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.

The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged Israel to drop plans to annex parts of the West Bank, news wires reported. The move would be a “most serious violation of international law,”including the Charter of the United Nations,” Guterres said in a report, issued ahead of the Security Council’s meeting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict  on Wednesday. Several ministers are set to take part at the request of the Arab League.

The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday the coronavirus pandemic has unleashed “a tsunami of hate and xenophobia, scapegoating and scare-mongering.”

The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said  on Thursday that the coronavirus pandemic is “a human crisis that is fast becoming a human rights crisis.” The UN chief said in a video message that there is discrimination in the delivery of public services to tackle COVID-19 and there are “structural inequalities that impede access to them.”

A Covid-19 vaccine may be the only thing that can bring back "normalcy," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday, hoping for just that before the end of the year.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres urged the Security Council on Thursday to display unity as it met to discuss what he called the "fight of a generation" - the global coronavirus pandemic. "A signal of unity and resolve from the Council would count for a lot at this anxious time," Guterres told the divided body holding its first meeting about the crisis, amid criticism over its silence so far. He briefed the 15-member council in a closed session via video conference.

The UN Security Council will hold a session on the novel coronavirus on Thursday, marking their first meeting on how the pandemic could affect international security, dpa reported. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres will brief the 15 members in a closed-door virtual meeting, the council's current president, the Dominican Republic, announced on Monday evening. Germany and eight other elected council members requested the meeting, according to information seen by dpa.

Those who seek safety from war and persecution are threatened by a hostile political environment, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday, opening the Global Refugee Forum in Geneva, which marks the first anniversary of the United Nation's global refugee pact.