20260130
Million of displaced Syrians return home
According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), more than 1.4 million Syrians have voluntarily returned from neighbouring countries since December 2024, alongside 2 million internally displaced people (IDPs) who have gone back to their areas of origin. Céline Schmitt, spokesperson for #UNHCR in #Syria, explains how UN agencies are responding on the ground.
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20260129
Gaza: potential turning point, but “the task at hand is monumental” - Briefing | United Nations
Ramiz Alakbarov, UN Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Process, said that there is a potential turning point in Gaza, but “the task at hand is monumental.” Briefing the Security Council, Alakbarov said, “The announced start of the second phase of President Trump's 20-point Comprehensive Plan is a critical step in consolidating the ceasefire in Gaza, alongside the establishment of the subsidiary bodies of the Board of Peace, including the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza and the Office of the High Representative for Gaza.” He highlighted, “The task at hand is monumental. It requires full coordination among all stakeholders, taking into account existing systems and capacities. The United Nations stands ready to support the Committee and Palestinians in Gaza as they start the arduous work of rebuilding.” He said, “Across all sectors, humanitarian actors are still unable to operate at scale in Gaza. Their work is being hindered by insecurity, customs clearance challenges, the limited number of partners authorized by Israeli authorities to bring cargo into Gaza, delays and denials of cargo at crossings, and limited routes available for transporting supplies within Gaza.” He also said, “On 30 December, Israel announced that it plans to suspend the operations of some international NGOs. The Government also notified 37 INGOs that their registrations would expire at the end of 2025, due to what Israel says is their failure to comply with new Israeli regulations, triggering a 60-day review period. Banning these INGOs will have a significant impact on the humanitarian response across the OPT. I urge Israel to immediately reverse this decision.” He reported, “Despite the ceasefire, the Israeli military continues to conduct military operations with airstrikes, shelling and gunfire occurring across the Strip. Armed exchanges have also persisted with Palestinian militants. Attacks in the vicinity of or beyond the so-called “yellow line” are happening daily. Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire began, including many women and children.” Talking about the West Bank, he said, “Negative trends are entrenched daily. The reporting period was marked by continued violence, with extensive Israeli military operations, settlement expansion, settler violence, demolitions and large-scale detentions.” He stressed, “On 12 January, Israeli forces raided an UNRWA health centre in occupied East Jerusalem and ordered it to close. A week later Israeli forces forcibly entered the UNRWA Headquarters in occupied East Jerusalem with bulldozers, demolishing buildings. Officials also made abhorrent calls for the annihilation of UNRWA staff. These acts are flagrant violations of international law and the privileges and immunities of the United Nations. I call on the Israeli government to abide by the October 2025 advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice, which states that Israel is obliged under international law to facilitate UNRWA’s operations, not hinder or prevent them.” Palestinian ambassador Riyad Mansour said, “Israel is not the sovereign in the Palestinian territory. This illegal occupation has no rights whatsoever in Occupied Palestine, including in Jerusalem. Mr. President, the ceasefire’s permanence and success requires that Israel cease trying to dictate the future of Gaza and to fully withdraw from the territory. Gaza is an integral part of the Palestinian territory. I repeat: Gaza is an integral part of the Palestinian territory. It belongs to the Palestinian people, nobody else.” Israeli ambassador Danny Danon stated, “One obstacle remains: Hamas disarmament. The choice now rests with Hamas: acceptance of full disarmament enables progress; refusal places full responsibility on Hamas for the consequences.” US ambassador Mike Waltz said, “along with our partners on the Board of Peace, and in consultation with the National Committee, will apply pressure to Hamas to honor its commitment and to disarm. Hamas must not have any role in the governance of Gaza, directly or indirectly, in any form. Period.” He also said, “Under the leadership of Major General Jasper Jeffers of the United States Army, the ISF will begin to establish control and stability, so that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) can withdraw from Gaza based on standards, milestones, and timeframes linked to demilitarization. These will be agreed upon between the IDF, the ISF, the guarantors, and the United States, with an objective of a secure Gaza that no longer poses a threat to its neighbors or its citizens.”
