Feed aggregator

Ein Termin beim Standesamt hat die Ehe auch rechtskräftig gemacht. Zuvor hatte das Paar bereits auf den Malediven geheiratet.

Janis Moser und seine Tampa Bay Lightning sind weiter nicht zu bezwingen: Das Team aus Florida holt sich gegen die Philadelphia Flyers den zehnten Sieg en suite. Aufatmen können die drei Schweizer der New Jersey Devils.

Credit: United Nations

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Jan 13 2026 (IPS)

Judging by the mass US withdrawal from 66 UN entities, including UN conventions and international treaties, is it remotely possible that the unpredictable Trump administration may one day decide to pull out of the UN, and force the Secretariat out of New York– despite the 1947 UN-US headquarters agreement?

Besides the 66, the withdrawals also include the pullouts from the Human Rights Council, the WHO, UNRWA and UNESCO– while imposing drastic reductions in funding for the remaining UN entities the US has not yet formally exited.

So, will the United Nations, which has come under heavy fire, be far behind?

That possibility is strengthened by the critical views of the UN both by President Trump and senior US officials.

Dr Stephen Zunes, Professor of Politics, University of San Francisco, who has written extensively on issues relating to the United Nations, told IPS even the U.S. presidents most hostile to the United Nations– like Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush– recognized the importance of the world body in terms of advancing U.S. interests, including understanding the importance of maintaining the UN system as a whole, even while violating certain legal principles in particular cases.

Similarly, he pointed out, the United States was willing to participate in various UN bodies in an effort to wield influence, even while disagreeing with some of their policies or even their overall mandates.

“The Trump administration, however, appears to be rejecting the post-WWII international legal system as a whole. His statements, particularly since the attack on Venezuela, appear to be a throwback to the 19th-century imperial prerogatives and a rejection of modern international law.”

“As a result, it is possible that Trump could indeed pull the United States out of the United Nations and force the UN out of New York”, declared Dr Zunes.

Addressing the General Assembly last September, Trump remarked, “What is the purpose of the United Nations? It’s not even coming close to living up to [its] potential.”

Dismissing the U.N. as an outdated, ineffective organization, he boasted, “I ended seven wars, dealt with the leaders of each and every one of these countries, and never a phone call from the United Nations offering to help in finalizing the deal.”

Martin S. Edwards, Associate Dean of Academic and Student Affairs, School of Diplomacy and International Relations at Seton Hall University, told IPS “this is dubious language about cutting inefficiency and fighting diversity wrapped up in red meat to feed President Trump’s base”.

It’s a ploy to use foreign affairs to distract voters for whom he has yet to deliver. The fact that the actual follow-up documents haven’t been received by the Secretary General tells you everything here. It fits a pattern of the President carving out maximalist positions and then getting very little in the end, he pointed out.

But it’s a bigger challenge, he said, on two fronts:

1. This is going to continue to REDUCE US influence at the UN rather than increase it. Stable foreign relations are based on credibility. The US continues to squander its reserves, and other countries will step into the vacuum.

2. This policy might have been a good social media post for voters, but makes little sense in practice. What the White House wants is a line-item veto over every single aspect of UN operations. But assessed contributions are not an ala carte menu, declared Edwards.

Mandeep S. Tiwana, Secretary General, CIVICUS, a global alliance of civil society organizations, told IPS retreat from international institutions by the Trump Administration is an attack on the legacy of President Franklin D. Roosevelt who gave the people of the United States the New Deal and envisioned a bold framework for the establishment of the UN to overcome the horrors of the Second World War.

“Many of the impacted international institutions were built through the blood, sweat and tears of Americans. Pulling out of these institutions is an affront to their sacrifices and reverses decades of multilateral cooperation on peace, human rights, climate change and sustainable development,” he said.

Meanwhile, the attacks on the UN have continued unabated.

In an interview with Breitbart News, U.S. Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Mike Waltz said, “A quarter of everything the UN does, the United States pays for”.

“Is there money being well spent? I’d say right now, no, because it’s being spent on all of these other woke projects, rather than what it was originally intended to do, what President Trump wants it to do, and what I want it to do, which is focus on peace.”

Historically, the United States has been the largest financial contributor, typically covering around 22% of the UN’s regular budget and up to 28% of the peacekeeping budget.

Still, ironically, the US is also the biggest defaulter. According to the UN’s Administrative and Budgetary Committee, member states currently owe $1.87 billion of the $3.5 billion in mandatory contributions for the current budget cycle.

The former US House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik of New York, a one-time nominee for the post of US Ambassador to the UN, was quoted as saying, “In the UN, Americans see a corrupt, defunct, and paralyzed institution more beholden to bureaucracy, process, and diplomatic niceties than the founding principles of peace, security, and international cooperation laid out in its charter.”

Meanwhile, in a veiled attack on the UN, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, “What we term the “international system” is now overrun with hundreds of opaque international organizations, many with overlapping mandates, duplicative actions, ineffective outputs, and poor financial and ethical governance.”

Even those that once performed useful functions, he pointed out, have increasingly become inefficient bureaucracies, platforms for politicized activism or instruments contrary to our nation’s best interests, he said.

