Biden's Final UN Address: A Call for Global Unity Amid Ongoing Conflicts

U.S. President Joe Biden addresses his final speech at 79th session of United Nations General Assembly

In his fourth and final address to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) as U.S. President, Joe Biden said the world was at an inflection point . He asked the warring parties in West Asia to accept the peace deal and urged continued support for Ukraine. Mr Biden used his speech to outline some of his decisions in office and to warn of future challenges, even as he expressed optimism about facing them. Addressing the 79th session of the Assembly, Mr Biden also used his speech to explain his decision not to run for a second term. "I truly believe we're at another inflection point in world history," he said, adding, "The choices we make today will determine our future for decades to come." Mr Biden spoke of having seen a "remarkable sweep of history", as he joked about his age. He walked through the major events of his political career, including the Cold War, the U.S.'s Vietnam War and apartheid in South Africa. "Things can get better. We should never forget that. I've seen that throughout my career," he said, warning there was a lot to be done. Mr Biden called for continued support to Ukraine against Russia's aggression. He called on Israel and Hamas to finalise the terms of a peace deal and to address the condition of innocent Palestinians in the West Bank facing violence. "Now is the time for the parties to finalise its terms, bring the hostages home and secure security for Israel, a Gaza free of Hamas's grip, ease the suffering in Gaza, end this war, " he said. Mr Biden also urged Sudanese generals to stop fighting and blocking aid to the Sudanese people. He called on countries to assist African nations fight Mpox and for regulating the safe use of Artificial Intelligence, including , to prevent its misuse by authoritarians. Mr Biden also pushed for reform at the United Nations. "The UN needs to adapt and bring new voices and new perspectives. That's why we support reforming and expanding the membership to the UN Security Council," he said. While describing his term in office, Mr Biden defended his administration's withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, acknowledging the loss of life the withdrawal had caused. He said that under his presidency the U.S. had strengthen traditional alliances and built new ones, such as the Quad. Indo Pacific Partnerships: Building blocks for security and peace Mr Biden said the U.S. wanted to manage competition with China so it does not become conflict and that he appreciated China's cooperation on combatting the flow of synthetic drugs. He said the U.S. would push back against unfair economic competition and military coercion in the South China sea. The U.S. would also maintain "peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits, protecting our most advanced technologies so they cannot be used against us or any of our partners", Mr Biden said. He said the U.S. was going to build alliances and partnerships across the Indo Pacific, but they were not against any country but "building blocks" of a secure and peaceful Indo-Pacific. Biden explains decision to retire Mr Biden said he had made the preservation of democracy a central cause of his presidency , presumably a reference, at least in part , to domestic politics and former President Donald Trump. "There's so much more I wanted to get done," he said, adding , "As much as I love the job, I love my country more." The President also explained to other heads of government, his decision to not seek a second term in office, saying it was time to turn over its leadership to a new generation of leaders. "My fellow leaders, let us never forget some things are more important than staying in power," he said. Published - September 24, 2024 10:22 pm IST Read Comments

Joe Biden in farewell U.N. address says peace still possible in conflicts in Mideast and Ukraine

