India, April 27 -- Four candidates vying to lead the United Nations have spent hours being grilled about their views on issues from restoring global peace to ending escalating poverty - in what the UN General Assembly president called one of the toughest job interviews in the world.

There was no clear victor after Chile's Michelle Bachelet, Argentina's Rafael Grossi, Costa Rica's Rebeca Grynspan and Senegal's Macky Sall fielded questions from UN ambassadors this past week.

Plus, other candidates could wait until after the initial auditions to jump into the race to succeed UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on January 1.

"This role matters," said General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock, who presided over the question-and-answer ...