The Palestinians want the UN to recognize a state. And the island nation of Tuvalu wants the UN to act — now — to keep their state above water.
The high drama surrounding the historic Palestinian bid for statehood has to a degree overshadowed other issues facing the UN General Assembly, which on Saturday heard from the leaders of island nations where the impact of climate change is already having a profound effect.
They argue that the UN is moving too slowly despite many initiatives designed to reduce carbon emissions worldwide.
Tuvalu’s very future is at stake, Tuvalu Prime Minister Willy Telavi said as he urged UN members to move more quickly to limit the damage of climate change and to come up with real, practical plans to help the most vulnerable countries.
“For a small island developing state like Tuvalu, climate change is no doubt a security issue which threatens our survival,” he said, adding that time was quickly running out for his tiny island nation, located roughly halfway between Australia and Hawaii.
The low-lying country, built on nine coral atolls, is one of the most endangered Pacific Islands, but others are also at risk as sea levels rise. It is not clear if Tuvalu, with its porous coral base, can be saved without a tremendous financial commitment from the international community, which may be reluctant to invest heavily in a country with only about 12,000 residents.
The country’s leaders have faced this reality — more than a decade ago, they asked Australia and New Zealand to be willing to take in the Tuvalu residents if evacuation becomes necessary.
The problem goes well beyond the vast Pacific region.
Navinchandra Ramgoolam, prime minister of the Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius — larger and more developed than Tuvalu — warned on Saturday that the threat has to be addressed more quickly if horrendous consequences are to be avoided. He said the existence of some small island nations is at stake.
DITCH TACTICS: Kenyan officers were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch suspected to have been deliberately dug by Haitian gang members A Kenyan policeman deployed in Haiti has gone missing after violent gangs attacked a group of officers on a rescue mission, a UN-backed multinational security mission said in a statement yesterday. The Kenyan officers on Tuesday were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch “suspected to have been deliberately dug by gangs,” the statement said, adding that “specialized teams have been deployed” to search for the missing officer. Local media outlets in Haiti reported that the officer had been killed and videos of a lifeless man clothed in Kenyan uniform were shared on social media. Gang violence has left
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including
RSS