The 193 UN member countries agreed on Saturday to cut the global body’s budget for only the second time in the past 50 years following a long night of negotiations.
An accord struck at dawn on Saturday saw the 2012-2013 budget set at US$5.15 billion, down from US$5.41 billion in 2010-2011.
The US and crisis-stricken European countries had fought for cuts, while developing countries had demanded spending be maintained.
“All budget years are tough, but this year was especially difficult,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, welcoming the accord and vowing more cuts in the coming months. “Governments and people everywhere are struggling.”
US negotiator Joseph Torsella called the budget a “historic agreement,” though he acknowledged it had taken “difficult negotiations.”
Nearly every day last week talks have finished at about 5am.
This accord “is the first time since 1998 — and only the second time in the last 50 years — that the UN regular budget has declined in comparison to the previous budget’s actual expenses,” Torsella said.
He called it a “budget for a strengthened, more efficient and more effective United Nations that saves the American taxpayers millions of dollars and sets the United Nations on the path of real fiscal discipline and continued reform.”
The US has taken a tough line on UN spending, with Torsella this year railing at increased salary allowances for UN staff.
Ban acknowledged that the global body has to “cut fat.”
It has already cut posts and contracted out services in many departments at the New York headquarters.
“One year from now, I will return to you with greater cost savings,” the UN chief vowed in a speech to the delegates who struck the accord.
In a market in the Chadian capital, N’Djamena, customers flock to Ache Moussa’s stall to have their long plaits smeared with a special paste in an age-old ritual. Each strand of hair, from the root to the end, is slathered in a traditional mixture of cherry seeds, cloves and chebe seeds, the most important ingredient of all. Users say the recipe makes their hair grow longer and more lustrous. Local and natural hair products are gaining popularity across Africa as people turn away from commercial cosmetics. Moussa applies the mixture and shapes the client’s locks into a gourone — a traditional hairstyle consisting of
The US yesterday wrapped up its first multidomain exercise with Japan and South Korea in the East China Sea, a step forward in Washington’s efforts to enhance and lock in its security partnerships with key Asian allies in the face of growing threats from North Korea and China. The three-day Freedom Edge increased the sophistication of previous exercises with simultaneous air and naval drills geared toward improving joint ballistic-missile defense, anti-submarine warfare, surveillance and other skills and capabilities. The exercise, which is expected to expand in years to come, was also intended to improve the countries’ abilities to share missile warnings —
‘ONE FELL SWOOP’: Overturning a landmark ruling that said judges should defer to experts would ‘cause a massive shock to the legal system,’ a dissenting opinion said Prosecutors overstepped in charging Jan. 6, 2021, rioters with obstruction for trying to prevent certification of the 2020 presidential election, the US Supreme Court said on Friday, throwing hundreds of cases into doubt, while another controversial ruling struck down 40 years of legal precedent on federal agencies’ ability to regulate critical issues. The matter was brought to the court through an appeal by former police officer Joseph Fischer, a supporter of former US president Donald Trump who entered the Capitol with hundreds of others in 2021. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts said prosecutors’ interpretation of the law would “criminalize
‘APOCALYPTIC : An UN official said that Lebanon was ‘the flashpoint beyond all flashpoints,’ and a conflict that involved it would draw in Syria and other nations Israel on Wednesday said that it does not want war in Lebanon, but could send its neighbor “back to the Stone Age.” The border between the two countries has seen daily exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants since the attack on Israel by Hezbollah’s ally Hamas on Oct. 7 last year, which triggered the war in Gaza. Fears those exchanges could escalate have grown in the past few weeks as cross-border attacks intensified and after Israel revealed it had approved plans for a Lebanon offensive, prompting new threats from Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah. Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant said