2026 UN General Assembly
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UN Chief Guterres says world getting worse as Security Council paralysed
Candidates in the running to replace Guterres include IAEA's Rafael Grossi, former Senegalese President Macky Sall, and Ecuadorian diplomat Maria Fernanda Espinosa.
Guterres gave the interview on the eve of his final address as secretary-general to the UN General Assembly.
Guterres's mandate as UN secretary-general ends on December 31, 2026.
“The combination of the war in Ukraine with the problems of exports of foods, fertilisers, and energy through the Black Sea, if you combine it with the difficulties in the Strait of Hormuz [in the Gulf], in the Bab al-Mandeb [in the Red Sea], and in the attacks [on] oil installations in several countries of the [Middle East] region, we are creating a situation that has a devastating impact on many economies around the world,”
World leaders gather in New York for UNGA
Member states submitted roughly 1,000 requests for bilateral meetings during high-level week.
Social-media sentiment accounts for 20% of the BGR Impact Index, second only to cultural imprint at 24%.
The 2026 BGR Impact Index ranks Japan in the top position for a third consecutive year, followed by Germany, Canada, the United Kingdom and South Korea.
“We looked at 4.9 trillion pieces of data across an entire year because we know that a social media campaign can really move a country's perception in the U.S.,”