Briefly

UNITED NATIONS

Guterres condemns airstrikes in Gaza

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday condemned the death of at least 18 people, including six UN workers, in Israeli airstrikes that hit a school in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday. The incident raised the number of staff members of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, or UNRWA, killed in the conflict to 220, according to a statement by Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN chief. The continued lack of effective protection for civilians in Gaza is unconscionable, the statement noted, adding that "civilians and the infrastructure they rely on must be protected and the essential needs of civilians met".

IRAN

President pays visit to Iraq's Kurdistan region

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian paid a historic visit to Iraq's semiautonomous Kurdistan region on Thursday, the first by an Iranian president to the area, to discuss strengthening ties and border security. Pezeshkian met with Kurdish leaders including the president of the regional government, Nechirvan Barzani, in the region's capital Erbil on the second day of his Iraq trip.

DPRK

Top leader makes military inspections

Kim Jong-un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, made multiple military inspections, the official Korean Central News Agency reported on Friday. The inspections include a guided tour to oversee the test-fire for verifying the performance of a new-type multiple rocket launcher, a trip to the country's Nuclear Weapons Institute and the production base of weapon-grade nuclear materials, and an inspection of the training base for special operation force. During the inspection, Kim learned about the production of nuclear warheads and current nuclear materials and set forth tasks for a long-term plan for increasing the production of weapon-grade nuclear materials, KCNA reported.

Xinhua