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UN warns against ‘new Cold War’

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UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday urged the world to prevent a Cold War between the United States and China and halt conflicts so it can focus on the COVID-19 pandemic.


“We must do everything to avoid a new Cold War,” Guterres said in an address as he opened an almost entirely virtual UN General Assembly.


“We are moving in a very dangerous direction. Our world cannot afford a future where the two largest economies split the globe in a Great Fracture — each with its own trade and financial rules and Internet and artificial intelligence capacities,” he said, without saying the United States and China by name.


Tensions have soared between the United States and China in recent months, with President Donald Trump blaming Beijing for the COVID-19 pandemic that has claimed some 950,000 lives around the world and cast a shadow over his reelection bid.


Guterres has campaigned for an end to all violent conflicts as the world instead focuses on stopping the disease.


He pointed to some partial successes including ceasefires declared in Cameroon, Colombia and Cameroon.


He pressed for a universal ceasefire by the end of the year.


“I appeal for a stepped-up international effort — led by the Security Council — to achieve a global ceasefire by the end of this year,” Guterres said.


“We have 100 days. The clock is ticking.” Guterres also offered open criticism of right-wing movements in the face of the coronavirus.


“Populism and nationalism have failed. Those approaches to contain the virus have often made things manifestly worse. “


Meanwhile, the UN General Assembly in normal years draws about 10,000 people from around the world, a prospect that is unthinkable at a time when nations have imposed strict entrance requirements to prevent the spread of COVID-19, which has claimed nearly 950,000 lives.


With no chance for in-person meetings and the give-and-take of negotiations, some UN-based diplomats wonder how much can be achieved.


The United Nations is nonetheless moving ahead with meetings — also virtual — on the sidelines of the summit to tackle the coronavirus pandemic as well as climate change, biodiversity and political turbulence both in Libya and Lebanon.


The United States plans its own meeting on its own take on human rights. But it has also blatantly defied the United Nations, on Monday announcing sanctions that it said were enforcing a UN arms embargo on Iran.


Almost all other nations, including European allies, say that the United States has no such authority.


— Agencies


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