Saudi women enter stadium for first time to watch soccer
Washington DC [USA], Jan 13 (ANI): For the first time, women in Saudi Arabia entered a sports stadium to watch a soccer match between two local teams in Jeddah.
However, the women were segregated in the stands from the male-only crowd with designated seating in the so-called "family section" at King Abdullah Sports City stadium, ABC News reported.
This easing of the strict gender segregation was announced in October 2017, as a part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's ambitious reforms to modernise Saudi society and boost the economy.
The order opened the previously male-only venues of King Fahd Stadium in Riyadh, King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, and Prince Mohammed Bin Fahd Stadium in Dammam to accommodate families.
The Saudi General Sports Authority said that it had made all the necessary preparations to create an attractive sports environment for families and to ensure their privacy.
Saudi Arabia, which was the only country in the world to forbid female drivers, last year also allowed women to drive in the country.
700 more US troops won't make difference: Taliban
Kabul [Afghanistan], Jan 13 (ANI): The Taliban has criticised the United States' decision to send 700 more troops into Afghanistan for training, advising and assisting the Afghan security forces in counter-terrorism operations in the country.
The Khaama press agency reported that the US military officials had announced the sending of more US troops to Afghanistan to advise and assist the Afghan security forces during the counter-terrorism operations.
The Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid said in a statement, "If the US failed to win a war with a hundred thousand troops, it will not win with a few hundred. Deployment of 700 Special Operations Forces (SOF) is a propaganda effort because the US and its allies are compelled to periodically reinvigorate spirits of their morale lacking troops."
Earlier reports had emerged that the US President Donald Trump was planning to send the US troops in Afghanistan after he unveiled his administration's new strategy to tackle terrorism in South Asia in August last year.
Trump has vowed to continue the US mission in Afghanistan and has reaffirmed his support to the Afghan government and the Afghan national defence and security forces.
According to the US officials, the new strategy will be implemented in a bid to force the Taliban to opt for reconciliation.
The recent comments by the Taliban comes a day after insurgents and the US-special forces clashed with each other in Achin district of Nangarhar province.
Japan deploys ships, seaplanes near Korean Peninsula
Tokyo [Japan], Jan 13 (ANI): Japan's Maritime Self-Defence Force (MSDF) has deployed its ships and seaplanes in waters near the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the Korean Peninsula in an attempt to thwart North Korea from evading United Nations (UN) sanctions.
Following a request from the U.S. military in December to the Japanese government, MSDF ships have been stationed in the Yellow Sea to keep a close watch on foreign ships transferring oil to North Korea, the Japan Times reported.
A source from the MSDF said, "We are following the standard rules for warning and surveillance activities for the mission. The main purpose is to monitor ship movements and collect information to share with the United States. The MSDF does not forcibly inspect ships, as it is not authorised to do so unless certain conditions are met under the Self-Defense Forces Law."
But the government believes the activities will put more pressure not only on North Korea but also on China and Russia, which are allegedly economic enablers of North Korea's weapons development programs.
The MSDF has also sent its ships and surveillance seaplanes as far as the East China Sea and the Sea of Japan, for daily patrolling of suspicious ships coming near the Korean peninsula.
According to local sources, the MSDF takes photographs of the suspicious ships and share them with the US.
However, a senior MSDF official has said it is not clear whether the efforts will yield results in foiling oil smuggling.
"We cannot forcibly investigate ships. They could leave the area and sail to a different location to meet (a North Korean ship) and transfer the items. The activities have significance in tightening the net around North Korea, but the actual effects remain uncertain."
North Korea has become a virtual pariah in the international community after conducting nuclear tests and launching three intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) last year.
The recent development comes days after the two Koreas agreed to hold their military and working-level talks to solve their border tensions and to discuss North Korea's probable participation in the next month's Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
The rare talks come amid the increasing tension between the two countries, as South Korea earlier seized a Hong Kong-flagged oil tanker returning after allegedly transferring oil to North Korea. American satellites had reportedly spotted Chinese ships, suspected of selling oil to North Korean vessels about 30 times since October.
North Korea has become a virtual pariah in the international community since the UN imposed tough sanctions on the country, after conducting nuclear tests and launching three intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) last year.
