Aletho News

ΑΛΗΘΩΣ

Foreign Ministry says ‘US more isolated’ as anti-Iran meeting in New York failed to gain momentum

Press TV – November 6, 2022

The spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry has said that the US is “more isolated” as the anti-Iranian UN Security Council Arria-formula meeting failed to gain momentum, stating that the attempts to isolate Iran from the world are doomed.

“Known violators of human rights and supporters of the most notorious terrorist groups came together at the anti-Iranian Arria Formula in New York in the mistaken belief that they could condemn and isolate Iran,” Nasser Kan’ani wrote in a post published on his official Twitter page.

He highlighted that the organizers of the event, by means of media dictatorship, did not allow representatives of 19 countries opposing anti-Iran sanctions, including Venezuela, to deliver a speech there.

“Instead, the United States let two ill-famed women [Shirin Ebadi and and Nazanin Boniadi], who support sanctions against Iranian women and children, take the podium,” Kan’ani noted.

He went on to say that the US administration failed in New York as delegates from the 19 states took part in a meeting of the Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the United Nations in the Iranian capital city of Tehran less than a week later.

“Who is really isolated?” the senior Iranian diplomat also questioned.

On Wednesday, Iran’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Amir Saied Iravani blasted the irony between the United States’ attempt to hold an unofficial anti-Iran meeting at the UN Security Council under the pretext of human rights while imposing harsh sanctions on Iranians for decades.

Iran’s UN envoy said the US-organized meeting held at the United Nations clearly aimed to interfere in the domestic affairs of a sovereign state, which amounts to a flagrant violation of the UN Charter and international law.

The senior diplomat made the remarks while speaking at the UN Security Council Stakeout in New York.

He added that the Arria-formula meeting took place as the US once again resorted to a “disinformation campaign in a blatant hypocrisy.”

The Iranian ambassador said it is ironic that the US has alleged that the event is intended to “protect” human rights in Iran, “while Iranians continue to suffer greatly as the result of the United States’ decades-long brutal sanctions; a true war in which the actual warfare is replaced with food and medicine.”

“It has become a standard practice for the US to abuse such valued concepts as human rights and manipulate the UN platforms and resources to advance its ill-based political agenda,” Iravani emphasized.

He said that the US has never been really concerned about human rights in Iran or elsewhere as the history is self-evident enough to prove it.

Riots broke out in Iran in mid-September after the death of young Iranian woman Mahsa Amini. The 22-year-old fainted at a police station in Tehran, and was pronounced dead three days later at a hospital.

An official report by Iran’s Legal Medicine Organization concluded that Amini’s death was caused by an illness rather than alleged blows to the head or other vital body organs.

In the meantime, rioters have been going on a rampage across the country. They have been receiving overwhelming backing from Western powers, especially the United States, despite continuing to brutally attack security officers and cause massive damage to public property.

November 6, 2022 Posted by | Timeless or most popular | , , | 1 Comment

Western Russophobia increasing even in UNESCO

By Lucas Leiroz | November 4, 2022

The irrational hatred incited by the pro-NATO media against the Russian people in reaction to the special military operation in Ukraine continues to gain strength around the world. Russian citizens in the diaspora who have nothing to do with the government or the military are often affected by anti-Russian animosity. However, the main target today seems to be Russian culture, which is increasingly fought and “canceled” by Westerners.

In a recent statement during a UNESCO’s conference in Mexico, Sergei Obryvalin, First Deputy Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation, commented on the issue of Russophobia and expressed deep concern about the current global rejection of Russian culture. He said he considers the way the West deals with cultural matters an “unnecessary and harmful politicization”. More than that, Obryvalin even denounced the existence of Russophobic tendencies in UNESCO’s forum itself, where discriminatory speeches and untrue narratives about an alleged “destruction” of other cultures by Russia proliferate.

“Egregious cases of cultural discrimination against Russia and Russian citizens are happening everywhere in Western countries (…) False accusations [against] Russia of alleged destruction of cultural heritage are nothing but a manifestation of the policy of cultural genocide against Russia and Russians (…) Such facts, of course, cause us grief and serious concern (…) [Russia] consistently maintains a careful attitude to cultural heritage, historical memory, freedom of literary, artistic and other forms of creativity, [as well as] ensures pluralism of opinions and openness of the cultural sphere (…) No one is able to cancel the unique Russian civilization and rich culture, to destroy or shake Russia”, he said during the speech.

