UN chief Guterres wins Security Council backing for second term

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres won support from the UN Security Council on Tuesday for a second five-year term at the organization he’s led since 2017.

The recommendation from the 15-member council will be sent to the president of the 193-member General Assembly for an official vote, but that is largely seen as symbolic. Estonia’s Ambassador Sven Jurgenson, the council’s rotating president for June, said last week that the General Assembly’s adoption is likely to take place soon after the council’s recommendation. Guterres, a 72-year-old former prime minister of Portugal, has struggled to forge diplomatic compromises in troubled hotspots amid deepening rifts between the U.S. and its key rivals, Russia and China. He has instead focused on uniting the world behind efforts to combat climate change and environmental collapse.