UN-Scripted podcast

David Beasley, the head of the World Food Program and an American, spoke to the media at UN headquarters in New York City remotely on Oct. 16, 2020. The agency was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize a week earlier, and he used the briefing to plea for billions of more dollars in donations to the agency to stave off famines in certain countries. He also asked billionaires to pitch in as nations are “tapped out” from the pandemic financially. JOHN PENNEY

Vassily Nebenzia, Russia’s top diplomat to the UN, briefing the media, Oct. 16, 2019. Russia and Iran have been vigorously protesting US visa denials to dozens of their diplomats. Our new podcast episode explains their strategy. LOEY FELIPE/UN PHOTO
While Turkey has carried out its plan to invade northeast Syria and the United Nations Security Council has failed to react in a unified way, Russia and Iran have been making their own moves in the UN headquarters in New York, to achieve a political goal: disrupting crucial General Assembly committees.