War in Gaza to top UNGA agenda as 79th session begins on Sept. 24

Palestinians check the grounds of a school after an Israeli air strike hit the site, in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip on September 11, 2024, amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
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Updated 12 September 2024
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War in Gaza to top UNGA agenda as 79th session begins on Sept. 24

  • 87 heads of state, three VPs, two crown princes, 45 heads of government, eight deputy heads of government, 45 ministers currently due to address
  • One of the longest speeches made during General Assembly was by Cuban leader Fidel Castro in 1960 who spoke for about four and a half hours

UNITED NATIONS: Every September world leaders travel to New York to address the start of the annual United Nations General Assembly session.
The six days of speeches to mark the beginning of the 79th session will start on Sept. 24.
WHO SPEAKS WHEN?
When the United Nations was formed in 1945 following World War Two, there were originally 51 members. That has since grown to 193 members. Leaders of two non-member observer states — known at the UN as the Holy See and the State of Palestine — and an observer member, the European Union, can also speak.
It is tradition for Brazil to always be the first member state to speak. This is because in the early years of the world body Brazil stepped up to speak first when other countries were reluctant to do so, say UN officials.
As host to the UN headquarters in New York, the United States is the second country to address the General Assembly.
From there the list is then based on hierarchy and generally a first come, first served basis. Heads of state speak first, followed by deputy heads of state and crown princes, heads of government, ministers, and lower-ranked heads of a delegation.
This year some 87 heads of state, three vice presidents, two crown princes, 45 heads of government, eight deputy heads of government, 45 ministers, and four lower-ranked heads of a delegation are currently due to address the General Assembly.
Last year fewer than 12 percent of those to stand at the lectern were women.
HOW LONG WILL THEY SPEAK?
Leaders are asked to stick to a voluntary 15-minute time limit.
According to UN records, one of the longest speeches made during the opening of a General Assembly was by Cuban leader Fidel Castro in 1960 — he spoke for about four and a half hours. More recently, Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi spoke for more than one and a half hours in 2009.




UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses the 78th United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York City on September 19, 2023. (Photo courtesy: UN/File)

WHAT WILL THEY TALK ABOUT?
Each high-level gathering to mark the start of the annual General Assembly session has a theme, which leaders tend to briefly reference before moving on to talking about whatever they want.
This year’s theme is: “Leaving no one behind: acting together for the advancement of peace, sustainable development and human dignity for present and future generations.”
Some other topics likely to be spoken about by leaders include:
THE WAR IN GAZA
With the civilian death toll in Gaza ballooning to more than 41,000 people according to local health officials and the humanitarian situation deteriorating, many leaders are expected to call for a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas.
The conflict started nearly a year ago with the deadly Hamas attack on civilians in Israel on Oct. 7 — two weeks after world leaders had finished meeting at the last UN General Assembly.
After Israel began retaliating against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the General Assembly on Oct. 27 called for an immediate humanitarian truce. It then overwhelming demanded an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in December.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — who has long accused the UN of being anti-Israel — and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas are both scheduled to address the General Assembly on Sept. 26.




A military jeep patrols the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Israel, September 11, 2024. (REUTERS)

UKRAINE
Many world leaders are likely to call for an end to Russia’s roughly two-and-a-half year war in Ukraine.
The General Assembly adopted six resolutions on the conflict in the first year — denouncing Moscow and demanding it withdraw all its troops. A resolution in October 2022 — condemning Russia’s “attempted illegal annexation” of four regions in Ukraine — won the greatest support with 143 states voting yes.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is due to address the General Assembly on Sept. 25.
While Russian President Vladimir Putin virtually addressed the General Assembly in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, he has not physically traveled to New York for the event since 2015. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is instead due to speak to the General Assembly on Sept. 28.
CLIMATE
As the world struggles to hold global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, leaders of smaller island nations and other states most affected by climate changes are likely to use their speeches at the General Assembly to again make impassioned pleas for action.




Residents wade through the flooded waters outside their homes following heavy rains in Charsadda district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on April 17, 2024. (AFP/File)

UN SECURITY COUNCIL REFORM
Many world leaders — particularly from Africa and key powers including Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan — are likely to call for reform of the 15-member UN Security Council, which is charged with maintaining international peace and security.
It is an issue that has long been discussed by the General Assembly, but has gathered steam in recent years after Russia invaded Ukraine and then used its Security Council veto to block any action by the body. The United States has also long been criticized for shielding its ally Israel from council action.
Reform ideas include expanding the council’s membership — through adding more permanent veto powers or short-term elected members — to better reflect the world and limiting the veto, currently held by the US, Russia, China, Britain and France.
Any changes to the Security Council membership is done by amending the founding UN Charter. This needs the approval and ratification by two-thirds of the General Assembly, including the Security Council’s current five veto powers.
SUMMIT OF THE FUTURE
Before the leaders begin addressing the General Assembly, a two-day Summit of the Future will be held on Sept. 22-23. UN member states are currently negotiating three documents they hope to adopt on Sept. 22 — a pact for the future, a declaration on future generations and a global digital compact.
Speaking to Reuters on Wednesday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said it was “absolutely essential” to ambitiously use the summit to come up with “adequate governance for the world of today.”
He argued for reform of the 15-member UN Security Council, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund and for global governance of artificial intelligence and other emerging challenges.
 


