Former Prime Minister of Portugal Antonio Guterres will take over as the ninth Secretary General of United Nations today. He will succeed Ban Ki-moon who served the world body as Secretary General for 10 years. <br/><br/>Mr Guterres is taking over at a time when the world is rocked by terrorism, reeling from the refugee crisis, and struggling to resolve the war in Syria. Mr Guterres said he intends to make preventing crises a priority for the 71-year old organisation which has been hampered by a decade of lethargic responses to crises under Mr Ban.