Tag: un

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In The News

Trump’s New Policies Are A Hit (They Are Obama’s)

Presidents Trump and Obama
Presidents Trump and Obama Marianique Santos/Planet Pix/ZUMA

-OpEd- WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Trump appears to have found himself a new national security adviser. His name is Barack Obama. Recent days have brought evidence of two foreign policy successes for the Trump administration: On Friday, a top State Department official who has served in the Obama and Trump administrations announced that gains against the so-called Islamic State have picked up sharply and that the militants have lost 78% of their territory in Iraq and 58% in Syria. The Washington Post“s headline (which the White House circulated in an email): “Under Trump, gains against ISIS have dramatically accelerated.” Then, […]

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Eyes on the U.S. Ideas Trump And The World

Trump Control, From Comey To Korean Peninsula

New South Korean President Moon Jae-in
New South Korean President Moon Jae-in Yonhap News/NewscomZUMA

-Analysis- Having spent his whole life running a family business, Donald Trump is still adjusting to the strategic art of control required to effectively run the White House — and help lead the world. Trump fired FBI Director James Comey on Tuesday, making him the shortest serving director since the 1920s. Comey had orbited in […]

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In The News

Another Chemical Attack In Syria, Still No Accountability

Victim of April 4 chemical attack
Victim of April 4 chemical attack Ferhat Dervisoglu/Depo Photo/ZUMA

Members of the U.N. Security Council will gather today for an emergency meeting following reports of a chemical attack in Syria that may have have killed between 50 and 100 people, including children. The appalling story is front-page news today in many of the world’s newspapers. The chemical attack is considered the deadliest in Syria […]

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In The News

Happiness Ranking: From Oslo To Addis Ababa And Beijing

Smiles of all ages in Hamar, Norway
Smiles of all ages in Hamar, Norway Christoffer Horsfjord Nilsen

It’s official: Norway has toppled Denmark to become the world’s happiest country in 2017. Or, to put in local linguistic terms, the world’s lykkeligste country. This year’s rankings, which came this morning to coincide with the International Day of Happiness, surely has left more than one Danish unhappy, or ulykkelig (yes, Norwegian and Danish languages […]

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blog

Self-Driving Reality

Driverless cars used to seem like the stuff of sci-fi. But as the U.S. unveils a list of guidelines about self-driving vehicles today, it’s safe to say that these cars have zipped from the realm of a distant future to the regulatory thicket that’s an all too clear reminder that this is very much a […]

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blog

Fury In China Over Maritime Dispute Ruling

Dongfang Zaobao, July 13 “The South Sea Islands have been part of China’s territory since ancient times,” Wednesday’s front page of the Chinese daily Dongfang Zaobao reads. “China does not accept the ruling that does not recognize the South China Sea.” The defiant headline comes in response to Tuesday’s decision by a UN tribunal to […]

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Ideas Rue Amelot

Rude Awakening, When A Young American Woman Moves To Morocco

Woman walking in Marrakesh
Woman walking in Marrakesh Filipe Saraiva

Emma Tobin decided to take a gap year in Africa to work on women’s empowerment issues. Little did she know she was about to join all those women across the world who are little more than objects in the face of a male-dominated culture.

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blog

The Most Powerful Room In The World

The Most Powerful Room In The World

A lot of history happened in this room, the United Nations Security Council Chamber in New York. When I went there, the Big Five and the 10 other members had just voted on resolutions about arms embargo in Rwanda, sanctions against Serbia and Montenegro and humanitarian aid in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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blog

On Remote Easter Island, A Rising Independence Movement

Moai statues, Easter Island
Moai statues, Easter Island David Berkowitz

Activists on the small Pacific island, with their legendary statues, are taking concrete actions to obtain more autonomy from Chile. But does full independence make sense?

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blog

Uruguay President vs. Big Tobacco

MONTEVIDEO — While other world leaders used their slot at this week’s United Nations General Assembly to argue over Syria or the global economy, Uruguayan President Tabaré Vázquez had smoke on his mind. After winning a second non-consecutive term last November, Vázquez launched a full-scale attack on the global tobacco industry, accusing cigarette companies of […]

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Geopolitics Ideas

Assad Is Not The Answer: Just Say No To Putin’s Syria Solution

Propaganda photo released by militants showing ISIS fighters in Syria on Aug. 25
Propaganda photo released by militants showing ISIS fighters in Syria on Aug. 25 Ho/Planet Pix/ZUMA

The bloody Syrian stalemate unites Russia and the West, in a shared urgency to defeat ISIS. But the Syrian dictator, also an ISIS foe, should not be seen as a lesser evil.