President Joe Biden declared in his final address to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday (September 24, 2024) that the U.S. must not retreat from the world, as Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon edged toward all-out war and Israel's bloody operation against Hamas in Gaza neared the one-year mark. Mr. Biden used his wide-ranging address to speak to a need to end the Middle East conflict and the 17-month-old civil war in Sudan and to highlight U.S. and Western allies' support for Kyiv since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. He also raised concern over artificial intelligence and its potential to be used for repression. His appearance before the international body offered Mr. Biden one of his last high-profile opportunities as president to make the case to keep up robust support for Ukraine, which could be in doubt if former President Donald Trump defeats Vice President Kamala Harris in November. Mr. Biden insisted that despite global conflicts, he remains hopeful for the future. "I've seen a remarkable sweep of history," Mr. Biden said. "I know many look at the world today and see difficulties and react with despair but I do not." "We are stronger than we think" when the world acts together, he added. Mr. Biden came to office promising to rejuvenate U.S. relations around the world and to extract the U.S. from "forever wars" in Afghanistan and Iraq that consumed American foreign policy over the last 20 years. "I was determined to end it, and I did," Mr. Biden said of the Afghanistan exit, calling it a "hard decision but the right decision." He acknowledged that it was "accompanied by tragedy" with the deaths of 13 American troops and hundreds of Afghans in a suicide bombing during the chaotic withdrawal. United Nations chief calls global situation 'unsustainable' as annual meeting of leaders opens But his foreign policy legacy may ultimately be shaped by his administration's response to two of the biggest conflicts in Europe and the Middle East since World War II. "There will always be forces that pull our countries apart," Mr. Biden said, rejecting "a desire to retreat from the world and go it alone." He said, "Our task, our test, is to make sure that the forces holding us together are stronger than the forces pulling us apart." The Pentagon announced Monday (September 23, 2024) that it was sending a small number of additional U.S. troops to the Middle East to supplement the roughly 40,000 already in the region. All the while, the White House insists Israel and Hezbollah still have time to step back and de-escalate. "Full scale war is not in anyone's interest," Mr. Biden said, and despite escalating violence, a diplomatic solution is the only path to peace. Mr. Biden had a hopeful outlook for the Middle East when he addressed the U.N. just a year ago. In that speech, Mr. Biden spoke of a "sustainable, integrated Middle East" coming into view. At the time, economic relations between Israel and some of its Arab neighbours were improving with the implementation of the Abraham Accords that Israel signed with Bahrain, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates during the Trump administration. Mr. Biden's team helped resolve a long-running Israel-Lebanon maritime dispute that had held back gas exploration in the region. And Israel-Saudi normalisation talks were progressing, a game-changing alignment for the region if a deal could be landed. "I suffer from an oxymoron: Irish optimism," Mr. Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when they met on the sidelines of last year's U.N. gathering. He added, "If you and I, 10 years ago, were talking about normalisation with Saudi Arabia ... I think we'd look at each other like, 'Who's been drinking what?'" In final address at U.N. Assembly, Joe Biden says world is at 'inflection point' Eighteen days later, Mr. Biden's Middle East hopes came crashing down. Hamas militants stormed into Israel killing 1,200, taking some 250 hostages, and spurring a bloody war that has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians in Gaza and led the region into a complicated downward spiral. Now, the conflict is threatening to metastasise into a multi-front war and leave a lasting scar on Mr. Biden's presidential legacy. Israel and Hezbollah traded strikes again Tuesday (September 24, 2024) as the death toll from a massive Israeli bombardment climbed to nearly 560 people and thousands fled from southern Lebanon. It's the deadliest barrage since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war. Israel has urged residents of southern Lebanon to evacuate from homes and other buildings where it claimed Hezbollah has stored weapons, saying the military would conduct "extensive strikes" against the militant group. Hezbollah, meanwhile, has launched dozens of rockets, missiles and drones into northern Israel in retaliation for strikes last week that killed a top commander and dozens of fighters. Dozens were also killed last week and hundreds more wounded after hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah militants exploded, a sophisticated attack that was widely believed to have been carried out by Israel. Israel's leadership launched its counterattacks at a time of growing impatience with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah's persistent launching of missiles and drones across the Israel-Lebanon border after Hamas started the war with its brazen attack on October 7. Mr. Biden reiterated his call on the parties to agree to a cease-fire and hostage release deal, saying it's time to "end this war" - even as hopes for such a deal are fading as the conflict drags on. Mr. Biden, in his address, called for the sustainment of Western support for Ukraine in its war with Russia. Mr. Biden helped galvanise an international coalition to back Ukraine with weapons and economic aid in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin's February 2022 assault on Ukraine. World leaders gather for United Nations General Assembly "We cannot grow weary," Mr. Biden said. "We cannot look away." Mr. Biden has managed to keep up American support in the face of rising skepticism from some Republican lawmakers - and Trump - about the cost of the conflict. At the same time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is pressing Mr. Biden to loosen restrictions on the use of Western-supplied long-range missiles so that Ukrainian forces can hit deeper in Russia. So far Mr. Zelenskyy has not persuaded the Pentagon or White House to loosen those restrictions. The Defence Department has emphasised that Ukraine can already hit Moscow with Ukrainian-produced drones, and there is hesitation on the strategic implications of a U.S.-made missile potentially striking the Russian capital. Putin has warned that Russia would be "at war" with the United States and its NATO allies if they allow Ukraine to use the long-range weapons. Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris are scheduled to hold separate meetings with Mr. Zelenskyy in Washington on Thursday (September 26, 2024). Ukrainian officials were also trying to arrange a meeting for Mr. Zelenskyy with Trump this week. The president also sounded an alarm about the rapid advances in artificial intelligence development, particularly around disinformation, respect for human life and the potential exploitation by totalitarian powers. He told the world leaders, "There may well be no greater test of our leadership than how we deal with A.I." "We must make certain that the awesome capabilities of A.I. will be used to uplift and empower everyday people, not to give dictators more powerful shackles on the human spirit," he added. Mr. Biden struck a wistful tone in his remarks, peppering his speech with references to his first time attending the General Assembly more than 50 years ago, and quoting Irish poetry. Mr. Biden held up his decision to step aside up as an instructive moment as he addressed a gathering that has no small share of totalitarian and nondemocratic leaders. "Some things are more important than staying in power," Mr. Biden said. "It's your people that matter the most. Never forget, we are here to serve the people. Not the other way around." Published - September 24, 2024 11:38 pm IST Copy link Email Facebook Twitter Telegram LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit READ LATER Remove SEE ALL PRINT

Biden at UNGA: Putin has 'failed'; Israel and Gaza 'going through hell'