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UN Chief on 2026 priorities | United Nations
Press briefing by United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, on his priorities for 2026
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20260128
UN Observes #Holocaust Remembrance Day
At the UN’s annual Holocaust remembrance ceremony, Secretary-General António Guterres warned that the Holocaust remains a powerful warning as antisemitism rises worldwide, urging action against hatred, racism and discrimination. Holocaust survivors also shared firsthand testimonies, calling for remembrance rooted in empathy and respect for human dignity.
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The Deserved DOWNFALL of Steven Bartlett (Diary of a CEO)
The Kavernacle: The Deserved DOWNFALL of Steven Bartlett (Diary of a CEO)
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Holocaust Memorial Observance 2026 - UN Chief Remarks | United Nations
Addressing the annual Holocaust memorial event in remembrance of the victims of the Holocaust, Secretary-General António Guterres today (27 Jan) grieved for the “six million Jews murdered just because they were Jewish,” and said, “the Holocaust is not only history. It is a warning. A warning that hatred, once unleashed, can consume everything.” Guterres said, that warning feels “more urgent than ever” as “antisemitism around the world is raging” and “Jewish communities live in fear.” The Secretary-General said, “this dark chapter of our common history reveals sobering truths. When those with power fail to act, evil goes unpunished. When the past is distorted, denied and weaponized, hatred and prejudice fester. When words become weapons, lies, conspiracies, the casual joke and the coded slur can grow until the unthinkable becomes policy and violence.” He said, “let us together pledge to stand against antisemitism and all forms of hatred — and against bigotry, racism and discrimination anywhere and everywhere.” The President of the UN General Assembly Annalena Baerbock, for her part said, “questioning the rights of some, simply for who they are, where they come from, or what colour their skin is all has the same end: dehumanization, which eventually spreads to all.” Baerbock, who is a former German foreign minister, quoted German pastor Martin Niemöller and said, “when they came for the Jews, I did not speak up, I wasn’t a Jew. When they came for the Catholics, I did not speak up. I was a Protestant. When they came for me, no one was left to speak up.” She said, “Never Again is not a slogan. It is a duty, a duty to speak up and to stand up, to defend the dignity and human rights—not of some—but of every member of our human family, everywhere, every day.” In his address to the gathering, Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon said, “unlike1941, today there is a different reality. We crashed and stopped Hamas's terror machine. We brought home. We brought home every hostage, every single one of them.” Removing a pin from his lapel, Danon said, “we waited 843 days. Today the pain finally comes off.” Evelyn Konrad, one of five Holocaust survivors who addressed today’s memorial, recounted the day her family was able to leave Hungary. She said, “in May 1939 we got the French visas. After my mother and I boarded the train in Budapest, I never saw my Hungarian family again. On the train, I was so excited because I’d soon see my beloved grandmother, my Omutti again. I also looked forward to walking on the familiar streets of Vienna. But outside the train station, Vienna looked grey, glum. As we crossed the bridge into Leopoldstadt, I heard the thunder of jackboots marching toward us from the Prater. I saw very few people on the Praterstrasse. Those I saw were hurrying, staying close to the walls of the old buildings. We crossed from the trolley to Omutti’s building. Two large women in dirndls approached us. Where they should have had sprigs of Alpine roses or flowers pinned to their dirndls, each one had a huge Hackenkreuz, swastikas. They marched toward us as if we were not there. It happened so fast: they pushed my beautiful, slender mother off the sidewalk into the street. I ended up with one foot on the sidewalk, one foot on the street. My mother held my hand tight. I tried to break my mother’s grip. I wanted to run after those two big women. They didn’t even look back. I wanted to bite them, to kick them, to scratch them. My mother dug her nails into my arm. Suddenly, I was afraid.” A UNESCO study published today indicates that over 77 percent of teachers in the European Union had encountered at least one incident of antisemitism between students at least once or twice. Over a quarter of teachers had witnessed nine or more of these incidents. Overall, on average, teachers had encountered five or six antisemitic incidents between students at their school. Secretary General full remarks: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statements/2026-01-27/secretary-generals-message-the-international-day-of-commemoration-memory-of-the-victims-of-the-holocaust Website: https://www.un.org/en/observances/commemoration-holocaust-victims-day
