Guterres re-elected as secretary-general of the United Nations by acclamation

Antonio Guterres has been returned to the post of secretary-general of the United Nations (Jack Hill/The Times/PA)

The UN General Assembly unanimously elected Antonio Guterres to a second term as secretary-general on Friday, giving him another five years at the helm of the 193-member organisation at a time a deeply divided world faces numerous conflicts, the growing impact of climate change, and a pandemic still circling the globe.

Ambassadors in the assembly chamber in New York burst into applause as the assembly president, Volkan Bozkir, announced Guterres’ re-election by “acclamation”, without a vote.