Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi's addressed the UN General Assembly two years ago.
Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi's addressed the UN General Assembly two years ago.

Despite faults, the UN remains indispensable



Last Tuesday, the United Nations opened its 72nd session of its General Assembly since its founding. The general debate will begin this Tuesday. The UNGA is the most democratic organ of the organisation, operating on a principle of equal representation. If it is a forum for heads of major countries to advance grand global visions, it is also an opportunity for leaders of smaller nations to freely reproach the big powers.

Critics argue this is all a waste of time. The UN's reputation has certainly taken a beating since the start of the century, in part because it remains frozen in the geopolitical realities of the 1940s. In an ideal world, five member states would not be endowed with powers of veto over the rest. There is also its ineffectiveness. Over the last half decade, hundreds of thousands of men, women and children have been killed in Syria, some of them gassed to death by forces loyal to Bashar Al Assad, the country's president, while the UN has dithered. Even now, the UN appears incapable or unwilling to act. The same goes for Myanmar, where nearly 400,000 Rohingya Muslims have been driven out of the country in a matter of weeks in one of the most horrifying instances of ethnic cleansing in recent history. Will the UN arrive at a consensus to help their plight? North Korea is another formidable challenge. Its leader, Kim Jong-un, threatens to unleash a nuclear holocaust. Is the UN capable of moderating his behaviour?

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The National has a ringside seat at the General Assembly and will be offering in-depth coverage of the proceedings as the UN grapples with questions that demand very urgent answers.

Having highlighted the UN's failures, it is important, too, to remember its achievements. It has averted conflicts by enabling leaders to engage openly in war of words. At the peak of the Cold War, it prevented a Third World War by creating an avenue for dialogue between the Soviet Union and the United States. The Millennium Development Goals adopted by the UN in 2000 have helped reduce child mortality and, improved environmental sustainability, expanded primary education, and accelerated the fight against malaria, HIV/Aids and other diseases. Its support mission to Libya, unanimously extended by the UN last week, is currently helping that country with the complex work of creating democratic institutions.

The UN's very existence is evidence of our ability to overcome our differences and strive, however imperfectly, to work in a spirit of human collaboration. As Dag Hammarskjöld, the second Secretary General of the UN, once said, "The United Nations was created not to lead mankind to heaven, but to save humanity from hell". Who can deny that the UN so far has succeeded in this mission?

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Tottenham's 10 biggest transfers (according to transfermarkt.com):

1). Moussa Sissokho - Newcastle United - £30 million (Dh143m): Flop

2). Roberto Soldado - Valencia -  £25m: Flop

3). Erik Lamela - Roma -  £25m: Jury still out

4). Son Heung-min - Bayer Leverkusen -  £25m: Success

5). Darren Bent - Charlton Athletic -  £21m: Flop

6). Vincent Janssen - AZ Alkmaar -  £18m: Flop

7). David Bentley - Blackburn Rovers -  £18m: Flop

8). Luka Modric - Dynamo Zagreb -  £17m: Success

9). Paulinho - Corinthians -  £16m: Flop

10). Mousa Dembele - Fulham -  £16m: Success

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A State of Passion

Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi

Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah

Rating: 4/5

Profile

Company name: Jaib

Started: January 2018

Co-founders: Fouad Jeryes and Sinan Taifour

Based: Jordan

Sector: FinTech

Total transactions: over $800,000 since January, 2018

Investors in Jaib's mother company Alpha Apps: Aramex and 500 Startups

Springtime in a Broken Mirror,
Mario Benedetti, Penguin Modern Classics

 

Episode list:

Ep1: A recovery like no other- the unevenness of the economic recovery 

Ep2: PCR and jobs - the future of work - new trends and challenges 

Ep3: The recovery and global trade disruptions - globalisation post-pandemic 

Ep4: Inflation- services and goods - debt risks 

Ep5: Travel and tourism 

Match info

Athletic Bilbao 0

Real Madrid 1 (Ramos 73' pen)

MATCH INFO

 

Maratha Arabians 107-8 (10 ovs)

Lyth 21, Lynn 20, McClenaghan 20 no

Qalandars 60-4 (10 ovs)

Malan 32 no, McClenaghan 2-9

Maratha Arabians win by 47 runs