Are we really watching cash disappear, or is that just what people on TikTok say?
In this episode of What the Euro?!, our host Catherine digs into the real story behind cash. To find out everything you need to know, she speaks to experts about how we’re using it, why it matters, why it’ll stay and what’s changing with new banknote designs and the digital euro.
The views expressed are those of the speakers and not necessarily those of the European Central Bank.
Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon told reporters in New York that the Lebanese government must “step up” and “step in” to “dismantle Hezbollah,” and said, “Lebanon must restrain Hezbollah now, or we will.”
Danon said Israel had expanded “the forward defence area” in southern Lebanon in order to “remove immediate terrorist threats near our border and create an additional layer of security for the residents of northern Israel.”
He said, “Israel did not choose this situation, Hezbollah did. For weeks, Hezbollah has been launching rockets at Israeli communities from southern Lebanon.”
Pointing at a map, the Israeli Ambassador said, “look at how many launch sites are south of the Litani River. Everywhere you see the red dots. It’s in one evening.”
He stressed that under Security Council Resolution 1701, “Hezbollah is not supposed even to be there. Yet rockets are being fired from dozens of locations in exactly that area.”
Turning to Iran, Danon said, “the regime in Tehran is showing signs of weakness,” and asked “where is the new Supreme Leader? Where is he?”
He said the new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei “hasn’t appeared in public,” and “leaders and members of the security forces are defecting.”
Danon said, “while they hide, they continue to fire missiles from behind civilians, like the cowards that they are.”
At an event commemorating the International Day to Combat Islamophobia, the Secretary-General urged a renewed commitment to “the equality, human rights, and dignity of every person, everywhere,” calling for actions to eradicate the rising tide of anti-Muslim hatred and bigotry.
The International Day to Combat Islamophobia is observed annually on March 15.
Speaking at the event in New York, Guterres cautioned a rising tide of anti-Muslim bigotry and hate. He said the bias can be overt: institutional discrimination, socio economic marginalization, sweeping immigration restrictions, and unwarranted surveillance and profiling. And the bias can also be subtle, in opportunities quietly denied, assumptions left unchallenged +, questions weighted down by suspicion.
The UN chief said, “these realities are driven – and dangerously amplified – by anti‑Muslim rhetoric, misinformation, and outright hate,” adding “when discriminatory narratives are echoed by those in positions of authority, prejudice becomes normalized. When stereotypes are left unchallenged, they harden into policy. And when fear is allowed to guide decision-making, injustice follows.”
“Online and offline, toxic narratives portray entire communities through the lens of hostility and blame,” Guterres highlighted, adding that the consequences are painfully real: “Harassment and intimidation. Vandalism and threats. Attacks on individuals and on mosques.”
He continued, “this is an assault on Muslims – and it is an assault on the values that underpin peaceful, inclusive societies everywhere.”
The Secretary-General reiterated, “governments have a clear responsibility. Laws and policies must safeguard equality, not entrench prejudice. Security measures must protect people and respect human rights, not stigmatize entire communities. Technology companies have a responsibility. Online spaces should bring people together, not drive them apart. They must do far more to identify, prevent, and address hate speech and harassment. “
“And all of us have a responsibility,” he added, “we must speak out – clearly and consistently – against bigotry, xenophobia, and discrimination wherever they appear.”
“Silence in the face of hatred only allows it to spread. Real change requires sustained political will, inclusive leadership, and a commitment to listen to all voices across diverse communities,” the UN chief said.
Guterres also said, “as Ramadan draws to a close, Muslims around the world reaffirm values that also form the foundation of the UN Charter: empathy for the vulnerable, generosity toward neighbors, and responsibility toward the wider community.”
He continued, “these universal principles must guide our global response to hatred and division.”
On this International Day to Combat Islamophobia, the Secretary-General said, “let us recommit to the equality, human rights, and dignity of every person, everywhere. Let us reject the narratives of fear and exclusion. And let us work together to eradicate the rising tide of anti-Muslim hatred and bigotry, and build a world rooted in respect, inclusion, justice, and peace.”
“I am alarmed by the ongoing human rights crisis that creates massive suffering for the Haitian people,” a UN human rights independent expert said after a ten-day visit to Haiti.
Briefing reporters in New York today (16 Mar), William O’Neill, a UN human rights independent expert on Haiti, said gang violence has forced at least 1.4 million people from their homes, describing it as an unprecedented level of internal displacement.