NEW YORK -- President Joe Biden has seen brutal wars and devastating famines in his five decades of public service. He has also seen reconciliation between bitter enemies and the formation of new alliances. What he has witnessed has left Biden hopeful as he exits as the world stage, in spite of ongoing conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan, which have killed and displaced thousands of people, and emerging global challenges stemming from climate change and artificial intelligence. "Maybe because of all I've seen, and all we have done together over the decades, I have hope. I know there is a way forward," Biden told world leaders on Tuesday. In his final speech as president to the United Nations General Assembly, Biden, 81, reflected on the "remarkable sweep of history" that he's seen since he was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1972. He was just 29. America was mired in conflict in Vietnam and locked in a Cold War with the Soviet Union. Egypt and Israel were permanent enemies. "Our country was divided and angry, and there were questions about our staying power and our future," Biden said of the U.S. Those conflicts and others have since ended. The U.S. and Vietnam elevated their relationship last year to the highest level, he pointed out. "It's a testament to the resilience of the human spirit, and the capacity for reconciliation," Biden said Tuesday. "I know many look at the world today and see difficulties and react with despair. But I do not. I won't. As leaders, we don't have the luxury." A new generation of leadership Biden's decision to leave office after a half-century career - which saw him serve as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Barack Obama's vice president before he was elected to the White House - is among the changes that could reshape the international landscape. At the U.N. General Assembly, he spoke about his decision to drop his race for reelection, admitting it was "difficult." Biden stepped aside in July and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as his successor. "As much as I love the job, I love my country more. I decided after 50 years of public service, it's time for new generation of leadership," he said Tuesday. "Take my nation forward. My fellow leaders let us never forget. Some things are more important than staying in power." Weaving world events through the arc of his career, Biden told leaders, "We need to end the era of war that began on 9/11." Biden spoke about his decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan. He said he thinks every day about the Americans who lost their lives fighting in Afghanistan. "I was determined to end it, and I did. It was a hard decision. But the right decision. Four American presidents had faced that decision, but I was determined not to leave it to the fifth." On Israel and Gaza: 'Going through hell' Biden addressed the situation in the Middle East less than two weeks before the first anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, when militants killed more than 1,200 Israelis and took approximately 250 hostages. According to the Hamas-run Gazan Health Ministry, more than 40,000 Palestinians have died in the ensuing war. "I've met with the families of those hostages. I've grieved with them," Biden said. Using the same language to describe the suffering on the other side, he said, "innocent civilians in Gaza are also going through hell." "Too many families dislocated, crowding in the tents, facing a dire humanitarian situation," he said touting a limping ceasefire and hostage deal endorsed by the U.N. Security Council that the U.S., Qatar and Egypt are working to broker. . "Now is the time for the parties to finalize its terms," he said. Biden urged a diplomatic solution as Israel strikes Lebanon due as an answer to Hezbollah's rocket attacks on the country, warning against a "full-scale war" in the country. "Full-scale war is not in anyone's interest. Even though the situation has escalated, a diplomatic solution is still possible," Biden said. Biden also underscored the need for a two-state solution, "where Israel enjoys security and peace, full recognition and normalized relations with all its neighbors and where Palestinians live in security, dignity and self-determination in a state of their own." Putin set out to 'destroy Ukraine' and failed: Biden Biden sought to rally the international community behind Ukraine, telling nations that the body's charter commanded the U.S. to stand up to Russian aggression. "I ask the people of this chamber to stand up for them," Biden said. As Biden spoke, a diplomat with the Russian delegation was shown typing on his phone. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was shown several moments later listening to Biden's speech intently. "Will we sustain our support to help Ukraine win this war and preserve its freedom. Or walk away and let aggression be renewed and a nation be destroyed. I know my answer. We can not grow weary, we can not look away, and we will not let up in support for Ukraine, not until Ukraine wins a just and durable peace in the UN charter," Biden said to applause. Biden also took the opportunity to take a dig at Putin and his designs, including a weakened NATO. "The good news is Putin's war has failed at his, at his core aim, he set out to destroy Ukraine, but Ukraine is still free," he said. "He set out to weaken NATO. But NATO is bigger, stronger, more united than ever before with two new members, Finland and Sweden." U.S. will be 'unabashed' in pushing back on China Biden talked about resuming cooperation with China and working on stopping the flow of deadly synthetic narcotics. "I appreciate the collaboration. It matters for the people in my country," he said. At the same time, the United States is "unabashed" about pushing back against unfair economic competition and against military coercion of other nations in the South China Sea and maintaining peace of stability across the Taiwan straits, he said. Biden talked about continuing to strengthen U.S.'s network of alliances and partnership across Pacific, without mentioning the Quad, a diplomatic partnership between Australia, India, Japan, and the United States, whose leaders he met over the weekend. "These partnerships are not against any nation. Their building blocks for free, open, secure, a peaceful Indo-Pacific," he said. 