INTERNACIONAL
Former Trump official slams UN reform efforts as ‘eight and a half years late’
FIRST ON FOX: The United Nations’ UN80 Task Force is examining multiple suggested methods for reorganizing the institution, according to a leaked, confidential document shared with Fox News Digital. The six-page paper cites multiple inefficiencies and areas of improvement needed to combat «geopolitical shifts and substantial reductions in foreign aid budgets» which are «challenging the legitimacy and effectiveness of the organization.»
The effort is «eight and a half years late,» Hugh Dugan, former National Security Council Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for International Organization Affairs, told Fox News Digital: «If [Secretary-General António] Guterres really comprehends that the system needs a major overhaul, he should step down and facilitate an early U.N. Secretary-General election.» Dugan said that «the person with the fresh mandate» should overhaul the U.N.
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Flags of the UN and USA fly outside the United Nations headquarters ahead of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on September 15, 2023. (ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)
The UN80 Task Force document notes that «overlapping mandates, inefficient use of resources, and inconsistent delivery of services» are among the problems with proliferating agencies, funds and programs, and notes ways to integrate, consolidate, and coordinate among reformed entities to maximize the benefit for those who rely on the U.N.
As another means of reducing outlays, the task force also recommended reducing the quantity of high-level posts, establishing single entities to coordinate Peace and Security, Humanitarian Affairs, and Human Rights, and «reduc[ing] the number of U.N. development system entities.»
Dugan said the document «looks more like a whiteboard stream of consciousness approach that you find on the first day of a business retreat.» He said that it lacks mention of human resource improvements, finding ways of recruiting «the very best in the world,» or «identifying performance measurements or metrics against the leaders of the organization, branches, [or] offices.»
Dugan said that the task force is also missing the important confidence-building measures needed to increase buy-in from members, to keep them «impressed and enthusiastic» about U.N. programs. «They’re assuming that they are the leaders that are the right people at the right time.» Dugan said this is «a real shortcoming.»
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres is shown on the screen while speaking at the opening ceremony of the UN Internet Governance Forum – IGF 2021 at the International Congress Center in Katowice, Poland, on December 7th, 2021. (Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto)
«I don’t think they have the confidence of the world community or the talents or the resources to hold out another year and a half under this regime of Secretary Guterres,» Dugan said. Rather than utilize the «Noah’s Ark management mentality» of attempting to «weather the storm,» Dugan said that the U.N. must «get very creative very quickly with what they have at hand.»
Dugan noted that the U.N. has gone through a «fall-off in relevance» with its lack of involvement in «real world dynamics between member states.» He urged the organization to identify «the multilateral collateral, meaning we’ve got to identify what’s good, and then we have to get rid of what’s damaged after eight years.»
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In response to concerns shared by Dugan, Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, said that the memo «is the result of an exercise to generate ideas and thoughts from senior officials on how to achieve the Secretary-General’s vision» and is one «of the three work streams that we are working on.»
Dujarric pointed to a speech Guterres delivered in March when introducing the UN80 Initiative, in which he called for an «ambitious reform agenda to strengthen how we work and deliver.» Guterres said this involves increasing transparency and accountability, being more effective and cutting costs, and decentralizing decisions to serve those who rely on the U.N.
The symbol of the United Nations outside the Secretariat Building at United Nations Headquarters. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File) (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
Dujarric also mentioned a speech Guterres gave eight years ago in September 2017, when he lamented the Byzantine bureaucracy that hampers progress at the U.N., and said that he was «pursuing sweeping management reform – to simplify procedures and decentralize decisions, with greater transparency, efficiency and accountability.»
For Dugan, Guterres’ failure to attempt those «sweeping» reforms prior to 2025 is an indication that regime change is needed. He reiterated that «the Secretary-General’s ‘Trust me’ window dressing is no longer convincing us to pay full retail.»
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U.S. contributions to the U.N. may also take a hit. In April, a White House Office of Management and Budget passback to the State Department indicated the desire to end funding for international organizations, including the U.N.
Other countries are also falling short with contributions. In March, Guterres’ spokesperson Farhan Haq told Fox News Digital that member states’ non-payment of dues had forced the closure of one staff entrance to the U.N. headquarters in New York City at the time.
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Israel’s military said Wednesday that one of its F-35I «Adir» stealth fighter jets shot down an Iranian Air Force Yak-130, marking the first time the advanced aircraft has downed a manned fighter in combat.
