Top UN officials rally support for summit as uncertainty mounts

Top UN officials rally support for summit as uncertainty mounts
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres delivered a speech on Saturday ahead of the Summit of the Future. (File/AFP)
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Updated 22 September 2024
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Top UN officials rally support for summit as uncertainty mounts

Top UN officials rally support for summit as uncertainty mounts
  • Secretary-general calls for Security Council reform in speech ahead of Summit of the Future
  • Event seeks to revive trust in multilateralism amid growing criticism of UN

NEW YORK CITY: Top UN officials have called on member states to take renewed action on global issues ahead of the Summit of the Future, which aims to revive trust in multilaterism and counter growing criticism of the international organization.

The summit takes place on Sept. 22-23 during the 79th UN General Assembly, which began earlier this month.

It also aims to galvanize support for the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, which were launched in 2015.

A “Pact for the Future,” negotiated and agreed upon by member states, will be declared at the end of the summit.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres delivered a speech on Saturday ahead of the summit. “Four years ago, we began the process that brings us here today because we saw a world in trouble: torn apart by conflict and inequalities, threatened by climate chaos and unregulated technologies, the Sustainable Development Goals in peril — with many countries now mired in disastrous debt and a cost-of-living crisis,” he said.

“We saw our multilateral institutions ailing, unable to respond to contemporary challenges, let alone those of tomorrow.

“We saw faith in multilateral solutions eroding, and we saw trust in each other dissipating just when we needed it most. So we began a journey to reform.”

Through the summit, Guterres is seeking the support of world leaders in delivering the “Pact for the Future,” which covers emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, and longstanding issues such as climate change.

But critics have argued that the pact has been watered down amid a gridlock in negotiations, and that the summit may join a list of long-forgotten UN campaigns.

The UN itself has faced growing criticism over its inefficacy in confronting global challenges.

Its longstanding bureaucracy and Security Council format have also come under fire, particularly amid the Russia-Ukraine and Gaza wars.

In his speech, Guterres pointed to sectors of society outside of government that could hold the key to change.

“The world belongs to us all. People want a say in the decisions that affect them,” he said. “And while governments have primary responsibility, we will not solve today’s global problems without contributions from all of society: from civil society and young people delivering change, promoting accountability, demanding better, standing up for truth and justice, and using new technologies to organize for a better world; from business and finance — critical to combating the climate crisis and shaping our digital future for the benefit of all; and from scientists, innovators and academics pushing the boundaries of our knowledge and developing solutions to the great challenges we face — from hunger and disease to online hate.”

Guterres conceded to criticism of the UN, calling for reform of the “outdated” Security Council format.

International financial institutions, which have a controversial track record in the Global South, were another target of Guterres, who called for “supercharging resources for sustainable development and climate action.”

UNGA President Philemon Yang supported Guterres in a letter on Friday. The former Cameroonian prime minister said his preliminary meetings with heads of state led to an “overwhelming message of support” for the summit’s goals.

“Over the past three years, we have all rallied around the promise of the Summit of the Future as an opportunity for the international community to forge a new global consensus that will actively seek to transform and scale-up existing commitments for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals,” he added. “The Pact of the Future meets this promise.”


Philippines summons Chinese envoy over sanctions against former senator

Philippines summons Chinese envoy over sanctions against former senator
Updated 10 sec ago
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Philippines summons Chinese envoy over sanctions against former senator

Philippines summons Chinese envoy over sanctions against former senator
  • Francisco Tolentino was banned from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau over ‘egregious conduct’ detrimental to relations between Manila and Beijing
  • He lost his bid for a second term in the Philippines’ midterm elections in May
MANILA: The Philippines’ foreign ministry has summoned China’s ambassador to Manila over Beijing’s imposition of sanctions against former senator Francis Tolentino, the president’s office said on Tuesday.
Tolentino, who lost his bid for a second term in the Philippines’ midterm elections in May, was banned from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau over “egregious conduct” detrimental to relations between Manila and Beijing.
Tolentino helped in approving laws last year that defined the country’s sea lanes and maritime zones, which China opposed. He also accused the Chinese embassy of contracting a firm that maintains troll farms to sow disinformation.
“The imposition of punitive measures ... is inconsistent with the norms of mutual respect and dialogue that underpin relations between two equal sovereign states,” presidential press officer Claire Castro told a briefing.
Manila’s foreign ministry said it summoned Chinese ambassador Huang Xilian on Friday. China’s embassy in Manila said in a statement the ambassador notified the Philippines’ foreign ministry of China’s decision to impose sanctions on Tolentino.
“It should be noted that such sanctions fall purely within China’s legal prerogative, and there are consequences for hurting China’s interests,” the embassy said.
The Chinese foreign ministry has previously accused some Filipino politicians of making “malicious remarks and moves” that hurt ties between the two nations.
Relations between China and the Philippines have soured under President Ferdinand Marcos over a longstanding dispute in the South China Sea.
In 2016, an international tribunal ruled Beijing’s sweeping claims to the waterway had no basis in international law. China has rejected the decision. Several other countries in Southeast Asia also claim parts of the South China Sea.

