The United Nations Security Council has confirmed that at 9.30am on Monday October 9 it will meet to nominate formally the next secretary general — and it will have been a genuine process of elimination. On Monday, the first council straw poll revealed the vetoes hitherto held up the delegates’ sleeves, South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon had 14 votes to encourage his candidacy, and only one "no opinion".
In an interview here this week, African National Congress president Nelson Mandela dwelt at some length on the pressure exerted by mass action.