UN chief fears world is heading toward a wider war

By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations chief is warning that the world is facing a convergence of challenges “unlike any in our lifetimes.” Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expresses fear of a wider war as the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine approaches. He told the U.N. General Assembly on Monday that experts who surveyed the state of the world in 2023 set the Doomsday Clock at 90 seconds to midnight — the closest ever to “total global catastrophe.” He pointes to the war in Ukraine, “runaway climate catastrophe, rising nuclear threats” as well as the widening gulf between the world’s haves and have-nots, and the “epic geopolitical divisions” undermining “global solidarity and trust.”