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
In the early hours of January 3, 2020, the United States military assassinated Iran’s most powerful military commander, General Qasem Soleimani.
Soleimani’s killing, accomplished by means of a drone strike in Baghdad, was done without the authorization of the Iraqi government. It thus constitutes a grave breach of Iraqi sovereignty.
Mitch McConnell, US Senate majority leader, with a fellow Kentuckian, Jennifer Yue Barber, whom President Trump intends to nominate as the US envoy to the United Nations Economic and Social Council. A lawyer who speaks Cantonese, she has no foreign service experience. MITCH MCCONNELL PRESS OFFICE
President Trump speaking at the UN’s luncheon for heads of state, September 2019. He and other certain global leaders attending the General Assembly opening session signaled the rise of nationalism coupled with pushback on women’s rights. LIZ MUZI/UNCA POOL
As human-rights protections slip worldwide, the authors argue that the Inter-Parliamentary Union, in a group photo, October 2019, above, can establish a “critical link between international agreements and domestic progress on human-rights issues.”
The United States government does not have the least moral authority to criticize Cuba or anyone else in the area of human rights. We reject the repeated manipulation of this issue for political purposes and the double standards that characterize its use.
— Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez, November 7, 2019 at United Nations General Assembly
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.