There was no response from UNESCO’s officials regarding the allegations that the organization acts in complicity with the anti-Russian discourse. Representatives from 193 countries attended the event and spoke at different times, but this topic was not mentioned by any of them. The case reflected in the field of culture something that has become increasingly common on the international scene: the silence on the part of organizations when Moscow denounces something wrong. In recent months, international organizations only make pronouncements if it is aimed at condemning Russia, while always ignoring when Russian officials file complaints.

However, the evident reality of cultural Russophobia cannot be ignored. Since February, irrational reactions to the anti-Nazi operation initiated by Moscow have been promoted around the world, mainly in Western countries, including the banning of Russian or Russian-translated books, cancellation of Russian musical concerts and even boycotting Russian-made food and drink. Classical authors of Russian literature have also been removed from Western academic courses as a way of “protesting” against military moves in Ukraine, which is something that undoubtedly causes great cultural damage, considering Russia’s importance in world literary history.

This cultural intolerance is just one of the many faces of the Russophobic racism that has become vital to Western “responses” against Russia. Cases of physical violence against Russian citizens have also occurred all over the world. Orthodox churches have been vandalized. Social networks have encouraged racism and pro-aggression speech against Russian citizens. In fact, there are attempts to “anathematize” the Russian people in every way possible. And, in this sense, cultural cancellation seems to be a fundamental strategy to be followed by Westerners.

In fact, with these attitudes the West becomes more and more like its Ukrainian proxy in the way it deals with the Russians. For the past eight years, Kiev has been promoting direct and explicit persecution of Russian people and culture. Not by chance, one of the first laws passed by the Maidan government was the abolition of the co-official language policy in ethnically Russian zones, which allowed the use of Russian language in official documents.

With the beginning of Russian participation in the conflict, Kiev has further radicalized its racist policies, with the Ukrainian parliament in June this year passing a bill to ban books and songs written by Russian authors. Ukrainian forces have also frequently performed public exhibitions of burning books in Russian language, which resembles the practices of Nazi Germany (a major inspiration for the Ukrainian government).

The West, albeit under the guise of liberal “democracy”, is moving in the same direction. Russian culture is gradually criminalized and violence against Russian citizens takes place without any restrictions, in absolute impunity. This only tends to further exacerbate international tensions and diplomatic frictions. The West’s Nazification process can in no way be tolerated by Moscow, which tends to move away from international organizations that tolerate racism and form new axes of international decision-making, in partnership with emerging countries that also historically struggle against discriminatory practices.

Lucas Leiroz is a researcher in Social Sciences at the Rural Federal University of Rio de Janeiro; geopolitical consultant.

You can follow Lucas on Twitter and Telegram.

November 4, 2022 Posted by | Russophobia | , | 1 Comment

UN Security Council votes against probe into US biolabs

Samizdat – November 3, 2022

The UN Security Council has rejected Russia’s call for an international investigation into claims that the US used laboratories in Ukraine to develop biological weapons.

While China backed Russia’s proposal, the US, Britain, and France voted against it, and the ten rotating council members abstained.

Russia insists that the US and Ukraine have been violating the 1972 international convention that bans the development, production, and stockpiling of biological weapons. According to Moscow, several laboratories in Ukraine were working on a secret “military-biological” program, which involved studies and the stockpiling of samples of anthrax, cholera, and other infectious diseases.

Washington and Kiev both deny developing biological weapons. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said in March that the laboratories were conducting “ordinary scientific research.”

During the vote in the Security Council on Wednesday, US envoy, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, argued that the Russian proposal for a probe is “based on disinformation, dishonesty, bad faith, and a total lack of respect for this body.”

Thomas-Greenfield reiterated that the activities under the Pentagon’s Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program in Ukraine and other former Soviet states “are not for military purposes.”

The US Mission to International Organizations in Geneva, Switzerland said in April that the CTR’s goal in Ukraine was to help the country “consolidate and secure pathogens and to continue to ensure Ukraine can detect and report disease outbreaks before they pose security or stability threats.”

Dmitry Polyansky, Russia’s deputy envoy to the UN, meanwhile, said he was “deeply disappointed” by the vote. He said “the Western countries are simply afraid” of an international investigation into the issue.

