Pascale Baeriswyl, Swiss ambassador to the UN in New York, speaks at a Security Council meeting, 23 February 2023. (Keystone/AP Photo/John Minchillo)

🇨🇭Swiss neutrality not a barrier to condemning violations of international law. Bern’s representative to the UN in New York slammed Russia’s annexation of Ukrainian territories and its alleged abduction of Ukrainian children, saying that Switzerland’s neutrality doesn’t mean it can’t “speak out” against rights abuses.

🇸🇩 UN aid coordinator arrives in Sudan. Martin Griffith’s visit coincides with the start of a week-long ceasefire that began late on Wednesday, during which the rival sides are set to hold talks.

🌇 UN warns heat records could be broken as chance of El Niño rises. While unable to predict just how intense a return of the weather-warming phenomenon would be, the WMO warned that it would turn up the heat “globally”.

🪖Western countries pile pressure on Mali over Wagner Group role. At a human rights evaluation, the US, Canada, Britain and Ukraine called for a “credible” investigation into a deadly incident allegedly involving the private Russian military contractor, present in Mali, with Russian soldiers.

📰 UN denounces Taliban intimidation, attacks on Afghan media. Journalists in Afghanistan work in an “unclear” environment where arbitrary hurdles and the threat of repression is “ever-present,” the UN’s mission in Kabul said on World Press Day.

🚢 Turkish, Russian, Ukrainian deputy defence ministers' meeting expected Friday in Istanbul. Turkey’s deputy defence minister said talks on the Black Sea grain deal, which expires later this month, are on the agenda.