Across the Middle East, Guterres says "conflicts are cascading and so-called ceasefires have amounted to little more than lesser fires with civilians continuing to pay the price".

"Enough is enough" he says, as he calls on the world leaders in the assembly hall to help encourage de-escalation and dialogue in the region.

"Let's send a clear message from us all - the fighting must stop, humanitarian aid must flow, and navigational rights and freedom must be fully restored in accordance with international law," Guterres adds.

The UN chief also says the world must not "lose sight of the devastating situation in the occupied Palestinian territory".

He says that all parties must comply with international law, adding that violence, displacement and settlement expansion by Israel in the occupied West Bank "are bulldozing the path to peace and raising the spectre of ethnic cleansing".

"We cannot allow the two state solution to disappear before our eyes," Guterres says.

To hearty applause, António Guterres insists that Africa be given at least one seat on the UN Security Council.

"A 21st Century Security Council without permanent African seats is unjust and indefensible," he tells leaders, adding: "This must change."

The Security Council - whose five permanent members are China, France, Russia, the UK and the US - has long been criticised for representing realities that prevailed at the end of World War Two, when much of Africa was still under colonial rule.

The 10 non-permanent members of the body are allocated by region, but unlike the five permanent members, they do not have the power of veto.

The African Union has long been pushing for the continent to have two permanent representatives on the council and an additional two seats as non-permanent representatives.

Image source, Reuters

In his remarks opening the UN General Assembly, Secretary General António Guterres tells the gathered leaders that "humans are increasingly handing power to machines", warning that with rapidly advancing AI, "artificial agents [are] going rogue and lethal autonomous weapons going from science fiction to military reality".

He says we are "clearly moving towards a multipolar world", but says there are different ways it can take shape. The first way, Guterres says, is through fragmentation and a world of "rising tension and deepening mistrust".

Guterres says there is another path - "a world in which multicentres of influence co-exist with a common framework of international law and shared rules".

Guterres adds that our future will be shaped by how we address "four great tests of power" - the power over war and peace, the power that "concentrates wealth and drives inequality", the power "fuelling climate chaos" and the power unleashed by artificial intelligence.

US President Donald Trump is expected at the podium in about 30 minutes.

According to one US official, Trump's speech will focus on US power and the president's efforts to use it to reshape the world.

He is expected to touch on a variety of issues including the US conflict with Iran, the newly agreed deal on security in Greenland, and foreign policy issues in the Western Hemisphere.

As with his speech last year, the president is also expected to be highly critical of his hosts, the United Nations, and other multilateral institutions which his administration has previously accused of pushing a radical left-leaning agenda.

We will bring you live coverage of Trump's speech on this page. Stay with us.

Tom Bateman
Reporting from the United Nations

I’m currently in the UN General Assembly hall, in one of the booths around the side for press, overlooking the vast semi-circular hall.

A few UN staff holding bells just went round clanging them to get everyone to sit down, finally silencing the cacophony of the delegates from more than 190 countries chattering away.

They're now listening. Antonio Guterres is standing up to make his valedictory speech as secretary general.

In his opening remarks he says that "faultlines in our world are widening".

Nada Tawfik
Reporting from the United Nations

This is the last time Antonio Guterres will open the UN General Debate with his speech as secretary general. His term ends on 31 December and a number of candidates to replace him are here this week trying to network and lobby delegates for the job.

Guterres’s critics argue that he focused on existential threats such as climate change and AI far more than on the core mission of the organisation - conflict resolution.

His supporters argue he navigated the UN through several years of two Trump administrations, the Covid pandemic and major wars while limiting the fallout.

Ahead of the Unga, Guterres declined to discuss his legacy, only sharing that he believes the UN has achieved more gender parity under his term.

He said if anyone needs to offer a “mea culpa” to the world though, it’s the leaders who have failed to find consensus, including the divided and paralysed UN Security Council which holds real power to authorise sanctions or military action.

His address to world leaders today will argue that all of the problems facing society boil down to power - who has it and who is denied it. He will ask those gathered in the hall if they will act to ensure power is governed by law or by force, by co-operation or coercion.

Zelensky seeks fresh answers to familiar problems for Ukrainepublished at 13:38 BST

13:38 BST

Paul Adams
Diplomatic correspondent, in Kyiv

As President Zelensky prepares to meet President Trump in New York later today - and as explosions are once again audible here in Kyiv - his wish list is a familiar one. “We…raised our need for ballistic missile interceptors and the challenges we face ahead of the coming winter,” Zelensky posted on X after meeting US senators.

The approaching winter is looming large in everyone’s minds. Last winter was the toughest so far and Ukraine wants to garner as much practical support as it can to get through the next. With American-made Patriot missile interceptors in short supply, the president is looking for other solutions.

Earlier, he said he was willing to use EU loan money to purchase French-made SAMP/T air defence equipment, and thanked France’s Emanuel Macron for his support for a joint European Ukrainian anti-ballistic missile programme known as Freyja.

Zelensky will also be hoping that Trump will indicate a willingness to use his powers under the Sanctioning Russia Act - passed by the House earlier this month and signed by the president four days ago – to put more economic pressure on Russia and countries that continue to buy its energy products.

