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Saturday, November 7, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
POLITICS: Big Powers Split on Proposed Arms Trade Treaty
The United Nations is responding positively to a call from peace activists and human rights organisations for a new international treaty to monitor the world's growing 1.1-trillion-dollar global arms trade.POLITICS: US, China Head for Showdown Over N. Korea Sanctions
The United States and China, two veto-wielding permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, may be heading for a political showdown over the implementation of a resolution aimed at imposing tough economic and military sanctions on North Korea.POLITICS: US, China Head for Showdown Over N. Korea Sanctions
The United States and China, two veto-wielding permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, may be heading for a political showdown over the implementation of a resolution aimed at imposing tough economic and military sanctions on North Korea.POLITICS: New U.N. Chief Could Be an Asset in Korean Crisis
When U. Thant of Burma (now Myanmar) was the first - and last - Asian Secretary-General of the United Nations during 1961-1971, the former Burmese ambassador was described as modest and low-key compared with his high-profile predecessor, Sweden's Dag Hammarskjold, who died in a plane crash in Africa in 1961.RIGHTS: Gender Violence a Universal Norm, Says U.N.
A 113-page landmark U.N. study on gender violence says women continue to be victims of sexual harassment, human trafficking and blatant discrimination worldwide.POLITICS: U.S. Faces Dilemma Over Thai Coup
The bloodless coup against a democratically-elected government in Thailand last month has forced the United States to review its military relations and suspend aid to one of Washington's longstanding political allies in Southeast Asia.POLITICS: South Korean Foreign Minister Likely Next U.N. Chief
South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon, who consistently led a field of seven candidates, is most likely to be the new secretary-general of the United Nations, come January next year.POLITICS: Anti-War Activists Push for U.N. Arms Treaty
A coalition of human rights organisations and anti-war activists has renewed its campaign for a new international treaty to regulate the world's fast-growing 1.1-trillion-dollar global arms trade.HEALTH: Dirty Water Kills 4,000 Children a Day
The statistics are mind-boggling: of the more than six billion people in the world today, over one billion have no access to improved drinking water - a basic necessity for human life - and about 2.6 billion people do not have access to improved sanitation.HEALTH: Dirty Water Kills 4,000 Children a Day
The statistics are mind-boggling: of the more than six billion people in the world today, over one billion have no access to improved drinking water - a basic necessity for human life - and about 2.6 billion people do not have access to improved sanitation.POLITICS: Watchdog Body Finds Irregularities in U.N. System
The U.N. Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), the organisation's 12-year-old watchdog body, has uncovered a rash of financial irregularities, including misappropriation of funds, waste, breaches of regulations, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.POLITICS: Don’t Leave Home Without Your Army Chief
In the 1960s, when African heads of state from a coup-prone continent headed for international conferences, they routinely took oversized delegations, including the army, navy and air force chiefs.POLITICS: U.N. Takes Beating from World Leaders
The United Nations took a severe political beating during the opening week of the 61st session of the General Assembly as several world leaders chastised the organisation - specifically its 15-member Security Council - for its failure to assert its authority in some of the world's battle zones.POLITICS: U.N. Ties Prosperity to Good Governance
The economic success stories of the world's 50 poorest nations are also predicated on "good governance", including multi-party democracy, rule of law, gender empowerment, respect for human rights and transparency and accountability, according to the United Nations.DEVELOPMENT: World’s Poorest Nations Slowly Get Online
An African diplomat from one of the world's 50 poorest nations, described as least developed countries (LDCs), once complained that it took about five to 10 years to get a landline telephone connection in his home country - and an additional five years to get a dial tone on the new phone.DEVELOPMENT: Pros and Cons of International Migration
As the number of international migrants from poor to rich nations continues to rise - reaching a record 191 million in 2005 - most Western countries have either imposed or are planning to impose restrictions to reduce the flow of humans into their territories.DEVELOPMENT: Few Graduate From U.N. Programme for the Poorest
When the United Nations decided in 1971 to create the concept of "least developed countries" (LDCs) - a new category of member states needing special social and economic assistance from the international community - they were described as the "poorest of the world's poor".RIGHTS-9/11: War on Terror Equals War on Minorities
The U.S.-led global war on terror - which began five years ago after a rash of terrorist attacks on the United States - has been transformed primarily into a war against minorities, says a London-based human rights organisation.RIGHTS-9/11: War on Terror Equals War on Minorities
The U.S.-led global war on terror - which began five years ago after a rash of terrorist attacks on the United States - has been transformed primarily into a war against minorities, says a London-based human rights organisation.POLITICS: Non-Alignment Survives Despite End of Cold War
When the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) was launched in the early 1960s during the height of the U.S.-Soviet Cold War, it was the largest single political grouping of developing nations taking a unified stand at the United Nations.DEVELOPMENT: Is Brain Drain Robbing Poor to Pay for the Rich?
The continuous flow of skilled workers and talented professionals from developing to developed nations was once described by a U.N. official as the "Robin Hood syndrome in reverse" - the rich robbing the poor.« Previous Page — Next Page »
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