Preparing to leave office, with world beset by problems, UN chief talks of a way forward

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The world is deeply divided and the U.N.’s most powerful body is paralyzed when it comes to ending conflicts. But there’s a way forward. So says the United Nations’ top official.

On his way out of office at year's end after nearly a decade, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres — known for doom-and-gloom speeches about the state of the planet — said Thursday he finds hope and possibility in the coming years. But that, he says, is only if the world’s governments can finally cooperate on curtailing conflict, upending inequality and grappling with the arriving juggernaut of artificial intelligence.

“I believe in a number of fundamental things that need to be done, and need to happen for the world to be better — and I’m determined to fight to make those things happen,” Guterres told The Associated Press in a sit-down interview four days before world leaders convene for their annual meeting at the U.N. General Assembly.

His message to leaders and ministers from the U.N.’s 193 member nations coming to U.N. headquarters was no-nonsense: You need to very seriously analyze the fact that the world is facing at least three existential problems -- runaway artificial intelligence, galloping climate change, and escalating inequality that is becoming a serious driver of instability and conflict.

Guterres also warned that the “huge geopolitical divide” and paralysis in the Security Council have created an environment of impunity with powerful countries flouting international law and the U.N. Charter. The invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the attacks on Iran by the United States, both veto-wielding council members, are examples.

“Many countries say, ‘If superpowers can violate the law, why can’t we?’” the secretary-general said. “And so what we are seeing around the world is more and more situations in which countries simply do not care. They do whatever they want, knowing that there will be total impunity.”

The violations and impunity have caused death and enormous destruction, he said, and the combination of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the broader Middle East conflict are having “a dramatic impact” on the world economy. Food and energy prices are going up, interest rates are rising and developing countries face enormous difficulties in responding to the needs of their people.

He expressed hope that these problems will force people to realize that the obstacles can’t be eliminated alone and require international cooperation.

That's especially true, he said, with reforms of the institutions formed by the victorious World War II powers — the U.N., especially the Security Council, and the major global financial institutions, the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. They must be overhauled to reflect the realities of the 21st century world where there are emerging economies and powers, he said, and their importance must be reflected in global institutions.

As U.N. chief, the secretary-general has no army, no intelligence service and not much money. But, Guterres said, he has two powers — to speak out on global issues and to convene the world’s nations.

Because of geopolitical divides, Guterres said the United Nations has “no leverage” on promoting peace in Ukraine and the Middle East. But he said he has been firm in defending the U.N. Charter and the territorial integrity of countries, and in condemning “horrible violations of human rights.”

He condemned Hamas’ “intolerable” attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and he also condemned “the horrible situation that Israel has created in Gaza with levels of death and destruction that have no parallel in the history of the United Nations.”

The United Nations is not “in a transactional approach to politics,” he stressed. It must be “a reference of values and principles for the whole world, because someone must affirm that the law of force cannot prevail over the force of law.”

“That, of course, sometimes limits our capacity to negotiate an agreement because one of the sides is a clear violator that doesn’t like to listen to the truth. But that will never, never make us move away from what are the values in which a civilized society must be based,” the U.N. chief said.

This year’s global gathering is also certain to spotlight the future of the U.N. and the threat of AI getting out of human control.

Guterres has called for international cooperation and guardrails for AI, which he called “a universal problem.” To deal with the escalating problem, he said, countries developing AI at “a higher capacity” should exchange information, establish mechanisms for transparency, have some guardrails and “help create what ideally would be a multilateral mechanism to guarantee that risks can be avoided.”

As for the United Nations., it has serious financial issues, largely due to the U.S. failure to pay billions of dollars to its regular operating budget and the separate budget for the U.N.’s far-flung peacekeeping operations. But it has avoided a financial meltdown and is in the throes of major reforms, which the Trump administration has pressed for.

Even with less resources, Guterres said, the U.N. has been able to maintain its activities, “and I think we demonstrated that we have the best control of public expenditure in any organization of any country in the world.”

Guterres has dealt with U.S. President Donald Trump for nearly six of his 10 years at the helm of the U.N., and he stressed the importance of the U.S.-U.N. relationship, which he said has sometimes been difficult, sometimes easier. Now, he said, the U.N. is cooperating with the U.S. on peace negotiations in the Western Sahara and other parts of the world.

When he meets Trump on Tuesday, the opening day of the global gathering, Guterres said he plans to raise peace in Ukraine and the Middle East, “and I hope that these two objectives might be able to unite the efforts of not only the U.S. and the U.N. but the whole of the international community.”

