The General Assembly adopted a resolution by acclamation Friday appointing South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon to succeed Kofi Annan as the next UN secretary-general. When Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa, the assembly president, asked members of the 192-nation world body to adopt the resolution by acclamation, hundreds of diplomats and UN staff in the chamber burst into loud applause. She then banged the gavel saying "it is so decided." Ban, 62, will become the eighth UN secretary-general on Jan. 1 when Annan's second five-year term expires.