He said some territory had been recovered from gang control and that police were more visible and motivated. Political leadership, he added, appeared more unified. But he said those gains were offset by conditions on the ground that remained dire.
“In camps and makeshift settlements people struggle every day simply to survive,” O’Neill said. “Sexual violence is rife in these sites.” He said displaced families frequently lack access to healthcare, clean water, sanitation, food, schools and adequate shelter.
O’Neill said thousands more remain trapped in gang-held areas or near shifting front lines. Young people in those communities face compounding dangers, he said, threatened by gangs and at the same time suspected by security forces and others in the population simply because of where they live. “This places them in an impossible situation,” he said, “caught between violence and suspicion.”
On youth recruitment, O’Neill said Haiti urgently needs rehabilitation and reintegration programs for children associated with gangs. He said he was encouraged by the prime minister’s commitment to programs targeting young gang members but called for broader action. “Haiti must also invest urgently in violence reduction and prevention, particularly for young people,” he said, adding that many children and adolescents “have been recruited or coerced by gangs that are growing up in communities where violence has become part of daily life.”
O’Neill also said he visited prisons in Cap-Haïtien and Port-au-Prince and described conditions there as unacceptable. Adults and children, as well as women and men, were held together in overcrowded, unsanitary facilities. “The conditions I observed were inhuman and degrading,” he said, calling the situation a reflection of "deeper structural failures within the justice and detention systems.”
He said he remains “deeply concerned about corruption, impunity and the weakness of accountability mechanisms” across the country.
Independent experts are appointed by the UN Human Rights Council to monitor and report on specific country situations or thematic issues. They serve in an unpaid, personal capacity and their findings and views do not represent the UN or its member states.
Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
Trip Announcement/Secretary-General
Islamophobia
Secretary-General/Lebanon
UN Interim Force in Lebanon
Middle East/Humanitarian
Conflict/Global Agrifood
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Sudan
South Sudan
UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan
Afghanistan/World Food Programme
Ukraine
Ethiopia/New Resident Coordinator
Jürgen Habermas
Guest Tomorrow
Financial Contribution
TRIP ANNOUNCEMENT/SECRETARY-GENERAL
Tomorrow, the Secretary-General will head to Belgium, to participate in an informal discussion with the members of the European Council. In addition to the discussion with the EU Council, the Secretary-General will have separate bilateral meetings with the President of the European Council, António Costa, as well as the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen and the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola.
Among the issues expected to be discussed at these various meetings are the state of the world, the state of international affairs, the relationship between the United Nations and the European Union, and the broader issue of multilateralism.
While in Brussels, the Secretary-General will also have meetings with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Affairs and Development Cooperation of Belgium, Maxime Prévot, and he will have a separate meeting with the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides.
ISLAMOPHOBIA
This morning, the Secretary-General spoke at the high-level event marking the International Day to Combat Islamophobia, and he warned that we are facing a rising tide of anti-Muslim bigotry and hate. When discriminatory narratives are echoed by those in positions of authority, he said, prejudice becomes normalized. And when stereotypes are left unchallenged, they harden into policy.
Governments have a clear responsibility, the Secretary-General said. Laws and policies must safeguard equality, not entrench prejudice. Online spaces should bring people together, not drive them apart.
He told the meeting that we must work together to eradicate the rising tide of anti-Muslim hatred and bigotry, and build a world rooted in respect, inclusion, justice and peace.
SECRETARY-GENERAL/LEBANON
The Secretary-General returned from Lebanon yesterday, where he was on a two-day solidarity visit. In a press conference in Beirut on Saturday, he sent a clear message to the warring parties, calling on them to stop the fighting. “There is no military solution,” he said, “only diplomacy and the full implementation of the UN Charter and Security Council resolutions,” adding that the diplomatic avenues remain available, including through his Special Coordinator [for Lebanon], Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, and through key Member States.
Also on Saturday, the Secretary-General visited a reception centre for displaced people who fled the bombing, where he met with some of the families displaced from the south of the country, and the southern suburbs of Beirut.
He heard their testimonies about how some of them left their homes with nothing but the clothes they were wearing.
The Secretary-General reassured them that the United Nations is doing everything possible to help the displaced people, including launching the humanitarian appeal on Friday, together with the Government of Lebanon, to provide support the people of Lebanon.