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Geopolitics The Endless War

Gaza And The Twisted Politics Of Cement

Loading cement on a truck in Rafah
Loading cement on a truck in Rafah Abed Rahim Khatib/APA Images/ZUMA

GAZA CITY — It’s easy to imagine his frustration, that of a professional whose fate doesn’t depend on the quality of his work or his willingness to work hard but on political contingencies. Salaheddin Abu Hassira, 50, is an entrepreneur in Gaza’s building sector. It’s a pursuit that, in this Palestinian territory, seems condemned to […]

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Geopolitics Ideas

Obama Must Walk A Very Fine Line In The Middle East

An uncertain future
An uncertain future White House/Pete Souza

It is nearly too little, nearly too late, but there is still a way for the U.S. President to be the leader the world needs in the face of ISIS extremism.

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

How ISIS Could Turn Assad Into A Western Ally

ISIS fighters in Aleppo, Syria
ISIS fighters in Aleppo, Syria Medyan Dairieh/ZUMA

The jihadist movement is not only reshaping the situation in Syria — it might completely shift alliances across the region. Will Assad ally with Turkey, Iraq and even the West against ISIS?

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Geopolitics The Endless War

With Death Tolls Rising, Israel’s Options Start To Close

Israeli soldiers in southern Israel on Monday
Israeli soldiers in southern Israel on Monday Jinipix/Xinhua/ZUMA

Quit or double down? The risks for Israel rise in step with the number killed on both sides of the conflict in Gaza.

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Geopolitics

In Kirchner’s Absence, Argentine Whispers Of Health Secrets And Successors

Kirchner, in August, flanked by possible successor Scioli
Kirchner, in August, flanked by possible successor Scioli Patricio Murphy/ZUMA

BUENOS AIRES – The announcement came this weekend that Argentine President Cristina Kirchner will be recuperating for at least the next month from a brain condition brought on by a head injury in August. While the news is shaking up the nation, it is also putting a veil across a potential political crisis for Argentina. […]

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

A Russian Take On The UN Security Council’s Syria Compromise

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Pete Marovich/ZUMA

NEW YORK — At long last, the members of the United Nations Security Council have reached an agreement on a Syria resolution. The West has agreed to give up on including language that Russia had furiously opposed — that is, to automatically sanction the use of force against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad if he fails […]

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Geopolitics

*Heroic Flexibility* – Iranian Reaction To Rouhani U.N. Speech

Hassan Rouhani at the UN General Assembly
Hassan Rouhani at the UN General Assembly Niu Xiaolei/Xinhua/ZUMA

PARIS – It was indeed a different face for Iran at this year’s United Nations General Assembly. Back in Iran, and elsewhere around the world, news outlets and regional analysts Wednesday were measuring the potential geopolitical significance of the first big strides onto the world stage made the evening before by newly elected Iranian President […]

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Geopolitics

Putin Says He Could Back Syria Strike If Evidence Is Convincing

AP, NEW YORK TIMES, BBC Worldcrunch MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin says he doesn’t rule out his country’s participation in a military operation in Syria if evidence showing that Damascus carried out chemical attacks is “convincing”. He added that the operation must be conducted with U.N. approval. In a rare interview with the Associated […]

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Geopolitics

Syria: UN Team Examining Site, Assad Warns US

AL JAZEERA, BBC, NEW YORK TIMES, LE MONDE (France), IZVESTIYA (Russia) Worldcrunch DAMASCUS – As pressure mounted for a strong Western response against the regime of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, United Nations inspectors were heading Monday to the site of last week’s suspected chemical attack in the outskirts of the Syrian capital. Both the Syrian […]

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Economy Geopolitics

Inside Switzerland’s Decision To Bury Kim Jong-Un’s Ski Resort Dreams

Skiim Jong-un...
Skiim Jong-un... Kenny Louie - petersnoopy - Worldcrunch

After rejections by Austrian and French ski-lift companies, a Swiss competitor was set to supply Pyongyang the means to realize his Alpine fantasy. But then the state stepped in.