November 3, 2022 Posted by | Deception | , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Moscow urges UN probe into Ukrainian biolabs

Russia has filed an official complaint over US-backed biological activities in Ukraine

Samizdat – October 25, 2022

Russia is calling on the UN Security Council to establish a commission to investigate alleged violations of the convention prohibiting the production or use of biological weapons by Ukraine and the United States.

“We requested a meeting in two days in line with Article VI of the Biological Weapons Convention,” the Russian mission to the United Nations said on Tuesday.

Moscow’s ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, circulated a draft resolution ahead of a meeting set for Thursday, along with “a variety of documents and evidence that shed light on the true nature of military biological activities of the US and Ukraine on the Ukrainian territory.”

Russia was forced to invoke Article VI of the convention to raise the issues with the Security Council after its repeated inquiries were largely ignored by Washington and Kiev, who “have not provided necessary explanations, nor have they taken immediate measures to remedy the situation,” Nebenzia explained.

Moscow has alleged that the two counties conducted secretive, joint biological research on Ukrainian soil, claiming it had obtained incriminating evidence of those activities during the ongoing military operation. The Russian Defense Ministry has gradually released said materials to the public in batches since March.

“The data analysis gives evidence of non-compliance by the American and Ukrainian sides with the provisions” of the BWC, Nebenzia said.

Last month, Russia convened a meeting of BCW member states in Geneva, which failed to provide any tangible result, with delegates from 35 out of 89 nations either dismissing the Russian claims or expressing support for the kind of research the US and Ukraine were conducting, according to the US State Department. Only seven nations expressed support for Russia: Belarus, China, Cuba, Iran, Nicaragua, Syria and Venezuela.

In the wake of the meeting, Moscow proposed amendments to the BWC, floating three ideas to reinforce the landmark international agreement and make it more legally binding for its parties. Namely, Russia called for negotiations on a “legally binding protocol,” an “effective verification mechanism” and a “scientific advisory committee” within the group.

Russia also proposed making the control mechanisms more transparent, with additional “confidence-building measures,” suggesting BWC participants must be obliged to declare their “activities in the biological sphere outside the national territory.”

The US and Ukraine have dismissed Russia’s bioweapons claims as disinformation and a conspiracy theory. Back in June, the Pentagon published the ‘Fact Sheet on WMD Threat Reduction Efforts with Ukraine, Russia and Other Former Soviet Union Countries’. The US military claimed that following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Washington has “worked collaboratively to improve Ukraine’s biological safety, security, and disease surveillance for both human and animal health,” by providing support to “46 peaceful Ukrainian laboratories, health facilities, and disease diagnostic sites over the last two decades.” These programs have allegedly focused on “improving public health and agricultural safety measures at the nexus of nonproliferation.”

October 25, 2022 Posted by | Timeless or most popular, War Crimes | , , , | 1 Comment

US May Be Compelled to Answer Questions on Biolabs in Ukraine, This Time at UNSC

Samizdat – 19.10.2022

The issue of US biolabs in Ukraine has once again received wide international publicity. On October 18, Belarus, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, China, Cuba, Nicaragua, Syria, and Russia called for invoking Article VI of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) because of US military and biological activities in Ukraine.

Article VI of the Biological Weapons Convention allows states-parties to lodge a complaint with the United Nations Security Council if they suspect a breach of treaty obligations by another state. In the event of such a development, the United States, as a state-party to the convention, would be obliged to cooperate in any investigation that may be initiated by the UNSC.

Chinese experts interviewed by Sputnik believe that if the US has nothing to hide, it should provide a comprehensive explanation.

In early March 2022, the Russian Ministry of Defense released information indicating that the United States was deploying an extensive biological research program in Ukraine. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the US has spent more than $200 million on 46 biological laboratories in Ukraine that participated in the US military biological program.

According to Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, chief of the Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Forces of the Russian Armed Forces, one of the priority tasks of the Ukrainian laboratories was to collect and send to the United States strains of pathogens of dangerous infectious diseases – cholera, anthrax, tularemia, and others. At the same time, the transportation of the pathogens was not controlled within the WHO, BWC, or other international institutions, and various biological agents and substances were tested on Ukrainian military personnel, indigent citizens, and patients of mental hospitals.

According to Russia, the United States, under the guise of scientific activities and efforts to improve laboratory security systems, has been developing biological weapons in Ukraine.

