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The United Nations (UN) Security Council recently rejected a draft resolution submitted by several Gulf states that would have strongly encouraged countries to coordinate defensive efforts and deter attempts to interfere with international navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.

The vote followed multiple rounds of negotiations.

The UN Security Council has rejected a draft resolution submitted by several Gulf states that would have strongly encouraged countries to coordinate defensive efforts and deter attempts to interfere with navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.
By a vote of 11 in favour to two against (China, Russia), with two abstentions, a draft resolution submitted by several Gulf states could not be adopted.

Abdullatif bin Rashid Alzayani, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bahrain and Council President for April, presided over the meeting.  “We [member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council] declare loudly and unequivocally before this Council, which is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security, that [Iran] has no right to close this waterway to international navigation,” he said.

He cautioned that if the Council permits the Strait of Hormuz to remain closed today, “such a scenario would inevitably be replicated in other straits and waterways, thereby transforming the world into a jungle where force, arrogance and hegemony prevail”. 

However, by a vote of 11 in favour to two against (China, Russia), with two abstentions (Colombia, Pakistan), the draft resolution could not be adopted.

The Chinese representative said that the proposed draft “failed to capture the root causes and the full picture of the conflict in a comprehensive and balanced manner”.  Noting that it contained one-sided condemnations, he stressed that “this war should never have happened” and called on the United States and Israel to cease what he described as illegal military actions. 

He also called on Iran to stop its attacks and noted that his delegation is currently working alongside Moscow on an alternative resolution to address the situation, according to a UN press release.

Beijing and Moscow announced plans to introduce an alternative text soon.  “Our draft will be concise, equitable and balanced,” said the Russian representative. 

“The objective of this draft is obvious,” stated Iran’s representative, as it seeks to “punish the victim for defending its sovereignty and vital national interests in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz while providing political and legal cover for further unlawful acts by the aggressors”.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)

The Conference Board employment trends index (ETI) for the United States declined to 105.72 in March, from an upwardly revised 105.84 in February.

ETI is a composite index for payroll employment. When it increases, employment is likely to grow as well, and vice versa.

The Conference Board employment trends index for the US declined to 105.72 in March, from an upwardly revised 105.84 in February.
Job seekers continue to face a challenging market, according to economist Mitchell Barnes.
The share of consumers who report ‘jobs are hard to get’ climbed to 21.5 per cent in March and reflects a 5-percentage point rise YoY.

“Job seekers continue to face a challenging market,” said Mitchell Barnes, economist at the US think tank, said in a release. “This is evident in the ETI as several components moderated in March. Overall, the US economy has remained surprisingly resilient, but rising geopolitical uncertainty may contribute to ongoing employer hesitancy to add more workers.”

The share of consumers who report ‘jobs are hard to get’—an ETI component from the Consumer Confidence Survey—climbed to 21.5 per cent in March and reflects a 5-percentage point (pp) rise year on year (YoY).

The share of small firms reporting that jobs are ‘not able to be filled right now’ declined by 1 pp in March to reach 32 per cent.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)