The head of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, warned on Feb. 6 that the world may be on the brink of a “wider war” as the chances of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine reaching a peaceful outcome slowly diminish.
The secretary-general made the comments at a briefing to the U.N. General Assembly where he laid out his priorities for 2023 and delivered a gloomy outlook for the year ahead.
Guterres told the U.N. assembly that experts have determined that the so-called “Doomsday Clock”—in other words, self-destruction—is ticking closer to midnight than ever.
“In 2023, they surveyed the state of the world—with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the runaway climate catastrophe, and rising nuclear threats that are undermining global norms and institutions. And they came to a clear conclusion. The Doomsday Clock is now 90 seconds to midnight, which means 90 seconds to total global catastrophe,” Guterres said….