According to data obtained by the Russian MoD from Ukrainian officials, traces of US activities were partially destroyed on the day the Russian special military operation was launched, and many pathogens were removed from the country, indicating that the US intends to continue research outside the country. Indirectly, this was also indicated by the words of US Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland. During a March 8 hearing of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, she reported on the presence of biosafety research facilities in Ukraine. She expressed concern about the possibility that these biolaboratories and materials stored there might come under the control of the Russian Armed Forces.

The US subsequently denied any connection between the laboratories and the Pentagon. However, according to Yang Mian, a professor at the Institute of International Relations, Communication University of China, the very existence of such laboratories raises questions:

“Russia says that it has found many US biolaboratories in Ukraine near Russia’s borders, some of which were researching infectious diseases. The US denied the accusations, saying that they were engaged in scientific research. Outside observers have every reason to ask: Why did the US set up so many laboratories around Russia? The US could have conducted research on these diseases internally as well as externally. Therefore, this situation is suspicious one way or another,” he said.

According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the US Department of Defense controls 336 biolaboratories in 30 countries around the world. In this regard, the issue of US-led biological research is of great concern to China, and this information provided by the Russian Ministry of Defense immediately resonated in the country.

“China has always demanded that the United States disclose the purpose and role of its own biological experiments. China’s concern could greatly increase international attention to this issue, as well as increasing pressure on the United States. China is very concerned about the safety of human life. Regarding this issue, China believes that the United States has a responsibility and should give a transparent and open report to the world,” Yang Mian explained.

According to the expert, what is most suspicious is the ambiguous actions of the United States, and the attempts to “cover up the issue”:

“Russia is demanding an investigation. Many countries are demanding it. It is imperative, the activities of the US should be investigated. But they are obstructing the investigation in every way possible. If the US is in the clear, then what is there to be afraid of? Many such studies have a dual purpose. The US says it was engaged in scientific research, but couldn’t it have been used to create new kinds of weapons? The US should provide evidence and explanations.”

Lyu Chao, dean of the Institute of American and East Asian Studies at Liaoning University, holds a similar view:

“The disclosed information about American biolaboratories in Ukraine has alarmed the international community. Therefore, the US has to provide a clear explanation. Better yet, instead of making excuses, it should conduct an international investigation, including one under the auspices of the WHO. This would be even more convincing,” Lyu Chao said.

Both experts were cautious in their assessments and noted that the topic of US biolaboratories in Ukraine requires additional clarification, both in terms of US arguments and scientific expertise. Due to the politicization of the situation, it is unlikely that the United States will agree to provide more clarity and engage in truly open cooperation. Moreover, judging by the experience of the September BWC meeting, where half of the participating countries did not attend, not everyone has the courage to openly question Washington’s position. Nevertheless, the current initiative of the eight countries is a case where the Western hegemon does not find itself in its usual role of prosecutor, but in the role of justifying itself. Perhaps the United States will have to answer questions that worry so many countries after all.

October 19, 2022 Posted by | Deception, War Crimes | , , , | 2 Comments

UN votes on Ukraine’s ‘territorial integrity’

Samizdat – October 13, 2022

The UN General Assembly has adopted a non-binding resolution accusing Moscow of an “attempted illegal annexation” and calling on member states to ignore the results of referendums in four former eastern Ukrainian regions to join Russia.

Wednesday’s 143-5 vote followed the General Assembly’s refusal on Monday to use secret ballots, as requested by Russia, amid pressure from the US and its allies to join them in condemning Moscow for the accessions. Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia had argued that for many countries “it may be very difficult” to express their views publicly.

Despite that pressure, four nations joined Russia in voting against the UN resolution, including Belarus, Syria, Nicaragua and North Korea. Among those 35 abstaining were China and India, as well as South Africa, Pakistan, Thailand, Cuba, Vietnam, Armenia and Algeria.

Before launching its military operation in Ukraine in February, Russia recognized the sovereignty of two Donbass regions, the Donetsk (DPR) and Lugansk (LPR) People’s Republics, arguing that the central power in Kiev has for far too long failed to represent and protect people living there. Residents of two other regions, Kherson and Zaporozhye, also voted by wide margins in public referendums last month to declare independence and join Russia. President Vladimir Putin signed the unification treaties with the four new Russian regions on October 5.

