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Friday, October 2, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
As West Falters, Arms Spending Rises in Developing World
The spreading economic crisis is taking a bite out of Western military spending - even as the world's developing nations, along with Russia and China, boosted their arms expenditures last year.
Arms Trade Treaty May Take Years to Be Legally Binding
When the 193-member General Assembly voted overwhelmingly for a long outstanding Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) last week, there was a lingering question left unanswered: how long will it take to reach the 50 ratifications necessary for the treaty to be legally binding?
U.N. Chief Singles Out Monaco for Raising Climate Awareness
When Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited Kiribati in 2011, he had "an unexpected insight" into the fear that stalks the Pacific Island nation.
U.N.’s Dollar-a-Year Jobs Under Critical Scrutiny
The 132-member Group of 77, the largest single coalition of developing nations, is challenging the longstanding prerogative of successive U.N. secretaries-general to appoint "special envoys" whose services are deemed gratis - and who are on nominal "one-dollar-a-year" employment contracts.
U.N. Goes Global to Set Post-2015 Agenda
The United Nations apparently lacked the online resources of the fast-growing digital age when it created its highly-touted Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2001, with a targeted deadline of 2015.Veto Returns to Haunt Big Powers in Arms Trade Treaty
When the United Nations set out to draft a politically-sensitive Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), ever since negotiations began in 2006, member states agreed to take the final decision by "consensus".
U.N. Accused of Opaque Selection Process for Top Officials
- The Geneva-based U.N. Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), described as a key forum for developing nations on issues relating to trade, investment and development, will have a new secretary-general come September.
Ex-World Leaders Find Haven, and Per Diem, at U.N.
A potential ad from the United Nations to be placed in a weekly London newsmagazine could possibly read: Vacancy for ex-head of government or ex-head of state; lucrative globe-trotting political assignments in Asia, Africa or Latin America; attractive per diem; first or business class travel; five star hotels; and guaranteed diplomatic immunity (including from the International Criminal Court).
Water and Sanitation Seek Rightful Place in Post-2015 Agenda
When the General Assembly unanimously adopted the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) back in 2000, water and sanitation were reduced to a subtext - never a stand-alone goal compared with poverty and hunger alleviation.
China Outsells UK in World’s Lucrative Arms Bazaar
After ranking ahead of Japan as the world's second largest economy, China has reached another milestone: displacing the UK as the world's fifth largest arms supplier.
Q&A: Rise of South “Unprecedented in Speed and Scale”
The world's 132 developing nations, largely part of the global South, are ascending at a pace “unprecedented in its speed and scale", according to the latest Human Development Report (HDR) released Thursday by the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP).
Q&A: Water Disputes Get Resolved While Other Conflicts Rage
What has education, science and culture to do with one of the world's most scarce and finite resources? Plenty, says the United Nations, which has designated the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as the lead agency to promote the 2013International Year of Water Cooperation (IYWC).
A Political Tug-of-War Over Militarism and Gender Violence
When the largest single gathering of women met at the United Nations in February last year, the adoption of a future plan of action was undermined by rigidly conservative governments opposed to women's reproductive rights - largely misinterpreted as a right to abortion.
U.N. Security Council Hits N. Korea with New Sanctions
North Korea, which has survived three rounds of diplomatic and economic sanctions since its first nuclear test in 2006, reacted with predictable fury, threatening to nuke the United States, in retaliation for a Security Council resolution imposing new sanctions against Pyongyang.
Q&A: South Korean Brands Invade Global Markets
When U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, a former foreign minister of South Korea, met with Psy last October, he jokingly told the wildly popular rapper that he was "a bit jealous" of him.
U.N. to Build Bridges Battling “Merchants of Hate”
Amidst the rising tide of racial and religious intolerance worldwide - including xenophobia, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia - the U.N. Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) will meet in the Austrian capital of Vienna later this week to strengthen cross-cultural relations in a world it describes as "alarmingly out of balance".
U.N. Lambasted for Denying Compensation to Haiti’s Cholera Victims
The United Nations has come under heavy political fire for its decision to deny compensation for thousands of victims of cholera in Haiti - a deadly disease spread by U.N. peacekeepers in the troubled Caribbean nation.
Arms Bazaars Proliferate as U.N. Tries to Regulate Trade
When a 20-year-old went on a deadly shooting spree killing 26 students and teachers in an elementary school in Connecticut last December, there was the inevitable outcry either for a ban or a tight control on gun shows, where firearms can be purchased over the counter with no background checks on the buyer.World’s Nuclear Environment Remains Politically Toxic
The world's nuclear environment has increasingly turned politically toxic, replete with threats, accusations and open defiance of Security Council resolutions.
North Korea Defies World Body with Third Nuke Test
North Korea, which conducted its third nuclear test Monday, is following closely in the heavy footsteps of Israel as one of the world's most intransigent nations, ignoring Security Council resolutions and defying the international community.
U.N.’s Water Agenda at Risk of Being Hijacked by Big Business
Amidst growing new threats of potential conflicts over fast-dwindling water resources in the world's arid regions, the United Nations will commemorate 2013 as the International Year of Water Cooperation (IYWC).« Previous Page — Next Page »
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