UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during a meeting with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in Addis Ababa. Top News of the Day | Thursday: ZNPP, African Union, Middle East, World Radio Day UN
Top News of the Day in the UN and the World: Cancellation of IAEA observer rotation at Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant, UN Secretary-General’s visit to Ethiopia, current situation in Gaza and the West Bank, World Radio Day.
Cancellation of rotation of IAEA observers at Zaporizhzhya NPP
The planned rotation of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team, currently at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), on Thursday was cancelled due to “intensive military action” in the region, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said. According to him, despite written assurances from both sides that the planned rotation could take place in a safe environment, the situation turned out to be too risky. “It is completely unacceptable that the safety of our staff is being jeopardized in this way,” Grossi said.
UN Secretary-General’s Visit to Ethiopia
The UN Secretary-General is currently in Addis Ababa, where he is taking part in the 38th African Union Summit. Today, António Guterres met with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, and tomorrow he will hold a series of bilateral meetings with the leadership of the African Union Commission, as well as with heads of state and government of the continent’s countries. In addition, António Guterres is scheduled to participate in meetings of the African Union Peace and Security Council at the level of heads of state and government dedicated to the situation in Sudan and the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The situation in Gaza and the West Bank
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Thursday that maintaining the ceasefire in Gaza is critical to continuing humanitarian work in the Strip. There are currently 25 bakeries supported by the World Food Programme (WFP) operating in Gaza. Today, another bakery opened in Rafah with WFP support. Meanwhile, OCHA continues to receive reports of Palestinian casualties in the West Bank as a result of ongoing Israeli military operations, with 44 deaths reported since January 21. Israeli troops are currently operating in Tulkarem and Jenin. OCHA said that thousands of Palestinians were forced to flee their homes during the operations.
World Radio Day
World Radio Day, celebrated on 13 February, this year celebrates the important role of radio in raising awareness about climate change. With the rise of climate-related hazards affecting the planet, such as forest fires, land degradation and loss of biodiversity, the issue of communicating climate events accurately has become increasingly important. Despite the lack of financial resources for radio stations, which has recently led to staff cuts and increased costs for obtaining reliable information, using a variety of reliable sources remains crucial to covering the topic of climate change.