News headlines in January 2023, page 22

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 02 (IPS) - A US Senator once described Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, perhaps facetiously, as “a Winston Churchill in a tee shirt”.

And last month, when he addressed the US Congress – with the presence of about 100 Senators and 435 Congressmen – he tried to re-live that moment.

The UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday expressed his deep sadness over the reported death of at least 34 people in South Africa, due to a fuel tanker explosion in a suburb of the capital, Johannesburg, on Christmas Eve.

The agreement between the Colombian Government and the five largest remaining armed groups there provides “renewed hope for comprehensive peace” into the new year, said the UN chief in a statement released by his Spokesperson late on Sunday.