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20260127
Gaza/West Bank: despite improvement in children's lives, situation remains deadly - Presser | UN
UN agencies reported that for the first time in many months, there are signs that the vital ceasefire in Gaza is making a difference in the lives of over one million children, but warned that the situation remains “extremely precarious and deadly" for many. Ted Chaiban, Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and Carl Skau, Deputy Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) briefed reporters on their recent visit to the Strip. The UNICEF deputy chief said, “since the agreement took hold, we've seen improvements impacting children's lives. More truckloads of lifesaving aid are entering Gaza, albeit not yet sufficiently to meet the magnitude of needs. Commercial goods have reappeared, and in markets we saw vegetables, fruits, chicken, eggs.” He added, “The food security situation has improved and famine has been reversed. Recreational kits designed to help children heal and deal with their stress and trauma have finally started to reach children who have not played freely in over two years.” However, with progress made, Chaiban warned that the situation “remains extremely precarious and deadly for many children.” He said, “More than 100 children have been reportedly killed in Gaza since the ceasefire of early October. Despite the progress with food security, 100,000 children remain acutely malnourished and require long-term care. 1.3 million people, many of them children, are in urgent need of proper shelter.” “Families are living in tents and bombed out buildings battered by heavy rains, strong winds and freezing temperatures. It really is miserable in those tents,” the UNICEF deputy chief said. Chaiban also expressed his “deep” concern about the implication of the deregistration of international NGOs, “which risks undermining monitoring operations and sharply limiting the delivery and scale up of lifesaving assistance across Gaza and the West Bank,” he said. On Phase two of the implementation of the ceasefire, Chaiban said that it is not just a “political milestone, but a humanitarian necessity.” He continued, “We are thankful that the remains of Ran Gvili were recovered, which helps us move towards Phase two.” The UNICEF deputy chief added, “It is a chance to turn fragile improvements into something more durable, including with recovery and reconstruction and a safer environment for children.” He also told reporters that he met with the Israeli authorities and asked them to open more routes for humanitarian and commercial supplies. “We need to allow people to move in and out safely for medical care. Family reunification and essential services. We called for the Rafah corridor to be open again for two-way traffic as announced, and for it to remain open so children who need urgent medical evacuations can have a better chance at treatments.” he said. WPF deputy chief Carl Skau briefed the reporters via video link from Rome. Skau said, “Some commercial goods are also flowing into Gaza, market are more active, although food prices are still too high for most families. And with this in December, we've been able to scale up e-wallet cash support to some 60,000 households, being able to buy from the markets.” The WFP deputy chief highlighted, “The immediate priority is to really flood the Strip with shelter, to give families protection against the biting cold and driving rains.” He continued, “Gaza also needs more commercial supplies, especially fresh foods. And as a market activity picks up, we want to really expand cash assistance working with UNICEF and others to also boost the local food system and economy.” Asked about reports of gender-based violence in the Strip, UNICEF’s Ted Chaiban said, “What we're doing about is to try to have in place through national NGOs, a network of social workers that can offer an address where you can go to report if you were either experiencing sexual violence or aggression or even are feeling depressed or otherwise needs any kind of support. It's a combination of counseling and referral services within the context of what's possible in Gaza.” He emphasized that lifesaving humanitarian assistance is not limited to health, nutrition, water, recognizing that protection and education in emergency are also lifesaving activities.
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Million of displaced Syrians return home
According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), more than 1.4 million Syrians have voluntarily returned from neighbouring countries since Dece...
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