With the start of a new year, five new countries — Angola, Malaysia, New Zealand, Venezuela and Spain — have begun their two-year term, replacing Argentina, Australia, Luxembourg, South Korea and Rwanda, Xinhua reported.

Octavio Errazuriz, permanent representative of Chile to the U.N., took over the rotating council presidency from Cherif Mahamat Zene, the Chadian U.N. ambassador who held the council presidency for December 2014.

According to the U.N. Charter, the 10 non-permanent members of the Security Council are elected by the General Assembly, with five elected in October each year, to join the five permanent and veto-wielding members of Britain, China, France, Russia and the U.S..

Under the U.N. Charter, the Security Council has the primary responsibility for the maintenance of peace and security in the world at large.

The council presidency rotates among the members in the English alphabetical order of their names. Each president holds office for one calendar month. (SDF/KH)