Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, has said a woman should lead the United Nations for the first time since it was established more than 70 years ago. As he nears the end of his second five-year term, Ban said that “it’s high time now” for a female secretary general after eight men at the helm. He praised the general assembly for holding the first ever public hearings for all the candidates seeking to succeed him. East European nations, including Russia, argue that they have never had a secretary general and it is their turn. In the second poll Argentina’s foreign minister Susana Malcorra, who was Ban’s former chief of staff, moved up to third.

Source: The Guardian August 16, 2016 06:33 UTC