Father accused of Sara Sharif’s murder confessed to UK police, jurors told

Sara Sharif was found dead in August 2023 at her home in Woking, a town southwest of London. (File/Surrey Police)
Updated 10 sec ago
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Father accused of Sara Sharif’s murder confessed to UK police, jurors told

  • Sharif was found dead in August 2023 at her home in Woking, after what prosecutors say was a campaign of “serious and repeated violence”

LONDON: The father of Sara Sharif, a 10-year-old girl who was found dead in her home in Britain, told police “I beat her up too much,” prosecutors said at his murder trial on Monday.
Sharif was found dead in August 2023 at her home in Woking, a town southwest of London, after what prosecutors say was a campaign of “serious and repeated violence.”
Her father Urfan Sharif, 42, his wife and Sara Sharif’s stepmother Beinash Batool, 30, and the girl’s uncle Faisal Malik, 29, are on trial at London’s Old Bailey court charged with her murder.
The trio are alternatively charged with causing or allowing the death of a child. All three deny the charges against them and blame each other for her death, prosecutors say.
Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones told jurors on the first day of the trial on Monday that Urfan Sharif called British police, having fled to Pakistan after Sara Sharif’s death.
“He used what you may think is an odd expression,” Emlyn Jones said. “He said: ‘I legally punished her and she died’.”
Emlyn Jones said that Urfan Sharif also told police: “I beat her up. It wasn’t my intention to kill her, but I beat her up too much.”
The prosecutor said a note in Urfan Sharif’s handwriting was also found next to his daughter’s body, which read: “I swear to God that my intention was not to kill her. But I lost it.”
Emlyn Jones told the jury that each of Urfan Sharif, Batool and Malik “played their part in the violence and mistreatment which resulted in Sara’s death.”
The three defendants all deny responsibility for any of violence and abuse and each “seeks to deflect the blame onto one or both of the others,” Emlyn Jones said.
Urfan Sharif blames his wife Batool, Emlyn Jones said, and his apparent confessions to the police were designed to “protect the true guilty party.”
The prosecutor added that Batool’s case is that Urfan Sharif was a “violent disciplinarian” and that she was scared of him, while Malik says he was unaware of any abuse or violence.
The trial is expected to run until December.


India accuses Canada of ‘deliberate’ smear campaign in latest diplomatic row

Updated 1 min 16 sec ago
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India accuses Canada of ‘deliberate’ smear campaign in latest diplomatic row

  • Last year’s murder of a Sikh separatist activist in Surrey is at the center of diplomatic row
  • India ‘reserves the right to take further steps’ after latest allegations, foreign ministry says

NEW DELHI: India said on Monday that the Canadian government was deliberately smearing New Delhi for political gain, after being told by Canada that its envoy and other diplomats in Ottawa were named ‘persons of interest’ in an investigation.

India and Canada have been under diplomatic strain since last September, after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his country was investigating “credible allegations” that agents of the Indian government were involved in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen of Indian descent who was shot dead by masked gunmen in Surrey, British Columbia.

The Indian government rejected the allegation as “absurd” then, and the two countries expelled their senior diplomats in reciprocal moves. India also moved to suspend visa services for Canadian citizens, which have since been restored.

After over a year, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said the government received diplomatic communication from Canada on Sunday “suggesting that the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats were ‘persons of interest’”in an ongoing investigation.

“The Government of India strongly rejects these preposterous imputations and ascribes them to the political agenda of the Trudeau Government that is centered around vote bank politics,” the ministry said in a statement issued on Monday.

“This latest step follows interactions that have again witnessed assertions without any facts. This leaves little doubt that on the pretext of an investigation, there is a deliberate strategy of smearing India for political gains.”

The Canadian government “has not shared a shred of evidence” with New Delhi since their allegations last year, it added.

At the center of the Canadian investigation is Nijjar, who was an outspoken supporter of the Khalistan movement, which calls for a separate Sikh homeland in parts of India’s Punjab state.

The movement is outlawed in India and considered a national security threat by the government, which formally designated Nijjar as a terrorist.

He was shot dead last June outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, which has a significant number of Sikh residents.

Canada is home to the world’s largest Sikh community outside India — about 770,000 people, or 2 percent of its entire population.

The Indian government said Trudeau has long been hostile to India, adding that his government “has consciously provided space to violent extremists and terrorists to harass, threaten and intimidate” Indian diplomats and community leaders in Canada.

“India now reserves the right to take further steps in response to these latest efforts of the Canadian Government to concoct allegations against Indian diplomats,” the Foreign Ministry said.


