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
Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General António Guterres, prepping for a virtual press briefing with him, April 30, 2020, UN headquarters. The secretary-general had asked the current UN medical director, Dr. Jillann Farmer, to extend her term a few months during the coronavirus crisis. But now she is returning to her home country, Australia. ESKINDER DEBEBE/UN PHOTO
Kelly Craft, US envoy to the UN, saying farewell to Karen Pierce, her British counterpart and now the UK ambassador to the US, March 12, 2020. It was the last day the Security Council met physically as the UN shut down days later. LOEY FELIPE/UN PHOTO
The UNTV studio in New York, as Martin Griffiths, UN envoy for Yemen, left, briefs the Security Council by videoconference, April 16, 2020. The UN’s 75th birthday this year is a crucial chance, the authors argue, for the Council to recommit to the vision of the Charter. ESKINDER DEBEBE/UN PHOTO
The United Nations is turning 75 this year.
Several top UN officials and other leaders have called for easing of certain sanctions imposed on such countries as Iran, North Korea and Venezuela. In the US, some Democrats have rallied behind the call to specifically help Iran during the pandemic as well. But the Trump administration has refused to go along with those recommendations. CREATIVE COMMONS
Stilled life in a usually active marina, Diversey Harbor in Lincoln Park, Chicago. The author of this essay, who is on sabbatical in Chicago, writes that amid the global economic meltdown and pandemic, “the breakdown in international cooperation is devastating.” THOMAS G. WEISS
CHICAGO — American cities have an intimate association with the United Nations. That relationship started in San Francisco 75 years ago later this month and continues today and, one hopes, tomorrow in the New York and Washington headquarters for the UN and the Bretton Woods institutions.
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
The UNTV studio in New York, where technicians produced a virtual press briefing with Secretary-General António Guterres (on screens), focusing on the coronavirus outbreak, March 19, 2020. Who is next in line to Guterres, should be become suddenly incapacitated? EVAN SCHNEIDER/UN PHOTO
António Guterres, the United Nations secretary-general, continues to go into the UN headquarters building in New York City to work — even as Covid-19 races throughout the region.
The UN’s main lobby in New York, March 11, 2020. By Friday evening, March 13, the UN announced that virtually all personnel working at New York headquarters were being ordered to telecommute for four weeks, after a Filipino diplomat confirmed that a colleague had Covid-19. MARK GARTEN/UN PHOTO