China commissions new missile frigate
Beijing [China], Jan 13 (ANI): The People's Liberation Army Navy commissioned a new missile frigate, named 'Rizhao', in a naval port in China's Dalian located in the Liaoning Province.
Rizhao is China's indigenous missile frigate. It is 140-meter-long and 16-meter-wide with the capability to displace more than 4,000 tonnes.
Rizhao is equipped with an advanced weapon systems.
It has the capability to attack enemy ships and submarines alone or along with other naval forces.
Fire at Rohingya camp kills 4
Cox's Bazar [Bangladesh], Jan 13 (ANI): Four Rohingyas, including three children and a woman, were killed in a fire at an UN-run transit camp in southeastern Bangladesh's Ukhiya upazila near Cox's Bazar on Friday night.
Cox's Bazar's Additional Superintendent of Police Afruzul Haque Tutul said, "The fire, which broke out at around 3:30 am late on Friday, from a candle in their tent at the camp, also left three others injured.
Ukhiya's Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Md Nikaruzzaman confirmed the incident and said the tent was located along the Cox's Bazar-Tekhnaf Marine Drive, the Dhaka Tribune reported.
Officials from the Red Crescent said that at least seven people were severely burnt in the fire and have been rushed to a Red Crescent field hospital where four of them died on Friday afternoon.
When they were rushed to a Red Crescent field hospital, the four of them succumbed to their injuries and the remaining three people are recovering.
Rohingyas are a Muslim minority ethnic group in Myanmar. They have been regarded by many majority Buddhists as illegal migrants from Bangladesh. Also, they have been long persecuted by the Buddhists and the security forces.
As of December 2017, an estimated 6,55,000 Rohingya people fled to Bangladesh to avoid the persecution from the security forces that started in Myanmar's Rakhine state in August last year.
There are more than 3,00,000 Rohingyas living in Bangladesh, who fled in earlier waves of violence from the Myanmarese Government since the last three decades.
The United Nations has called the violence against civilians 'ethnic cleansing', but the Myanmarese Government rejected the claims.
S Korea to install artificial reefs with N Korea
Seoul [South Korea], Jan 13 (ANI): South Korea on Saturday announced that it will install artificial reefs near the western maritime border with North Korea, to prevent illegal fishing by Chinese ships.
The Yonhap news agency quoted the Incheon Metropolitan City provincial government saying that artificial reefs will be installed around the country's north-western islands in the Yellow Sea, located near the disputed maritime border of Northern Limit Line (NLL), which officially acts as the de facto maritime boundary between North and South Korea.
The South Korean government and Incheon provincial government have placed an order of about 800 artificial reefs, which range in size from 2 tons to 53.5 tons.
The artificial reefs are man-made underwater structures, which are almost similar to natural reefs for protecting marine resources. They are also effective in preventing illegal trawling.
Chinese ships have taken advantage of the rising tensions between the two Koreas. South Korean coastguards does not actively crack down on Chinese ships, near the NLL, since it could trigger an accidental clash with North Korea.
In July last year, North Korea condemned the decision of erecting artificial reef structures, as a part of Seoul's military provocations against Pyongyang's maritime demarcation line.
The decision of erecting man-made reefs near the NLL by South Korea, comes at a time when the two Koreas agreed to sit down and hold military talks, in what was the first time in two years, in order to solve their border tensions.
The rare high-level talks come amid the increasing tension between the two countries as South Korea seized a Hong Kong-flagged oil tanker returning after allegedly transferring oil to North Korea a few days ago. American satellites had reportedly spotted Chinese ships, suspected of selling oil to North Korean vessels about 30 times since October.
North Korea is also under tough international sanctions imposed by the UN over the launch of three intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and other nuclear tests conducted in the last year.
16 suspects arrested in Balochistan raids
Quetta [Pakistan], Jan 13 (ANI): At least 16 suspects, including eight Afghan refugees, were arrested during large-scale raids in different parts of Pakistan.
The Express Tribune reported that the Frontier Corps (FC) arrested the suspects, days after a suicide bomber killed seven people near the Balochistan provincial assembly in Quetta.
"Balochistan FC conducted intelligence-based operations in Sambaza, Sibbi, Hazar Ganji areas," the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.
"Weapons and ammunition including grenades, IEDs (improvised explosive devices), rockets and explosives have been recovered," the ISPR added.
