Austin: UN states concerned China and Russia helping North Korea

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, center left, and South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik, center right, attend a welcome ceremony before their Defense Minister meeting of the South Korea-United Nations Command (UNC) Member nations at the Defense Ministry in Seoul, South Korea, on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023. (AP)
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, center left, and South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik, center right, attend a welcome ceremony before their Defense Minister meeting of the South Korea-United Nations Command (UNC) Member nations at the Defense Ministry in Seoul, South Korea, on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023. (AP)
Short Url
Updated 14 November 2023
Follow

Austin: UN states concerned China and Russia helping North Korea

Austin: UN states concerned China and Russia helping North Korea
  • “We are deeply concerned that the PRC and Russia are helping the DPRK expand its capabilities by enabling it to evade sanctions from the UN Security council,” Austin said

SEOUL: US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Tuesday UN member countries enforcing the Korean War armistice are concerned that China and Russia are helping North Korea to expand its military capabilities by enabling it to evade UN sanctions.
Austin was speaking at a meeting in South Korea with defense minister and representatives from the 17 countries that make up the UN Command that oversees the armistice.
“We are deeply concerned that the PRC and Russia are helping the DPRK expand its capabilities by enabling it to evade sanctions from the UN Security council,” Austin said.
PRC refers to the People’s Republic of China and DPRK is short for North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
“We’re also troubled by the recent growth in military cooperation between Russia and the DPRK,” he said.

 


UN failing to stop wars amid Security Council ‘paralysis’ — but progressing on strengthening member states

UN failing to stop wars amid Security Council ‘paralysis’ — but progressing on strengthening member states
Updated 21 sec ago
Follow

UN failing to stop wars amid Security Council ‘paralysis’ — but progressing on strengthening member states

UN failing to stop wars amid Security Council ‘paralysis’ — but progressing on strengthening member states
  • Brian Katulis, Ephrem Kossaify discuss mixed outcomes of 79th UN General Assembly and the need for urgent reforms to safeguard the world body’s future

CHICAGO/LONDON: The 79th Session of the UN General Assembly, which concluded this week, highlighted the UN’s inability to prevent escalating wars, particularly in the Middle East. However, progress was made on other global issues, such as climate change and poverty.

Founded on Oct. 24, 1945, after the Second World War, the UN was created to maintain international peace, prevent conflict and promote friendly relations among countries. Yet, 79 years later, experts acknowledge that the UN remains hampered in achieving its core mandate, particularly due to the disproportionate power wielded by the five permanent members of the Security Council: The US, Russia, China, France and the UK.

Brian Katulis, senior fellow for US foreign policy at the Middle East Institute, highlighted this imbalance during an interview on “The Ray Hanania Radio Show,” pointing out that while the UN is often blamed for failing to stop conflicts, major global powers have also fallen short in “arresting the spiral down into conflict and a regional war” that is breaking out in the Middle East.

“It’s fine to point a finger to the UN, but the US has not done that great of a job in stopping this,” said Katulis. “And I would also argue a lot of the regional powers and also other global powers like Russia and China haven’t been so good, and it’s for one reason: It’s that the combatants in these conflicts in the Middle East see fit to actually use force, military force, power in that way, in some cases terrorism and terror strikes, to advance their interests. And that’s the unfortunate consequence of the era we live in right now.”

Despite these challenges, the UN continues to make strides in other areas, Katulis said, highlighting how the organization still plays a critical role in addressing societal issues, particularly through its humanitarian work with refugees and efforts in global health.

“They’re doing a lot at a popular level, if you ask Palestinian refugees that live in Jordan and Lebanon, and Gaza and other places,” said Katulis, who this week released his most recent analysis, “Strategic Drift: An Assessment of the Biden Administration’s Middle East Approach,” available from the Middle East Institute.

“Of course, there’s been justifiable criticisms of the quality of that education and what’s being taught, but there’s certain things that we, here in America, because we have such a great system and great economy, just take for granted.”

He argued that while the UN provides “a lot stopgaps, it does save lives.”