'Stop arming the generals' in Sudan, says Biden The civil war in Sudan, which started in April 2023 between two rival factions of the military government, is plunging the country into famine, said Biden. He also appealed to other nations to stop about aiding the factions with weapons, without naming countries, without naming any specific one. "The world needs to stop arming the generals," he said. He talked about the 8 million "on the brink of famine" and the danger of a wider famine. "Speak with one voice and tell them, stop tearing your country apart," Biden urged the world leaders. "Stop blocking aid the Sudanese people. End this war now." Biden ended his speech my invoking Nelson Mandela, the first black head of state in South Africa. Impossible is "just an illusion," he said. "It is always seems impossible until it's done." Ending the speech on his own terms, Biden said, "There's nothing that is beyond our capacity if we work together."

Biden bids farewell to UN amid global turmoil

President Biden on Tuesday bid farewell to the United Nations, highlighting the ongoing global turmoil and need for peace in an address to wrap his decades of foreign policy work. The president, during his remarks at the session of the UN General Assembly in New York, recounted his decision to not run for reelection, calling it a "difficult" choice because there is more he wanted to do. "As much as I love the job, I love my country more. I decided after 50 years of public service, it's time for a new generation of leadership to take my nation forward," Biden said. "My fellow leaders, let us never forget, some things are more important than staying in power. It's your people that matter the most." In what he noted would be his last address to the international body, and his fourth as president, he recognized the challenges around the world. The president said the United States and allies have been "determined to prevent a wider war" since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, which led to the ongoing war in Gaza. But, he acknowledged, that the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah is involved, and the war has escalated. "Hezbollah, unprovoked, joined the October 7 attacks, launching rockets into Israel. Almost a year later, too many on each side of the Israeli-Lebanon border remain displaced," Biden said. "Full-scale war is not in anyone's interest, even as the situation has escalated, a diplomatic solution is still possible. In fact, it remains the only path to lasting security, to allow the residents from both countries to return to their homes, to their border safely, and that's what we're working tirelessly to achieve." Biden said on Sunday the U.S. is doing everything it can to prevent a broader war in the Middle East following the recent exchange of fire between Israel and Hezbollah. However, an Israeli bombardment in recent days has killed over 500 people and thousands have fled from Lebanon, making Monday the deadliest day in Lebanon since 2006. "We're also working to bring a greater measure of peace and stability in the Middle East," Biden said Tuesday. "The world must not flinch from the horrors of Oct. 7. Any country, any country, would have the right and responsibility to ensure that such an attack would never happen again." He added, "innocent civilians in Gaza are also going through hell... they didn't ask for this war, that Hamas started." Representatives from Israel and Palestine looked on during his remarks at the UN. "Now is the time for the parties to finalize the terms, bring the hostages home.... Ease the suffering in Gaza and end this war," he said to applause. The president also reaffirmed his commitment to Ukraine and recounted that he asked UN allies to stand up for the war-torn nation. "The good news is, Putin's war has failed at his core aim. He set out to destroy Ukraine; Ukraine is still free. He set out to weaken NATO, but NATO is bigger, stronger and more united than ever before," Biden said. "The world now has another choice to make. Will we sustain our support to help Ukraine win this war and preserve its freedom? Or walk away and let aggregation be renewed and a nation be destroyed. I know my answer, we cannot grow weary, we cannot look away and we will not let up with our support for Ukraine," he added, to applause from the room. During his remarks, the president also spoke about climate change, artificial intelligence and competition with China. He highlighted his career's focus on foreign policy, starting with speaking out against apartheid in South Africa as a senator in the 1980s to the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, which he called "a decision accompanied by tragedy." "I've seen a remarkable sweep of history," the president said. He later added a message of optimism amid the global turmoil: "Even in the horrors of war, there's a way forward. Things can get better. We should never forget that. I've seen that throughout my career."

