouting of time limits, offensive rants (and subsequent walkouts by insulted parties) and, for longer than the last third of the world body's existence, the mention of Security Council reform.DEVELOPMENT: Obama Lays Out Vision, Details Still Blurry
Following U.S. President Barack Obama's introduction of his long-awaited Global Development Policy at the United Nations on Wednesday, exactly one year after he told member states that he would return with a plan to make the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) a reality, questions remain over how it will be executed.Biodiversity Talks Bog Down over Genetic Resources
While officials meeting in Montreal, Canada failed to finalise a key protocol to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Tuesday, biodiversity is scheduled to be at the top of Wednesday's agenda of the U.N. General Assembly in New York.DEVELOPMENT: A Fat Cat Tax for Lean Times
As world leaders convened Monday for the first day of a summit dedicated to resuscitate efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the question of how to finance countries' acceleration efforts looms large.South Urged not to Replicate Old, Unequal Models
South-South cooperation is set to be a key issue during the three-day summit beginning today that will bring together some 140 world leaders to reaffirm their commitment to achieving the U.N. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.DEVELOPMENT: Bridging the Chasm Between Rhetoric and Reality
On the eve of Monday's highly-anticipated U.N. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Summit in which world leaders will gather here to reaffirm their commitment to the eight goals, civil society remains deeply sceptical.
Q&A: “U.S. Out of Step with the World on Death Penalty”
Across the globe and against the tide, the United States is one among a dwindling count of industrialised democracies that continue to practice capital punishment.E.U. Pushes for Bigger Voice at U.N.
U.N. member states are expected to pass a resolution Monday that will grant the European Union unprecedented speaking rights during formal meetings of the General Assembly, of which the next session – it's 65th – begins Tuesday.Global Development Blueprint Reveals Urgent Uphill Battle
A document outlining the U.N.'s strategy to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 was finalised Thursday after months of heated negotiations.U.N. Nudges Serbia into Talks over Breakaway Kosovo
In a much-anticipated vote Thursday, the U.N. General Assembly unanimously passed a compromise draft resolution aimed at reopening talks, facilitated by the European Union, between Belgrade and Pristina.U.N. Weighs Sanctions Against Perpetrators of DRC Mass Rapes
The U.N. Security Council is considering leveraging sanctions against the perpetrators of the mass rapes that occurred last month in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) following a meeting held on the recent violence Tuesday./UPDATE*/: Further Victims Identified in DRC Mass Rapes Case
Twenty-eight minors have been documented as victims of last month's four-day raid of more than a dozen villages centred around Walikale, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), U.N. officials told reporters here today. Children, including one 12-years old boy were identified. The Walikale victim toll has risen to over 240.Further Victims Identified in DRC Mass Rapes Case
The number of women raped by rebel groups during last month's raid of more than a dozen villages centred around Walikale, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), has risen to over 240, U.N. officials told reporters here today.500,000 Pregnant Women at Risk in Pakistan Floods
Aid groups and U.N. agencies are raising the alarm over the vulnerability of pregnant women and babies in flood ravaged Pakistan.RWANDA: Genocide Ideology and Sectarianism Laws Silencing Critics?
Among its unstable and conflict-ridden neighbours, Rwanda stands out. It has been pegged as a model of development and one of Africa’s success stories: Since the 1990’s, when a civil war ravaged the country, average incomes have doubled, its people have become healthier and less hungry and it has the highest proportion of women parliamentarians worldwide. Yet, maintaining this stability is a government accused of muzzling its opponents and committing human rights abuses.
Q&A: Capital Punishment in Canada, Revisited
Thirty-four years ago, Canada was one of the first Western countries to abolish the death penalty. In 1987, the question of capital punishment and whether it should be reinstated resurfaced in the House of Commons.Outrage Grows Over Failure to Protect DRC Civilians
As details emerged this week of the U.N.'s knowledge of rebel activity in the villages where nearly 200 women were systematically gang raped by armed groups in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) late last month, human rights groups are demanding an investigation into the U.N.'s failure to prevent the raid from occurring.Trying Pirates Often as Tricky as Catching Them
U.N. member states and regional organisations debated the question of how Somali pirates should be prosecuted in a Security Council meeting Wednesday, following a report submitted last month by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon outlining seven possible legal options.DR-CONGO: Mass Gang Rape Exposes Systematic Sexual Violence
A U.N. human rights investigation mission will be launched in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Wednesday, U.N. officials announced Tuesday, after gruesome reports surfaced in the media of the systematic gang rape of nearly 200 women in a 21km stretch of 15 villages.460 Million Dollars Sought for Pakistan Flood Relief
With an estimated 14 to 16 million people affected by what the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) calls "the worst monsoon-related floods in living memory", the U.N. launched a humanitarian flash appeal Wednesday seeking 459.7 million dollars for relief efforts in Pakistan.Muslim Centre Prevails in Battle over Site Near ‘Ground Zero’
In a case viewed by many as a test of religious tolerance in the post-9/11 era, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) voted unanimously Tuesday morning against designating the future location of a Muslim-led community centre as a historic landmark.« Previous Page — Next Page »
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