Archive for April 9th, 2024

09/04/2024

Security Council Urged to ‘End the Bloodshed’ in Gaza

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — The President of the UN General Assembly appealed on Monday [8 April 2024] for “all those with leverage” to use their power to bring an end to the six-month-long war in Gaza.

© WHO | A group of children get together in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza strip.

Dennis Francis convened the UN’s most representative body, comprising all 193 Member States, following the Security Council’s failure to adopt a resolution put forward by the United States last month.  

The debate was triggered by a 2022 Assembly resolution that calls for a meeting to be held within 10 working days whenever a veto is cast in the Council. 

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09/04/2024

Developing Countries’ Government Debt Crises Loom Larger

Human Wrongs Watch

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ACCRA, Ghana, Apr 3 2024 (IPS)* Developing countries are being blamed for having borrowed and spent irresponsibly. But they have only been doing what foreign powers and financial interests have urged them to do.

Ndongo Samba Sylla

Since the 2008 global financial crisis, developing nations have been told to borrow massively from private finance, even at exorbitant interest rates, to scale funding up ‘from billions to trillions’.

With progress towards sustainable development often in reverse, servicing external debt now blocks progress. Many governments have cut back spending in line with conditions or advice from powerful foreign economic agencies.

Current account tales
Many still believe all national economies should have trade or current account surpluses with others – typically citing Germany’s and Japan’s post-war booms. But of course, not all countries can have surpluses simultaneously.

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