Tag: Antonio Guterres

  • US Congress members to visit flood affected areas tomorrow

    Members of the United States (US) Congress, Representative Sheila Jackson Lee and Rep. Tom Suozzi will arrive in Pakistan on Sunday to visit flood-affected areas in the country.

    Before departing for Pakistan, Jackson said that they would visit disaster-struck zones and will take “all possible steps” to help flood victims.

    Separately, the Commander of US Central Command, General Michael Erik Kurilla, expressed grief over the catastrophic floods that killed over 1000 people and submerged a third of the country.

    General Michael talked to Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa via telephone and offered condolences.

    United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres is also set to pay a ‘solidarity visit‘ to the flood-affected areas of Pakistan on September 9.

    The secretary-general will arrive in Islamabad and will visit the areas most impacted by the unprecedented climate catastrophe. He will also have conversations with displaced families and humanitarian agencies working on the ground.

    According to National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), nearly 57 people have died in the last 24 hours.

    The overall death toll has crossed the 1,200 mark.

  • ‘Pakistan’s international debt should be immediately cancelled’: British MP

    ‘Pakistan’s international debt should be immediately cancelled’: British MP

    United Kingdom (UK) Member of Parliament (MP) Claudia Webbe has called on the international community to cancel Pakistan’s debt as the country’s inflation hits the highest level since 1973.

    In a statement on Twitter, Webbe said, “Inflation in Pakistan is at an all-time high at 27 per cent! Pakistan’s international debt should be immediately cancelled – they should instead be given reparations for the climate crisis caused.”

    According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), Pakistan’s Consumer Price Index-based inflation (CPI) climbed by 27.3 per cent on a year-over-year basis in August 2022.

    Prior to this statement, she repeatedly urged foreign countries to stand shoulder to shoulder in full solidarity with Pakistan and termed the silence from western countries a “moral crime”.

    “We need a global climate tax so that the global rich can be made to pay for the climate damage they cause in the world,” she said.

    She also blamed rich countries for the climate crisis and said that they should bear the cost, not Pakistan, as the country is responsible for 1 per cent of global emissions.

    On her official Twitter account, she also shared videos of the devasting floods in Pakistan.

    Water levels continued to rise on Friday as the overall death toll from the devastating floods has crossed 1,200.

    On Thursday, the UK announced an additional £15 million of lifesaving support for flood victims in Pakistan.

    More than 33 million people are affected — one in every seven Pakistanis — and reconstruction work will cost more than $10 billion.

    United Nations (UN) chief Antonio Guterres called the floods a “climate catastrophe” and launched an appeal for $160 million in emergency funding. Meanwhile, western countries have also donated millions of dollars to Pakistan.

  • ‘Every responsible country needs to voice concern on Putin’s actions’: US reacts to PM Khan’s visit to Russia

    ‘Every responsible country needs to voice concern on Putin’s actions’: US reacts to PM Khan’s visit to Russia

    United States (US) State Department Spokesperson Ned Price responded to a question related to Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s Russia visit.

    “We believe it’s the responsibility of every responsible country around the world to voice concern and to voice objection to what Putin appears to have in mind for Ukraine,” said Price.

    Price’s comments in relevance to PM Khan’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

    PM Khan landed in Moscow for a two-day visit — from February 23-24 — to push for the construction of a long-delayed, multi-billion-dollar gas pipeline to be built in collaboration with Russian companies.

    World leaders have also voiced their concern about Russia’s action on Ukraine.

    President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelensky said, “Ukraine is launching its own defensive measures.” He urged Ukrainians to stay calm and stay home. He says he spoke to President Biden.

    “A minute ago I spoke to President Biden. The USA has started to unite international support,” said Zelensky.

    “Today we need each of you to stay calm. If you can, stay at home. We are working. The army is working. The whole security and defence sector of Ukraine is working,” said Zelensky.

    Prime Minister United Kingdom (UK) Boris Johnson tweeted, “President Putin has chosen a path of bloodshed and destruction by launching this unprovoked attack on Ukraine. The UK and our allies will respond decisively.”