Around seven people, including five Balochistan Constabulary personnel, were killed after a bomber struck a security forces truck in Quetta.
The attack took place in the city's busy intersection of GPO Chowk, located in a high-security zone, not far from the provincial assembly. The suicide attack was later claimed by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
The Pakistan Army launched Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad, a military offensive against the 'latent threat of terrorism', in February last year.
CPEC's future in doubt over critical monetary, security and capacity issues
Washington D C [United States], Jan. 13 (ANI): Differences are reportedly developing between Pakistan and China over which of these two countries will eventually stand to benefit strategically from the USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project in the long run.
An article published by The Diplomat has suggested that existing critical monetary, security, and capacity issues could hamper the CPEC's future, as both Islamabad and Beijing are repeatedly and consistently flagging their concerns, doubts and frustrations about project-related lacunae.
From the Pakistani side, there is a very anxious concern that the tough monetary and security conditions that China is seeking to impose on it, could leave the country in a worrisome and profound pit of debt.
According to the article, "there is a deepening urgency in Islamabad to say "No" to Beijing's habit of finding its want with all deals that certainly undermine Pakistan's interests."
Pakistan's decision to withdraw the USD 14-billion Diamer-Bhasha Dam from the CPEC ambit citing Beijing's strict monetary conditions as being against its national interests is an example of this.
Umair Jamal, the author of the article, warns, "Practically, Islamabad's emerging economic model is becoming dependent on China...Over the last few years, Pakistan (has) approached economic collapse on several occasions with China offering life-saving support to the country's economy..If Beijing continues to push with its aggressive monetary conditions, it's likely that in the coming years, Islamabad may cancel more projects which do not bode well for the overall commercial viability of the project (CPEC)."
He quotes observers as warning that Beijing's strict monetary conditions and lack of transparency in projects funded by it; have landed the future of Pakistan's whole economy in a tight spot.
From China's point of view, Jamal says there are economic and security concerns.
Economically, China is unlikely to make any trade or monetary concessions to Pakistan that involve Beijing losing financial benefits in such mega infrastructure deals such as the CPEC. It has been aggressive in pushing Pakistan into accepting conditions that offer it more leverage than the latter.
From the issue of security, Beijing is worried about the presence of several jihadist groups in Pakistan, and is pushing Pakistan into take action to prevent them being a direct threat to its regional economic plans and financial investments in Pakistan.
China has indirectly told Pakistan that it may have to review its very vocal support for the latter on security issues at the global level and financially arm twist if Islamabad fails to neutralise this surging and violent jihadist influence.
During the recently held BRICS summit, China, in an unprecedented shift from its previous policy of taking up strategic dialogues with Pakistan behind closed doors, agreed with the rest of the member states in issuing a joint statement, stating that a number of militant groups allegedly based in Pakistan remain a "regional security concern."
China would also not want to annoy India, as both have high value bilateral economic and strategic commitments with each other.
The article, quoting experts like Michael Kugelman, deputy director of the South Asia program at the Woodrow Wilson Center, and Seth Oldmixon, a public affairs consultant and the founder of Liberty South Asia, suggests that "China and Pakistan will work out arrangements that ensure a critical mass of projects to be carried out in their entirety, as there's too much at stake for both countries for it to be any other way."
UN chief calls for 'balance of power' in UNSC
United Nations, Jan 13 (PTI) UN chief Antonio Guterres has called for establishing "balance of power" in the Security Council to make the world body more "democratic".
Speaking at a ceremony yesterday at which Egypt took over the chairmanship of the G77 and China from Ecuador, the UN Secretary-General called for a more democratic UN, with power divided in a more balanced way and with more effective diversity in the regional representation at all its bodies.
"The centre of that is in the reform of the Security Council, it is in the revitalisation of the General Assembly, but one thing that I am strongly committed at the Secretariat level and that is one of the reasons of the management reform that we have proposed is to make sure that, at that the level of the Secretariat, that increased diversity and that balance of power is established," he said.
He expressed hope that the Group of 77 will be "attentive to the need to make sure that any reform gives an effective contribution to a more balanced and democratic UN where power is better distributed and justice can prevail more easily."
He said Group of 77 has a very important role to play not only in a multilateral world but in a world where international relations have more justice.