Biden in farewell U.N. address says peace still possible in conflicts in Mideast and Ukraine

UNITED NATIONS -- President Joe Biden declared in his final address to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday that the U.S. must not retreat from the world, as Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon edged toward all-out war and Israel's bloody operation against Hamas in Gaza neared the one-year mark. Biden used his wide-ranging address to speak to a need to end the Middle East conflict and the 17-month-old civil war in Sudan and to highlight U.S. and Western allies' support for Kyiv since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. He also raised concern over artificial intelligence and its potential to be used for repression. His appearance before the international body offered Biden one of his last high-profile opportunities as president to make the case to keep up robust support for Ukraine, which could be in doubt if former President Donald Trump defeats Vice President Kamala Harris in November. Biden insisted that despite global conflicts, he remains hopeful for the future. "I've seen a remarkable sweep of history," Biden said. "I know many look at the world today and see difficulties and react with despair but I do not." "We are stronger than we think" when the world acts together, he added. Biden came to office promising to rejuvenate U.S. relations around the world and to extract the U.S. from "forever wars" in Afghanistan and Iraq that consumed American foreign policy over the last 20 years. "I was determined to end it, and I did," Biden said of the Afghanistan exit, calling it a "hard decision but the right decision." He acknowledged that it was "accompanied by tragedy" with the deaths of 13 American troops and hundreds of Afghans in a suicide bombing during the chaotic withdrawal. But his foreign policy legacy may ultimately be shaped by his administration's response to two of the biggest conflicts in Europe and the Middle East since World War II. "There will always be forces that pull our countries apart," Biden said, rejecting "a desire to retreat from the world and go it alone." He said, "Our task, our test, is to make sure that the forces holding us together are stronger than the forces pulling us apart." The Pentagon announced Monday that it was sending a small number of additional U.S. troops to the Middle East to supplement the roughly 40,000 already in the region. All the while, the White House insists Israel and Hezbollah still have time to step back and de-escalate. "Full scale war is not in anyone's interest," Biden said, and despite escalating violence, a diplomatic solution is the only path to peace. Biden had a hopeful outlook for the Middle East when he addressed the U.N. just a year ago. In that speech, Biden spoke of a "sustainable, integrated Middle East" coming into view. At the time, economic relations between Israel and some of its Arab neighbors were improving with implementation of the Abraham Accords that Israel signed with Bahrain, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates during the Trump administration. Biden's team helped resolve a long-running Israel-Lebanon maritime dispute that had held back gas exploration in the region. And Israel-Saudi normalization talks were progressing, a game-changing alignment for the region if a deal could be landed. "I suffer from an oxymoron: Irish optimism," Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when they met on the sidelines of last year's U.N. gathering. He added, "If you and I, 10 years ago, were talking about normalization with Saudi Arabia ... I think we'd look at each other like, 'Who's been drinking what?'" Eighteen days later, Biden's Middle East hopes came crashing down. Hamas militants stormed into Israel killing 1,200, taking some 250 hostage, and spurring a bloody war that has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians in Gaza and led the region into a complicated downward spiral. Now, the conflict is threatening to metastasize into a multi-front war and leave a lasting scar on Biden's presidential legacy. Israel and Hezbollah traded strikes again Tuesday as the death toll from a massive Israeli bombardment climbed to nearly 560 people and thousands fled from southern Lebanon. It's the deadliest barrage since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war. Israel has urged residents of southern Lebanon to evacuate from homes and other buildings where it claimed Hezbollah has stored weapons, saying the military would conduct "extensive strikes" against the militant group. Hezbollah, meanwhile, has launched dozens of rockets, missiles and drones into northern Israel in retaliation for strikes last week that killed a top commander and dozens of fighters. Dozens were also killed last week and hundreds more wounded after hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah militants exploded, a sophisticated attack that was widely believed to have been carried out by Israel. Israel's leadership launched its counterattacks at a time of growing impatience with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah's persistent launching of missiles and drones across the Israel-Lebanon border after Hamas started the war with its brazen attack on Oct. 7. Biden reiterated his call on the parties to agree to a cease-fire and hostage release deal, saying it's time to "end this war" -- even as hopes for such a deal are fading as the conflict drags on. Biden, in his address, called for the sustainment of Western support for Ukraine in its war with Russia. Biden helped galvanize an international coalition to back Ukraine with weapons and economic aid in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin's February 2022 assault on Ukraine. "We cannot grow weary," Biden said. "We cannot look away." Biden has managed to keep up American support in the face of rising skepticism from some Republican lawmakers -- and Trump -- about the cost of the conflict. At the same time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is pressing Biden to loosen restrictions on the use of Western-supplied long-range missiles so that Ukrainian forces can hit deeper in Russia. So far Zelenskyy has not persuaded the Pentagon or White House to loosen those restrictions. The Defense Department has emphasized that Ukraine can already hit Moscow with Ukrainian-produced drones, and there is hesitation on the strategic implications of a U.S.-made missile potentially striking the Russian capital. Putin has warned that Russia would be "at war" with the United States and its NATO allies if they allow Ukraine to use the long-range weapons. Biden and Harris are scheduled to hold separate meetings with Zelenskyy in Washington on Thursday. Ukrainian officials were also trying to arrange a meeting for Zelenskyy with Trump this week, though a Trump campaign official said it wasn't going to materialize. The president also sounded an alarm about the rapid advances in artificial intelligence development, particularly around disinformation, respect for human life and the potential exploitation by totalitarian powers. He told the world leaders, "There may well be no greater test of our leadership than how we deal with A.I." "We must make certain that the awesome capabilities of A.I. will be used to uplift and empower everyday people, not to give dictators more powerful shackles on the human spirit," he added. Later, he held a bilateral meeting with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and joined other world leaders in an event highlighting their partnership to combat the production and distribution of synthetic opioids like fentanyl, which drive tens of thousands of deaths in the U.S. annually alone. Biden struck a wistful tone in his remarks, peppering his speech with references to his first time attending the General Assembly more than 50 years ago, and quoting Irish poetry. Biden held up his decision to step aside up as an instructive moment as he addressed a gathering that has no small share of totalitarian and nondemocratic leaders. "Some things are more important than staying in power," Biden said. "It's your people that matter the most. Never forget, we are here to serve the people. Not the other way around." ___ Miller reported from Washington. AP writer Darlene Superville contributed to this report.

