Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — In a quiet but contentious campaign, countries are competing for new openings on the UN’s Human Rights Council. Many of the contenders for membership on the Geneva-based body include the political Who’s Who of authoritarian regimes who are noteworthy abusers of the very human rights […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — White smoke has emerged from the Security Council, where the powerful fifteen member body, has selected a new UN Secretary General from among a dozen declared candidates. Intense diplomatic deliberations among the powers, hectic lobbying among the candidates, and rife speculation in the international community […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — Justin Trudeau, Canada’s media star Prime Minister, in his first address to the General Assembly, presented a wide-ranging tableaux of liberal platitudes and glowing feel good commitments. Proclaiming an almost theological commitment to diversity, an acceptance of Syrian refugees, and climate change policies, Trudeau presented […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — The reverberations of the Syrian conflict continue to rock the UN General Assembly and Security Council as the shock waves of a churning war, a deepening political crisis, and a widening humanitarian disaster plague both the region as well as the wider world community. Syria […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — Presidents, Prime Ministers and Kings will convene in New York next week for the opening of the 71st General Assembly of the United Nations. The annual Autumn session meets amid trying to solve or at least contain growing conflicts, a surge in refugees, terrorism and […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — On a picture perfect September morning, the Grim Reaper struck in New York. Hijacked aircraft slammed into the Twin Towers of the Word Trade Center shattering the myth that terrorism “can’t happen here.” Before long, the towers were like two belching black smokestacks set against […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler BRATISLAVA, Slovakia — The majestic Danube River connects Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest. Just 40 miles downriver from Vienna, the historic city of Bratislava rises above the Danubian plain. Still the turrets of Bratislava castle on the hill are more picturesque than forbidding but are usually missed in a […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler PARIS — A vital American ally has gone geopolitically adrift in the wake of Turkey’s failed military coup, and the subsequent crackdown on all forms of domestic political dissent by the strongman ruler Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The bloody coup in which hundreds died, nonetheless served as a tragic […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler PARIS — Imagine for a moment arriving at Sunday morning religious service only to see the doors of the church guarded by camouflage-clad soldiers with automatic weapons. Well, this was the stark reality when we arrived at our neighborhood church, a structure dating from the 15th century, but […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler PARIS — The recurring terrorist attacks which have plagued France seem to have no bounds nor mercy. The murder of a Catholic priest saying Mass in a church near Rouen by two Islamic State thugs brought the crisis to a new low. The daily Le Figaro headlined “Murdered […]
