Rosemary DiCarlo, the UN Under Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, in her office in the Secretariat building, New York, December 2019. DiCarlo, who is from Rhode Island in the United States, is the first person to lead the new department. JOE PENNEY
In the UN Security Council on Dec. 19, Vassily Nebenzia, the Russian ambassador, spoke about the Iran nuclear deal. To his right is Joanne Wronecka, Poland’s ambassador. Russia delayed two separate votes on dueling Syrian cross-border humanitarian-aid resolutions that day. The next day, Russia vetoed the one submitted by Belgium, Germany and Kuwait but voted for its own proposal. Both resolutions failed, creating a bah-humbug mood for the holiday.
Rohingya-displaced Muslims in a Bangladesh refugee camp. A new case filed by The Gambia with the International Court of Justice accuses Myanmar of genocide against the Rohingya. This is the first time that rape will be included in such a case prosecuted at The Hague court.
Kelly Knight Craft speaks to the media after her first day in the UN Security Council as US ambassador, Sept. 12, 2019. As her country assumes the rotating presidency of the Council in December, Knight Craft is planning a Council trip to her home state of Kentucky. ESKINDER DEBEBE
While most countries use their presidency in the United Nations Security Council to visit war zones and pivotal peacekeeping missions around the globe, the United States ambassador, Kelly Knight Craft, is taking her counterparts to her home state of Kentucky in December.
President Putin’s first Russia-Africa summit, held in the Black Sea city of Sochi this month, showcased Russian-made weapons and other goods and services. As for the big picture, the summit projected Russia’s intent to return as an influencer in Africa, building on Soviet-era alliances there. JOE PENNEY
Agnès Callamard, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, center, has been the sole voice in the UN system to demand a criminal investigation into resolving the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, the American-based journalist who was slaughtered on Oct. 2, 2018. Here, Callamard is speaking on the subject at Columbia University.
Prime Minister Trudeau addressing the Unifor Constitutional Convention in Quebec City, Aug. 19, 2019. He was not scheduled to come to the UN General Assembly opening session in September, but deciding who would speak in his stead has been a belabored process for Canada.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, center, meeting US embassy staffers and families in Ottawa, Aug. 22, 2019. It was the last day of Kelly Knight Craft, right, as the American ambassador to Canada, yet the US can’t say when she begins her post as ambassador to the UN. ASHLEY FRASER/US EMBASSY
Donald Trump must have known just what he was getting into when he named Kelly Knight Craft to be the United States ambassador to the United Nations.
Kelly Knight Craft, the newly confirmed US ambassador to the UN, with members of the Youth Ambassadors Program at the US embassy in Ottawa, in her former role as US diplomat to Canada, July 16, 2019.
She calls herself a homemaker, a philanthropist and a consultant, but who, exactly, is Kelly Knight Craft, the newly confirmed United States ambassador to the United Nations?
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, second from left, and his entourage about to attend the UN Security Council meeting on peace and security in the Middle East. He talked about Iran’s role in sowing unrest in the region. MANUEL ELIAS/UN PHOTO
In the middle of a muggy August afternoon in New York, the United Nations Security Council gathered once more to figure out how to “maintain peace and security” in the Middle East. But the recurring topic always leaves conversations wide open for interpretation by the Council’s 15 members.