The UNGA condemned those plebiscites as “illegal,” saying the four regions are temporarily occupied because of Russian aggression, in violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. Wednesday’s resolution calls on all nations and the UN to refuse recognition of the accessions.

Moscow argued the referendums were the only legitimate way for people to exercise their right for self-determination and be protected from their former government. In a recent speech, Putin cited “an inherent right sealed in Article 1 of the UN Charter, which directly states the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples.”

Putin also previously argued that the UN itself set a legal precedent for the referendums, after its International Court of Justice ruled that Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia in 2008 did not violate international law.

UN leaders have dismissed such parallels, with General Assembly President Csaba Korosi reiterating on Monday that the referendums in the former Ukrainian regions were illegal while calling to “find a political solution based on the UN Charter and the international law.”

Rejecting the referendums as a “sham,” Kiev – which receives military assistance, training and intelligence from NATO nations on an unprecedented scale –  said it is determined to beat Russia on the battlefield. Ukraine insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked, even as its former president admitted that Kiev’s main goal since 2014 Minsk agreements was to use the Germany- and France-brokered ceasefire to buy time and “create powerful armed forces.”

October 12, 2022 Posted by | Aletho News | , , | 9 Comments

UN tells WEF how it partners with tech platforms to promote narratives

By Christina Maas | Reclaim The Net | October 2, 2022

The World Economic Forum (WEF) held the Sustainable Development Impact Meetings, where unelected groups held a “Tackling Disinformation” panel, with participants including the UN, Brown University, and even CNN.

The panel discussed how best to control narratives on issues like climate change and COVID-19.

The UN’s Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications, Melissa Fleming, noted that the UN had partnered with Big Tech companies, including Google and TikTok, to control narratives surrounding COVID and climate change.

“We own the science, and we think that the world should know it, and the platforms themselves also do,” she said.

The UN said it partnered with Google to influence search results on climate change so that narratives from “authoritative” sources would appear at the top of search results.

“We partnered with Google,” said Fleming. “For example, if you Google ‘climate change,’ you will, at the top of your search, you will get all kinds of UN resources.

“We started this partnership when we were shocked to see that when we Googled ‘climate change,’ we were getting incredibly distorted information right at the top.”

The UN also says it partnered with TikTok on a project dubbed “Team Halo,” to control the narratives surrounding COVID-19.

“We had another trusted messenger project, which was called ‘Team Halo’ where we trained scientists around the world and some doctors on TikTok, and we had TikTok working with us,” Fleming said.

“Another really key strategy we had was to deploy influencers,” she said, adding, “influencers who were really keen, who have huge followings, but really keen to help carry messages that were going to serve their communities, and they were much more trusted than the United Nations telling them something from New York City headquarters.”

The “Tackling Disinformation” panel was moderated by Adrian Monck, the WEF’s managing director.

Monck said that the CNN was part of the strategy to “own the narrative.”

“CNN is both an organization that’s trying to make sense of the world and trying to establish the facts; it’s also part of a political war on who owns the narrative,” he said.

October 2, 2022 Posted by | Full Spectrum Dominance, Science and Pseudo-Science | , | Leave a comment

Chile’s Boric wasted an opportunity for Palestine at the UN General Assembly

By Ramona Wadi | MEMO | September 24, 2022

Chilean President Gabriel Boric may currently be the most outspoken leader in Latin America on Palestinian rights and Israeli violations. However, his rhetoric leaves much to be desired. It, in turn, raises questions about how Chile – the country with the largest Palestinian community in the region – can differentiate itself from other countries to become a model to follow, rather than following international consensus over the two-state compromise and Israel’s security narrative.

In his first address to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Boric spoke about Palestine’s right to freedom and sovereignty while mangling his message by including a false equivalence with Israel that eliminates the colonial context. “[Palestinian people] should yield to their inalienable right to establish their own free and sovereign state. In the same way, [let’s] guarantee Israel’s legitimate right to live within secure and internationally recognised borders,” Boric asserted.

Boric’s speech was pronounced “politically correct”, while noting that Chile’s stance has always advocated for the recognition of Palestinian people’s rights and Israel’s rights while promoting the two-state compromise, like the rest of the international community. In which case, Boric’s activist stances as president are unlikely to leave any impact on Chilean diplomacy. Under Boric, the Chilean government is advocating for the same stance that his predecessor Sebastian Pinera adhered to, which is a bonus for Israel, despite the grievances Israeli media aired upon Boric’s electoral victory.