«The historic shootdown over the Tehran skies is a testament to the strength of the Israeli Air Force and to your personal determination,» said Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar, the commander of the Israeli air force.
«The war continues – return home safely. Get some rest,» he told the pilots. «The next mission is already waiting for you.»
The F-35I is Israel’s customized version of the U.S.-made F-35 Lightning II, a fifth-generation stealth fighter that anchors the country’s air fleet.
An Israeli air force F-35I Adir multirole fighter aircraft flies over the Negev Desert after taking off from a military base en route to the Gaza Strip on Oct. 14, 2023. (Yuri Cortez/AFP via Getty Images)
According to the F-35 program’s official website, Israel became the first country to select the aircraft through the U.S. government’s Foreign Military Sales process, signing a letter of agreement in October 2010.
The site says the Israeli air force gave the jet the Hebrew name «Adir,» meaning «Mighty One,» and received its first F-35 on June 22, 2016.
The Yak-130 is a Russian-made, two-seat combat training aircraft designed by the Yakovlev Design Bureau, according to United Aircraft Corporation, the state-owned Russian aerospace company that manufactures the jet.
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A Russian-made Yak-130 subsonic two-seat advanced jet trainer and light attack aircraft maneuvers during a flying display on the third day of the Farnborough International Airshow in Hampshire, England, on July 11, 2012. (Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images)
It made its maiden flight in 1996 and is currently in active production.
Iran’s air force received its first Yak-130 training aircraft in September 2023, according to Press TV, Iran’s state-run English-language broadcaster.
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F-4 and F-14 jets from Iran and Russian MiG-29 aircraft perform a demonstration flight at the 9th International Iran AirShow on Kish Island, Hormozgan, Iran, on Nov. 27, 2018. (Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
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In November 2023, Brig. Gen. Mahdi Farahi, Iran’s deputy defense minister, told Tasnim, a semi-official Iranian news agency, that plans had been finalized for Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets, Mil Mi-28 attack helicopters and Yak-130 trainers to join the country’s armed forces.
Tasnim reported that Iran previously acquired MiG-29 fighter jets from Russia in the 1990s.
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INTERNACIONAL
Gun rights expert says Minnesota Dems tried to block her testimony on firearm bills to ‘avoid’ policy debate
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A Second Amendment expert is accusing Minnesota Democrats of attempting to sideline policy advocates as they push for passage of a pair of gun control bills, arguing the lawmakers are leaning on emotional appeals instead of debating the measures’ real-world impact.
Amy Swearer, a senior legal fellow at Advancing American Freedom who specializes in gun policy, told Fox News Digital in an interview that Democratic members of a Minnesota House panel appeared to arbitrarily reject her written testimony ahead of a key hearing on the bills and resisted allowing her to testify in person. Swearer was ultimately able to testify for about two minutes.
«I think really at the core of it, that’s what they wanted to avoid, to the extent that they could keep this focused on the Annunciation shooting, and to prevent people like myself from coming in and saying, well, first of all, these policies would not have prevented a single death,» Swearer said.
Displays of rifles at the gun show held Sunday at the Stillwater armory. (Jerry Holt/Star Tribune via Getty Images)
Democratic offices of the committee did not respond to multiple requests for comments since Friday.
The hearing included heavy moments during which parents of victims and victims themselves of last year’s shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis testified in support of the bills. The shooter, who later died by suicide, killed two young children and injured more than two dozen others.
«Parents in our community don’t sleep all the way through the night anymore,» Jackie Flavin, who lost her 10-year-old daughter Harper in the shooting, testified. «Because when we send our children out into the world, we know that there are weapons out there capable of turning an ordinary morning into something unthinkable in seconds.»
In reaction to the mass shooting in Minneapolis at Annunciation Church, students rally at the capitol demanding state and federal lawmakers pass bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. (Michael Siluk/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
The two bills, as they are currently written, are stalled in committee after receiving a 10-10 tie vote along party lines at the close of the contentious hearing.
Swearer said the committee rejected her written testimony, which included an analysis of multi-victim shootings in the state, because it contained hyperlinks, which was against committee rules. She accused Democrats on the committee of selectively enforcing that rule against her but not against others.
«I want to be clear, that was very emotional. It was difficult. These were grieving people, and understandably so, but that I think very clearly is what the Democrats wanted to focus on, the emotion of it,» Swearer said. «They did not want this to turn into a battle of actual experts on policy.»
