UN Faces Imminent Financial Collapse, Secretary General Warns
The United Nations is at risk of "imminent financial collapse" due to member states failing to pay their fees, Secretary General António Guterres warned. In a letter to all 193 member states, Guterres stated that the UN faced a deepening financial crisis that threatened program delivery and could result in the organization running out of money by July, according to BBC World. He urged member states to honor their mandatory payments or overhaul the UN's financial rules to avoid collapse.
The warning comes as the UN's largest contributor, the United States, has refused to contribute to its regular and peacekeeping budgets and withdrew from several UN organizations.
In other international news, US President Donald Trump stated that Iran wants to make a deal rather than face US military action. Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday that "they do want to make a deal," when asked about the build-up of US military forces in the Gulf, according to BBC World. This statement comes after Trump warned Tehran on Wednesday that time was "running out" to negotiate a deal on its nuclear program. However, Iran's foreign minister has stated that its missile and defense systems will "never" be up for negotiation.
Meanwhile, in Ivory Coast, a Malian lawmaker, Mamadou Hawa Gassama, was jailed for three years for insulting Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara. According to BBC Africa, Gassama, who serves in the transitional parliament set up by Mali's junta, was arrested last July while on a trip to Ivory Coast. Prosecutors said he described President Ouattara as a "tyrant" and "an enemy of Mali" in interviews and on social media. Relations between Mali and Ivory Coast have been strained since Mali's military took power in 2020.
In the United Kingdom, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) banned advertisements from the cryptocurrency firm Coinbase. The ASA upheld complaints that the ads "trivialized the risks of cryptocurrency" and implied that crypto could ease people's cost of living concerns, according to BBC Technology. Coinbase said it disagreed with the watchdog's decision.
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