International issues

Geneva – Millions of people in Yemen are facing a severe humanitarian crisis, chronic deprivation, malnutrition and violence, the UN reports.

In 2011 the nine nuclear-armed nations will spend an estimated US$105 billion maintaining and modernizing their nuclear weapons, despite the International Court of Justice having declared it illegal to use and threaten to use such weapons.

The USA Africa Command, which America calls ‘Africom’, is a military structure of the Defence Department of America. Africom was formed in 2007 during President George W Bush’s second term of office.

New York – “There is a long way to go before the rights of Afghan women are fully protected,” says a UN report, noting that the government has not yet succeeded in applying a two-year-old landmark law to the vast majority of cases of violence against women.

Reporters Without Borders expresses its grave concern over parliament’s approval yesterday of the first reading of a bill toughening Israel’s libel laws, despite strong objections from Israeli journalists. The bill, provides for a steep rise in the amount of damages payable for articles judged to be defamatory.

Egypt’s military rulers have completely failed to live up to their promises to Egyptians to improve human rights and have instead been responsible for a catalogue of abuses which in some cases exceeds the record of Hosni Mubarak, Amnesty International said in a new report.

Bali – UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon challenged the Asia and Pacific region “to assume global leadership on issues of international concern, including climate change, sustainable development, access to food and energy, human rights and the empowerment of women.”

Paris – The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) will temporarily halt some activities owing to the $65 million budget shortfall resulting from the U.S. decision to withhold its dues.

The four-decade-long bid to liberate the Middle East from all weapons of mass destruction (WMD) starting with nukes, will move next year to Helsinki as Finland surprisingly decided to host an international conference on the establishment of a Middle East nuclear-free zone.

Paris –The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today Octobre 31, 2011 voted to admit Palestine as a full member of the Paris-based agency.

UNESCO’s General Conference, the agency’s highest ruling body, took the decision by a vote of 107 in favour to 14 against, with 52 abstentions, according to a news release.