Russia main election monitor closes amid crackdown

Russia main election monitor closes amid crackdown
Updated 34 min 6 sec ago
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Russia main election monitor closes amid crackdown

Russia main election monitor closes amid crackdown
  • Golos said it had “no choice” but to end its activity after the sentencing of its co chair, Grigory Melkonyants, as it put its participants “at risk”

MOSCOW: Russia’s main independent voting observer Golos, which monitored the country’s increasingly tightly-controlled elections for 25 years, announced its closure on Tuesday, two months after its co-chair was jailed.

Golos — which means “voice” in Russian — had for years meticulously recorded voting fraud across the huge country as elections under President Vladimir Putin’s long rule turned into a ritual with little real choice.

Putin faced no real competition at the last presidential election in 2024 and a domestic crackdown accompanying Moscow’s Ukraine offensive has made voicing different views dangerous.

“Justice, alas, does not always win — it must be fought for. And there is always the risk of losing. This is how it turned out this time,” Golos said in an online statement, adding: “Goodbye.”

The group’s co-chair Grigory Melkonyants, Russia’s most respected independent election observer, was sentenced to five years in prison in May as part of the Kremlin’s sweeping crackdown.

Golos said it had “no choice” but to end its activity after the sentencing as it put its participants “at risk.”

Melkonyants, 44, was found guilty of working with a European election monitoring association outlawed as an “undesirable organization” in Russia — which Golos has repeatedly denied.

Golos has described itself as an “all Russian social movement in defense of voters’ rights.”

It had observers across Russia’s regions and had for years published online reports and maps of violations during elections and had a hotline to report voting fraud.

It said Tuesday it had shut down its regional offices.

International observers have for years reported widespread voter intimidation, ballot stuffing and other election fraud in Russia.


Suspect in shooting of Slovakia’s populist leader Fico stands trial on terror charges

Suspect in shooting of Slovakia’s populist leader Fico stands trial on terror charges
Updated 55 min 37 sec ago
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Suspect in shooting of Slovakia’s populist leader Fico stands trial on terror charges

Suspect in shooting of Slovakia’s populist leader Fico stands trial on terror charges
  • Slovakia’s populist Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot in the abdomen and was transported to a hospital in nearby Banská Bystrica

BRATISLAVA: A man went on trial Tuesday over last year’s attempted assassination of Slovakia’s populist Prime Minister Robert Fico.

Juraj Cintula, appearing in court in the central city of Banská Bystrica, has been indicted on terror charges.

“Long live democracy, long live free culture,” Cintula shouted as he arrived at the Specialized Criminal Court.

The 72-year-old is accused of opening fire on Fico on May 15, 2024, as the prime minister greeted supporters following a government meeting in the town of Handlová, located 140 kilometers (85 miles) northeast of the capital.

Cintula was immediately arrested and was ordered by a court to remain behind bars. If convicted, he faces life imprisonment.

Fico was shot in the abdomen and was transported to a hospital in nearby Banská Bystrica. He underwent a five-hour surgery, followed by another two-hour surgery two days later. He has since recovered.

Cintula originally was charged with attempted murder. Prosecutors later dropped that charge and said they were instead pursuing the more serious charge of engaging in a terror attack, based on evidence the investigators obtained, but they gave no further details.

Government officials initially said that they believed it was a politically motivated attack committed by a “lone wolf,” but announced later that a third party might have been involved in “acting for the benefit of the perpetrator.”

