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Photo: Snapshot of Hamid Karzai's Interview with NTV Russia. Courtesy: Office of Hamid Karzai.

Karzai Blames U.S., Pakistan For Afghanistan Chaos

By Kalinga Seneviratne

BONN (IDN) – Former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has blamed the United States and Pakistan for the chaos created in his country over the past two decades. He firmly believes that the West, including Germany, should admit to their failures in his war-torn country.

He followed up on this argument, initially advanced in a keynote address to the Global Media Forum on June 12, 2018, in a panel discussion and an interview with Forum host, the German public international broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW).

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 13 June 2018

Two New Books Underline The Light Obama Was

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Politics is a fickle beast. Barack Obama won more votes among blue-collar workers than did his opponent, Senator John McCain. But it was those very blue-collar workers who tipped the scales in Donald Trump’s victory. They weren’t racists or they wouldn’t have voted for Obama in the first place.

But in voting for Trump they voted against their economic interest. Trump hasn’t and won’t help the health of the poorer, nor improve income inequality, nor in the long run give them jobs that now have migrated to China, India and Europe. What he did give these voters was a sense of pride in being American, as Obama did, but Hilary Clinton couldn’t.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 12 June 2018

Photo: Ramon Esono Ebale María. Credit: ED Justice

Campaign Frees Famous Cartoonist In Equatorial Guinea Prison

By Lisa Vives

Global Information Network

NEW YORK (GIN) – If you’ve ever received a request to step up for a jailed author, artist or journalist, you might have wondered later: Was he ever freed?

In the case of Ramon Nse Esono Ebale – he certainly was and he thanks you.

In a moving letter published under the title “Artist, Finally Free, Leaves Country,” artist Ramon Esono Ebale confirms he was released after six months in prison on apparent false charges and then a three month wait for travel documents.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 12 June 2018

Photo: María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ecuador and President-elect of the General Assembly’s 73rd session, speaks to journalists following her election by the Assembly. 5 June 2018. United Nations, New York. UN Photo/Manuel Elias.

UN General Assembly Elects Fourth Woman As President In More Than Seven Decades

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – In its more than seven-decades-long history, the UN General Assembly has elected only the fourth woman to helm the 193-member organ. Ecuador's María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, a former Minister for National Defence, is President of the 73rd session of the General Assembly, which opens on September 18.

Her woman predecessors as General Assembly presidents were: Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit of India (1953-1954), Angie Elisabeth Brooks of Liberia (1969-1970), and Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa of Bahrain (2006-2007).

Espinosa received 128 votes, surpassing the required simple majority of 96. The only other candidate, Mary Elizabeth Flores Flake of Honduras, received 62 votes.

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 11 June 2018

Photo: Wide view of the Security Council chamber as Andrzej Duda, President of the Republic of Poland and President of the Security Council for the month of May 2018, chairs the Security Council meeting on the maintenance of international peace and security, with a focus on upholding international law within the context. 17 May 2018. United Nations, New York. UN Photo/Manuel Elias.

Kazakhstan Reaffirms Willingness to Assist in the Maintenance of Peace and Security

By Marat Beketayev, Minister of Justice of the Republic of Kazakhstan

The UN Security Council organized on 17 May 2018 a High-Level Open Debate on "Maintenance of international peace and security: Upholding international law within the context of the maintenance of international peace and security," reflecting the purposes of United Nations as spelt out in Article 1 of the UN Charter. Following are extensive excerpts from the draft statement by the Kazakh Minister of Justice who stressed: "Kazakhstan considers this to be a very timely and valuable debate". Engaging in such reflection is the sign of a healthy institution with strong and far-sighted leadership, and we congratulate Poland on providing such leadership during its time in the chair. – The Editor.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; OPINION; 11 June 2018

Photo: First Anniversary Commemoration of the India-UN Development Partnership Fund. Credit: UNOSSC

UN Chief Lauds India for Deepening South-South Cooperation

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – UN Secretary‑General António Guterres has commended India's "very important role in shaping the Sustainable Development Goals". He was speaking at an event marking the first anniversary of the India‑United Nations Development Partnership Fund in New York.

The Fund aims at supporting sustainable development for low-income nations with 22 projects having already been approved in 25 partner countries ranging from hurricane rehabilitation and climate early warning system to government accountability and agriculture.

: Santo D. Banerjee; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 10 June 2018

Photo: Eritreans fleeing the country first have to risk their lives crossing the border, whose guards are authorised to shoot on sight. Those who try to reach Israel must cross the Sinai Peninsula. Many don’t make it. Credit: Gan-Shmuel archive

Security Council Backs Dutch Sanctions Against Eritrean and Libyan Traffickers

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – For the first time ever, the UN Security Council has put human traffickers on an international sanctions list by imposing sanctions on six leaders operating networks in Libya. Four are Libyans, including the head of a regional coast guard unit, and two Eritrean nationals.

By resolution 1970 (2011) and resolution 1973 (2011), the Security Council decided to impose individual targeted sanctions (a travel ban on individuals and an assets freeze on individuals and entities, as listed in the Annexes to the resolutions or designated by the Council's special Committee).

: J Nastranis; THE WORLD; Africa; 10 June 2018

Photo: North Korea's Vice Chairman Kim Yong Chol delivers a personal letter from Chairman Kim to President Trump, in the White House Oval Office on June 1, 2018. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Paving the Way to Denuclearization and Peace with North Korea

By Daryl G. Kimball

The author is Executive Director of the Arms Control Association. Following is the text of an Issue Brief analyzing the prospects beyond the U.S.-North Korean Summit on June 12 in Singapore.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN) – The South Korean-brokered diplomatic opening between leaders from the United States and the Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Korea (DPRK) that began in January 2018 is a welcome shift away from the missile and nuclear tests and “fire and fury” threats of 2017 that brought the region to the brink of a catastrophic war.

Donald Trump deserves credit for being so bold as to agree to pursue the June 12 summit meeting in Singapore with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The ongoing inter-Korean dialogue and prospect for a historic U.S.-North Korean summit has lowered tensions but tensions could flare up once again – especially if Trump goes off-script, acts impulsively, or if either side has unrealistic expectations about what the meeting can accomplish.

: Daryl G. Kimball; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 09 June 2018

Photo: Paolo Cotta-Ramusino addressing nuclear disarmament conference in Vatican City on November 10, 2017. Credit: Katsuhiro Asagiri | IDN-INPS

The Alphabet Soup NPT, CTBT, NBT

By Paolo Cotta-Ramusino

The writer is Secretary-General of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs (Pugwash), an international organization that brings together scholars and public figures to work toward reducing the danger of armed conflict and to seek solutions to global security threats. Joseph Rotblat and Bertrand Russell founded it in 1957 in Pugwash, Nova Scotia, Canada, following the release of the Russell-Einstein Manifesto in 1955. Rotblat and the Pugwash Conference jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1995 for their efforts on nuclear disarmament. – The Editor.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 08 June 2018

CTBTO Symposium Underlines Importance of Youth and Women

By Reinhardt Jacobsen

VIENNA (IDN) – "Now more than ever, this type of diplomacy has a particular importance," said Elba Rosa Pérez Montoya, Minister of Science, Technology and Environment of Cuba, in a high-level session of the 2nd CTBT Science Diplomacy Symposium at the Vienna International Centre.

"The challenges that define the 21st century such as nuclear disarmament, climate change, food security, and poverty reduction have scientific dimensions. No country will be able to solve these problems by itself; those are global troubles which require global solutions and collaboration," she added.