By Sam Sachdeva on Newsroom…
With the world ‘in a whirlwind’ according to the UN’s head, the body’s effectiveness is under the microscope – while NZ support for an Israel resolution has exposed coalition disagreements.
Comment: As far as opening remarks go, they were fairly grim.
“Our world is in a whirlwind,” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the UN General Assembly’s 79th session on Wednesday (NZ time), outlining a world of deepening geopolitical divisions, wars raging and challenges unlike any before.
“We are edging towards the unimaginable – a powder keg that risks engulfing the world,” Guterres said, a sentiment shared by other leaders and politicians who followed him.
It is Israel’s war in Gaza that arguably looms largest, the secretary-general describing the situation as “a non-stop nightmare that threatens to take the entire region” – a direct reference to Lebanon, which has been subjected to a wave of Israeli airstrikes this week in the wake of bombing attacks against Hezbollah operatives (who have in turn been carrying out rocket and drone attacks against Israel).
Read the full article on Newsroom here.