Days before his UNGA speech, Boric postponed accepting the credentials of the new Israeli ambassador to Chile, Gil Artzyeli, in response to the Israeli forces’ killing of 17-year-old Palestinian Odai Trad Salah in Kufr Dan near Jenin. However, his stance, which made headline news in major media outlets worldwide, was diminished by the UNGA speech that attempted equivalence between the coloniser and the colonised while simplifying, to the point of obliteration, the reason why Palestinians are deprived of a state, possibly permanently.

Boric is not unaware of the Palestinian plight as a result of Zionist colonisation. Neither is he oblivious to the fact that Palestinians and the indigenous people of Chile – the Mapuche – have suffered similar forms of aggression because of governments criminalising their struggle for land reclamation and political autonomy. Yet, it is possible that, as president, Boric’s activist stances will be mellowed by diplomatic requirements, such as abiding by the two-state compromise, which has failed Palestinians and become defunct in all but international rhetoric.

Prior to the presidency, Boric stood out as one of the most vocal activists in Chile. As president, Boric is navigating a complex reality that includes the legacy of Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship and ties to Israel during that period, as well as the country’s reliance on securing military and surveillance equipment from Palestine’s oppressors.

To cast Israel and legitimacy together is an aberration, particularly when using such descriptions to balance advocating for Palestinian rights. Boric wasted an opportunity at his first UNGA speech to call out Israel’s colonial violence and how it invalidates legitimacy. It is not up to the international community to guarantee Israel’s existence, but Boric knows that Chile can play a pivotal role in ensuring that the international community gravitates towards the legitimacy of the Palestinian people’s political demands.

September 25, 2022 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Progressive Hypocrite | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Russia Backs India’s Bid to Become Permanent Member of United Nations Security Council

Samizdat – 25.09.2022

Russia has come out in support of India’s bid to become one of the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) – the all-powerful global body which is responsible for taking key decisions about maintaining peace and security in the world.

At present, it comprises the United States, France, Russia, China, and Great Britain.

During his speech at the UNGA, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov called for wider representation of Asian, African, and Latin American countries in the Security Council, making particular mention of New Delhi and Brazil.

“We see an opportunity to make the Security Council more democratic by having representation from African, Asian and Latin American countries. India and Brazil, in particular, are major international players and should be included as permanent members of the council,” Lavrov said in his address to the 77th United Nations General Assembly.

Earlier, in a joint statement, India and 31 other nations urged the UN to expand both the permanent and non-permanent membership of the UNSC.
Besides, New Delhi said that reforms in the UN were necessary to make it more effective and representative.

At another meeting in which foreign ministers from India, Japan, Germany, and Brazil took part, reforms of the Security Council were discussed at length.

The four nations together are known as the G4 and after the meeting they released a joint statement, saying that “today’s conflicts around the globe and the interconnected global challenges have brought to the fore the urgency to carry out reforms in the Security Council as well as expand the membership of other decision-making groups so that they are more representative of the interests of the developing nations.”

At present, India is a non-permanent member of the UNSC.

New Delhi’s two-year term on the Council ends on 31 December this year.

September 25, 2022 Posted by | Aletho News | , , , | 2 Comments

Italian NGO Observer at Donetsk Referendum Says UN ‘Asleep’ as Ukraine Shells Civilians

Samizdat – 24.09.2022

DONETSK – The United Nations has been indifferent to Ukrainian attacks on the Donetsk People’s Republic as it voted Saturday on whether it should join Russia, an Italian observer from a UN-recognized nonprofit said.

“Unfortunately, we see that the UN is asleep. Not only when it comes to Donbass but also to other countries in a similar situation. The UN has not been reacting,” Vito Grittani told reporters in Donetsk.

Grittani heads the International Diplomatic Observatory (ODI-VG), which has consultative status with the UN’s Economic and Social Council. He said shelling by Ukrainian troops has been going on “despite them knowing that people are voting.”

“We will report about this in our home countries,” he said, adding that Italian observers had also received threats and “recommendations” not to go to the polls.

Voting in the Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics, as well as in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, began on Friday and will close on Tuesday. Russian President Vladimir Putin said this week that Russia would accept any decision people made during the referendums.