Image source, EPA

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has laid flowers at the former site of the World Trade Center in New York. He was pictured in all black attire, paying respects at the memorial to those killed in the terror attacks of 11 September, 2001.

Zelensky will meet Donald Trump later on Tuesday to discuss the war in Ukraine.

Image source, Reuters

Pratiksha Ghildial
Reporting from New York

Image source, EPA

In just over half an hour, the UN secretary general will open this year’s General Debate of the 81st UN General Assembly, presenting his annual report on the work of the organisation.

This will be the last time Antonio Guterres will address the annual gathering of world leaders as UN chief. He is due to step down at the end of the year and the selection process for the next secretary general is under way.

Expect him to touch upon conflicts in Iran and the wider Middle East and also one of his signature projects - the threats posed by AI.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres will deliver his annual report on the first day of this year's General Assembly, before the assembly's President Khalilur Rahman formally opens debate.

There will be two sessions, with the first running from 09:00 to 14:45 ET (14:00 BST to 19:45 BST).

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will kick off the first session, followed by a speech from US President Donald Trump.

We will also hear from King Abdullah II of Jordan, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and the French President Emmanuel Macron.

The afternoon session will be held from 15:00 to 21:00 ET (20:00 BST to 02:00 BST), starting with the president of Mongolia Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh and South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung.

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham is set to speak late on Tuesday, and is expected to focus on the opportunities and dangers posed by developments in artificial intelligence.

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Andy Burnham met Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez for a stroll in Central Park this morning before the two leaders held a private meeting.

Photos show Burnham in conversation with Spain's PM as they stood in front of skyscrapers towering over the Manhattan park.

Chris Mason
Political editor, travelling with the prime minister

Andy Burnham has woken here in New York to the prospect of this being one of those talking-to-the-archive days. Moments on camera with the potential to be replayed on the loop of his emerging prime ministerial story.

There is the key first face-to-face encounter with President Trump in a few hours’ time. You don’t need to be steeped in political minutiae to spot the potential peril lurking for him there.

Later, a meeting’s expected with Ursula Von Der Leyen of the European Commission.

He will urge her not to use protectionist measures designed to counter China to freeze UK firms out of European contracts.

The prime minister has reflected that Brexit not only created “turbulence” as he put it, but claims “outside actors” sought “to manipulate, to distort facts” and “influence the democratic process” and the UK must be more “clear eyed” about these threats in the future.

Image source, Reuters

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham will have his first face-to-face meeting with Donald Trump at the United Nations in New York later today.

Burnham has travelled to the US with his wife, Marie-France van Heel, for a day of diplomacy and a speech to the UN General Assembly, which is expected to focus on the opportunities and dangers associated with artificial intelligence.

The prime minister told reporters on his flight that he expects to find "common ground" with the president, and he believes the relationship between the UK and US is "as strong as it's ever been".

The two men have spoken by phone twice since Burnham became prime minister in July, with Downing Street saying those calls established a "productive relationship".

Image source, Reuters

The United Nations is an international organisation which was formed after the end of World War Two with the aim of maintaining international peace.

The UN General Assembly is the organisation’s main meeting, during which member states discuss a range of international issues.

It is the only meeting at which all of the 193 UN members are represented and takes place every September at the UN's headquarters in New York.

The gathering also sees the appointment of the new secretary-general on the recommendation of the Security Council, as well as the election of the non-permanent members of that all-important body.

The UN’s budget will also be approved. Part of the meeting includes the general debate, during which representatives from every country in the UN can speak, to raise matters which concern them.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Traveling with the president

Image source, Reuters

It’s early morning in New York City, where US President Donald Trump has a packed schedule ahead of him.

In a short while, the president will leave Trump Tower to head to the UN, where he is scheduled to deliver remarks at 09:55 ET/14:45 BST.

Administration officials have signalled that much of his speech will focus on what, in his opinion, the US has done to confront challenges around the world, including Iran’s nuclear programme.

Additionally, he is also likely to reiterate long-standing grievances against the UN and some of its member states over topics ranging from climate change to migration, and markets will be watching for any commentary on energy supplies or AI.

Following the speech, Trump has a long series of back-to-back meetings and events, including an event to sign a deal over Greenland, meetings with the UK and Japan’s prime Ministers, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky and Gulf leaders.

Notably, some of these events will take place without TV crews from the White House press pool which have pulled out of coverage in solidarity with CNN, which Trump has banned from the White House along with Politico and MSNOW.

Stay with us for more updates.

The world's signature diplomatic event is taking place in the shadow of a host of thorny issues. Among them, wars raging in the Middle East, Ukraine and Sudan - and mounting fears over the threats posed by rapidly advancing AI.

Here the BBC's North America editor Sarah Smith looks at what - and who - will be making the headlines.

Image source, Reuters

World leaders have descended on New York for the 81st session of the UN General Assembly.

This year's annual event brings together nearly 130 leaders under the theme, “Restoring trust, managing transformation: a United Nations that delivers for all”.

Today we are expecting to hear from UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, who will present his annual report at the event's opening.

This will be followed by speeches from US President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham later in the day.

Stick with us as we bring you latest from today's proceedings.