UNITED NATIONS: The United States has formally requested a United Nations Security Council vote on Monday to impose tough new sanctions against North Korea despite resistance from China and Russia.
Washington has presented a draft UN resolution calling for an oil embargo on North Korea, an assets freeze on Kim Jong-Un, a ban on textiles and an end to payments of North Korean guest workers.
Diplomatic sources said Russia and China opposed the measures as a whole, except for the ban of textiles, during a meeting of experts Friday.
“This evening, the United States informed the UN Security Council that it intends to call a meeting to vote on a draft resolution to establish additional sanctions on North Korea on Monday, September 11,” a statement from the US mission to the UN read.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier said it was too early to talk about a vote at the Security Council on new North Korea sanctions, insisting any pressure should be balanced against restarting talks.
“Along with pressure on the North Korean regime to induce it to abandon provocations in the implementation of its nuclear and missile programs, it is necessary to emphasize and increase the priority of efforts to resume the political process,” Lavrov said.
The United States wants tough sanctions to be imposed to maximize pressure on Pyongyang to come to the table and negotiate an end to its nuclear and missile tests.
The proposed raft of sanctions would be the toughest-ever imposed on North Korea and seek to punish Pyongyang for its sixth and largest nuclear test.
Britain has given early backing to the measure.
US formally requests UN sanctions vote on North Korea
US formally requests UN sanctions vote on North Korea
Reform UK London mayoral candidate criticized over burqa stop-and-search remarks
- Laila Cunningham claimed parts of British capital felt culturally different due to the visibility of Muslim communities
LONDON: The newly announced London mayoral candidate for the right-wing British party Reform UK faced criticism on Friday following comments suggesting women wearing the burqa should be subject to police stop-and-search, The Guardian newspaper reported.
Speaking on a podcast, Laila Cunningham said that in an “open society” people should not cover their faces, adding that it “has to be assumed” those who do so are doing it “for a criminal reason.”
She also argued that London should have “one civic culture” which “should be British,” claiming parts of the British capital felt culturally different due to the visibility of Muslim communities.
The remarks prompted concern from Muslim organizations, with Shaista Gohir, chief executive of the Muslim Women’s Network UK, describing the comments as “dangerous” and a “dog whistle” that could further alienate Muslim women.
She warned they risked emboldening abuse, adding: “The number of Muslim women who wear the burqa in this country is tiny, and yet this is what has been chosen as a focus.”
Gohir said her organisation had recently seen a rise in threatening and Islamophobic correspondence, arguing that Cunningham’s comments were “sending a message to Muslims that they do not belong.”
Afzal Khan, a Labour MP based in Manchester, called Cunningham’s comments a “deliberate and cynical ploy”, adding it was “about divisive ideas being pumped into the society deliberately for electoral benefits.”
London Mayor Sadiq Khan also criticized attempts to stoke division, saying that the role of mayor was to bring communities together.
“Almost without argument, our city is the greatest city in the world because of our diversity,” he said, adding that freedom of religion and expression were “quintessentially British rights.”
Cunningham, a former Crown Prosecution Service prosecutor and British-born Muslim, was confirmed as Reform UK’s London mayoral candidate last week.
The issue of face coverings has previously sparked internal debate within Reform, with senior figures having distanced the party from earlier calls for a burqa ban.
