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At UN, Vanuatu calls for fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty
Vanuatu on Friday became the first nation to launch a diplomatic push for a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty, a proposed legal path to phase out coal, oil and gas globally by likening their threat to nuclear weapons.
In his address to the United Nations General Assembly, President Nikenike Vurobaravu evoked the existential crisis caused by rapid global heating, from hurricanes and coral bleaching to wildfires, prolonged droughts and flooding.
"We call for the development of a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty to phase down coal, oil and gas production in line with 1.5C, and enable a global just transition for every worker, community and nation with fossil fuel dependence," he said. - AFP
Israel no longer 'partner' for peace, Palestinians' Abbas tells UN
Israel is deliberately impeding progress toward a two-state solution and can no longer be considered a reliable partner in the peace process, Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas told the United Nations on Friday.
Israel "is, through its premeditated and deliberate policies, destroying the two-state solution," Abbas said in a spech to the UN General Assembly.
"This proves unequivocally that Israel does not believe in peace," he added. "Therefore, we no longer have an Israeli partner to whom we can talk." - AFP
Sahel violence poses global threat, UN chief warns
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called for creative measures to tackle the problems that are plaguing the Sahel, saying the security crisis in this region poses a global threat.
"If nothing is done, the effects of terrorism, violent extremism and organised crime will be felt far beyond the region and the African continent," Guterres told a high-level meeting on the Sahel yesterday, held on the sidelines of the high-level week of the UN General Assembly.
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'War crimes' committed in Ukraine: UN investigators
UN investigators said Friday that war crimes have been committed in the Ukraine conflict, listing Russian bombings of civilian areas, numerous executions, torture and horrific sexual violence.
Speaking before the UN Human Rights Council, the head of a high-level investigative team listed a long line of serious violations committed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine seven months ago.
Erik Mose, the head of the Commission of Inquiry (COI) set up by the council in March, said the team had seen evidence of numerous executions, many people with their hands tied, and the rape and torture of children. - AFP
Chinese and Ukrainian foreign ministers meet in New York: Chinese foreign ministry
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the Chinese foreign ministry said Friday.
The meeting was the first between the two since the February invasion of Ukraine by Russia -- though they have held two phone calls.
On Friday, the Moscow-held regions of Ukraine are voting on whether to become part of Russia in referendums that Kyiv and its allies have condemned as an unlawful land grab. - AFP
The situation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant remains a cause of grave concern.
— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) September 23, 2022
Any damage to nuclear infrastructure, whether deliberate or not, could have terrible consequences for people around the planet and far beyond.
The world cannot afford a nuclear catastrophe.
Thank you #Switzerland for your unearmarked contribution of $6.M for 2022-23! This generous & flexible support enables effective responses to #humanrights challenges around the world! @swiss_un @SwissMFA pic.twitter.com/75jUm84ZnO
— UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) September 23, 2022
Let's be clear: the security crisis in the Sahel represents a global threat.
— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) September 23, 2022
If nothing is done, the effects of terrorism, violent extremism & organized crime will be felt far beyond the region & the African continent.
An international, urgent & coordinated response is needed.
West African leaders agreed at an emergency summit Thursday to impose gradual sanctions on Guinea's junta over its inflexibility on setting a date to return to civilian rule.
"We have decided to take sanctions against Guinea," Omar Alieu Touray, president of the commission of the Ecowas bloc, told AFP.
The leaders from the Economic Community of West African States -- minus those of Guinea, Mali and Burkina Faso, suspended due to coups - met in New York where they were attending the UN General Assembly. - AFP
On Friday's International Day of Sign Languages, actor & disability advocate @nyledimarco explains how access to education allows everyone to be part of the conversation on global issues. https://t.co/LJjM02zc4h #GlobalGoals pic.twitter.com/Xz04GuPpd0
— United Nations (@UN) September 23, 2022
At UN, Armenia accuses Azerbaijan of 'unspeakable atrocities'
United Nations, United States - Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan used his address before the United Nations on Thursday to accuse Azerbaijan of "unspeakable atrocities" during the latest clashes between the two rivals, including mutilating the bodies of dead soldiers.
Fighting flared up last week between the Caucasus countries, leaving nearly 300 dead in the worst violence since a war in 2020.
"There are evidences of cases of torture, mutilation of captured or already dead servicemen, numerous instances of extra-judicial killings and ill treatment of Armenian prisoners of war, as well as humiliating treatment of the bodies," he told the UN General Assembly.
"The dead bodies of Armenian female military personnel were mutilated, and then proudly video recorded with particular cruelty by the Azerbaijani servicemen."
As Pashinyan spoke, Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, who is set to address the global body this weekend, watched impassively.
Pashinyan went on: "No doubt, committing such unspeakable atrocities is a direct result of a decades-long policy of implanting anti-Armenian hatred and animosity in the Azerbaijani society by the political leadership."
He also accused Azerbaijan of shelling civilian facilities and infrastructure deep inside his country's territory, displacing more than 7,600 people, as well as leaving three civilians dead and two missing.
"This was not a border clash. It was a direct, undeniable attack against the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of Armenia," he said.
The speech comes just days after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged peace between the two sides in a meeting where he hosted both countries' top diplomats.
"Strong, sustainable diplomatic engagement is the best path for everyone," Blinken said.
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, during a visit Sunday to the Armenian capital Yerevan, blamed Baku for "illegal" attacks on Armenia, condemning an "assault on the sovereignty" of the country.
Washington's ties are deepening with Yerevan whose traditional ally Moscow is distracted with its invasion of Ukraine.
Russia has close ties with both former Soviet states. It is obligated to intervene if Armenia is invaded under a security pact, but did not rush to help despite an appeal from Yerevan.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought two wars - in the 1990s and in 2020 - over the contested region of Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian-populated enclave of Azerbaijan.
A six-week war in 2020 claimed the lives of more than 6,500 troops from both sides and ended with a Russian-brokered ceasefire.
Under the deal, Armenia ceded swathes of territory it had controlled for decades, and Moscow deployed about 2,000 Russian peacekeepers to oversee the fragile truce. - AFP