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Thursday, July 30, 2020

Trump likely to address U.N. in person in September, says U.N. envoy

U.S. President Donald Trump hopes to address the U.N. General Assembly in person in September, his U.N. envoy said on Thursday, while all other world leaders will send videos instead of traveling to New York amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The annual high-level gathering had been shaping up to be a weeklong celebration of the 75th anniversary of the world body, but U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres suggested in May that leaders send video statements due to likely travel issues.

The 193-member General Assembly agreed last week to the special measures, which allow one - possibly two - New York-based representatives for each country to be in the General Assembly hall for the speeches.

“We’re hoping that President Trump will actually be speaking in person in the General Assembly. He will be the only world leader to be speaking in person,” U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Kelly Craft told the Meridian International diplomacy think tank.

“Obviously we’re going to be focused on human rights issues, on transparency, on accountability,” she added.

The United States is traditionally the second country after Brazil to address the General Assembly, due to start this year on Sept. 22.

The coronavirus has infected at least 17.1 million people and there have been more than 668,000 known deaths worldwide, according to a Reuters tally. New York was an epicenter earlier this year for the virus, which emerged in China in December.

Germany’s U.N. Ambassador Christoph Heusgen said there were no plans for German Chancellor Angela Merkel or Foreign Minister Heiko Maas to come the New York in September.

“We have to be careful, we must not endanger people by coming with a big delegation here, and therefore we agreed to the proposal to have the leaders present their speeches in a virtual way,” Heusgen told a news conference to mark the end of Germany’s July presidency of the U.N. Security Council.

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Eid-ul Adha: Pakistanis rush to car cleaners to have sacrificial animals scrubbed down

Many of the animals come from a huge market on the outskirts of Karachi

In the run-up to the festival of Eid al-Adha, Karachi car-wash owner Sheikh Sagheer sees much of the traffic at his business switch from four wheels to four legs.

Locals bring him their cattle, sheep and goats for a thorough scrub down ahead of the animals´ sacrifice during the three-day religious holiday, which begins Friday in Pakistan.

Sagheer, 42, said the cow wash started when he was spotted cleaning his sacrificial animal ahead of Eid after opening his business a few years ago.

"The people who saw me washing the animal came to me with their own... that´s how this trend started," Sagheer told AFP.

Many of the animals come from a huge market on the outskirts of Karachi reputed to be the largest Eid cattle bazaar in Asia that is packed with goats, cows, bullocks, sheep and camels.

The creatures are often dirty, dusty and speckled with dung after being transported then packed together at the market.

Sagheer charges just 100 rupees for a wash which includes a soak with a pressure hose, a lather with suds, a scrub and a rinse.

"The charge is 100 rupees, which is nothing," said Mohammad Uzair, who brought in a large grey cow for a wash.

Across Pakistan, between eight and 10 million animals are sacrificed over Eid al-Adha, according to the Pakistan Tanners Association.

Sagheer says cleanliness is especially important because of the coronavirus pandemic.

"I make it a point to sanitise the animal with disinfectants," he said.

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