Edith M. Lederer has covered international affairs for The Associated Press for more than a half century.

The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the United Nations headquarters, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/David R Martin)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A former Syrian military official convicted of torturing prisoners during the rule of former President Bashar Assad was sentenced Thursday to 60 years in a U.S. prison after a federal judge recounted the “unimaginably cruel" details of his abuse.

A jury in March found Samir Ousman Alsheikh guilty on all six counts including torture and conspiracy to commit torture for his actions while in charge of Syria's infamous Adra Prison from roughly 2005 to 2008.

“The conduct was heinous, unimaginably cruel, and almost unspeakably violent and brutal,” U.S. District Judge Hernan D. Vera said before announcing the sentence. The judge said a hearing to determine financial restitution would be scheduled in the coming months.

Alsheikh, dressed in a khaki prison uniform and shackled at the ankles, was expressionless after he learned his fate. He waved to members of his family in the gallery before officers handcuffed him and led him from the courtroom.

Defense attorneys said they will appeal the sentence.

Human rights groups and United Nations officials have accused the Syrian government of widespread abuses in its detention facilities, including torture and arbitrary detention of thousands of people, in many cases without informing their families.

Prosecutors said Alsheikh, seeking to quash political dissent, sent certain prisoners to a notorious wing of Adra where they were held in small isolation cells and brutalized. During the trial, three victims recounted beatings while suspended from pipes on the ceiling and the use of a device that folded their bodies in half at the waist. One person testified that Alsheikh stomped on the device with his foot.

Alsheikh came to the U.S. in 2020 and applied for citizenship, but prosecutors say he concealed his involvement in torture. Federal authorities detained him at Los Angeles International Airport in July 2024.

In a three-hour hearing, the judge heard statements of support from Alsheikh’s son and daughter. Rami Alsheikh, his son, said the family cannot reconcile his kindness and compassion with the accusations he faced at trial.

“They did not, and still do not, make sense to us, given the man we know and love,” he said.

Before the sentencing, Alsheikh himself also addressed the court in a rambling statement in which he said he tried to fight corruption and clean up Adra Prison. Alsheikh said through an interpreter that he was not an Assad loyalist and that he “only served as an employee.”

Alsheikh is the highest-ranking former member of the Assad government to be tried and convicted in person outside of Syria, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

“Criminals who inflict the type of savage brutality that this defendant did on his victims must never be granted refuge in our country,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said Thursday. “We hope today’s sentence gives some semblance of healing and closure to this defendant’s victims.”

In a sentencing memo filed this month, DOJ prosecutors said Alsheikh participated in the torture of his victims because he had the power to do so and because he thought he would never be held accountable.

The memo included statements from several victims, one of whom, Nidal Shikhani, said he can “still hear the screams of others begging for mercy, repeating, ‘Leave me, leave me.’ ”

Prosecutors had asked for a minimum sentence of 80 years. Alsheikh's attorneys, Nina Marino and Collin Cate, called for a five-year sentence, noting that he is 74 years old and has “significant medical and cognitive conditions.” They also said he was willing to be deported to Syria, where a new government has sought to hold Assad-era security officials accountable.

Jurors also convicted Alsheikh in March of lying to U.S. immigration authorities and fraudulently obtaining a green card and attempting to naturalize as a U.S. citizen.

Alsheikh was arrested with help from the Syrian Emergency Task Force, a U.S.-based opposition organization. One of its staff members, a former Syrian detainee, was first tipped off in 2022 by a refugee that Alsheikh was in the United States. The organization alerted several federal agencies and began working with them to build a case against him.

"We are committed to a peaceful and democratic Syria, and that cannot happen without justice and accountability for the remnants of Assad’s regime," Mouaz Moustafa, the task force's executive director, said Thursday.

Assad was ousted in a lightning rebel offensive in December 2024, bringing a 14-year civil war to an end. But the country has continued to suffer from sporadic outbreaks of violence.

In March 2025, armed groups aligned with Assad ambushed the new government’s security forces on Syria’s coast. A government counteroffensive then spiraled into sectarian revenge attacks and the massacre of hundreds of civilians from the Alawite religious minority, to which Assad belongs.

On Thursday, three people were sentenced in the Syrian city of Aleppo in connection with the violence. Two members of the pro-Assad groups were sentenced to death and life in prison, while a member of the security forces who took part in the revenge attacks was convicted of murder and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Thanawala reported from Atlanta.

The exterior of the federal courthouse is seen March 27, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer, File)