Antonio Guterres

Malcolm X was an American Muslim minister and iconic human-rights activist who was assassinated on Feb. 21, 1965, at age 39, in New York City. In his work, he had tried to globalize the civil rights movement in the United States by bringing the cause to the United Nations. TASNIM NEWS AGENCY
In the 1960s, the African-American activist Malcolm X launched a lobbying campaign to “internationalize” the civil rights movement in the United States by calling on the United Nations to focus on the lives of black Americans through a human-rights lens.

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife, Coretta Scott King, at UN headquarters after King was awarded the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize. With them is Ralph Bunche, a UN official who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950. Bunche, an American, marched with the Kings in civil rights protests in Alabama in 1965. YUTAKA NAGATA/UN PHOTO

The Rev. Ralph Abernathy, far left, Ralph Bunche (with glasses), the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and Coretta Scott King in the Selma march, 1965. Bunche, a UN official, told marchers that the UN supported their cause. BRUCE DAVIDSON/COURTESY HOWARD GREENBERG GALLERY

Protesters in Washington Square Park, Manhattan, one of dozens of such gatherings throughout New York City in the last week responding to the murder of George Floyd, the African-American, on May. 25. The UN kept its distance from the protests. ISABELLA PENNEY
Starting in June, a summary of the most important news on the United Nations’ work in New York City and across the world will be highlighted weekly. The news will be drawn from the UN spokesperson’s media briefings, which are held daily during the workweek, as well as our original reporting and other sources.

A view of the General Assembly Hall through an interpreters’ booth, before the opening of the general debate of the 74th session, Sept. 24, 2019. It is unclear how world leaders will meet this year, but more important, diplomacy-as-usual practices are over, the authors say. MANUEL ELIAS/UN PHOTO

In New York City, protesters swarm the roadway portion of the Brooklyn Bridge, heading from the City Hall area of lower Manhattan into Brooklyn. The crowd stopped incoming traffic, but there was no violence, May 30, 2020. JOHN PENNEY

Secretary-General António Guterres about to sign a book of condolences in memory of former Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, who died on March 4, 2020, at 100. The UN marks the 75th anniversary of the signing of the UN Charter in June. MARK GARTEN/UN PHOTO

A screen grab of Ambassador Nicolas de Rivière of France participating in a videoconference of the UN Security Council on Syria, April 29, 2020. As president of the Council in June, he intends to speak only in French in public sessions, as multilingualism in the Council, he said, has suffered collateral damage during the pandemic. 

A man who washes cars taking a break at his business in Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi. Although the country has only about 100 recorded cases of Covid-19 now, its lacks a proper health care system to deal with the pandemic as it intensifies. Elections in June could further complicate the situation. 
LILONGWE, Malawi — Ever since an expatriate tourism adviser labeled Malawi the “warm heart of Africa” in the 1970s, Malawians have worn the title proudly, sparing no effort to welcome visitors with open arms.

The delegation of Mauritius at the General Assembly session that adopted a resolution asking the International Court of Justice to render an advisory opinion on the legality of the separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius, an island nation in the Indian Ocean, June 22, 2017. Exactly a year ago, another resolution called on Britain to leave Chagos, based on the court’s opinion. It has yet to go. MANUEL ELIAS/UN PHOTO