Also on Saturday, he visited Lance Corporal Albert Abrefa Busia, our injured UNIFIL peacekeeper. As you will recall, he was seriously injured and wounded in an attack on 6 March, and he is receiving medical care in a hospital in Beirut.
Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2026-03-16
2.1 billion people lack access to safely managed drinking water. Solving this problem will take more than charity – it will take innovation and a new approach to scaling partnerships, building awareness and raising funding. In this episode, Water.org’s co-founders Matt Damon and Gary White share key efforts to fix the ‘financial plumbing’ connecting people and capital, helping to bridge the water gap for 85 million around the world, including: Water Credit (a specialized microfinance solution funding safe water and sanitation solutions) and Water Equity (an asset manager mobilizing private investment in water and sanitation). The two explain why creating an economic flywheel for change can bring truly sustainable solutions. They also share what they’ve learned about scale and from each other in a partnership that has now spanned 17 years and the role a new campaign for the public, Get Blue, can play.
This episode was recorded at the Annual Meeting in Davos in January 2026.
About this episode:
Transcript: https://www.weforum.org/podcasts/meet-the-leader/episodes/matt-damon-water-crisis-gary-white-finance-innovation
About this week’s guests:
Water.org
Get Blue campaign: https://getblue.water.org/
Related session at the 2026 Annual Meeting in Davos
Water in the balance
https://www.weforum.org/meetings/world-economic-forum-annual-meeting-2026/sessions/water-in-the-balance/
Related episodes:
IRC’s David Miliband: How leaders can meet the moment in an increasingly disordered world
Watch here – YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABadygYvsZ0&t=16s
Listen here – Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/42hzpvvm
Read here – Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/3vk4723b
What most people get wrong about progress: Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker
Watch here – YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2IJjZs4E7A
Listen here – Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/4r69a5pr
Read here – Transcript:: https://tinyurl.com/3smrwev9
Nick Thompson, The Atlantic: Why one CEO sets ‘non -goals’ – and what ultramarathons taught him about focus and mental toughness
Watch here – YouTube: https://youtu.be/Xh9PLsyptgA
Listen here – Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/bdbrspj7
Read here – Listen: https://tinyurl.com/mtdhe37w
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Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon told reporters in New York that the Lebanese government must “step up” and “step in” to “dismantle Hezbollah,” and said, “Lebanon must restrain Hezbollah now, or we will.”
Danon said Israel had expanded “the forward defence area” in southern Lebanon in order to “remove immediate terrorist threats near our border and create an additional layer of security for the residents of northern Israel.”
He said, “Israel did not choose this situation, Hezbollah did. For weeks, Hezbollah has been launching rockets at Israeli communities from southern Lebanon.”
Pointing at a map, the Israeli Ambassador said, “look at how many launch sites are south of the Litani River. Everywhere you see the red dots. It’s in one evening.”
He stressed that under Security Council Resolution 1701, “Hezbollah is not supposed even to be there. Yet rockets are being fired from dozens of locations in exactly that area.”
Turning to Iran, Danon said, “the regime in Tehran is showing signs of weakness,” and asked “where is the new Supreme Leader? Where is he?”
He said the new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei “hasn’t appeared in public,” and “leaders and members of the security forces are defecting.”
Danon said, “while they hide, they continue to fire missiles from behind civilians, like the cowards that they are.”
Source: United Kingdom UK Parliament (video statements)
The Petitions Committee has scheduled a debate relating to automatic by-elections following Member defections.
Roz Savage MP has been asked by the Committee to open the debate. The Government will send a Minister to respond.
Read the petitions:
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/737660
Find petitions you agree with, and sign them: https://petition.parliament.uk/
What are petition debates?
Petition debates are ‘general’ debates which allow MPs from all parties to discuss the important issues raised by one or more petitions, and put their concerns to Government Ministers.
Petition debates don’t end with a vote to implement the request of a petition. This means that MPs will not vote on the issues raised in the petition at the end of the debate.
The Petitions Committee can only schedule debates on petitions to parliament started on petition.parliament.uk
Find out more about how petition debates work: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/content/194347/how-petitions-debates-work/
Stay up-to-date
Follow the Committee on Twitter for real-time updates on its work: https://www.twitter.com/hocpetitions