Most recently, the UN launched a campaign to vaccinate 640,000 children against polio in Gaza, following the enclave’s first confirmed case in 25 years.

To achieve this, the World Health Organization, the UN agency founded in 1948 to promote global health and safety, coordinated efforts using localized ceasefires between Israeli forces and Hamas fighters.

Despite the UN’s benign longstanding mission and its membership of 193 states, the body’s relationship with Israel has grown increasingly strained. This tension peaked earlier this week when Israel declared UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres persona non grata.

In recent years, experts have questioned the efficacy of the UN, a body originally designed to reflect postwar power structures. These concerns have intensified amid mounting conflict in the Middle East, and are reflected in a loss of confidence in the organization’s ability to mediate effectively.

However, despite rising tensions and an agenda dominated by wars in Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine, the UN General Assembly continued to push forward with its broader objectives. It focused on promoting reforms and advocating for greater equality between member states and the powerful Security Council.

“Even though Gaza and the war in Sudan and the war in Ukraine have again dominated the 79th session of the General Assembly, there still have been some positive headlines, or so the UN likes to say,” Ephrem Kossaify, Arab News’ UN correspondent, told “The Ray Hanania Radio Show.”

Kossaify highlighted the adoption of key agreements at the session, including the Pact for the Future, which aims to revitalize the UN’s multilateral system. The General Assembly also adopted other significant declarations, such as one enhancing the role of youth in public decision-making and another addressing global governance of artificial intelligence.

“There’s been a pact that was adopted as well, a political declaration on antimicrobial resistance, which, as Dr. Hanan Balkhy, a Saudi regional chief of the WHO, told Arab News, is the ‘silent epidemic.’ So, at least if you want to see the glass half-full, you can look at these agreements. Even though it took very long, with intense weeks and months of negotiations led by Germany and Namibia, member states have finally been able to come together to sign these three big declarations,” Kossaify said.

Yet for many, including former UN special envoy for Yemen and UN under-secretary-general Jamal Benomar, the declarations are seen as “rehashed and recycled wording from previously agreed UN documents,” filled with “vague and aspirational language” lacking concrete, actionable steps.

A major obstacle remains: The Security Council’s veto power.

Kossaify highlighted the “paralysis” within the UN, highlighting the disconnect between the overpowered permanent members of the Security Council and the increasingly assertive General Assembly, which has amplified its support for Palestine in the face of Israeli violence against civilians in Gaza. Despite growing calls for a ceasefire, the US — one of the five permanent members — has repeatedly vetoed such proposals.

“Out of the 80 vetoes that the US has cast over the past decades, at least 40 of them have been cast to prevent any action against Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and to prevent any action on the ground,” said Kossaify, adding that five of those vetoes have been cast within the past year alone.

“As we saw, the US has vetoed every ceasefire resolution. And even when the Security Council adopted the three resolutions, one having to do with humanitarian relief for the people in Gaza, the US abstained to let it pass, but also undermined it further by saying that Security Council resolutions are non-binding.”

Kossaify said that this created a “huge controversy,” and that the Security Council “is supposed to have the force of international law behind it.

“It is even allowed to use chapter seven to use force in order to implement its resolution. But it has been paralyzed because these five big powers have the prerogative of the veto. They can block any action that doesn’t suit their geopolitical position.”

Kossaify highlighted his interview with Kuwait’s ambassador to the UN, who said that “one or two countries cannot be allowed anymore to block the path of peace when the whole, when so many — the majority of member states want the path to peace.”

Highlighting Arab unity in demanding an end to the Israeli aggression in Gaza and the conflict’s expansion, Kossaify added: “On Gaza, it’s not just the humanitarian suffering that we’re seeing and how it’s really weighing on the conscience of the world. It’s also the ways in which Gaza has shown the real weaknesses of the UN system with its Security Council, the dangers of keeping this veto power without any challenge, and the dysfunction, basically, that it is causing in this multilateral institution, the only one we have in the world.