The bills were part of a sweeping gun control package introduced by Democratic Gov. Tim Walz in response to the church shooting.
One of the bills would broadly ban future sales of many «semiautomatic military-style assault weapons» by redefining the firearms under state law and would impose new restrictions on current owners of such guns. The other would prohibit the manufacture, sale, transfer, and possession of large-capacity ammunition magazines, which the bill defines as those with more than ten rounds.
Swearer, who was invited to the hearing by the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, said the bills were unconstitutional.
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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks during a debate at the CBS Broadcast Center Oct. 1, 2024, in New York City. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
«They’re problematic from start to finish,» she said, adding that the first bill was «one of the most restrictive gun bans I have ever seen in terms of the definition.»
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The Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus’s director of governor relations, Anna Leamy, also testified against the bills during the hearing and noted that Swearer and other «national experts and everyday Minnesotans» were limited from participating, which Swearer said «goaded» Democrats into allowing her to speak for two minutes.
The National Foundation for Gun Rights said its executive director, Hannah Hill, was also told she could not testify. Committee chairs typically limit witness participation at hearings for time purposes, but those restrictions can spur accusations of selectively suppressing certain voices.
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El Congreso de Filipinas aprobó este miércoles seguir adelante con un proceso de destitución contra la vicepresidenta Sara Duterte, lo que podría frustrar su carrera hacia el máximo cargo del país.
La hija del expresidente Rodrigo Duterte, encausado por la Corte Penal Internacional, anunció recientemente su candidatura para las elecciones presidenciales de 2028.
Ya había sido objeto de un proceso de destitución en la Cámara de Representantes el año pasado, pero la Corte Suprema lo desestimó por cuestiones de procedimiento.
Este miércoles, un comité del Congreso filipino aprobó por amplia mayoría remitir una acusación contra Sara Duterte a la Cámara de Representantes.
Se acusa a Sara Duterte de malversación y corrupción durante su gestión, así como de haber proferido una amenaza de muerte contra su antiguo aliado y actual presidente Ferdinand Marcos.
Según la Constitución filipina, si la Cámara de Representantes aprueba las acusaciones, esto activaría un juicio en el Senado.
Un veredicto de culpabilidad inhabilitaría a Duterte para ejercer cargos públicos y la apartaría de la contienda presidencial de 2028.
Su padre Rodrigo Duterte, presidente entre 2016 y 2022, enfrenta acusaciones de parte de la CPI por crímenes contra la humanidad durante la “guerra contra la droga” emprendida en su mandato que dejó miles de muertos.
El alto tribunal en La Haya celebró audiencias la semana pasada para determinar si se abre un proceso contra él.
Aunque todavía se avecina una audiencia de causa probable, Michael Tiu, profesor adjunto de Derecho en la Universidad de Filipinas, dijo a AFP que creía que nada descarrilaría el camino hacia una votación en la Cámara.
“Con la diferencia de 54-1 en la votación del comité, creo que es imposible que estas quejas de impeachment sean desechadas, dado que hay una gran diferencia y muchos vieron que las quejas tenían mérito”, dijo.
Los analistas han advertido que el anuncio presidencial de Duterte pesará mucho sobre los legisladores, obligados a evaluar las repercusiones de un voto contra alguien que aún puede ocupar el cargo más alto del país.
La supuesta amenaza de muerte contra Marcos surge de una conferencia de prensa nocturna en la que Duterte afirmó haber contratado a un asesino para matar al presidente y a miembros de su familia si él la mataba primero.
Aunque la vicepresidente dijo más tarde que los comentarios fueron malinterpretados, el legislador Gerville Luistro dijo el miércoles que las supuestas amenazas podrían desestabilizar las instituciones.
“Tienen peso. Crean miedo”, dijo.
Duterte y Marcos han estado involucrados en una pelea política de alto riesgo que estalló pocas semanas después de su victoria en las elecciones presidenciales de 2022, cuando a la vicepresidenta se le negaron sus carteras de gabinete favoritas y en su lugar se la nombró secretaria de Educación.
El mes pasado, el comité de justicia desestimó un par de denuncias de impeachment contra Marcos, dictaminando que las acusaciones de corrupción por un escándalo que involucraba proyectos falsos de control de inundaciones carecían de fundamento.
(con información de AFP)
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