In this moment of crisis, Guterres says, the United Nations has never been more essential.

"The world needs our unique legitimacy, our convening power, our vision to unite nations, to bridge divides, and confront the challenges before us," he says.

The UN needs to be stronger, more effective and more inclusive, he says.

"It's not enough to know what the right choices are, I urge you to make them," he tells the assembly.

He says the world "must never give up" and he won't give up in his mission for "peace, for dignity, for justice, for humanity."

With that, the UN secretary-general ends his address.

Image source, EVN

Focusing now on AI around the world, Guterres says, “Technology must be our servants, not our masters”.

He discusses how we are witnessing the rise of artificial intelligence tools and their use, naming uses for mass surveillance, mass social control, mass disruption and even mass destruction.

"These technologies remain largely ungoverned”, he says. “We need common standards across platforms. No company should be above the law, no machine should decide who lives or dies, no system should be deployed without transparency."

Guterres goes on to talk about improving the use of AI in developing countries. He says: "I have proposed voluntary financing options to build AI computing power, data and skills in developing nations. No country should be locked out of the digital future or locked into systems it cannot shape."

Turning to the UN Security Council, Guterres says it must live up to its responsibilities, be more transparent and tackle injustices.

He adds "we must choose human dignity and human rights" as he now addresses the assembly in French, after starting in English.

Guterres says reforms are needed to the international finance system and calls for "the greater participation of developing countries in terms of their composition and their decision-making."

The secretary general is now talking about the need for climate action. "Fossil fuels are a losing bet", he tells the assembly, calling on G20 industrialised countries to commit to emission reductions.

"We have the solutions and tools but we must choose climate justice and climate action," he says

Image source, Reuters

"We must make a choice," Guterres continues, calling on the chamber to reaffirm international law, the principles of which he says were foundational to the UN.

He urges states to call out countries "acting as if rules don't apply to them".

He then starts talking about the violence faced by civilians in Sudan, and urges all parties to work for their protection.

Moving on to other conflicts, Guterres calls for a "lasting ceasefire" and peace in Ukraine.

"Nothing can justify" the attacks in Israel on 7 October, 2023, he says, and also urges a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, an increase of humanitarian aid into the territory and for the release of all hostages, amid the intensification of the famine and the killing of Palestinian people.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is speaking now at the UN General Assembly.

He talks about the founding of the United Nations, which he says was birthed from a "practical strategy for the survival of humanity".

He calls the UN a "firewall against the flames of conflict and world war three".

"We are all in this together," he tells the General Assembly.

Eighty years on, the gathered nations are confronted with the same questions the founders of the UN faced, Guterres says.

"What kind of world do we choose to build together?" he asks the room.

Image source, Reuters

A meeting of world leaders at the UN's New York City headquarters has begun, with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres now opening the body's 80th general debate by presenting his annual report. You can watch live at the top of the page.

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will then address the General Assembly, in keeping with a long-standing tradition where Brazilian leaders speak first.

He will be followed by President Trump, who is expected to speak at around 09:50 EDT (14:50 BST) in a speech that will outline his "vision for the world", according to the White House.

Stay with us as we bring you all the latest.

Rushdi Abualouf
Gaza correspondent, reporting from Istanbul

Image source, Reuters

• One of the key issues at this week's United Nations General Aseembly will be Israel's war in Gaza. Our correpondent has the latest on the offensive in Gaza City...

Israeli forces have expanded their ground offensive in Gaza City, with tanks and armoured vehicles advancing to within sight of the city’s centre from two main directions the south and the north-west.

The fresh advance marks one of the deepest Israeli incursions into Gaza City since Israel announced the start of the operation.

Local journalists and activists reported a convoy of tanks, troop carriers and bulldozers moving along the north-western axis towards central Gaza City.

A video posted on social media showed a tank stationed at the Hamid junction, less than 500 metres from al-Shifa Hospital, once Gaza’s largest medical facility.

Another video showed Israeli troops in the southern parts of the city, close to the UN's main headquarters, located just 700 metres from the city centre.

As the army pressed forward, tens of thousands of residents continued to flee southwards along the al-Rashid coastal road.

Witnesses described scenes of severe congestion, with families struggling for hours to reach the southern towns.

The cost of evacuation has soared above $3,000 (£2,220) per family – an unaffordable sum for most Gaza City residents.

The exact number of people who have managed to leave remains unclear, but local estimates suggest that around half a million people are still in Gaza City neighbourhood’s of Rimal, Yarmouk, Sheikh Ajlin and the edges of Sabra district.

Sultan Nassar 62 a father of five from Sabra, tells the BBC: "The tanks are only a few metres from my house, but I cannot afford the cost of fleeing. Death is everywhere, in the north and in the south."

Palestinian journalist Fathi Sabah, who lives in southern Gaza but owns an apartment in Tel al-Hawa, describes how his family narrowly escaped an Israeli incursion.

"My wife and son went to our flat to collect some belongings," he says. "They suddenly found themselves trapped as tanks surrounded the area.

"They lived through the hardest night of their lives before escaping through a back door. It’s unbelievable how quickly the tanks reached the heart of the city."

Image source, Reuters

While the UN's General Debate will provide an opportunity for world leaders to debate international issues, important moves could also be made on the sidelines.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky will have talks with Donald Trump in New York and is expected to press the US president to take a stronger stance against Russia.

At White House talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine last month, there were optimistic words from Trump but no concrete commitments.

But the meeting did highlight a more congenial relationship between Zelensky and Trump, with the former going to considerable lengths to charm his American hosts, including with a flurry of "thank yous" for their continued support of Ukraine.

A brief meeting between the pair on the sidelines of the Pope’s funeral in April was also described as "very productive" by the White House, following their acrimonious Oval Office showdown in February.

On Tuesday, Zelensky posted on X he met US special presidential envoy Gen Keith Kellogg in New York, and briefed him on the situation in Ukraine.

The US Secret Service says it has dismantled a network of more than 300 SIM servers and 100,000 SIM cards in the New York area that were capable of crippling telecom systems.

The devices were "concentrated within 35 miles of the global meeting of the UN General Assembly now under way in New York City" and an investigation has been launched, it adds in a press statement.

The Secret Service says the dangers posed included "disabling cell phone towers, enabling denial of services attacks, and facilitating anonymous, encrypted communication between potential threat actors and criminal enterprises".

"The potential for disruption to our country’s telecommunications posed by this network of devices cannot be overstated," says US Secret Service Director Sean Curran.

Image source, US Secret Service

Image source, Getty Images

A little earlier we heard from John Strawson, a professor of Middle East politics at the University of East London, who discussed Donald Trump’s upcoming speech to the UN General Assembly.

The academic says Trump may pitch himself as a great peace-maker in his UN address, focusing on "the great peace-making which he claims to have made in the DRC, between India and Pakistan, Azerbaijan and Armenia" during the debate.

"But the truth of the matter is, he will probably try to avoid those big wars where we’ve actually had no success by the Trump administration - Ukraine and Gaza," he adds.

"He is of course in a campaign mode for the Nobel Peace Prize, and therefore I suppose, that's what’s going to underline what he’s going to say."

Earlier this month, Trump downplayed suggestions he wants to win the Nobel Peace Prize. The winner is due to be announced by the Norwegian Nobel Committee on 10 October.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Travelling with President Trump

Good morning from New York City, where Donald Trump is at Trump Tower getting ready for a long day at the General Assembly.

His day will begin in a few hours, when the president - and the White House press pool - will load into a motorcade for a quick drive to UN headquarters on 45th St, just a few blocks away.

Once there, he will speak to the Assembly. While we don't know the specifics of the speech, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump will "touch upon how globalist institutions have significantly decayed the world order", likely continuing a long history of a somewhat antagonist attitude toward the UN.

What follows will be a marathon day of meetings, with the likes of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky and the leaders of several Arab and Muslim countries and ending with a dinner with world leaders that will take place behind closed doors.

Knowing Trump, it's possible - and perhaps even likely - that he will stop to talk to journalists at various points, before we begin our journey back to Washington DC tonight.

Stay with us for more updates

Image source, Getty Images

Donald Trump will take aim at "globalist institutions" and discuss his "vision for the world" in his address to the UN General Assembly later today, the White House says.

His speech is expected to start at around 09:50 EDT (14:50 BST) today, on the first official day of the assembly's annual general debate of world leaders.

The US president will speak second, after President Lula of Brazil, as part of a longstanding tradition in which Brazilian leaders speak first. Other leaders will speak and hold meetings throughout the week.

Trump will deliver a speech "touting the renewal of American strength around the world", according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

He will also cover his "historic accomplishments in just eight months, including the ending of seven global wars and conflicts", Leavitt said in a statement yesterday.

"The president will also touch upon how globalist institutions have significantly decayed the world order, and he will articulate his straightforward constructive vision for the world," she added.

The issue of Palestinian statehood is already looming large over the assembly, after France and Saudi Arabia hosted a conference yesterday on a two-state solution to the conflict in Gaza.

The US did not attend that summit, and Leavitt did not say whether Trump will mention the subject in his speech later today.

Tom Bateman
US State Department correspondent

The decision to recognise a Palestinian state against the wishes of Washington amounts to a significant diplomatic gamble.

Watching Macron at the podium in front of the United Nations, you saw a president trying to take on a global leadership role to find a way out of the "nightmare" of Gaza, as the UN secretary general put it, and find a shared Israeli-Palestinian future.

But, speaking in terms of raw power, this was the wrong president.

Without the US leading the effort, there isn't the same kind of meaningful pressure that only Washington can bring to bear on all sides.

And the Trump administration continues to reject the Europeans' approach.

Trump travels to the UN on Tuesday where he will speak and later reportedly meet Arab leaders, entirely separately from their work with the Europeans on Monday.

This lack of co-ordination between key countries adds to the sense of dysfunction, while Qatar as the previous mediator between Israel and Hamas still refuses to become involved again after Israel attacked Hamas leaders on its soil earlier this month.

