Boutros Boutros-Ghali, veteran Egyptian diplomat and the first United Nations Secretary-General from Africa, passed away today at the age of 93. He is being praised for guiding the Organization through the tumultuous early 1990s and for helping shape the UN's response to post-Cold War realities, drafting a seminal report on preventive diplomacy, peacemaking and peacekeeping.

The United Nations mourns the loss of Jean Gazarian, a staff member whose six-decade career offered him a rare opportunity to witness the various moments and milestones along the path that saw a nascent 51-member Organization develop into the 193-strong world body it is today.

Mogens Lykketoft of Denmark was elected President of the General Assembly’s seventieth session on 15 June 2015. At the time of his election, he was the Speaker of the Danish Parliament. A veteran parliamentarian and government minister, and an economist by training, he was his country’s Foreign Minister from 2000 to 2001. As Finance Minister, from 1993 to 2000, he directed economic reforms that led to a strengthened Danish economy.

On the tenth anniversary of the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and 21 others who lost their lives on that day, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon renewed his condolences to the families of the victims of this terrorist attack and pledged the Organization's commitment to the country and its people.