Washington DC [USA], Jan 13 (ANI): For the first time, women in Saudi Arabia entered a sports stadium to watch a soccer match between two local teams in Jeddah.
However, the women were segregated in the stands from the male-only crowd with designated seating in the so-called "family section" at King Abdullah Sports City stadium, ABC News reported.
This easing of the strict gender segregation was announced in October 2017, as a part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's ambitious reforms to modernise Saudi society and boost the economy.
The order opened the previously male-only venues of King Fahd Stadium in Riyadh, King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, and Prince Mohammed Bin Fahd Stadium in Dammam to accommodate families.
The Saudi General Sports Authority said that it had made all the necessary preparations to create an attractive sports environment for families and to ensure their privacy.
Saudi Arabia, which was the only country in the world to forbid female drivers, last year also allowed women to drive in the country.
700 more US troops won't make difference: Taliban
Kabul [Afghanistan], Jan 13 (ANI): The Taliban has criticised the United States' decision to send 700 more troops into Afghanistan for training, advising and assisting the Afghan security forces in counter-terrorism operations in the country.
The Khaama press agency reported that the US military officials had announced the sending of more US troops to Afghanistan to advise and assist the Afghan security forces during the counter-terrorism operations.
The Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid said in a statement, "If the US failed to win a war with a hundred thousand troops, it will not win with a few hundred. Deployment of 700 Special Operations Forces (SOF) is a propaganda effort because the US and its allies are compelled to periodically reinvigorate spirits of their morale lacking troops."
Earlier reports had emerged that the US President Donald Trump was planning to send the US troops in Afghanistan after he unveiled his administration's new strategy to tackle terrorism in South Asia in August last year.
Trump has vowed to continue the US mission in Afghanistan and has reaffirmed his support to the Afghan government and the Afghan national defence and security forces.
According to the US officials, the new strategy will be implemented in a bid to force the Taliban to opt for reconciliation.
The recent comments by the Taliban comes a day after insurgents and the US-special forces clashed with each other in Achin district of Nangarhar province.
Japan deploys ships, seaplanes near Korean Peninsula
Tokyo [Japan], Jan 13 (ANI): Japan's Maritime Self-Defence Force (MSDF) has deployed its ships and seaplanes in waters near the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the Korean Peninsula in an attempt to thwart North Korea from evading United Nations (UN) sanctions.
Following a request from the U.S. military in December to the Japanese government, MSDF ships have been stationed in the Yellow Sea to keep a close watch on foreign ships transferring oil to North Korea, the Japan Times reported.
A source from the MSDF said, "We are following the standard rules for warning and surveillance activities for the mission. The main purpose is to monitor ship movements and collect information to share with the United States. The MSDF does not forcibly inspect ships, as it is not authorised to do so unless certain conditions are met under the Self-Defense Forces Law."
But the government believes the activities will put more pressure not only on North Korea but also on China and Russia, which are allegedly economic enablers of North Korea's weapons development programs.
The MSDF has also sent its ships and surveillance seaplanes as far as the East China Sea and the Sea of Japan, for daily patrolling of suspicious ships coming near the Korean peninsula.
According to local sources, the MSDF takes photographs of the suspicious ships and share them with the US.
However, a senior MSDF official has said it is not clear whether the efforts will yield results in foiling oil smuggling.
"We cannot forcibly investigate ships. They could leave the area and sail to a different location to meet (a North Korean ship) and transfer the items. The activities have significance in tightening the net around North Korea, but the actual effects remain uncertain."
North Korea has become a virtual pariah in the international community after conducting nuclear tests and launching three intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) last year.
The recent development comes days after the two Koreas agreed to hold their military and working-level talks to solve their border tensions and to discuss North Korea's probable participation in the next month's Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
The rare talks come amid the increasing tension between the two countries, as South Korea earlier seized a Hong Kong-flagged oil tanker returning after allegedly transferring oil to North Korea. American satellites had reportedly spotted Chinese ships, suspected of selling oil to North Korean vessels about 30 times since October.
North Korea has become a virtual pariah in the international community since the UN imposed tough sanctions on the country, after conducting nuclear tests and launching three intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) last year.