    President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen tweeted, “In these dark hours, our thoughts are with Ukraine and the innocent women, men, and children as they face this unprovoked attack and fear for their lives.”

    Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) António Guterres said, “President Putin, in the name of humanity, bring your troops back to Russia. This conflict must stop now.”

  • UN chief condemns travel restrictions, calls it ‘travel apartheid’

    UN chief condemns travel restrictions, calls it ‘travel apartheid’

    United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday that a travel ban imposed because of the Covid pandemic that cuts off any one country or region as “not only deeply unfair and punitive – they are ineffective.”, report Geo News.

    Guterres said that tests should continually be performed on travelers to reduce the threat of transmission in other parts of the world.

    He further added, “We have the instruments to have safe travel. Let’s use those instruments to avoid this kind, of allow me to say, travel apartheid, which I think is unacceptable.”

    The new variant of the coronavirus, which was previously identified as B.1.1.529 infection was reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) from South Africa on November 24 and named it Omicron.

    Several countries, including Pakistan, have completely banned flights from some countries in Africa.

    In African countries, the rate of vaccination was recorded as very low which Guterres has previously alarmed the world about. The main reason for the lack of vaccination was the inequality distribution of vaccines and low immunisation rates which became “a breeding ground for variants.”

    The annual meeting was also held between the United Nation and African Union to solve the concern of the travel ban.

    Speaking from the Joint-Conference with UN Secretary-General, African Union Commission Chair Moussa Faki Mahamat also said that the travel ban cannot be justified.

  • In pictures: UN chief gets uncomfortable as maskless Modi gives a big hug during #Cop26

    In pictures: UN chief gets uncomfortable as maskless Modi gives a big hug during #Cop26

    Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi was once again seen getting too close and hugging United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the opening day of Cop26 — a climate conference — in Glasgow.

    Antonio Guterres was seen visibly uncomfortable and awkward as PM Modi tried to embrace him after he greeted British Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the start of the Glasgow climate conference.

    Guterres placed an arm on Modi to try and keep him at a safer distance but could do little to stop bear-hugger Modi.

    Modi has been pictured getting close and cosy with PM of Luxembourg Xavier Bettel and Canadian PM Justin Trudeau.

    Modi was seen carelessly meeting the world leaders in an atmosphere where Covid-19 SOPs, including wearing face masks, were strongly advised to be followed.

  • Watch: Joe Biden falls asleep during #COP26 speeches

    Watch: Joe Biden falls asleep during #COP26 speeches

    World leaders have gathered in Glasgow for the United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference (#COP26) 2021.

    During the conference, United States (US) President Joe Biden can be seen “apparently sleeping” during the #COP26 opening speeches.

    https://twitter.com/disclosetv/status/1455195062405632007?s=21

    President Biden was not the only one who seemed sleepy. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson while sitting with Secretary-General of the UN, António Guterres, and British natural historian David Attenborough, without wearing a mask seemed pretty sleepy as well.

  • UN chief António Guterres gets re-elected for second term

    UN chief António Guterres gets re-elected for second term

    United Nations (UN) SecretaryGeneral, António Guterres has been re-elected for a second five-year term, on Friday by the 193 state members of the UN general assembly.

    As per reports, earlier this month, a 15-membered Security Council body unanimously recommended his name for the re-appointment. His official tenure will start from January 1, 2022, which lasts to 2026.

    This announcement was made by the President of the UN General Assembly Volkan Bozkir, after that he took oath from Guterres at the podium of the UN General Assembly hall.

    He expressed his gratitude by saying that serving in UN is an immense privilege and noble duty to him.

    Guterres’s major focus throughout his tenure has always been uniting the world behind efforts to combat climate change and environmental collapse. In 2017, he succeeded Korean diplomat, Ban Ki Moon who also served twice as the UN Eighth Secretary General.

    António Guterres, a Portuguese National currently is 72 years old. In the past, he also had served twice as the Prime Minister of Portugal.

