While Friday’s return of the US to the Paris climate agreement is heavily symbolic, world leaders say they expect America to prove its seriousness after four years of being pretty much absent, AP reported. They are especially anticipating an announcement from the US in coming months on its goal for cutting emissions of heat-trapping gases by 2030.

While celebrating the 10th anniversary of the 2011 uprising that led to the overthrow of longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi, Libyans have their eyes on a recently appointed government tasked to prepare elections late this year. Festivities started late Tuesday in the capital, Tripoli, where people gathered in the city’s main square amid tight security, AP reported.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres pledged on Wednesday to mobilize enough international pressure on Myanmar's military "to make sure that this coup fails" as the UN Security Council tries to negotiate a statement on the crisis, Reuters reported.

The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Thursday for global rules to regulate powerful social media companies like Twitter and Facebook, news wires reported.

The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons takes effect on Friday, but the milestone is marred by the lack of signatures from the world's major nuclear powers, news wires reported. The treaty seeks to prohibit the use, development, production, testing, stationing, stockpiling and threat of nuclear weapons. But none of the nine states with the atomic bomb have signed up to the new treaty.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday said he would like to invite the rival leaders on Cyprus to an informal meeting “as soon as practicable,” but he warned that this meeting must be different. It has to help clarify “the true extent" of their common vision “and outline steps necessary to chart a way forward,” Guterres believes. He also warned in a report to the UN Security Council that “time is working against a mutually acceptable political settlement in Cyprus.”

The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres hailed Germany as a "force for peace" and "pillar of multilateralism" during a speech to the Bundestag parliament on Friday marking 75 years since the founding of the United Nations, dpa reported.

The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Thursday criticized countries that rejected facts and ignored World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations on the coronavirus pandemic, news wires reported. In a speech to kick off a UN General Assembly meeting of world leaders on Covid-19, Guterres said the UN health agency provided scientific guidance that should have been the basis for a coordinated global response.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas saw grounds for optimism on resolving the long-running conflict in Libya following talks held online on Monday drawing in the main parties to the conflict and joined by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. 

The United Nations and the UK will co-host a global climate summit on 12 December, the fifth anniversary of the landmark Paris Agreement, the world organisation announced on Wednesday. “The climate emergency is fully upon us, and we have no time to waste. The answer to our existential crisis is swift, decisive, scaled up action and solidarity among nations," the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.