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World Leaders Address United Nations General Assembly, Day1
Confirmed
In Short: In a separate development, US President Donald Trump announced an agreement with Denmark and Greenland that gives the United States permanent control over security and other needs in Greenland, addressing US national security concerns.
The United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly on Friday to adopt a new world map, known as the Equal Earth cartographic projection, which accurately represents the relative sizes of countries and continents.
The United States was the sole country to vote against the resolution, continuing its opposition to a world map that reflects the true sizes of countries and continents.
Meanwhile, the United States Department of State announced it would extend visa sanctions on officials of the Palestinian Authority and members of the Palestine Liberation Organization, preventing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas from traveling to New York to address the UN General Assembly.
Abbas had planned to use his address to press for international recognition of Palestinian statehood and to highlight the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the expansion of Israeli settlements.
Despite the visa ban, the Palestinian mission to the UN will retain a waiver under the UN Headquarters Agreement, allowing its regular staff to continue working in the United States.
The deal, which is expected to be signed next week at the UN General Assembly, grants Washington veto power over which countries can have a military presence in Greenland.
The agreement was met with mixed reactions, with leaders of both Denmark and Greenland emphasizing that Greenland is not for sale and condemning reports of US intelligence gathering on Greenlandic territory.
The UN General Assembly also voted to allow Abbas to address the assembly via video for the second year in a row, after the US again denied him a visa.
Palestine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed the resolution, stating it represents a breakthrough in allowing Palestine’s participation in the assembly’s annual session.
What's confirmed
- The United States Department of State has announced it will extend visa sanctions on officials of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), preventing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas from travelling to New York ahead of his address to the United Nations General Assembly next week for the second year in a row.
- “As a consequence of their failure to reform, contrary to their commitments to the United States, and their ongoing activities that undermine the prospects for peace, the United States will extend sanctions that deny visas to PLO members and PA officials,” the State Department said in a statement.
- Last year’s ban drew criticism from Palestinian officials and UN human rights experts, who said the visa bans breach the US’s obligation to allow individuals invited by the UN to travel to its New York headquarters, and have argued that singling out Palestinian representatives while shielding Israeli leaders undermines Washington’s stated commitment to a negotiated peace.
What's still developing
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- “A map is never neutral. It shapes perceptions, influences how the place of peoples and continents in the world is understood,” Dussey said while addressing the assembly.
- In favor: 164 Against: 1 Abstentions: 6 pic.twitter.com/5BE4LUiojH According to the resolution, the new world map, referred to as the Equal Earth cartographic projection, “is a relevant option for improving the accuracy of the cartographic representation of the world”.
- The resolution was introduced following the African nations’ appeal to the UN to fix the traditional world map that wrongly represented the relative size of the African continent.
- Foreign Minister Robert Dussey of Togo sponsored the “Correct the Map” resolution in the General Assembly, which was backed by the African Union (AU) members.
- The resolution states that the distortions “contribute to minimizing the extent of socioeconomic realities, infrastructure needs, development potential, and prosperity in the Southern regions, and that they can fuel prejudices in the environmental, geopolitical, and security fields.” The Equal Earth map was almost unanimously adopted by the member countries in the General Assembly.
- The reason why the Mercator map, which has been in use since the 16th Century, was opposed by the African nations is that it misrepresents the size of the African continent in comparison to other continents.
- His planned appearance comes after the United Kingdom, France, Canada and other Western governments recognized Palestinian statehood this month.
- His address was also expected to draw attention to the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, as well as the rapid expansion of Israeli settlements and settler violence across the occupied West Bank.
- “I am pleased to announce that the United States of America has entered into an Agreement with The Kingdom of Denmark, and Greenland, that gives the United States permanent control over security, and all other needs, in Greenland, completely addressing ALL of our many U.S. concerns,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
- The three governments are expected to sign the agreement next week at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, according to Denmark, which had reacted angrily to repeated suggestions by the president that the US might annex the territory. ”I am glad that we are about to make a great agreement for Greenland, the Kingdom of Denmark, and the United States,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in a statement.