Fico previously said he “had no reason to believe” that it was an attack by a lone deranged person and repeatedly blamed the liberal opposition and media for the assassination attempt.

Fico has long been a divisive figure in Slovakia and beyond. He returned to power for the fourth time after his leftist Smer, or Direction, party won the 2023 parliamentary election after campaigning on a pro-Russia and anti-American message.

His critics have charged that Slovakia under Fico has abandoned its pro-Western course and is following the direction of Hungary under Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

Thousands have repeatedly rallied in the capital and across Slovakia to protest Fico’s pro-Russian stance and other policies.


China says US is in ‘no position’ to point fingers over Tibet issues

China says US is in ‘no position’ to point fingers over Tibet issues
Updated 08 July 2025
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China says US is in ‘no position’ to point fingers over Tibet issues

China says US is in ‘no position’ to point fingers over Tibet issues
  • The Dalai Lama is accused of engaging in anti-China separatist activities

BEIJING: China’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that the United States was in “no position” to point fingers at the country on Tibet-related issues, urging Washington to fully recognize the “sensitivity” of the issues.

Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning made the remarks when asked to comment on US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s statement on the Dalai Lama’s birthday.

Mao said at a regular press conference that the Dalai Lama “is a political exile who is engaged in anti-China separatist activities under the cloak of religion,” and has “no right” to represent the Tibetan people.


In Hiroshima, search for remains keeps war alive for lone volunteer

In Hiroshima, search for remains keeps war alive for lone volunteer
Updated 08 July 2025
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In Hiroshima, search for remains keeps war alive for lone volunteer

In Hiroshima, search for remains keeps war alive for lone volunteer
  • Volunteers still descend on Okinawa from all over Japan for excavations
  • While many remains were unearthed in the decades following the war, witness accounts suggested there were more burial grounds

NINOSHIMA: Dozens of times a year, Rebun Kayo takes a ferry to a small island across from the port of Hiroshima in search of the remains of those killed by the atomic bomb 80 years ago.

For the 47-year-old researcher, unearthing even the tiniest fragments on Ninoshima Island is a sobering reminder that the war is a reality that persists — buried, forgotten and unresolved.

“When we die, we are interred in places like temples or churches and bid farewell in a ceremony. That’s the dignified way of being sent off,” said Kayo, a researcher at Hiroshima University’s Center for Peace who spends his own time and money on the solo excavations.

After the United States dropped the atomic bomb over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, instantly killing about 78,000 people and injuring far more, Ninoshima, about 4 km (2.5 miles) from the hypocenter, became a field hospital. Within weeks, some 10,000 victims, both dead and alive, were ferried across the water. Many perished soon after, and when cremations could not keep up, people were buried in mass graves.

While many remains were unearthed in the decades following the war, witness accounts suggested there were more burial grounds. The son of a resident informed Kayo about one area on the island’s northwestern coast in 2014 and from there, he saved up funds and began digging four years later.

NO CLOSURE

In searing heat last weekend, Kayo cut through overgrown brush to return to the spot where he had left off three weeks before. After an hour and a half of digging, he carefully picked out two thumbnail-sized bone fragments from the dirt — additions to the roughly 100 he has unearthed so far.

Every discovery brings home to him the cruelty of war. The pain was never as raw as when Kayo found pieces of a young child’s jaw and tooth earlier this year, he said.

“That hit me really hard,” he said, his white, long-sleeve shirt soaked through with sweat. “That child was killed by the bomb, knowing nothing about the world ... I couldn’t come to terms with it for a while, and that feeling still lingers.”

One day, he plans to take all the fragments to a Buddhist temple, where they can be enshrined.

Kayo’s drive for repeating the gruelling task year after year is partly personal.

Born in Okinawa, where some of the bloodiest battles during World War Two were fought, Kayo himself has three relatives whose remains were never found.

Volunteers still descend on Okinawa from all over Japan for excavations, and because the poison ivy in the forests there is prohibitive for him, Kayo returns the favor on Ninoshima instead.

As long as traces of the dead keep turning up, the war’s proximity is palpable for Kayo.

“People today who don’t know about the war focus only on the recovery, and they move the conversation forward while forgetting about these people here,” he said.

“And in the end, you’ll have people saying, ‘even if you drop an atomic bomb, you can recover’ ... There will always be people who try to justify it in a way that suits them.”