September 24, 2022 Posted by | Civil Liberties, Timeless or most popular, War Crimes | , , | Leave a comment

US blocked Russian diplomats from UN – Russia

Samizdat – September 21, 2022

The United States did not grant visas to several members of the Russian delegation, preventing the officials from taking part in the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday.

Speaking to Sputnik, she noted that two of ten diplomats comprising “the official delegation” had not received the necessary stamp.

Zakharova explained that Russia’s overall delegation consists of several groups. The first one, she said, is referred to as “the official delegation.” This group is headed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and has been formed with the approval of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Out of ten members of the official delegation, two did not receive visas. This tactic has already become an ominous tradition on the part of the US, but the point stands,” Zakharova stated, also offering a reminder that Moscow has already voiced concerns on this matter.

The Foreign Ministry spokeswoman went on to say that Washington had not granted visas to several delegation members from the second group, which includes various experts and diplomats who support the official delegation. She said, however, that she does not know the exact number, due to late notice.

“You would not believe… but the messages on the issuance or non-issuance of the visa were coming in just overnight. So we had to contact our colleagues at night to tell them to get ready for tomorrow’s flight [to the US],” she noted.

Of a third group, which incorporates journalists, one person failed to get a US visa, Zakharova said.

The 77th session of the UN General Assembly opened on September 13. However, the main event of this session is supposed to be the ‘High-Level week’ from September 20 to 26, which will be attended by many world leaders and foreign ministers.

Moscow has repeatedly accused Washington of violating its obligations under the 1947 agreement on the hosting of the UN headquarters in New York City, which requires the US to grant access to foreign representatives without charge and “as promptly as possible.”

Following Moscow’s and the UN’s calls to issue visas to members of the Russian delegation, the US allowed entry to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and a number of high-level diplomats, enabling them to attend the assembly.

September 21, 2022 Posted by | Aletho News | , , | 1 Comment

President Raeisi: West’s culture of domination hinders growth, progress across globe

Press TV – September 20, 2022

Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi says Western powers have impeded the growth and progress of other countries through their culture of domination and by exploiting international entities to their own benefit.

President Raeisi made the remarks on Monday on the closing day of the three-day Transforming Education Summit at UN Headquarters in New York.

“Unfortunately, the culture of hegemony has defined [West’s] interests in holding back other countries,” he said. “They have impeded other countries’ growth and progress by creating an unfair world order, abusing international organizations, and drawing up schemes to impose their own cultural and intellectual views.”

“Cultural domination and confinement of knowledge are the worst kinds of oppression and injustice,” he added.

Raeisi also urged international entities to respect countries’ cultural and educational sovereignty, noting that it is impossible to transform the education system without taking into account values such as family, equality, and spirituality.

“International organizations are expected to respect countries’ educational and cultural sovereignty and protect them against cultural invasion,” he said.

“The history of Iran’s civilization began with science and knowledge; the Islamic culture elevated it and established its pillars on heavenly reflections,” he said.

Raeisi added that Islam invites humanity to acquire knowledge with the aim of achieving equality, spreading spirituality, and bringing prosperity and development.

“Making progress is a matter of significance for almost all countries, and while governments have implemented international recommendations in this regard, serious challenges have been imposed on national and indigenous cultures simultaneously,” he said.

A development that lacks spirituality and morality won’t last long and will result in societal collapse, the president argued.

Moral values such as respecting the family, protecting the environment, establishing equality, denouncing violence and extremism, promoting internet safety, and encouraging healthy online habits must be among the priorities for transforming education, he said.

The president also took a swipe at the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, criticizing its approaches as “one-dimensional” and “secular,” and saying that the Islamic Republic has drawn up its own educational agenda based on Iranian-Islamic principles.

Iran’s newly set-up educational system is now shifting from rote learning to a system relying on research, creativity, skill-training, and commitments to cultural and religious values, he concluded.

Raeisi left Tehran for New York on Monday morning to take part in the UN General Assembly.

The Transforming Education Summit was convened in response to a global crisis in education. The crisis, which is often slow and unseen, is said to have a devastating impact on the future of children and youth worldwide.

September 20, 2022 Posted by | Economics, Malthusian Ideology, Phony Scarcity | , , , , | Leave a comment

« Previous Entries     Next Entries »