“Yet despite all the challenges and disagreements and geopolitical divisions, the General Assembly was able to adopt the Pact for the Future, a declaration on the role of youth and a commitment to reform the Security Council, even if it’s just in words.”

Katulis and Kossaify made their comments during tapings of “The Ray Hanania Radio Show,” which is broadcast Thursday on the US Arab Radio Network and sponsored by Arab News.

The show is broadcast live on WNZK AM 690 Radio in Michigan Thursday at 5 p.m. EST, and again the following Monday at 5 p.m. It is available by podcast at ArabNews.com/rayradioshow or at Facebook.com/ArabNews.


Toddler crushed to death in migrant Channel crossing

Toddler crushed to death in migrant Channel crossing
Updated 15 min 11 sec ago
Follow

Toddler crushed to death in migrant Channel crossing

Toddler crushed to death in migrant Channel crossing
  • The child was found in an overloaded dinghy when migrants issued a call for assistance on Saturday morning
  • The boat was carrying nearly 90 people and suffered engine failure off the coast of Boulogne-sur-Mer in northern France

CALAIS, France: A two-year-old child was crushed to death and several adult migrants died in two separate tragedies overnight when their overcrowded boats tried to cross the Channel to Britain, French officials said Saturday.
The child was found in an overloaded dinghy when migrants issued a call for assistance on Saturday morning. The boat was carrying nearly 90 people and suffered engine failure off the coast of Boulogne-sur-Mer in northern France.
Citing initial information, regional prosecutor Guirec Le Bras said the child was “crushed” to death.
Fourteen other migrants were picked up by French authorities including a 17-year-old teenager who had to be hospitalized with burns to his legs, officials said. The other passengers continued their journey.
French authorities say they seek to stop people taking to the water but do not intervene once they are afloat except for rescue purposes, citing safety concerns.
Another boat overcrowded with migrants also suffered engine failure off the coast of Calais, leading to panic. Some migrants fell into the sea and were rescued.
Three people — two men and a woman aged around 30 — were then discovered unconscious at the bottom of the boat, Pas-de-Calais regional prefect Jacques Billant told reporters.
The three were “probably crushed, suffocated and drowned” in the water at the bottom of the boat, added the prefect.
The interior ministers of France and Britain condemned the “appalling” tragedies.
“A child was trampled to death in a boat,” France’s hard-line interior minister, Bruno Retailleau, said on X, adding that several other people had died in the “appalling tragedy.”
“The smugglers have the blood of these people on their hands and our government will intensify the fight against these gangs who enrich themselves by organizing these deadly crossings,” Retailleau added.
British Interior Minister Yvette Cooper struck a similar note.
“It is appalling that more lives have been lost in the Channel today, including a young child, as criminal smuggler gangs continue to organize these dangerous boat crossings,” she said.
“The gangs do not care if people live or die — this is a terrible trade in lives.”
Cooper said on X she was in touch with Retailleau, adding the two met this week to discuss “our determination to increase cooperation and law enforcement to pursue and dismantle criminal gangs.”
The latest tragedies bring to 51 the number of migrants who have died attempting to reach England from France so far this year, according to Billant.
Channel crossings to Britain by undocumented asylum seekers have surged since 2018 despite repeated warnings about the perilous journey. The Channel has heavy maritime traffic, icy waters and strong currents.
Migrants sometimes get crushed or trampled to death in overcrowded boats.
In July, a 21-year-old woman from Kuwait was crushed to death in a migrant boat off the French coast.
The French and British governments have sought to stop the flow of undocumented migrants, who may pay smugglers thousands of euros per head for the passage to England from France aboard small boats.
France’s new right-wing prime minister, Michel Barnier, said on Tuesday the country needed a stricter immigration policy.
He vowed to be “ruthless” with people traffickers, who he said “exploit misery and despair” that pushed undocumented asylum seekers to risk trying to cross the Channel and the Mediterranean.
The latest tragedies come after eight migrants died in mid-September when their overcrowded vessel capsized while trying to cross the Channel.
In early September at least 12 people including six minors, mostly from Eritrea, died off the northern French coast when their boat capsized.
The number of migrants arriving in Britain by crossing the Channel in small boats has topped 25,000 since the start of the year.
Stopping the small boat arrivals on England’s southern coast was a key issue in Britain’s general election in July.
Britain’s Cooper has said the government aims over the next six months to achieve the highest rate of deportations of failed asylum seekers in five years.