China commissions new missile frigate
Beijing [China], Jan 13 (ANI): The People's Liberation Army Navy commissioned a new missile frigate, named 'Rizhao', in a naval port in China's Dalian located in the Liaoning Province.
Rizhao is China's indigenous missile frigate. It is 140-meter-long and 16-meter-wide with the capability to displace more than 4,000 tonnes.
Rizhao is equipped with an advanced weapon systems.
It has the capability to attack enemy ships and submarines alone or along with other naval forces.
Fire at Rohingya camp kills 4
Cox's Bazar [Bangladesh], Jan 13 (ANI): Four Rohingyas, including three children and a woman, were killed in a fire at an UN-run transit camp in southeastern Bangladesh's Ukhiya upazila near Cox's Bazar on Friday night.
Cox's Bazar's Additional Superintendent of Police Afruzul Haque Tutul said, "The fire, which broke out at around 3:30 am late on Friday, from a candle in their tent at the camp, also left three others injured.
Ukhiya's Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Md Nikaruzzaman confirmed the incident and said the tent was located along the Cox's Bazar-Tekhnaf Marine Drive, the Dhaka Tribune reported.
Officials from the Red Crescent said that at least seven people were severely burnt in the fire and have been rushed to a Red Crescent field hospital where four of them died on Friday afternoon.
When they were rushed to a Red Crescent field hospital, the four of them succumbed to their injuries and the remaining three people are recovering.
Rohingyas are a Muslim minority ethnic group in Myanmar. They have been regarded by many majority Buddhists as illegal migrants from Bangladesh. Also, they have been long persecuted by the Buddhists and the security forces.
As of December 2017, an estimated 6,55,000 Rohingya people fled to Bangladesh to avoid the persecution from the security forces that started in Myanmar's Rakhine state in August last year.
There are more than 3,00,000 Rohingyas living in Bangladesh, who fled in earlier waves of violence from the Myanmarese Government since the last three decades.
The United Nations has called the violence against civilians 'ethnic cleansing', but the Myanmarese Government rejected the claims.
S Korea to install artificial reefs with N Korea
Seoul [South Korea], Jan 13 (ANI): South Korea on Saturday announced that it will install artificial reefs near the western maritime border with North Korea, to prevent illegal fishing by Chinese ships.
The Yonhap news agency quoted the Incheon Metropolitan City provincial government saying that artificial reefs will be installed around the country's north-western islands in the Yellow Sea, located near the disputed maritime border of Northern Limit Line (NLL), which officially acts as the de facto maritime boundary between North and South Korea.
The South Korean government and Incheon provincial government have placed an order of about 800 artificial reefs, which range in size from 2 tons to 53.5 tons.
The artificial reefs are man-made underwater structures, which are almost similar to natural reefs for protecting marine resources. They are also effective in preventing illegal trawling.
Chinese ships have taken advantage of the rising tensions between the two Koreas. South Korean coastguards does not actively crack down on Chinese ships, near the NLL, since it could trigger an accidental clash with North Korea.
In July last year, North Korea condemned the decision of erecting artificial reef structures, as a part of Seoul's military provocations against Pyongyang's maritime demarcation line.
The decision of erecting man-made reefs near the NLL by South Korea, comes at a time when the two Koreas agreed to sit down and hold military talks, in what was the first time in two years, in order to solve their border tensions.
The rare high-level talks come amid the increasing tension between the two countries as South Korea seized a Hong Kong-flagged oil tanker returning after allegedly transferring oil to North Korea a few days ago. American satellites had reportedly spotted Chinese ships, suspected of selling oil to North Korean vessels about 30 times since October.
North Korea is also under tough international sanctions imposed by the UN over the launch of three intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and other nuclear tests conducted in the last year.
16 suspects arrested in Balochistan raids
Quetta [Pakistan], Jan 13 (ANI): At least 16 suspects, including eight Afghan refugees, were arrested during large-scale raids in different parts of Pakistan.
The Express Tribune reported that the Frontier Corps (FC) arrested the suspects, days after a suicide bomber killed seven people near the Balochistan provincial assembly in Quetta.
"Balochistan FC conducted intelligence-based operations in Sambaza, Sibbi, Hazar Ganji areas," the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.
"Weapons and ammunition including grenades, IEDs (improvised explosive devices), rockets and explosives have been recovered," the ISPR added.
