Selfie Holds Up UN Speech

For the 38-year-old president of El Salvador, his first speech to the UN was a big deal. Nayib Bukele's wife, Gabriela, was there to hear it, as was their infant daughter, Layla. So Bukele pulled out his smartphone, asked the world's diplomats to hold on for a second, and did what people everywhere do to preserve big moments. "Believe me, many more people will see this selfie than will hear this speech," he said. Bukele posted the selfie on Twitter after his speech, Reuters reports, and it received more than 7,000 likes in the first hour.

The smartphone was a bit of a prop: Bukele told the General Assembly he was demonstrating that "this format of gathering in person is becoming increasingly obsolete." The diplomats could meet by video conference or send videos to an online platform so leaders could watch without leaving home, he said, per the Washington Post. In his speech, he credited his election to his use of Facebook Live and other platforms. The leaders could do more to connect with young people in their countries and with each other, Bukele said: adding, "Our smartphones are the future of the General Assembly." (More Nayib Bukele stories.)