Biden urges Israel and Hezbollah to step back from all-out war

NEW YORK -- President Joe Biden urged Israel and Hezbollah to step away from the precipice of all-out war on Tuesday, warning in a major speech before the United Nations that such a conflict could be catastrophic and arguing that there was still time for them to pull back. "Full-scale war is not in anyone's interest. The situation has escalated," Biden said. "A solution is still possible. In fact, it remains the only path to lasting security and to allow the residents of both countries to return to their homes." Biden also stressed the importance of a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, an agreement that has proved stubbornly elusive, which now appears to hold the key not only to ending the war in the Gaza Strip but also to cooling the hostilities between Israel and Lebanon. Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based militant group, has said it will keep firing rockets into Israel until a cease-fire is reached in Gaza. "Now is the time for the parties to finalize the terms" of a cease-fire, Biden said in his speech during the U.N. General Assembly. "Bring the hostages home, secure security for Israel and Gaza, free of Hamas's grip, ease the suffering in Gaza, and end this war." Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging rocket fire over Israel's northern border since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, but recent days have seen a sharp escalation. Israeli strikes in Lebanon this week have killed more than 550 people, including 50 children, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry, and Israeli officials have said they are turning to a new phase of their military operations focused on Lebanon rather than Gaza. Since Oct. 7, Hezbollah's rocket attacks have forced Israel to evacuate about 67,500 people from communities in the north, according to the Taub Center, and many of those towns and cities remain largely empty. Israel's retaliatory strikes on southern Lebanon have displaced more than 111,000 people, according to the United Nations. Biden's comments on the unfolding Israel-Lebanon crisis came during what is likely to be his final address to the United Nations after five decades in public life, much of it focused on foreign policy. Given the lack of progress on a Gaza cease-fire -- U.S. officials increasingly think neither side is willing to make the necessary compromises and say negotiations remain deadlocked -- Biden instead spent much of his speech focused on his administration's work supporting Ukraine against Russia's aggression, strengthening alliances and defending democracy around the world. Taking stock of wars and world events that were taking place when he entered politics in 1972, Biden said he believed the world was at an "inflection point," given the myriad conflicts unspooling across the globe, including the wars in Ukraine, Gaza and Sudan. The president also cast his decision this summer not to seek a second term as one that continued his push to protect democracy, which he called one of the driving goals of his presidency. "My fellow leaders, let us never forget: Some things are more important than staying in power," Biden told the assembled heads of state. "It's your people that matter the most. Never forget, we are here to serve the people, not the other way around." At the United Nations, Biden recounted the Oct. 7 attack, when Hamas militants broke through the Israel-Gaza border fence and killed 1,200 people and took approximately 250 hostage. He also spoke of Palestinian suffering under Israel's retaliatory military campaign, which has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, as well as resulted in mass displacement and fueled a humanitarian catastrophe in the enclave. "The world must not flinch from the horrors of Oct. 7. Any country -- any country -- would have the right and responsibility to ensure that such an attack can never happen again," Biden said, noting that he has met and grieved with hostage families, who are "going through hell." He added: "Innocent civilians in Gaza are also going through hell. Thousands and thousands killed, including aid workers. Too many families dislocated, crowding into tents, facing a dire humanitarian situation. They didn't ask for this war Hamas started." The first Arab leader to address the gathering, Jordan's King Abdullah II, recounted the pain of witnessing the suffering of the conflict and warned that it could get worse as Israel steps up its bombardment of Lebanon. "The Israeli government's assault has resulted in one of the fastest death rates in recent conflicts, one of the fastest rates of starvation caused by war, the largest cohort of child amputees and unprecedented levels of destruction," Abdullah said. "The world is watching, and history will judge us by the courage we show," he added. "And it is not just the future that will hold us accountable. So will the people of the here and now." While Abdullah was careful not to criticize the United States directly, his comments reflected the frustration among many U.S. allies, including Arab nations and those in the Global South, at Biden's policy of providing largely unconditional military support to Israel, even as the death toll in Gaza has grown. Israel has said it has little choice but to try to eradicate Hamas in Gaza and that the high death toll is a direct result of the militant group's strategy of embedding among civilians. Still, many human rights and aid groups say Israel has done little to guard against civilian casualties and has actively obstructed aid. With only four months left in office, a growing number of Biden's speeches and activities are aimed at burnishing his legacy. On Tuesday afternoon, the White House announced that Biden will travel to Germany and Angola next month for what is likely to be his last foreign trip before the Nov. 5 election. In Germany, Biden will "reinforce the U.S. and German commitment to democracy" and tout the countries' shared work in defending Ukraine, the White House said. Biden's trip to Angola belatedly delivers on a promise he made in 2023 to visit Africa that year, an effort to demonstrate the U.S. commitment to the continent and counter China's growing influence there. Biden spent much of Tuesday's speech, which was intended in large part to highlight his legacy as a global leader, focusing on his administration's work defending Ukraine against Russia's invasion, as he urged the United Nations to "stand firm against aggression." He said he and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, recognized Russia's invasion as "an assault on everything this institution is supposed to stand for." While describing his Ukraine policy as a success, Biden warned that Russia still has a path to victory. "The world now has another choice to make. Will we sustain our support to help Ukraine win this war and preserve its freedom, or walk away, let aggression be renewed and a nation be destroyed?" Biden told the leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who sat in the grand hall, unsmiling, a translation headset on his ear. "I know my answer," Biden said. "We cannot grow weary. We cannot look away, and we will not let up on our support for Ukraine, not until Ukraine wins a just and durable peace." Still, Russia has recently been making gains in Ukraine's east. With winter looming, some allies of Ukraine fear the country could be pushed into making concessions to Russia to end the war, and Biden is facing pressure to allow American-made missile systems to strike deeper into Russian territory. Ukrainian leaders have made that policy change a top priority in recent weeks, and many European leaders agree with them. The issue has opened cracks inside the Biden administration, with the Defense Department and White House aides skeptical of the benefits of such a policy shift and Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressing openness on a trip to Kyiv this month. Zelenskyy plans to continue to press the issue this week, including at White House meetings with Biden and Harris on Thursday. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer -- who also quietly favors a policy shift -- plans to continue discussions about it during this week's U.N. activities in New York. At a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday, Zelenskyy implored global leaders not to turn their backs on Ukraine and said supporting his country was integral to upholding the United Nations charter, which declares that countries have a right to self-defense in the event of an armed attack. Russian President Vladimir Putin "has broken so many international norms and rules," Zelenskyy said. "We do not have different versions of the U.N. charter for different parts of the world." In contrast to the Middle East, Biden's role in managing the Ukraine conflict received more favorable reviews from world leaders Tuesday. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen listened to Biden's speech from the assembly hall, saying in an interview that it was "special because we know this is the last speech from President Joe Biden at the U.N." Frederiksen credited the president with holding a diverse array of European countries together in support of Ukraine as populist forces were threatening that support. "Biden has been very engaged with the transatlantic bond, which I hope will continue forever no matter who is the next U.S. president," she said. Biden also addressed the civil war in Sudan and the humanitarian crisis unfolding there, including millions of people who are on the brink of famine, pointing to America's role in providing desperately needed aid to those affected. Beyond wars, Biden stressed America's progress in cutting carbon emissions and addressing climate change; managing competition with China; tackling the promise and risk of artificial intelligence; and advancing reform and expansion of the U.N. Security Council. He also announced the United States would send 1 million doses of the mpox vaccine to Africa. The five-member Security Council -- the United States, United Kingdom, China, Russia and France -- has been criticized as dysfunctional because a single country can veto any resolution. Russia has vetoed resolutions supporting Ukraine, for example, while the United States has shielded Israel diplomatically with its veto. As he wrapped up his speech, Biden reflected on his decision to step aside this summer and end his campaign for a second term. "It was a difficult decision," Biden said. "Being president has been the honor of my life. There's so much more I want to get done." But he said that after 50 years of public service, he decided it was time for a new generation of leadership. "It's your people that matter most," Biden said. "That's the soul of democracy. It does not belong to any one country."

Biden to deliver final U.N. General Assembly speech amid global turmoil as election nears

