The new United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said Sunday he would like to make 2017 a year to “put peace first,” in a message heralding the new year and marking his first day as the world body’s chief. Antonio Guterres speaks to the media after being sworn in as UN secretary general December 12, 2016 at the United Nations in New York The Portuguese former prime minister, 67, took over as UN Secretary-general from South Korea’s Ban Ki-moon, inheriting complex crises in Syria, South Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, North Korea and elsewhere.