  • ‘A model family,’ friends remember Muslim Canadian family killed in a targeted attack

    ‘A model family,’ friends remember Muslim Canadian family killed in a targeted attack

    The victims of Sunday’s truck-ramming attack in Canada were a “model family,” friends say. People from around the world mourned the killing of four members of a Muslim Pakistani-origin Canadian family, reports Geo News.

    The lives of three generations were snuffed out in a moment. Madiha Salman, age 44, who was doing postgraduate work in civil and environmental engineering; her 46-year-old husband, Salman Afzaal, who loved to greet people at the mosque; their 15-year-old daughter, Yumna Salman; and Afzaal’s 74-year-old mother, who has not been named.

    The couple’s son, nine-year-old Fayez, remains in hospital with serious injuries but is recovering, relatives said.

    UN Secretary-GeneraI Antonio Guterres expressed his outrage over the targeted killing of a Pakistani-origin Muslim family in Canada, and called for unitedly standing against Islamophobia.

    “I am appalled by the targeted and heinous attack on a Muslim family in Ontario, Canada,” the UN chief wrote on Twitter.

    Earlier, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, too, offered his condolences to the victims of Sunday’s attack and called it an “act of evil.”

    “You are not alone. All Canadians mourn with you and stand with you, tonight and always,” Trudeau tweeted.

    On Sunday, a man ran a black pickup truck over the family of five at a London intersection, killing four of them and wounding a boy.

  • ‘Fighting must stop immediately’: UN Secretary-General

    ‘Fighting must stop immediately’: UN Secretary-General

    UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Sunday called on Israel and Palestine to “immediately end fighting” and return to negotiations.

    “The United Nations is actively engaging all sides towards an immediate ceasefire,” António Guterres added.

    All members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), who participated in an emergency meeting on the situation in Palestine on Sunday, urged Israel not to make demographic and territorial changes in the occupied territory and immediately cease its hostilities.

    Pakistan on Sunday urged the US to play its role in addressing the worsening Palestine crisis and restore peace in the region.

    Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi spoke with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday. They discussed bilateral relations and important regional developments, particularly the deteriorating situation in Palestine.

    The Foreign Ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in their emergency meeting on Sunday condemned what they described as “barbaric” Israeli attacks on Palestinians and urged the UN Security Council to act swiftly to bring an end to the atrocities.

    The meeting was convened by Saudi Arabia. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi represented Pakistan at the virtual session. He stressed upon the member states that the OIC must not fail the people of Palestine at this critical juncture.

    Israeli airstrikes on Gaza have claimed the lives of 42 more people, taking the death toll to 188. According to Gaza health officials, 16 women and 10 children were killed in the recent air strikes which also targeted the home of a Hamas leader.

  • UN chief urges Pakistan, India to resolve Kashmir conflict through talks

    UN chief urges Pakistan, India to resolve Kashmir conflict through talks

    UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Thursday called on nuclear-armed India and Pakistan to “come together and seriously discuss their problems” stemming from the unresolved Kashmir dispute, saying his good offices are always available for mediation.

    Replying to a question from APP correspondent Iftikhar Ali at his first press conference in 2021, the UN chief warned that there was no “military solution” to the decades-old conflict.

    “It is clear when seeing Pakistan and India, any military confrontation between the two would be a disaster of unmitigated proportions for both countries and for the whole world,” he warned.

    “I do believe that is absolutely essential to have a de-escalation of the situation, namely in the Line of Control” in the disputed Kashmir region, Guterres said, adding, “I think it’s absolutely essential for the two countries to be able to come together and seriously discuss their problems.”

    “And,” he added, “I think it’s essential that human rights are fully respected in all territories that you mentioned,” referring to the question in which the correspondent highlighted the continuing rights abuses in the Indian occupied Kashmir.

    He said he stood by his statement of Aug. 8, 2019, which called for the resolution of the Kashmir dispute based on UN resolutions and the UN Charter.

    “Now, things have not moved in the right direction, our good offices are always available, and we will insist within it on finding peaceful solutions for problems that have no military solution.”