The United Nations is preparing to choose a new secretary general for the first time in a decade, with six candidates vying to succeed António Guterres of Portugal. The choice will be made by the UN General Assembly, following the recommendation of the Security Council, whose permanent members are the UK, China, France, Russia and the US. But the winner faces a huge challenge, with multiple geopolitical crises and the UN’s own status in question.

What does the secretary general do?
“Equal parts diplomat and advocate, civil servant and CEO”, the secretary general is both chief administrative officer and the UN’s public face, according to the organisation’s official description. He or she oversees several important UN bodies, including the Security Council, which is charged with maintaining peace and security. But, unlike a prime minister or president, the secretary general does not have the power to make laws or command countries. The role is more about persuasion, diplomacy and authority than political power.

Who is in the running?
“Calls for a Madame Secretary General” have been growing “louder”, said the Australian Institute of International Affairs. The female candidates include Michelle Bachelet (pictured above), former president of Chile; Maria Fernanda Espinosa, former foreign minister of Ecuador; Rebeca Grynspan, former vice president of Costa Rica, and Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett, former foreign minister of Guyana.

The men in contention are Rafael Grossi, the Argentinian diplomat and director general of the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and Macky Sall, a former prime minister and president of Senegal. Observers say “it is difficult to pick a favourite” because the world’s major powers are “divided on the outcome”, said Agence France-Presse. But Grossi has been “repeatedly mentioned”.

What will be top of their in-tray?
Gaza and Ukraine will be high on the list, but influencing outcomes in either will be a “tough task” because the “relevance, power and financial capability” of the UN is “under an increasingly harsh spotlight”, said Deutsche Welle.

The UN is “an increasingly irrelevant global institution”, said Politico. The US, “its most powerful member”, is “abandoning and defunding” many parts of its “sprawling structure”. The Security Council itself “barely functions”, because of the “rivalries” between the US, China and Russia, all of whom have veto powers. “Even as a venue for international gatherings”, the UN is “fading” because leaders would “rather meet and make deals” at the G20.

“The fact that a drone armed with explosives is here on the grounds of an airport represents a new threat scenario,” said Germany’s Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt in Leipzig. “We’re talking about a professional hybrid threat situation.”

Dobrindt looked “ashen-faced”, said Newsweek. Flights were halted after the discovery of a quadcopter armed with explosives in a restricted area of the airport. Security experts are asking a “once unthinkable” question: is Germany “de facto at war, or at least engaged in a hybrid war – and with whom?”

Germany a ‘primary target’
Leipzig/Halle airport is a Nato and German military logistics hub. Since 2022, Ukraine has used it to transport military equipment; it’s also the base for Antonov Airlines, a Ukrainian cargo carrier. As the drone was found close to a Ukrainian freight plane, this has “directed suspicion towards Russia”, said The Guardian.

Drone sightings at German airports rose “significantly” in the first half of 2026, said Der Spiegel. Over 165 drones were spotted at 15 airports, compared with 101 in the same period last year, according to German Air Navigation Services. The threat of drone attacks is “becoming increasingly concrete”, said Süddeutsche Zeitung. But bringing drones down is notoriously difficult. They can be stopped by “jammers, nets, or even by being shot down”, but that is a “delicate task” when they are near residential areas. Leipzig airport was equipped with a drone defence system but this “custom-made” model was seemingly able to bypass it.

Germany is becoming the “primary target” in “Russia’s shadow war”, aimed at dissuading Berlin from supporting Kyiv “in the short term”, and weakening the country “in the long term”.

Russia trying to ‘sow fear’
“Moscow does have form” with this kind of attack, said the BBC. Although there is no hard evidence yet, “if Russia was behind this”, its aim was likely to “sow fear”. 

There are also concerns about Russian interference in German regional elections in September. In some former communist and East German states, “pro-Russian sentiment remains strong”, said Politico. And, with their campaigners warning about escalations with Moscow from a “war-mongering” government, the far-right AfD party “could take power for the first time at the state level”. 

Balloons take to the sky at the opening of the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta at Ashton Court Estate. Europe’s largest annual hot-air balloon event runs until Sunday, with “mass ascents” twice a day.

Finnbarr Webster / Getty Images

Denbighshire: Plas Yn Llan, Llangynhafal
Distinguished Grade II house, dating back to 1580. 4 beds, 2 baths, kitchen, 3 receps, conservatory, gardens, outbuildings. £950,000; Fisher German.

Worcestershire: Haventree Cottage, Suckley
A sprawling, traditional timber-frame-build country home, set in over two acres of private grounds with far-reaching views across the Teme Valley landscape. Main bed with en suite and dressing room, 5 further beds, 2 baths, kitchen-breakfast room, 3 receps, garage, gym. £1.35m; Morgan Aps.

Oxfordshire: Cherry Tree Cottage, Goring Heath
Dating from the 17th century, this Grade II thatched cottage has been lovingly restored, and was nominated for a South Oxfordshire Conservation Award. 3 beds, 2 baths, open-plan kitchen-dining room, recep, terrace, gardens and grounds of approx. 0.4 acre. £800,000; Warmingham.

Suffolk: The Malthouse, Hacheston, Woodbridge
This remarkable Grade II home dates back to 1541 and has maintained its original timber frame. Main suite, 2 further beds (both en suite), kitchen-breakfast room, 2 receps, study, garden, outbuilding. £650,000; Fenn Wright.

As a Tory, I say things are looking up. Farage is fading, and the looming threat to No 10 is called Kemi
Simon Hart in The Guardian
“Something is afoot; the bookies can feel it,” writes former Conservative MP Simon Hart. Kemi Badenoch is performing so confidently as my party’s leader that even “sceptics” are thinking “she really could be the next prime minister”. She has “fluency” and “clarity”, and Margaret Thatcher’s skill for “persuading MPs and the public” that her “ambition is worth some pain along the way”. With her poll ratings climbing and the Reform “vessel heading for the icebergs”, this looks like “an opportunity for us”.

Jason Arday is merely a symptom of the Left’s corruption of excellence
Tomiwa Owolade in The Telegraph
“For an autistic black man” to become a Cambridge University professor at 37 “sounds like a fairy tale”, writes Tomiwa Owolade. But Jason Arday’s subsequent resignation after accusations of plagiarism and fabrication “has exposed a deep rot within our education system”. It seems Cambridge “relaxed” its “standards of academic rigour” in the name of equality and inclusivity. Many ethnic minority families would be “offended” by that, “as though there’s an inherent fault” in us “that only positive discrimination can rectify”. It’s “the bigotry of low expectations”.

This is why I’m backing London’s bid to host WorldPride
Sadiq Khan in The Independent
The “horrific terrorist attack at Berlin Pride” shows that “we cannot take progress for granted”, writes London mayor Sadiq Khan. We must “come together and celebrate Pride – and all that it stands for – more loudly and proudly than ever”. I’m supporting London’s bid to host WorldPride in 2032, when it will be 60 years “since London’s first Pride march”. It’s time to “step up and lead – championing the values of freedom, equality, and inclusivity that have come to define our capital city”.