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Geopolitics

Arming Kurds, India’s “Shame,” Panama Canal Birthday

Russian aid trucks entering Ukraine
Russian aid trucks entering Ukraine Photo: ITAR-TASS/ZUMA

Aug. 15, 2014 EU MINISTERS DISCUSS ARMING KURDSEuropean Union foreign ministers are in Brussels today for an emergency meeting about whether to arm Iraq’s Kurdish Peshmerga fighters against ISIS, which the U.S. and France are already doing, the BBC reports. A spokesman for British Prime Minister David Cameron said yesterday that the UK would “favorably […]

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Geopolitics

UN Declares Iraq Emergency, Gaza Truce Extended, Robot Cooks

A Palestinian boy plays amid the rubble of his destroyed family home.
A Palestinian boy plays amid the rubble of his destroyed family home. Ramadan El-Agha/APA Images/ZUMA

Aug. 14, 2014 UN SIGNALS RED ALERT IN IRAQThe United Nations has declared the situation in Iraq a “Level 3 emergency,” its highest for a humanitarian crisis, as deadly fights between the army and ISIS terrorists killed at least four children west of Baghdad, AP reports. This came as U.S. troops and aid workers arrived […]

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Ideas

From The Palace Of Flowing Waters, Lessons On The Most Precious Resource Of All

A fragile and limited resource
A fragile and limited resource D. Sharon Pruitt

BUENOS AIRES – Last month, at the magnificent Palacio de Aguas Corrientes (“Palace of Flowing Waters“) in Buenos Aires, representatives from 12 Latin American countries came together to discuss something so basic, and so vital. How can we work together in our region to make best use of that priceless resource: water? I had the […]

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Geopolitics

Why Russia Is Taking On The West Over Cyber Warfare

QWERTY/Cyrillic computer keyboard
QWERTY/Cyrillic computer keyboard Paul L Dineen

With the United States embroiled over the National Security Agency’s alleged spying on American and foreign citizens, there are other battles taking shape over the Internet.

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Eyes on the U.S.

UN Reacts To Obama’s Shift On Drone Policy

BBC (UK), CNN, WASHINGTON POST (USA) Worldcrunch NEW YORK – A key United Nations lawyer leading a probe on the use of drones has praised President Barack Obama’s speech on changes to the United States’ anti-terrorism policy, which included new more restrictive guidelines for using unmanned aircrafts to strike targets on the ground. UN attorney […]

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Geopolitics

With UN Troops Arriving, Congo Insurgents Have A Choice To Make

M23 troops in Bunagana, North Kivu
M23 troops in Bunagana, North Kivu Al Jazeera English

Militias in the North Kivu region are facing desertions as the UN armed contingent begins to move into the embattled territory of the Democratic Republic of Congo. But fighting still flares.

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Geopolitics

North Korea Fires Fifth Missile In Third Straight Day Of Tests

YONHAP, THE KOREA TIMES (South Korea), AAP (Australia) Worldcrunch SEOUL – North Korea fired its fifth test missile in three straight days on Monday, in the latest series of weapons drills that have been condemned by South Korea and United Nation chief Ban Ki-moon, reports the AAP. According to the South Korean Defense Ministry, the […]

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Geopolitics

North Korea: China Hardens Stance On “Troublemaking” Neighbor

Keeping Kim in check
Keeping Kim in check giovanni

BEIJING – On April 6, China’s new Foreign Minister Wang Yi discussed the North Korean situation on the phone with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon. Wang made China’s stance quite clear: it will not allow “troublemaking” at its doorsteps. This is the toughest talk to date from the Chinese government, and its intention is clear: to […]

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Future

Massive Swirl Of Ocean Debris To Be Designated New State By UN

LA STAMPA (Italy) Worldcrunch PARIS – These are not the sorts of “islands” where you’d plan your next tropical vacation. Located in vast areas of the world’s Oceans, by some accounts comprising an area twice as big as Texas, they are home to neither human nor animal life. Instead these islands are instead simply monstrious […]