“Not only do these institutions not deliver results, they obstruct action by those who wish to address these problems. The era of writing blank checks to international bureaucracies is over,” declared Rubio

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');  

Premiere für die Texans: Das Team aus Houston holt sich in Pittsburgh seinen ersten Auswärtssieg in den Playoffs – trotz mässiger Leistung von Quarterback Stroud. Sein Gegenüber steht damit vor dem Karriereende.

2025 erzielte der Schweizer Schoggihersteller einen Umsatz von 5,92 Milliarden Franken. Das Unternehmen von CEO Adalbert Lechner hatte die Preise um satte 19 Prozent steigen lassen. Die Gewinnzahlen werden im März bekannt gegeben.

Julia Brandner entschied sich mit 28 für eine Sterilisation. Jetzt spricht die österreichische Stand-up-Comedienne offen über diesen Schritt. Schon als Kind habe sie gewusst, dass sie keine Mutter werden möchte.

Der FC St. Gallen kann ein Jahr länger auf die Dienste von Trainer Enrico Maassen zählen: Der deutsche Trainer verlängert seinen Vertrag vorzeitig bis 2028.

Le Venezuela est bien un lieu de transit pour les cartels sud-américains et balkaniques de la cocaïne, mais son rôle est mineur par rapport à celui de pays voisins comme la Colombie, le Guatemala ou encore l'Équateur.

- Articles / Une - Diaporama, Monténégro, Serbie, Croatie, drogues, Défense, police et justice, Courrier des Balkans

Le Venezuela est bien un lieu de transit pour les cartels sud-américains et balkaniques de la cocaïne, mais son rôle est mineur par rapport à celui de pays voisins comme la Colombie, le Guatemala ou encore l'Équateur.

- Articles / Une - Diaporama, Monténégro, Serbie, Croatie, drogues, Défense, police et justice, Courrier des Balkans

Le Venezuela est bien un lieu de transit pour les cartels sud-américains et balkaniques de la cocaïne, mais son rôle est mineur par rapport à celui de pays voisins comme la Colombie, le Guatemala ou encore l'Équateur.

- Articles / Une - Diaporama, Monténégro, Serbie, Croatie, drogues, Défense, police et justice, Courrier des Balkans

Le Venezuela est bien un lieu de transit pour les cartels sud-américains et balkaniques de la cocaïne, mais son rôle est mineur par rapport à celui de pays voisins comme la Colombie, le Guatemala ou encore l'Équateur.

- Articles / Une - Diaporama, Monténégro, Serbie, Croatie, drogues, Défense, police et justice, Courrier des Balkans

Cypriot authorities "appear to have been informed of the incident with a delay of several hours".

Kevin Behrens (34) schockierte mit einer Attacke auf Georgios Koutsias (21) beim FC Lugano. Der Klub verspricht Konsequenzen. Er muss aber auch die Frage beantworten, ob Behrens noch tragbar ist.

Deutschland und andere Nato-Staaten werben für eine gemeinsame Sicherheitslösung mit den USA für die Arktis und Grönland - doch US-Präsident Donald Trump als mächtigster Bündnispartner ist unnachgiebig.

Les sanctions européennes qui frappaient le Kosovo depuis l'été 2023 vont être totalement levées ce mois de janvier, annonce la Commission. Une conséquence du bon déroulement des élections locales d'octobre et des législatives de décembre, mais qui croit encore en la relance du « dialogue » avec Belgrade ?

- Le fil de l'Info / Kosovo Vetëvendosje, Kosovo, Questions européennes, Une - Diaporama, Une - Diaporama - En premier, Courrier des Balkans, dialogue Kosovo Serbie, Tensions Nord Kosovo

Les sanctions européennes qui frappaient le Kosovo depuis l'été 2023 vont être totalement levées ce mois de janvier, annonce la Commission. Une conséquence du bon déroulement des élections locales d'octobre et des législatives de décembre, mais qui croit encore en la relance du « dialogue » avec Belgrade ?

- Le fil de l'Info / Kosovo Vetëvendosje, Kosovo, Questions européennes, Une - Diaporama, Une - Diaporama - En premier, Courrier des Balkans, dialogue Kosovo Serbie, Tensions Nord Kosovo

In Tuesday’s edition: Iran sanctions, India, luxury Russian goods, Várhelyi grilled

Wo früher Dutzende Kinder die Schulbank drückten, lebt heute eine vierköpfige Familie. Sie kaufte ein Schulhaus in Indiana (USA), in dem von 1914 bis 1936 unterrichtet wurde. Mittlerweile hat sich die Familie daraus ein eigenes Zuhause gebaut.

Hari Budha Magar hat den höchsten Berg der Antarktis erklommen und somit die höchsten Berge der sieben Kontinente bestiegen. Das Besondere: Der 46-Jährige hat bei einem Afghanistan-Einsatz beide Beine verloren.

Das TV-Erfolgsformat «7 vs. Wild» startet ab dem 25. Januar erstmals mit einem rein Schweizer Cast. Sieben Stars wagen sich in das 14-tägige Abenteuer auf einer Karibik-Halbinsel.