Around seven people, including five Balochistan Constabulary personnel, were killed after a bomber struck a security forces truck in Quetta.
The attack took place in the city's busy intersection of GPO Chowk, located in a high-security zone, not far from the provincial assembly. The suicide attack was later claimed by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
The Pakistan Army launched Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad, a military offensive against the 'latent threat of terrorism', in February last year.
CPEC's future in doubt over critical monetary, security and capacity issues
Washington D C [United States], Jan. 13 (ANI): Differences are reportedly developing between Pakistan and China over which of these two countries will eventually stand to benefit strategically from the USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project in the long run.
An article published by The Diplomat has suggested that existing critical monetary, security, and capacity issues could hamper the CPEC's future, as both Islamabad and Beijing are repeatedly and consistently flagging their concerns, doubts and frustrations about project-related lacunae.
From the Pakistani side, there is a very anxious concern that the tough monetary and security conditions that China is seeking to impose on it, could leave the country in a worrisome and profound pit of debt.
According to the article, "there is a deepening urgency in Islamabad to say "No" to Beijing's habit of finding its want with all deals that certainly undermine Pakistan's interests."
Pakistan's decision to withdraw the USD 14-billion Diamer-Bhasha Dam from the CPEC ambit citing Beijing's strict monetary conditions as being against its national interests is an example of this.
Umair Jamal, the author of the article, warns, "Practically, Islamabad's emerging economic model is becoming dependent on China...Over the last few years, Pakistan (has) approached economic collapse on several occasions with China offering life-saving support to the country's economy..If Beijing continues to push with its aggressive monetary conditions, it's likely that in the coming years, Islamabad may cancel more projects which do not bode well for the overall commercial viability of the project (CPEC)."
He quotes observers as warning that Beijing's strict monetary conditions and lack of transparency in projects funded by it; have landed the future of Pakistan's whole economy in a tight spot.
From China's point of view, Jamal says there are economic and security concerns.
Economically, China is unlikely to make any trade or monetary concessions to Pakistan that involve Beijing losing financial benefits in such mega infrastructure deals such as the CPEC. It has been aggressive in pushing Pakistan into accepting conditions that offer it more leverage than the latter.
From the issue of security, Beijing is worried about the presence of several jihadist groups in Pakistan, and is pushing Pakistan into take action to prevent them being a direct threat to its regional economic plans and financial investments in Pakistan.
China has indirectly told Pakistan that it may have to review its very vocal support for the latter on security issues at the global level and financially arm twist if Islamabad fails to neutralise this surging and violent jihadist influence.
During the recently held BRICS summit, China, in an unprecedented shift from its previous policy of taking up strategic dialogues with Pakistan behind closed doors, agreed with the rest of the member states in issuing a joint statement, stating that a number of militant groups allegedly based in Pakistan remain a "regional security concern."
China would also not want to annoy India, as both have high value bilateral economic and strategic commitments with each other.
The article, quoting experts like Michael Kugelman, deputy director of the South Asia program at the Woodrow Wilson Center, and Seth Oldmixon, a public affairs consultant and the founder of Liberty South Asia, suggests that "China and Pakistan will work out arrangements that ensure a critical mass of projects to be carried out in their entirety, as there's too much at stake for both countries for it to be any other way."
UN chief calls for 'balance of power' in UNSC
United Nations, Jan 13 (PTI) UN chief Antonio Guterres has called for establishing "balance of power" in the Security Council to make the world body more "democratic".
Speaking at a ceremony yesterday at which Egypt took over the chairmanship of the G77 and China from Ecuador, the UN Secretary-General called for a more democratic UN, with power divided in a more balanced way and with more effective diversity in the regional representation at all its bodies.
"The centre of that is in the reform of the Security Council, it is in the revitalisation of the General Assembly, but one thing that I am strongly committed at the Secretariat level and that is one of the reasons of the management reform that we have proposed is to make sure that, at that the level of the Secretariat, that increased diversity and that balance of power is established," he said.
He expressed hope that the Group of 77 will be "attentive to the need to make sure that any reform gives an effective contribution to a more balanced and democratic UN where power is better distributed and justice can prevail more easily."
He said Group of 77 has a very important role to play not only in a multilateral world but in a world where international relations have more justice.
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