UN Secretary | DD News

April 21, 2026 1:07 PM

Explainer: 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...

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...

January 15, 2026 10:49 PM

How will the next UN chief be chosen and who wants the job?

A new United Nations secretary-general will be elected this year for a five-year term starting on January 1, 2027. The president of the 193-member General Assembly, Annalena Baerbock, asked countries on Wednesday to nominate candidates by April 1, so they are able to take part in so-called interactive dialogues the week of April 20, which will be broadcast online. At these meetings candidates will be able to present their vision statement and U.N. member states will be able to ask questions. ...

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...

March 13, 2025 12:07 PM

Bangladesh: UN Secretary General arrives Dhaka today on four-day visit

United Nations Secretary General António Guterres is set to arrive on a four-day official visit to Bangladesh today to witness the Rohingya refugee camps situation. This visit is expected to strengthen international efforts to mobilise increased food aid for the Rohingya refugees and to accelerate efforts to resolve the Rohingya crisis, according to the statement of Chief Adviser Dr Yunus’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam. Bangladesh Foreign ministry officials said the UN secretary general wil...

April 15, 2024 9:07 AM

UN chief convened an emergency meeting on Iran strikes, says- ‘Neither region nor world can afford more war’

Addressing the emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, which was convened after Iranian drone and missile launches into Israel, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday said the 'Middle East' was on the brink, adding that neither the region nor the world can afford more war. "We have a shared responsibility to work for peace. Regional and indeed global peace and security are being undermined by the hour. Neither the region nor the world can afford more war," Guterres said in his st...