Ukraine downs a Russian warplane and Russia claims gains in the east

Ukraine downs a Russian warplane and Russia claims gains in the east
Updated 05 October 2024
Follow

Ukraine downs a Russian warplane and Russia claims gains in the east

Ukraine downs a Russian warplane and Russia claims gains in the east
  • The Russian bomber was shot down near the city of Kostiantynivka in the Donetsk province
  • Also in the partially occupied Donetsk province, Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed Saturday that it had taken control of the village of Zhelanne Druhe

KYIV: Ukrainian forces said they shot down a Russian fighter plane on Saturday while Russia claimed it made gains in Ukraine’s east.
The Russian bomber was shot down near the city of Kostiantynivka in the Donetsk province, head of the Kostiantynivka Military Administration Serhiy Horbunov was quoted as saying by Ukraine’s public broadcaster, Suspilne. Photos showed charred remains of an aircraft after it landed on a house that caught fire.
Also in the partially occupied Donetsk province, Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed Saturday that it had taken control of the village of Zhelanne Druhe.
If confirmed, the capture would come three days after Ukrainian forces said they were withdrawing from the front-line town of Vuhledar, some 33 kilometers (21 miles) from Zhelanne Druhe, following a hard-fought two-year defense.
Although unlikely to change the course of the war, the loss of Vuhledar is indicative of Kyiv’s worsening position, in part the result of Washington’s refusal to grant Ukraine permission to strike targets deep inside Russian territory and preventing Kyiv from degrading Moscow’s capabilities.
Zelensky will present his victory plan to allies
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that he will present his “victory plan” at the Oct. 12 meeting of the Ramstein group of nations that supplies arms to Ukraine.
“We will present the victory plan — clear, concrete steps toward a just end to the war. The determination of our partners and the strengthening of Ukraine are what can stop Russian aggression,” he wrote on X, adding that the 25th Ramstein meeting would be the first to take place at the leaders’ level.
Zelensky presented his plan to US President Joe Biden in Washington last week. Its contents have not been made public but it is known that the plan includes Ukraine’s membership of NATO and the provision of long-range missiles to strike inside Russia.
Russia shells southern Ukraine and a Ukraine drone hits a bus
Meanwhile, two people died in Russian shelling in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region, regional Gov. Ivan Fedorov said.
Ukraine’s air force said that Russia had launched three guided missiles and 13 attack drones at Ukraine overnight into Saturday. It said the missiles were intercepted, three drones were shot down over the Odesa region and 10 others were lost.
Nine people were wounded when a Ukrainian drone struck a passenger bus in the city of Horlivka in the partially occupied Donetsk region, the city’s Russian-installed Mayor Ivan Prikhodko said.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Saturday that air defenses shot down 10 Ukrainian drones overnight in three border regions, including seven over the Belgorod region, two over the Kursk region, and one over the Voronezh region.


Afghanistan’s brain drain continues as job security, education prospects fade

Afghanistan’s brain drain continues as job security, education prospects fade
Updated 05 October 2024
Follow

Afghanistan’s brain drain continues as job security, education prospects fade

Afghanistan’s brain drain continues as job security, education prospects fade
  • Taliban blames Western countries for taking away country’s talent
  • But ban on women’s education seen as one of main reasons young people leave

KABUL: Abdullah Jalal is counting down the days to his relocation overseas — a move that will mean him restarting his career but give him the employment security he no longer believes is possible in Afghanistan.

The 29-year-old data management expert has been working for an international organization but said “the future is extremely uncertain.”