Biden will speak to the General Assembly for the first time since Hamas' attack on Israel last year and the conflict that has ensued in Gaza. President Joe Biden will address the United Nations General Assembly for the final time as commander in chief Tuesday morning amid the spiraling conflict in the Middle East, Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine and growing global concerns about China's influence. His speech comes against the backdrop of the presidential race on its final leg before Election Day, knowing that his successor -- Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump -- will face the same issues in the White House and may deal with them very differently. They are also Biden's first remarks before the General Assembly since Hamas' attack on Israel in October and the conflict that has ensued in Gaza, killing thousands of civilians. He'll speak to the leaders of other nations as hope for a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas has dimmed. As Israel continues its battle with Hamas, its conflict with Iran-backed Hezbollah has also escalated in recent days. On Monday, Israel launched airstrikes on neighboring Lebanon, whose government said nearly 500 people were killed and more than 1,600 were injured in Lebanon's deadliest day of conflict with Israel since 2006. Israel also issued evacuation warnings to people living in its northern region to escape the violence near the border. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters last week that Biden will "reaffirm America's leadership on the world stage" in New York and will "rally global action to tackle the world's most pressing challenges." They include, he said, climate change, artificial intelligence, the opioid epidemic and the wars in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan. As for his speech Tuesday morning, "the president will deliver an address to the U.N. General Assembly outlining his vision for how the world should come together to solve these big problems and defend fundamental principles, such as the U.N. Charter," Kirby said. Kirby said Biden will meet with U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres to "talk about how the partnership between the United States and United Nations in advancing peace and safeguarding human rights can endure and to -- prosper." Kirby said Biden will have engagements with foreign leaders Wednesday. Biden is also scheduled to host a summit of a coalition to address synthetic drug threats, including the supply chain of illicit fentanyl. Republicans have often accused him of not doing enough to tackle the problem as part of the strategy at the U.S.-Mexico border. Other key speakers expected at the General Assembly include Iran's new president, Masoud Pezeshkian; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy; Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas; and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Biden administration officials have been involved in negotiating a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas for months, though progress appears to have diminished. Defense Department spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters last week: "We do not believe that the deal is falling apart. We believe that that is the best way to end the war that's happening in Gaza and to lower those tensions in the region." Still, there have been no recent signs of a breakthrough in talks. Biden kicked off the week of global engagements near his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, where he hosted the leaders of Australia, India and Japan on Saturday for a meeting of a security grouping known as the Quad. Though officials say the Quad is not aimed at any particular country and China was not explicitly mentioned in the four leaders' joint statement after the summit, Secretary of State Antony Blinken began the closed-door meeting by saying, "Our first topic of discussion is China." Biden then said, "China continues to behave aggressively, testing us all across the region," in comments that were briefly caught on hot mics after journalists were escorted from the room. The Biden administration's policy toward China, the world's second-largest economy, has been to "responsibly manage" competition while promoting diplomatic engagement in order to avoid conflict in what is often described as the world's most important bilateral relationship. Asked about Blinken and Biden's comments on Monday, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the U.S. is "lying through its teeth" when it says it is not targeting China and that groupings such as the Quad undermine regional peace and stability. During the summit, Biden announced various initiatives, including a "cancer moonshot" partnership with the other countries to save lives in the Indo-Pacific region. Biden also faces ongoing criticism from GOP lawmakers over the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in 2021. Congressional Republicans who have been investigating the pullout recently released a scathing report with their findings. The administration and Democrats, on the other hand, have largely blamed Trump for what unfolded during the withdrawal.

Biden to sell 'vision' of global engagement in final speech to United Nations

President Biden on Tuesday will deliver his last address to the United Nations General Assembly -- a speech that will seek to memorialize his legacy, inspire support for Vice President Harris, and reassure allies and vulnerable nations to count on the U.S. Coming just six weeks before the U.S. election, Biden's speech will serve to underscore support for his vision of global engagement compared to former President Trump's transactional and isolationist approach, confrontation toward allies and reverence for autocrats. "We live in a world with many problems, with many divisions, but we have a story to tell about what we've done to rally the world," a senior administration official said in a call with reporters Monday night, previewing the president's speech. "I think this will be an important moment to say, 'Where do we go?' And, 'what are the principles in which we're going to solve these problems?'" Biden will deliver a farewell address on what is arguably the biggest global stage and on foreign policy, where he has demonstrated his enormous skill but faces incredible challenges - with nearly a year of war in the Middle East on the brink of dangerous escalation, Russia's war against Ukraine showing no signs of abating, and little of the world's attention on a devastating civil war in Sudan. "We'll be talking about the need to strengthen our systems for providing humanitarian assistance to end brutal wars in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan. And we'll also be talking about the implications of new technologies such as artificial intelligence," the official said. "When President Biden came to office nearly four years ago, he pledged to restore American leadership on the world stage, and given that this is the president's last General Assembly, it's a chance for him to talk about how this approach has produced results, real achievements for the American people and for the world." The president's speech will aim to inspire the world -- and U.S. voters -- to carry on his vision of global engagement, protection for democracies, and cooperation worldwide to confront challenges of conflict, climate change, new technology and public health. While Biden and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have identified China as the most intense, long-term security challenge for the U.S., the president is expected to lay out his approach to engagement with Beijing to tackle the opioid crisis -- which is devastating American communities -- and work to maintain open lines of communication to avoid conflict during moments of heightened tension between each country's militaries. "An important part of the President's legacy has been thinking about how we responsibly manage our competition with China, and that includes many facets, economic, security, and those will be addressed in the speech," the official said. Biden is expected to emphasize his role in rallying global democracies to support Ukraine in its defensive war against Russia as the ultimate defense of the United Nations charter, with the calls for respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity meant to underscore to smaller nations on the frontlines of Russian or Chinese aggression, that the U.S. is a better friend than Moscow or Beijing. But the U.S. is alienated on its record in the Middle East, where the majority of United Nations member states have condemned Israel's response in the Gaza Strip to Hamas's Oct. 7 terrorist attack, called for an end to Israel's occupation in the West Bank and voted in favor of admitting the Palestinian Authority as a member - all issues the Biden administration has either rejected or used its veto power in the Security Council to shield Israel. Still, Biden will seek to defend his policy by bringing up his efforts to secure a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas - that succeeded for at least one week at the end of November - to secure the release of hostages and scale up delivery of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip. The administration defends that a cease-fire in Gaza is the best way to cool overall tensions in the region, in particular as fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon has increased dramatically amid hundreds of air strikes, exchange of rocket fire and following an audacious, alleged, Israeli operation blowing up pagers and walkie-talkies linked to Hezbollah fighter that killed dozens and injured thousands of rank-and-file members. "He will address the Middle East, especially this very difficult year that we have all gone through. And again, I think it's an opportunity to talk about what we have achieved and what we still need to do, given a situation that is just heartbreaking where hostages have not been returned, the humanitarian situation in Gaza. And as you know, just such a sensitive issue, such a delicate and dangerous situation between Israel and Lebanon right now," the official said.

