UN General Assembly elects Guterres as secretary-general
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UNITED NATIONS -- The UN General Assembly elected Antonio Guterres on Thursday as the next secretary-general of the United Nations, a post he pledged to use to be "a bridge-builder" and to promote a new "diplomacy for peace."
The 193 UN member states elected Guterres by acclamation, following the Security Council's nomination of the 67-year-old former Portuguese prime minister and UN refugee chief by acclamation last week.
Guterres will take over as UN chief on Jan. 1 when Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's second five-year term ends. He will be the ninth secretary-general in the organization's 71-year history.