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Geopolitics

UN Calls For “Restoration Of Order” After Central African Republic Coup

RFI, FRANCE 24 (France), AL JAZEERA (Qatar), AAP (Australia), MAIL&GUARDIAN (South Africa) Worldcrunch BANGUI – After rebels in the Central African Republic ousted President François Bozize, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon declared Monday that he was “deeply concerned by reports of violations of human rights.” Michel Djotodia, the leader of the Seleka rebels, declared himself president […]

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Geopolitics

The Historical Falsehoods And Misleading Language Of West Bank “Settlements”

Protests in the West Bank village of Nabi Salaeh, near the Halamish settlement
Protests in the West Bank village of Nabi Salaeh, near the Halamish settlement Marcel Masferrer Pascual

Palestinians are victims not only of Israeli power politics, but of linguistic deception.

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Geopolitics

North Korea Vows Preemptive Strike Against US Ahead Of Sanctions Vote

KCNA (North Korea), AP, REUTERS, CNN Worldcrunch PYONGYANG– With the UN set to vote on imposing sanctions against North Korea for its recent nuclear test, Pyongyang issued perhaps it’s most virulent threat to date, saying it would exercise the right to pre-emptive strikes against Washington. “Since the United States is about to ignite a nuclear […]

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Geopolitics

Lessons From Kosovo: What Europe Could Not Achieve

Pristina's Newborn Obelisk, inaugurated for Kosovo's Independence in 2008
Pristina's Newborn Obelisk, inaugurated for Kosovo's Independence in 2008 qiv

PRISTINA – Before General Xavier Bout de Marnhac can walk up to the second floor of the Gagi restaurant in the center of Kosovo’s capital, his security escort must inspect the premises. This is standard procedure. The French general, whom we were meeting only a few hours before he was leaving Kosovo, is the outgoing […]

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Geopolitics

North Korea Carries Out Nuclear Test, World Leaders React

KCNA (North Korea), REUTERS Worldcrunch North Korea has confirmed it “successfully” conducted a third nuclear test at a northeastern underground test site, in defiance to UN Security Council’s orders to shut down its atomic activity. “It was confirmed that the nuclear test that was carried out at a high level in a safe and perfect […]

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Ideas

As Mali Turns, A French Take On Just Wars, Quagmire And Limits Of The UN

French mission
French mission seneweb

-Editorial- PARIS – The problem with making statements when you are the President is that you have to follow through. Before the French intervention in Mali, President François Hollande said on Jan. 11 that in Mali, France had “no other purpose than to fight terrorism.” On Jan. 15, he revised his motives: now, on top […]

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Geopolitics

France At War: Military Intervention Launched In Mali

LE MONDE, LIBERATION, FRANCE 24 (France) Worldcrunch BAMAKO – France has launched a military intervention in Mali, with President François Hollande declaring that the “terrorist groups, drug traffickers and extremists” in the northern part of the country “show a brutality that threatens us all.” In the declaration late Friday, Hollande added that the operation would […]

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Geopolitics

Major Prisoner Swap Begins: 2,130 Syrians For 48 Iranians

HÜRRIYET (Turkey), THE GUARDIAN (UK), REUTERS, FRANCE 24 Worldcrunch ISTANBUL– The Syrian government has announced it would free 2,130 civilian prisoners on Wednesday, in exchange for the release of 48 Iranians held by Syrian rebels. Iranian state TV confirmed that the 48 hostages, captured by the Free Syrian Army back in August, had been freed. […]

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Ideas

China Must Take A Harder Line With North Korea’s Nuclear Provocations

Neighbors must make nice...
Neighbors must make nice... Joseph A. Ferris III

-OpEd- BEIJING – Despite strong opposition from the international community, North Korea went ahead with its planned use of a long-range rocket to launch a satellite. As the North Koreans were cheering the successful Dec. 4 launch, their longtime Chinese ally was in no mood for celebrations. North Korea’s missile and nuclear capabilities have been […]

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Geopolitics

UN Gives Green Light For Foreign Military Intervention In Mali

LE MONDE (France), SKY NEWS (Australia), BBC (UK) Worldcrunch BAMAKO – The United Nations Security Council has approved an open-ended resolution authorizing military operation to secure northern Mali from terrorist organizations. The design of this gradual intervention, authored by France and to be led by African forces (Ecowas) and supported by the UN military, has […]

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