Week in Review

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Week in Review 27 September 2025

Catch up on this week's must-read stories as UN Headquarters hosted world leaders for UNGA80 With a nod to the fast-changing world of online live news coverage, we've changed our approach to covering high-level week in New York this year, bringing you one main live blog that covered all the action on and off stage. Many days this week we had three live pages up and running, dedicated to world leaders' speeches in the gilded General Assembly, plus speaker-by-speaker coverage of the Security Council as the crises in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, Haiti and elsewhere continued.  The General Debate got off to a mesmerising start with the contrasting world views of presidents Trump and Lula laying out some of the key fault lines that have made this week of frantic diplomacy – the successes and the failures - more consequential than most. Check out some of the main highlights below: all of it adds up to the fact that love it or loathe it, the United Nations still matters, even with a paralysed Security Council, an unresolved funding crisis, and a world on fire.  Stay informed – follow UN News online, on our App, and on social media for the latest updates from the United Nations in New York, Geneva, Nairobi and around the world.

United Nations blog: Beyond the podium World leaders are gathering this week at United Nations Headquarters in New York at a time of global upheaval. Wars, poverty, human rights abuses and climate change are all issues that the 193 Member States will address with the UN at the centre of those discussions. UN News app users can follow here. Read more UN Affairs 'Warring world is crying out for peace' says UN chief as leaders gather in New York UN Secretary-General António Guterres marked the International Day of Peace on Sunday with a stark warning that "our warring world is crying out for peace," urging people everywhere to act now to silence guns, heal divisions and build hope. Read more Peace and Security General Debate LIVE: Day Five Follow our live coverage of the fifth day of the General Debate in New York beginning 9AM local time, featuring leaders from the Bahamas, Burkina Faso, Russia, Cuba, Germany, Egypt, India, and many others – UN News app users can click here. For a full rundown of who is speaking through the day, check out the full list here. Read more UN Affairs Intensifying threat looms large as UN highlights the world's growing nuclear arsenals The UN Secretary General on Friday warned a high-level meeting in New York focused on ridding the world of nuclear weapons that the threat is only "accelerating and evolving". Read more Peace and Security Gaza: Four more hospitals shut amid ongoing Israeli offensive The escalating Israeli military offensive in Gaza City continues to overwhelm medical professionals there, with four more hospitals forced to shut down this month alone in the north of the war-torn enclave, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. Read more Peace and Security Mental health takes centre stage at the General Assembly For the first time, mental health is the focus of an official meeting of the General Assembly on Thursday, with world leaders expected to agree on a set of principles designed to drive global action to help alleviate the symptoms of those living with a complex variety of disorders. Read more Health Security Council LIVE: Resolution to avoid 'snapback' of UN sanctions on Iran fails The UN Security Council has voted down an effort by China and Russia to extend sanctions relief to Iran for six months under the nuclear deal – formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. The so-called "snapback" mechanism remains in force which will see sanctions reimposed on Tehran this weekend, following the termination of the JCPOA. Follow our live coverage below; UN News app users can go here.  Read more Peace and Security UN warns time running out for families with terrorist ties stranded in Syria camps Six years after the defeat of ISIL, also known as Daesh, tens of thousands of people with alleged or actual ties to the terrorist group remain detained in camps in northeast Syria in dire conditions that continue to worsen.  Read more Peace and Security Intensifying threat looms large as UN highlights the world's growing nuclear arsenals The UN Secretary General on Friday warned a high-level meeting in New York focused on ridding the world of nuclear weapons that the threat is only "accelerating and evolving". Read more Peace and Security Disarmament over destruction: A renewed push for a world without nuclear weapons Nuclear weapons continue to pose an existential threat to humanity. On Friday in New York as high-level week draws to a close, world leaders will revisit the grave dangers these weapons pose and push for renewed global efforts to eliminate them. Read more Peace and Security Youth to UN: 'Listen to us. Invest in us. Partner with us' With nearly half the global population under 30, the UN continues to emphasise the indispensable role young people play in decision-making towards achieving a just, equitable and sustainable future for all.  Read more Human Rights UN moves to close dangerous void in AI governance The explosive growth of AI tools around the world has yet to be matched by effective, internationally agreed rules on how this powerful technology is governed. A high-profile event at UN Headquarters on Thursday is designed to bring effective global AI governance a step closer to reality.  Read more Law and Crime Prevention New national climate plans unveiled at high-level summit ahead of COP30 conference From accelerating the move to clean energy to planting acres of trees, leaders from nearly 100 countries announced or reiterated new national climate action plans during a meeting on Wednesday as part of the high-level week of the UN General Assembly.  Read more Climate and Environment AI must not decide humanity's fate, UN chief warns Security Council Artificial intelligence holds vast potential but poses grave risks if left unregulated, UN Secretary-General António Guterres told the Security Council on Wednesday. Read more Peace and Security Climate Summit 2025: The path to COP30 Floods in South Asia, wildfires across North America, and record-breaking heat in Europe have underscored what scientists have warned for years: climate change is escalating faster than the political response. Against this backdrop, the UN Secretary-General is holding a climate summit during the high-level week of the General Assembly, pressing nations to raise their climate pledges ahead of November's UN climate conference (COP30) in Belém, Brazil. Read more Climate and Environment Guterres warns against loss of 'fragile' diplomatic momentum over Ukraine Speaking at a high-level briefing on Ukraine on Tuesday, the UN Secretary General António Guterres told the Security Council that the international community cannot afford to lose "fragile" diplomatic momentum over ending the war with Russia. Read more Peace and Security Haiti's security crisis 'is like the Sword of Damocles above us': Foreign Minister Foreign Ministers from across the Americas met on the margins of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday to rally for greater support for Haiti.  Read more Peace and Security Failure to end Gaza war undermining world's credibility, UN chief warns UN Secretary-General António Guterres told the Security Council on Tuesday that the crisis in Gaza has become "one of the darkest chapters of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," with worsening suffering and deepening regional instability. Read more Peace and Security Uphold founding principles and 'be better together': General Assembly President As the UN marks its 80th anniversary, Member States must show the people of the world why the organization matters and uphold its founding principles in the decades ahead, General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock said on Tuesday.  Read more UN Affairs UN's Guterres to world leaders: Choose peace and cooperation over chaos The UN Secretary-General opened the General Assembly high-level debate with a stark message: the world is awash with overlapping crises – from wars and humanitarian emergencies to climate breakdown – and leaders must decide now "what kind of world we choose to build together." Read more UN Affairs Recommit to a two-State solution for Israel-Palestine conflict, 'before it's too late': Guterres The time has come to free the 48 hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza and to stop the bombing, massacres and displacement in the embattled enclave, French President Emmanual Macron told delegates in the UN General Assembly Hall on Monday.  Read more Peace and Security High-level week opens with celebration of women's empowerment Only the fifth woman to preside over the UN General Assembly in its 80-year history has praised the courage of those "who fought for every phrase, every word in the Beijing Declaration," marking the 30th Anniversary of the pivotal international conference on women's empowerment. Read more Women UN marks 80th anniversary of its founding Music, memories and messages of peace filled the UN General Assembly Hall on Monday as the world body commemorated 80 years since its founding.  Read more UN Affairs

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