Antonio Guterres

May 12, 2026 9:48 PM

Who are the candidates running for UN secretary-general?

The 10th United Nations secretary-general will be elected this year for a five-year term starting on January 1, 2027. Here are the candidates so far running to take over from outgoing U.N. chief Antonio Guterres. RAFAEL GROSSI Rafael Grossi, a 65-year-old career diplomat from Argentina, has been an omnipresent, hyperactive director general of the U.N. nuclear watchdog for the past six years. While the International Atomic Energy Agency has long policed Iran's nuclear programme, Grossi led ne...

May 8, 2026 12:04 PM

MoS Kirti Vardhan Singh holds ‘productive meeting’ with UN Chief Guterres on IMRF sidelines

India’s Minister of State of External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh met with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the sidelines of International Migration Review Forum (IMRF) to discuss issues of mutual concern. After the meeting, Singh took to social media platform X and wrote: “Had a productive meeting with Secretary General of United Nations HE Mr. Antonio Guterres on the sidelines of the IMRF.” Singh is in New York to attend the UN’s Second International Migration Review Forum. He ...

February 19, 2026 1:24 PM

Future of AI cannot be decided by handful of countries or controlled by a few billionaires: UN chief Antonio Guterres

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday said that hosting the India AI Impact Summit 2026 in the Global South carries “special meaning,” stressing that the future of artificial intelligence must not be shaped by a handful of countries or controlled by a few billionaires. Addressing global leaders, technology executives and policymakers at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, Guterres thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the invitation and congratulated India for organisin...

February 5, 2026 3:02 PM

Explainer: Why is UN warning of ‘imminent financial collapse’?

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is sounding the alarm on U.N. finances, warning that the world body is at risk of "imminent financial collapse" due to unpaid fees and a budget rule that forces it to return unspent funds. Guterres has repeatedly spoken about the U.N.'s worsening liquidity crisis but this was his starkest warning yet, and it came as the United States, its main contributor - and debtor - is retreating from multilateralism on numerous fronts. Here are some questions and an...

January 6, 2026 11:57 AM

UN chief Guterres raises concerns about instability in Venezuela, legality of US operation

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres raised concerns on Monday about greater instability in Venezuela after the U.S. capture of President Nicolas Maduro, while the United States said it does not plan to occupy the Latin American country. The 15-member Security Council met at U.N. headquarters in New York just hours before Maduro was due to appear in a Manhattan federal court on drug charges including narco-terrorism conspiracy. Maduro has denied any criminal involvement. "I am dee...

January 4, 2026 10:53 AM

UN Security Council to meet Monday over US action in Venezuela

The United Nations Security Council is due to meet on Monday after the U.S. attacked Venezuela and deposed its long-serving autocratic President Nicolas Maduro, a move that U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres views as setting "a dangerous precedent." Colombia, backed by Russia and China, requested the meeting of the 15-member council, diplomats said. The U.N. Security Council has met twice - in October and December - over the escalating tensions between the United States and Venezuela. U.S...

December 23, 2025 12:56 PM

UN chief Antonio Guterres calls for ensuring minorities’ safety in Bangladesh

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed deep concern over the recent surge in violence in Bangladesh, stressing that minorities must feel safe in the country, his spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said. “We’re very concerned about the violence we’ve seen in Bangladesh,” Dujarric told reporters when asked about attacks on minorities, including recent incidents of lynching targeting Hindus. “All Bangladeshis need to feel safe.” Emphasising the rights of minority...

December 2, 2025 10:11 AM

UN chief proposes slashing 2026 budget by $577 million, cutting 18% of jobs

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday formally proposed slashing the core U.N. budget for next year by $577 million and cutting more than 18% of jobs. Guterres is seeking ways to improve efficiency and cut costs as the world body turns 80 this year amid a cash crisis, driven largely by U.S. arrears. "We ended 2024 with $760 million in arrears, of which $709 million is still outstanding from 2024. We have also not received $877 million of 2025 dues and so thus, arrears now...

November 22, 2025 5:55 PM

PM Modi holds ‘very productive’ talks with UN chief Guterres on G20 sidelines in Johannesburg

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that he had a “very productive conversation” with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Johannesburg. The Prime Minister posted on X, saying: “A very productive conversation with the Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Antonio Guterres on the sidelines of the G20 Johannesburg Summit.” The meeting came after India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met Guterres in New York o...

November 18, 2025 12:19 PM

UN chief Antonio Guterres opposes death penalty for Sheikh Hasina

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is against the death penalty imposed on Sheikh Hasina by a Bangladesh court, said his Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric. “We stand against the use of the death penalty in all circumstances”, he said on Monday, replying to a question at his daily briefing on the sentence imposed in absentia on the leader who is in exile in India. Dujarric cited a statement by UN Human Rights High Commissioner Volker Turk and said that “we fully agree with” his oppositi...