General Assembly

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

As part of standard procedures in UN General Assembly elections, officials hold up empty ballot boxes for inspection by teller delegates, before collecting member states’ ballots. The pandemic has forced new methods on Assembly voting as the UN stays physically shut until the end of June for now. UN PHOTO 

A view of Vienna from the author’s terrace. She writes that during the Covid-19 crisis, the authorities have moved quickly to contain the virus and offer free hotline services, including delivering groceries to people who need it. Now, Austria is planning a phased plan to lift some restrictions. MONA ALI KHALIL

The UN Security Council’s 15 members held a meeting on March 26, 2020, by videoconference, to discuss the UN political mission in Libya, as the UN headquarters in New York City remains physically off-limits amid the Covid-19 outbreak. But the meetings have not been live-streamed, so other UN member states are raising questions about the growing lack of transparency of the Council. 

Secretary-General António Guterres holds a virtual press briefing to appeal for a global cease-fire during the coronavirus pandemic, March 23, 2020. So far, his call has been heard in Cameroon, Philippines, Yemen and parts of Syria. ESKINDER DEBEBE/UN PHOTO

A Filipino diplomat sent a letter to fellow diplomats on March 12 that a colleague at the country’s mission to the UN had tested positive for the coronavirus. The UN says it is following up but has not said it is closing the building. The scene above, March 11. MARK GARTEN/UN PHOTO

Vershinin Vasilievich, deputy foreign minister of Russia, chairs a Security Council meeting on Syria, Sept. 30, 2019. Behind him is Vassily Nebenzia, Russia’s ambassador to the UN. Russia and Iran are delaying certain General Assembly committee meetings, including on disarmament, to protest the denial of visas for their delegations by the United States. KIM HAUGHTON/UN PHOTO

The Duran’s Alex Christoforou and Editor-in-Chief Alexander Mercouris discuss The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov’s recently published article in the “Russia in Global Affairs” magazine entitled, “World at a Crossroads and a System of International Relations for the Future”, which provides the most up-to-date information on Russia’s foreign policy priority.

Prime Minister Khan of Pakistan at the Sept. 24 world leaders’ luncheon, during the UN General Assembly week of high-level speeches. While Khan slipped quietly to his table at the lunch, his nemesis, Prime Minister Modi of India, worked the room. EUROPANEWSWIRE/UNCA POOL
War clouds hovered again when the leaders of India and Pakistan, the South Asian adversaries that have failed over decades to end their perilous standoff over Kashmir, spoke on the same day at the United Nations, Sept. 27.

António Guterres, the UN secretary-general, and Angela Merkel, the chancellor of Germany, at the VIP luncheon during the annual UN General Assembly opening session, Sept. 24, 2019. It was Merkel’s first time to the UNGA, as it is called, in four years and may be her last. EUROPANEWSWIRE/UNCA POOL
This year’s opening session of the United Nations General Assembly stood out for revealing the stark divide now defining international relations: the split between globalists and patriots.