UN Takes Step to Put UN Veto Users under Global Spotlight

A general view shows the United Nations Security Council meeting on non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, US, March 14, 2022. (Reuters)
A general view shows the United Nations Security Council meeting on non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, US, March 14, 2022. (Reuters)
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UN Takes Step to Put UN Veto Users under Global Spotlight

A general view shows the United Nations Security Council meeting on non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, US, March 14, 2022. (Reuters)
A general view shows the United Nations Security Council meeting on non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, US, March 14, 2022. (Reuters)

The UN General Assembly took a first step to put the five permanent members of the Security Council under a global spotlight Tuesday when they use their veto power, a move highlighted by Russia’s veto and threat of future vetoes that has paralyzed any action by the UN’s most powerful body on the Ukraine war.

The resolution, which was adopted by consensus by the 193-member assembly with the bang of its president’s gavel and a burst of applause, does not eliminate or limit the veto power of the permanent members -- the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France.

But for the first time it will require the General Assembly "to hold a debate on the situation" that sparks a veto in the Security Council within 10 working days, and to give precedence on the list of speakers to the permanent member who cast the veto.

The assembly isn’t required to take or consider any action, but the discussion could put veto-wielders on the spot and let a raft of other countries be heard.

Liechtenstein’s UN ambassador, Christian Wenaweser, who spearheaded the resolution, has said it aims "to promote the voice of all of us who are not veto-holders, and who are not on the Security Council, on matters of international peace and security because they affect all of us."

Presenting the resolution to the assembly on Tuesday morning, Wenaweser alluded to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 and the Security Council’s failure to take action saying: "There has never been a stronger need for effective multilateralism than today, and there has never been a stronger need for innovation in order to secure the central role and voice of the United Nations."

The resolution had about 80 co-sponsors including the United States and the United Kingdom.

The reform of the Security Council, which is charged under the UN Charter with ensuring international peace and security, has been discussed and debated for more than 40 years, and was front and center in comments by countries before and after the resolution’s adoption on Tuesday.

There is widespread support for revamping the UN’s most powerful organ to reflect current global realities rather than the international power structure after World War II in 1945 when the United Nations was created. But all previous attempts, starting in 1979, have failed because rivalries between countries and regions have blocked agreement on the size, composition and powers of an expanded council.

The veto power of the five permanent members is one component on the reform agenda.

By now, more than 200 different Security Council proposals have been vetoed, some by multiple countries, according to UN records. The subjects have ranged from the Korean War and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to climate change, reporting on weapons stockpiles, and governance of a part of the Indian Ocean nation Comoros.

The former Soviet Union and its successor Russia have cast the most vetoes by far, followed by the United States. Far fewer have been cast by Britain, China and France.



Risk of Further Floods in Texas during Desperate Search for Missing as Death Toll Tops 80

05 July 2025, US, Ingram: A K9 unit with the Texas Game Warden conducts searches in flood damaged areas next to Camp Mystic in Hunt. Photo: San Antonio Express-News/Express-News via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
05 July 2025, US, Ingram: A K9 unit with the Texas Game Warden conducts searches in flood damaged areas next to Camp Mystic in Hunt. Photo: San Antonio Express-News/Express-News via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
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Risk of Further Floods in Texas during Desperate Search for Missing as Death Toll Tops 80

05 July 2025, US, Ingram: A K9 unit with the Texas Game Warden conducts searches in flood damaged areas next to Camp Mystic in Hunt. Photo: San Antonio Express-News/Express-News via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
05 July 2025, US, Ingram: A K9 unit with the Texas Game Warden conducts searches in flood damaged areas next to Camp Mystic in Hunt. Photo: San Antonio Express-News/Express-News via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

With more rain on the way, the risk of life-threatening flooding was still high in central Texas on Monday even as crews search urgently for the missing following a holiday weekend deluge that killed at least 82 people, including children at summer camps. Officials said the death toll was sure to rise.

Residents of Kerr County began clearing mud and salvaging what they could from their demolished properties as they recounted harrowing escapes from rapidly rising floodwaters late Friday.

Reagan Brown said his parents, in their 80s, managed to escape uphill as water inundated their home in the town of Hunt. When the couple learned that their 92-year-old neighbor was trapped in her attic, they went back and rescued her.

“Then they were able to reach their toolshed up higher ground, and neighbors throughout the early morning began to show up at their toolshed, and they all rode it out together,” The Associated Press quoted Brown as saying.

A few miles away, rescuers maneuvering through challenging terrain filled with snakes continued their search for the missing, including 10 girls and a counselor from Camp Mystic, an all-girls summer camp that sustained massive damage.

Gov. Greg Abbott said 41 people were unaccounted for across the state and more could be missing.

In the Hill Country area, home to several summer camps, searchers have found the bodies of 68 people, including 28 children, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said.

Ten other deaths were reported in Travis, Burnet, Kendall, Tom Green and Williamson counties, according to local officials.

The governor warned that additional rounds of heavy rains lasting into Tuesday could produce more dangerous flooding, especially in places already saturated.

Families were allowed to look around the camp beginning Sunday morning.

One girl walked out of a building carrying a large bell. A man whose daughter was rescued from a cabin on the highest point in the camp walked a riverbank, looking in clumps of trees and under big rocks.

One family left with a blue footlocker. A teenage girl had tears running down her face as they slowly drove away and she gazed through the open window at the wreckage.

Searching the disaster zone Nearby crews operating heavy equipment pulled tree trunks and tangled branches from the river. With each passing hour, the outlook of finding more survivors became even more bleak.

Volunteers and some families of the missing came to the disaster zone and searched despite being asked not to do so.

Authorities faced growing questions about whether enough warnings were issued in an area long vulnerable to flooding and whether enough preparations were made.

President Donald Trump signed a major disaster declaration Sunday for Kerr County and said he would likely visit Friday: “I would have done it today, but we’d just be in their way.”

“It’s a horrible thing that took place, absolutely horrible,” he told reporters.

Prayers in Texas — and from the Vatican Abbott vowed that authorities will work around the clock and said new areas were being searched as the water receded. He declared Sunday a day of prayer for the state.

In Rome, Pope Leo XIV offered special prayers for those touched by the disaster. The first American pope spoke in English at the end of his Sunday noon blessing, saying, “I would like to express sincere condolences to all the families who have lost loved ones, in particular their daughters who were in summer camp, in the disaster caused by the flooding of the Guadalupe River in Texas in the United States. We pray for them.”