You can read more here from the BBC’s State department correspondent, Tom Bateman

Paul Adams
Diplomatic correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

When it comes to Israel-Palestine, key UN members have rarely been able to see eye-to-eye.

The US is, after yesterday, in a minority of one, among the five permanent members of the Security Council, on the question of recognising a Palestinian state.

China and Russia did it decades ago. Britain did on Sunday. France followed suit a day later.

But as a permanent member, the US can – and frequently does – wield its veto power (as does Russia).

It did so four days ago, blocking a resolution calling for an immediate end to the war in Gaza. It was the sixth time the US has blocked such a resolution, arguing that the proposed resolution did not condemn Hamas or recognise Israel’s right to defend itself.

If a resolution to recognise Palestine were to come to the Security Council, Washington would certainly veto it.

Image source, EPA

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, an outspoken critic of Israel's war in Gaza, has called for the state of Palestine to be admitted to the UN after the French-led summit on recognition.

"This conference marks a milestone, but it's not the end of the road. It's only the beginning," Sanchez said at the pre-assembly meeting at the UN in New York.

"The state of Palestine must be a full member of the United Nations.

"The process for the state of Palestine to join this organisation must be completed as soon as possible, on an equal footing with other states," he said.

Spain, alongside Ireland and Norway, already recognised a Palestinian state in May.

Palestine is currently recognised by around 75% of the UN's 193 member states.

At the UN, it has the status of a "permanent observer state" allowing participation but no voting rights.

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

Some more now from yesterday's UN conference in New York where leaders discussed a two-state solution.

Egypt's Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said the country will host an international conference to raise funds for the reconstruction of Gaza as soon as a ceasefire is reached.

Madbouly said the conference aims to "mobilise the necessary funding" to "ensure that the Palestinian people will remain on their land and overcome the huge losses caused by Israeli aggression".

The prime minister called on the international community to contribute to the reconstruction effort.

Egypt had been planning to host this conference earlier this year in line with pledges made during the emergency Arab League summit in Cairo in March. But the resumption of the war derailed those plans.

If you're just joining us, we've been bringing you the latest from the ground in Gaza City, where Israel is continuing its military offensive aimed at occupying the area.

Locals say Israeli tanks have advanced into the city centre from the north and the south, our Middle East correspondent Yolande Knell writes. Residents are being forced to flee the city, after Israeli evacuation notices ordered them to move south.

A British doctor working south of Gaza City says he is seeing "a litany of malnourished, starving, ill people with chronic injuries" arriving at his facility every day. But one Gazan academic is choosing to stay put for now, tells the BBC there is "no safe place" for him and his family to go.

Meanwhile, world leaders are convening in the US where the UN General Assembly's annual gathering will officially begin at its New York headquarters later today.

Trump is due to address the assembly at around 09:50 local time (14:50 BST) in a speech the White House says will condemn "globalist institutions" and tout his achievements in office.

He is later due to meet the leaders of Arab nations to discuss the situation in Gaza.

We'll bring you more as it happens.

Image source, Reuters

A university professor in Gaza City says it is "absolutely heart-breaking" to see people leaving their homes after Israel's evacuation orders.

Israel has dropped leaflets from the sky telling Gaza City residents to evacuate to the south while the Israeli military continues its assault on the territory's largest residential area.

Ahmed Kamal Junina, head of Al-Aqsa University's English department, tells BBC World Service's Newsday that evacuating is a "very difficult decision to make" because the areas south of Gaza City are "paradoxically not safe".

"For now my family and I have made a decision to stay in the north of Gaza, simply because we feel there is no safe place," he says.

"I feel if I leave home, there is nothing to lose but your life. It is heart-breaking to leave your home and you will never know if you will go back."

Junina says it is "important" that several countries have formally recognised a Palestinian state recently, but he says this is "not enough" and it must be followed by "real pressure" on Israel.

"It has to mean more than words," he says.

We can now bring you the latest images from the Gaza Strip, specifically in and around Gaza City where Israeli attacks are continuing and people are being forced to flee.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

The issue of Palestinian statehood is expected to dominate the UN General Assembly this week, but the US State Department has blocked Palestinian officials from attending.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and 80 other officials had their US visas denied or revoked by the State Department at the end of last month.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused them of "undermining the prospects for peace" and seeking "the unilateral recognition of a conjectural Palestinian state".

The decision highlights the distance between the US and several of its allies, which have formally recognised Palestinian statehood recently or announced their intention to do so.

It was an unusual move from the US, as the country is generally expected to facilitate travel for officials of all nations wishing to visit the UN headquarters in New York.

Abbas's office at the time said the decision "stands in clear contradiction to international law". Israel, meanwhile, welcomed the move.

It's unclear whether the US decision complies with the UN Headquarters Agreement, which says foreign officials' attendance at the UN should not be impeded "irrespective of the relations" between their respective governments and the US.

The UN has since voted to allow Abbas to virtually address this week's annual gathering of world leaders via video.