Archive for ‘Middle East’

27/09/2024

Invisible Killer: What Is Antimicrobial Resistance?

Human Wrongs Watch

By Eileen Travers

(UN News)* — Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an invisible killer, which is directly responsible for 1.3 million deaths and a contributing factor to five million other fatalities every year.

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A medical illustration depicts carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae.
© CDC/Dan Higgins/James Archer | A medical illustration depicts carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae.
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Everyone seems to have had a family member or friend who has either gotten seriously ill or died due to acquiring an infection that did not respond to prescribed medicines, and the underlying reason was often antimicrobial resistance.
26/09/2024

Dying for a Cause: Environmental Defenders in the Firing Line

Human Wrongs Watch

BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, Sep 26 2024 (IPS)* – In 2017, South African activist Nonhle Mbuthuma took a stand against the powerful oil giant Shell, halting their plans to explore the pristine Wild Coast.
 
Environmental activist Nonhle Mbuthuma.

Environmental activist Nonhle Mbuthuma.

Despite facing death threats, she refused to back down. As a co-founder of the Amadiba Crisis Committee and a 2024 Goldman Prize winner, Mbuthuma continues to fight for her community’s rights and the environment.

Her bravery reflects the countless risks land and environmental defenders face across the globe.

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26/09/2024

‘Hell Is Breaking Loose in Lebanon’

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* —UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged the Security Council on Wednesday [] “to work in lock-step” to end the escalating violence between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants across the Blue Line in southern Lebanon.

A family takes refuge in an emergency shelter opened by the UN following missile strikes by Israel on Lebanon..
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..© UNRWA | A family takes refuge in an emergency shelter opened by the UN following missile strikes by Israel on Lebanon.
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“Hell is breaking loose in Lebanon” the UN chief warned, noting that the exchanges of fire along the UN-patrolled line of separation “have expanded in scope, depth and intensity.”
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Monday [23 September 2024] saw Lebanon’s bloodiest day in a generation, as Israel continues to bombard largely Hezbollah-controlled territory, doubling down on the devastating electronic device attacks which killed hundreds last week.

26/09/2024

Flooding and Armed Conflict Aggravates Sudan’s Cholera Epidemic

Human Wrongs Watch

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 26 2024 (IPS)* Sudan has been plunged into a deadly cholera outbreak in the midst of the Sudanese Civil War.
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In a Cholera information campaign, 9-year old Eiad demonstrates safe hygiene practices to mitigate the spread of disease. Credit: UNICEF/ Aymen Alfadil

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25/09/2024

UN Charter: the Final Hurdle for Reform of the Security Council

Human Wrongs Watch

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 25 2024 (IPS)* When the founding fathers –regrettably, no mothers—created the United Nations 79 years ago, one of the biggest anomalies was bestowing the power of the veto to the five permanent members (P5) of the UN Security Council (UNSC): the US, UK, France, Russia and the Republic of China (later the People’s Republic of China).
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But a longstanding proposal for the reform of the UNSC has been kicked around the General Assembly hall –and the corridors of the UN– for several decades now.

But it never got off the ground.

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25/09/2024

Lebanon Escalation: Have We Learned Nothing from Gaza? – UN Humanitarian Organizations

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — As Lebanon mourns the victims of a wave of Israeli airstrikes believed to have left hundreds dead, UN humanitarians warned on Tuesday [] against a return to the “dark days of 2006” when full-scale war broke out, calling for an urgent de-escalation and the protection of civilians.

A 5-year-old boy walks through destroyed buildings in Majdal Zoun, southern Lebanon. (file)
© UNICEF/Ibarra Sánchez | A 5-year-old boy walks through destroyed buildings in Majdal Zoun, southern Lebanon. (file)
 
Speaking from Beirut in the aftermath of Lebanon’s “worst day in 18 years”, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) deputy representative in the country, Ettie Higgins, said that unless the violence stopped, the consequences could be “unconscionable”.
25/09/2024

What Is Power in Global Politics and International Relations?

Human Wrongs Watch

By Vladislav B. Sotirovic – TRANSCEND Media Service*

Power is the ability to make people, states, movements, organizations, or things do what they would not otherwise have done. It is a matter of fact that politics is seen to be about might rather than right.

Power in Politics

It can be said that, in essence, politics is power or, in other words, the ability of some international actor to get the desired results of his/her political behavior by using whatever instruments (legal or not, moral or not, etc.).

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25/09/2024

World’s Top 1% Own More Wealth than 95% of Humanity, as “the Shadow of Global Oligarchy Hangs over UN General Assembly – Oxfam

Human Wrongs Watch

By OXFAM International*

23 September 2024The richest 1 percent have more wealth than the bottom 95 percent of the world’s population put together, new Oxfam analysis of UBS data reveals today ahead of the annual UN High-Level General Debate.

A boy sits amid scenes of destruction in Macomia town after it was hit by tropical cyclone Kenneth, which made landfall in Cabo Delgado province in Northern Mozambique, on 25th April 2019. Photo: Tommy Trenchard/Oxfam

Billionaires are exerting new levels of control over economies, with a billionaire either running or the principal shareholder of more than a third of the world’s top 50 corporations. The combined market capitalization of these corporations is $13.3 trillion.

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23/09/2024

Odious Debts: What Can Bangladesh Learn from Ecuador?

Human Wrongs Watch

SYDNEY, NEW YORK, Sep 16 2024 (IPS)** Bangladesh’s White Paper committee will review foreign loan deals signed by the fallen kleptocratic regime.

Anis Chowdhury

We recommend that it identifies and declares the loans or portions of loans that did not benefit the nation as unpayable, because they were siphoned off the country by corrupt politically powerful elites, or worse used to buy deadly weapons and surveillance equipment to oppress people.

Such loans are “odious” – they stink and are detestable.

It is not clear if sufficient courage will be summoned to even include the loans from the international organisations and significant and powerful donor countries.

However, this is vital as nearly 45% of Bangladesh’s debt is owed to multilateral organisations, such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), whereas about 27% of the total loans is from bilateral donor countries, such as Japan and European Union.

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20/09/2024

UN’s Five Major Leaders Skip Key Summit

Human Wrongs Watch

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 19 2024 (IPS)* The United Nations, over the last year, has been relentlessly promoting the upcoming Summit of the Future – scheduled for September 22-23—as a landmark event.

And rightly so.

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But, surprisingly, the provisional list of speakers, released early this week, reflects notable absentees for a high-level summit– the five permanent members (P5) of the Security Council — whose representatives do not include any head of state (HS) or head of government (HG).

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