The UN General Assembly elected Antonio Guterres on Thursday as the next secretary general of the United Nations, a post he will take over on Jan. 1 at a time of global turmoil. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who will leave the job on Dec. 31 after his second five-year term ends, referred to Guterres's decade as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Ban told the assembly that Guterres is "best known where it counts most, on the front lines of armed conflict and humanitarian suffering." Guterres will be the ninth secretary general in the organization's 71-year history. The secretary general manages a staff of 44,000 people in addition to more than 100,000 peacekeepers.

Source: CBC News October 13, 2016 15:45 UTC