“With the current situation in the country, a whole generation is being punished and opportunities are taken away from young experts. I know many friends who have left the country in the past few years or are planning to leave,” he told Arab News.

“Specializations and expertise are not valued in the country anymore … The future employment prospects are not very good.”

Jalal is among the many skilled young professionals who choose to leave Afghanistan every year in search of better opportunities abroad. The numbers peaked in 2021, when hundreds of thousands of Afghans fled as the Taliban regained control of the country.

Three years on, with sanctions slapped on the Taliban administration and a devastating economic and humanitarian crisis, the brain drain continues, further limiting Afghanistan’s capacity for growth.

The trend has been worsened by Taliban policies banning women from attending secondary school and university and most forms of paid employment.

Some parents, like Abdul Saboor, choose to send their daughters overseas so that they can pursue their education. One of his daughters wanted to complete a master’s degree in computer science, but that is no longer possible in Afghanistan.

“Before the suspension of university education, she was teaching at a private university and took some freelance assignments to earn an income and support the family. She is very talented. She taught at a private university and developed websites for some organizations, but she couldn’t continue working,” Saboor said.

“I had to send her — along with my younger daughter who has graduated from high school — to Pakistan to pursue their studies and stay with their aunt. Not all families have this opportunity. I couldn’t see my daughters stay dull at home and continue to live with depression.”

While data about the exact numbers of skilled professionals and graduates leaving the country is unavailable, the International Organization for Migration estimates that in September more than 166,000 Afghans left the country for neighboring Pakistan and Iran alone.

Over the past four decades of wars in the country, 6.4 million Afghans have resettled abroad.

“The brain drain continues to happen even after several years of Islamic Emirate’s rule, creating major gaps in the society,” Dr. Sohaib Raufi, director of the Center for Strategic and Regional Studies in Kabul, told Arab News.

“The educated generation of the country, including university professors and other experts, have fled Afghanistan and continue to leave the country for various reasons, such as a lack of studying and teaching prospects, fading hopes for a better future.”

Last year, the Taliban called on Western countries to stop taking Afghan talent out of the country, but it is their own policy that is contributing to it, according to Raufi.

“A major factor contributing to the growing brain drain is the continuing suspension of school and university education for girls. Job security is another reason experts leave the country because in some instances expertise and profession is not prioritized in Afghanistan, leaving many outside the workforce,” he said.

“This may, in the long term, lead to scarcity of experts in the country negatively impacting the country’s economy, development and political stability.”


Militants kill 6 Pakistani soldiers in a shootout

Militants kill 6 Pakistani soldiers in a shootout
Updated 05 October 2024
Follow

Militants kill 6 Pakistani soldiers in a shootout

Militants kill 6 Pakistani soldiers in a shootout
  • The troops died in an overnight operation in North Waziristan district on Saturday, according to an army statement
  • It said six militants also were killed

PESHAWAR: Militants killed six Pakistani soldiers in a shootout, the army said Saturday, the latest unrest in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan where armed groups including the Pakistani Taliban are active.
The troops died in an overnight operation in North Waziristan district on Saturday, according to an army statement. It said six militants also were killed.
The army said a separate operation killed two militants in Swat, also in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. One of them was said to be involved in an attack on a convoy of foreign ambassadors in the area earlier this month.
Also Saturday, cellphone services remained suspended in Islamabad as it entered a second day of a lockdown aimed at thwarting rallies in support of ex-leader Imran Khan. He is in prison on multiple charges.
Shipping containers blocked off the city’s entry and exit points, but videos from Khan’s PTI party showed supporters piled into vehicles and attempted to head toward Islamabad.
The chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Ali Amin Gandapur, and others in the convoy worked throughout the night to remove shipping containers from the road, according to the party.
The PTI later said that security forces arrested Gandapur for entering Islamabad in defiance of a ban on rallies. Police and officials did not immediately confirm the arrest.
Clashes broke out between Khan supporters and security forces in D-Chowk, which is close to several key government buildings including Parliament and the Supreme Court.
The PTI also said it planned to hold a rally in Lahore.