Spanish PM says ‘no withdrawal’ of UN force from Lebanon

Updated 30 min 22 sec ago
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Spanish PM says ‘no withdrawal’ of UN force from Lebanon

  • Spain condemns Netanyahu’s call for the force to pull back
  • Sanchez affirmed his commitment to a UN Security Council resolution that bolstered the force’s role in 2006

MADRID: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Monday said there would be “no withdrawal” of the UN peacekeeping force from southern Lebanon after Israeli attacks and calls to leave.
Israel’s offensive against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia has thrust the UNIFIL force deployed in Lebanon since 1978 into the spotlight.
The force, which involves about 9,500 troops from some 50 nations led by a Spanish general, has reported multiple Israeli attacks in recent days that injured five of its troops and sparked international condemnation.
On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on them to withdraw for their own safety and said their presence had “the effect of providing Hezbollah terrorists with human shields.”
Spain condemns Netanyahu’s call for the force to pull back and “there will be no withdrawal of UNIFIL,” Sanchez told a forum in Barcelona.
Sanchez affirmed his commitment to a UN Security Council resolution that bolstered the force’s role in 2006 following the last major conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which stipulated that only the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers should be deployed in south Lebanon.
That commitment “makes more sense today than ever after seeing what is happening on the ground,” Sanchez said.
Sanchez has been one of the most strident critics of the Netanyahu government’s war in Gaza, which was sparked by last year’s unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel.
The war has drawn in Iran-backed groups from across the region including Hezbollah, with Israel last month escalating its cross-border fire with the group and launching a ground offensive in southern Lebanon.


EU sanctions Iran over ballistic missiles for Russia

Updated 14 October 2024
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EU sanctions Iran over ballistic missiles for Russia

  • European Union foreign ministers approved the sanctions on seven entities

BRUSSELS: The EU imposed sanctions on Monday on prominent Iranian officials and entities, including airlines, accused of taking part in the transfer of missiles and drones for Russia to use against Ukraine.
European Union foreign ministers approved the sanctions on seven entities, including Iran Air, and seven individuals, including deputy defense minister Seyed Hamzeh Ghalandari and senior officials of the Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force, the bloc said.
Leading European powers Britain, France and Germany adopted similar sanctions last month over Iranian missile transfers to Russia, as did the United States.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the adoption of the sanctions by the entire bloc, while adding: “More is needed.”
“The Iranian regime’s support to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine is unacceptable and must stop,” she posted on X.
Two other Iranian airlines, Saha Airlines and Mahan Air, were hit under the EU measures, along with two procurement firms blamed for the “transfer and supply, through transnational procurement networks, of Iran-made UAVs and related components and technologies to Russia.”
The sanctions also target two companies involved in the production of propellant used to launch rockets and missiles.
Those targeted are subject to an asset freeze and banned from traveling to the European Union.
Iran rejects Western accusations it has transferred missiles to Russia for use in Ukraine.
According to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, dozens of Russian military personnel have received training in Iran on using the Fath-360 missile, which has a range of 120 kilometers (75 miles).


UN refugee chief urges states to drop border controls as displacement crises worsen

Updated 58 min 59 sec ago
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UN refugee chief urges states to drop border controls as displacement crises worsen

  • More than 123 million people displaced around the world
  • Continued air strikes set to worsen Lebanon displacement
  • Calls for drastic increase in support for Sudanese refugees

GENEVA: The head of the UN refugee agency warned on Monday that displacement crises in Lebanon and Sudan could worsen, but said tighter border measures were not the solution, calling them ineffective and sometimes unlawful.
Addressing more than 100 diplomats and ministers in Geneva at UNHCR’s annual meeting, Filippo Grandi said an unprecedented 123 million people are now displaced around the world by conflicts, persecution, poverty and climate change.
“You might then ask: what can be done? For a start, do not focus only on your borders,” he said, urging leaders instead to look at the reasons people are fleeing their homes.
“We must seek to address the root causes of displacement, and work toward solutions,” he said. “I beg you all that we continue to work — together and with humility — to seize every opportunity to find solutions for refugees.”
Without naming countries, Grandi said initiatives to outsource, externalize or even suspend asylum schemes were in breach of international law, and he offered countries help in finding fair, fast and lawful asylum schemes.
Western governments are under growing domestic pressure to get tougher on asylum seekers and Grandi has previously criticized a plan by the former British government to transfer them to Rwanda.
In the same speech he warned that in Lebanon, where more than one million people have fled their homes due to a growing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, the situation could worsen further.
“Surely, if airstrikes continue, many more will be displaced and some will also decide to move on to other countries.”
He called for a drastic increase in support for refugees in Sudan’s civil war, saying lack of resources was already driving them across the Mediterranean Sea and even across the Channel to Britain.
“In this lethal equation, something has got to give. Otherwise, nobody should be surprised if displacement keeps growing, in numbers but also in geographic spread,” he said.
The UNHCR response to the crisis that aims to help a portion of the more than 11 million people displaced inside Sudan or in neighboring countries is less than 1/3 funded, Grandi said.
The number of displaced people around the world has more than doubled in the past decade.
Grandi, set to serve as high commissioner until Dec. 2025, said the agency’s funding for this year had recently improved due to US support but remained “well below the needs.”