17 October 2018 – A group of United Nations agencies has issued a joint statement calling for a ban on tests meant to assess the virginity of a girl or a woman, which is a common practice in at least 20 countries.
18/10/2018
World’s Population Set to Grow by 2.2 Billion Between Now and 2050; More than Half of that Growth -1.3 Billion- Likely to Be in Sub-Saharan Africa
Human Wrongs Watch
The world’s population is set to grow by 2.2 billion between now and 2050, the UN said on 17 October 2018, and more than half of that growth – 1.3 billion – is likely to be in sub-Saharan Africa, where women’s rights are hampered by limited access to healthcare and education, along with “entrenched gender discrimination”.
18/10/2018
World ‘Deserves to Know the Truth’ behind Kashoggi Disappearance – UN Human Rights Chief
United Nations human rights chief Michele Bachelet said on 17 October 2018 that she was open to an independent, UN-led investigation into the fate of Saudi journalist Jamal Kashoggi, if joint efforts by Turkey and Saudi Arabia, fail to uncover the facts.
UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferre | Michelle Bachelet
The High Commissioner who heads OHCHR, reiterated her call earlier in the week, for diplomatic immunity to be waived to ensure the joint investigation is effective, impartial and transparent.
Mr. Khashoggi, an influential Saudi journalist and critic, who has been living in exile in the United States in recent months and writing a column for the Washington Post newspaper, had gone to the Saudi Consulate in the Turkish city of Istanbul, on 2 October, to obtain marriage papers.
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18/10/2018
“We, The Peoples…”
By Federico Mayor Zaragoza*
Adopting a Universal Declaration on Democracy to enter into a new era in the proper way.
Federico Mayor Zaragoza
17 October 2018 (Other News)* – In San Francisco in 1945, at the end of the Second World War, United Nations was founded under the American leadership of President Roosevelt, with a Chart beginning with the following words:
“We the peoples are determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war”.
Today more than ever it is important to bear in mind that it is humanity as a whole that should be taken into account… Governments should come in second place, after the people…
Universal principles and values are often not complied with in the daily life of our “Global Village”.
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17/10/2018
Overseas Investment Falling, Developing Countries Largely Unscathed – UN Trade Agency
Human Wrongs Watch
Foreign direct investment (FDI) has dropped 40 per cent year-on-year so far, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said on 15 October 2018, but the $470 million decline is happening mainly in wealthy, industrialized nations, especially in North America and Western Europe.
17/10/2018
Food Costs Should Cause ‘Shock and Outrage’ as Countries in Conflict See Spiralling Prices
17/10/2018
The Importance of Alternative Media
Human Wrongs Watch
By John Scales Avery – TRANSCEND Media Service*
John Scales Avery
The Superficiality of Today’s Television
Social critic Neil Postman contrasted the futures predicted in Nineteen Eighty-Four and Brave New World in the foreword of his 1985 book, Amusing Ourselves to Death. He wrote:
“What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egotism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance.”
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17/10/2018
The Struggle over Natural Resources – ‘In Africa, 75 Per Cent of Wars Since 1990 Have Been Partially Funded by Resources Such as Diamonds and Valuable Minerals’
Human Wrongs Watch
Conflict diamonds and climate change: Cooperate, don’t compete over natural resources urges Guterres.
The struggle over natural resources often lies at the heart of violent conflicts, fuelling strife in many parts of the world, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said on 16 October 2018, urging governments and everyone with a stake in valuable resources, to think hard about how they are managed and exploited.
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16/10/2018
Business ‘Dragging Its Feet’ on Human Rights Worldwide – UN Experts Report
Human Wrongs Watch
Too many businesses are putting profit above human rights and “ignoring” their obligations, while governments fail to “regulate and lead by example”, according to a United Nations human rights report, published on 16 October 2018.
In the report drawn up by a group of UN rights experts, companies are being urged to comply with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights , which provides a framework for how States and investors, should address shortcomings in board rooms and business practice at all levels.
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16/10/2018
Top UN Human Rights Official Urges Transparent Probe into Khashoggi Disappearance
Human Wrongs Watch
16 October 2018 – The top United Nations human rights official has called on Saudi Arabia and Turkey to “reveal everything they know” about the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi.
