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Antonio Guterres

Antonio Guterres is the current United Nations Secretary General, championing human dignity, focusing on climate action, peacekeeping and UN management reform. He is known for his extensive career in public service and diplomacy. His responsibilities include mediating conflicts and advancing sustainable development. Previously, as prime minister of Portugal, he oversaw the euro transition and played a key role in resolving the East Timor crisis. He also served as UN High Commissioner for Refugees, significantly improving the organisation’s response to global displacement. His expertise spans humanitarian affairs, international relations and administrative efficiency.

A helicopter carrying Venezuela’s deposed leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, arrives in New York on Saturday. Photo: Reuters

US-Venezuela conflict

US attack on Venezuela a ‘death certificate’ for United Nations: analyst

UN chief ‘deeply alarmed’ about implications, while China is described as seeing openings to entrench itself as alternative to America.

6 Jan 2026 - 10:31AMvideocam

United Nations

‘World stands at a crossroads’: UN chief issues grim New Year message

30 Dec 2025 - 11:21AM

China-Latin America relations

China says US broke international law by seizing oil tankers off Venezuela

23 Dec 2025 - 8:27AMvideocam

Africa

Sudan war drags on as drone attack kills 10 in Darfur market

The conflict has split Sudan in two as the army controls the north, east and centre while the UAE-backed RSF dominates Darfur and parts of the south.

21 Dec 2025 - 11:26PM

A Sudanese refugee girl from Darfur rests beside a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) tent inside the Touloum refugee camp, on the outskirts of the town of Iriba in Wadi Fira province, eastern Chad, on November 30. Photo: Reuters

Australia

World leaders express horror at Bondi Beach attack as vigils held for victims

Israel’s Herzog condemned the ‘cruel attack on Jews’ by ‘terrorists’; Trump branded the shooting that killed 15 people ‘purely antisemitic’.

15 Dec 2025 - 6:28AM

Africa

6 UN peacekeepers killed in Sudan drone strike blamed on RSF paramilitary group

The victims were all Bangladeshi nationals working at a United Nations logistics base in Kadugli.

14 Dec 2025 - 5:46AM

Americas and the Caribbean

Tanker seized off Venezuela to be taken to US port, as threat of war grows

White House justifies targeting ‘black-market oil’ as Russia expresses support for its ally, Nicolas Maduro.

12 Dec 2025 - 10:12AMvideocam

The tanker as it was being seized by US forces off the coast of Venezuela this week. Photo: US Attorney General Pam Bondi’s X account via Reuters

Africa

63 children among 114 dead in strikes on Sudan kindergarten, hospital: WHO

Reports paramedics were also targeted during rescue efforts, as WHO director general condemns attack.

8 Dec 2025 - 8:59PM

United Nations

UN hits out at global ‘apathy’ as it slashes aid appeal for 2026

UN unveils streamlined plan to raise at least US$23 billion to help 87 million people in the world’s most dangerous places.

8 Dec 2025 - 2:27PM

China-Japan relations

Takaichi’s Taiwan remarks ‘greatest challenge’ to ties, China’s UN envoy says

Ambassador Fu Cong sends second letter to UN chief insisting Tokyo must retract comments or bear ‘all consequences’.

2 Dec 2025 - 6:49PMvideocam

China escalated its diplomatic offensive against Japan at the United Nations, with ambassador Fu Cong sending a second letter to Secretary General Antonio Guterres about Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks on Taiwan. Photo: Getty Images

China-Japan relations

Why China took Japan criticism to UN twice but did not raise it at G20

Analysts say Beijing views the UN as a platform to ‘anchor’ its position on Taiwan, particularly because it offers a wider reach.

25 Nov 2025 - 9:29PMvideocam

Fu Cong, China’s permanent representative to the UN, has described the comments of the Japanese prime minister as “gravely erroneous” and having a “profoundly malicious nature and impact”. Photo: Reuters

United Nations

Fire breaks out at Brazil’s Cop30 talks, forcing delay at critical phase

Fire forces evacuation at summit site in Belem as nations attempt to resolve contentious climate issues.

21 Nov 2025 - 10:23AM

My Take

My Take | Poppies remain a poignant reminder of the catastrophic human cost of war

It is a tragic irony that commemorations on this Remembrance Sunday are taking place against the backdrop of today’s conflicts.

8 Nov 2025 - 11:30PM

Africa

Mass graves, blood stains: satellite images point to horrors in seized Sudan city

Analysis of imagery shows mass graves being dug near a hospital and a mosque, raising alarm over the scale of the carnage in El-Fasher.

6 Nov 2025 - 12:55PM

This satellite image shows a trench experts suspect of being a mass grave being dug near a former children’s hospital in El-Fasher, Sudan. Photo: Vantor via AP

Africa

Tanzanian president wins in landslide after deadly protests

Samia Suluhu Hassan wins almost 98 per cent of the vote amid claims that she presided over a ‘wave of terror’ ahead of the elections.

1 Nov 2025 - 3:17PM

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan casts her vote during the general elections on Wednesday. Photo: AP

Asean

‘Meek diplomacy’: is Asean doing enough to end the Myanmar conflict?

Asean’s individual members will decide whether to send observers to monitor what critics say will be a ‘sham election’ in Myanmar.

30 Oct 2025 - 7:50PMvideocam

Africa

Sudan war sparks global alarm after hundreds killed at hospital

The Rapid Support Forces have been accused of mass executions and other atrocities after capturing the provincial capital of North Darfur state.

30 Oct 2025 - 2:39PM

Myanmar

UN chief urges Myanmar junta to prioritise aid over holding election