Biden's UN speech will highlight his diplomatic successes, amid wars in the Middle East, Ukraine, Sudan

U.S. President Joe Biden addresses the 78th Session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City, U.S., September 19, 2023. President Joe Biden will attempt to square the diplomatic achievements and goals of his presidency with the grim reality of wars in the Middle East, Ukraine and Sudan during a major address Tuesday at the annual gathering of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the final one of his presidency. With four months left in office, the speech is one of Biden's few remaining opportunities to frame his foreign policy legacy in front of an audience of global leaders. His UNGA speech will touch on what the administration views as its most significant achievements. These include supporting Ukraine's defense against Russia's 2022 invasion, managing competition with China, upholding the UN Charter, outlining global artificial intelligence principles and working to address humanitarian crises in Gaza and Sudan. "Given that this is the President's last General Assembly, it's a chance for him to talk about how this approach has produced results, real achievements for the American people and for the world," a senior administration official said in a briefing with reporters on Monday. But given the geopolitical backdrop for Biden's speech, there will be little time for victory laps. Since Biden's last UNGA address in September 2023, ongoing wars in Ukraine and Sudan have persisted, while long-simmering tensions in the Middle East have erupted into deadly conflicts. Less than a year into Israel's massive military operation in Gaza following Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack, the Middle East is teetering on the brink of an all-out regional war. Hostages taken by Hamas in the attack are either dead or remain in captivity; tens of thousands of people in Gaza have been killed or wounded; and Palestinians are suffering through a grim and worsening humanitarian crisis. Still, the Biden administration regularly emphasizes its commitment to a ceasefire and hostage deal. Meanwhile, two and a half years into Ukraine's war with Russia, some congressional Republicans now openly oppose continuing to provide U.S. arms to Ukraine as it holds on through battle after battle, with a murky path forward. The civil war in Sudan has been underway for over a year, with new ceasefire talks in early stages as the humanitarian circumstances grow more dire. To address these challenges in his speech on Tuesday, Biden will emphasize the need for "strong and effective global institutions, including an adapted United Nations," the administration official said Monday. "This is his vision of countries working together," said the official. "A theme of his presidency, and an important part of his legacy," Biden also has a packed schedule of high-level meetings to work through the onslaught of geopolitical problems in closed-door settings. "This is one of the advantages of the UN General Assembly: You literally have the whole world here," said the administration official, who was granted anonymity to preview the president's agenda. "So when you do have crises of the day, they'll be addressed."

World leaders meet under shadow of global divisions, 3 wars and possible Mideast conflict

World leaders will open their annual meeting at the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday under the shadow of increasing global divisions, major wars in Gaza, Ukraine and, Sudan and the threat of an even larger conflict in the wider Middle East. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres previewed his opening "State of the World" speech to presidents, prime ministers, monarchs and ministers at Sunday's "Summit of the Future," saying "our world is heading off the rails - and we need tough decisions to get back on track." He pointed to conflicts "raging and multiplying, from the Middle East to Ukraine and Sudan, with no end in sight" and to the global security system, which he said is "threatened by geopolitical divides, nuclear posturing, and the development of new weapons and theaters of war." He also cited huge inequalities, the lack of an effective global system to respond to emerging and even existential threats, and the devastating impact of climate change. Biden will appear as president for the final time One notable moment at Tuesday's opening assembly meeting: U.S. President Joe Biden's likely final major appearance on the world stage, a platform he has tred upon for decades. U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters last week that the U.S. focus in the assembly will be on ending "the scourge of war," lamenting that roughly 2 billion people live in conflict-affected areas. "The most vulnerable around the world are counting on us to make progress, to make change, to bring about a sense of hope for them," she said. Among other speakers on opening day are Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, King Abdullah II of Jordan, and Iran's new President Masoud Pezeshkian. The Iranian leader accused Israel on Monday of seeking a wider war in the Middle East and laying "traps" to lead his country into a broader conflict. He pointed to the deadly explosions of pagers, walkie-talkies and other electronic devices in Lebanon last week, which he blamed on Israel, and the assassination of Hamas' political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31, hours after Pezeshkian's inauguration. "We don't want to fight," the Iranian president said. "It's Israel that wants to drag everyone into war and destabilize the region. ... They are dragging us to a point where we do not wish to go." Iran supports both Hamas in Gaza and Lebanon's Hezbollah militants. Pushing the principle that 'right makes might' International Rescue Committee President David Miliband recalled that at the San Francisco conference in 1945 where the U.N. was established, then-U.S. President Harry Truman pleaded with delegates to reject the premise that "might makes right" and reverse it to "right makes might," which was enshrined in the U.N. Charter. "Almost 80 years later, we have seen the terrible consequences of the failure to flip this equation," Miliband said. "In contexts like Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine, might is making right." Facing mounting global humanitarian needs, unchecked conflict, unmitigated climate change and growing extreme poverty, Miliband challenged world leaders asking: "How will you strengthen, not weaken, the principles of the U.N. Charter for the next 80 years?" The assembly's annual meeting, which ends on Sept. 30, followed the two-day Summit of the Future, which adopted a blueprint aimed at bringing the world's increasing divided nations together to tackle the challenges of the 21st century from conflicts and climate change to artificial intelligence and women's rights. The 42-page "Pact for the Future" challenges leaders of the 193 U.N. member nations to turn promises into real actions that make a difference to the lives of the world's more than 8 billion people. "We are here to bring multilateralism back from the brink," Guterres said. By adopting the pact, leaders unlocked the door, he said. "Now it is our common destiny to walk through it. That demands not just agreement, but action." Leaders embroiled in conflicts will speak At last year's U.N. global gathering, Ukraine and its president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, took center stage. But as the first anniversary of Hamas' deadly attack in southern Israel approaches on Oct. 7, the spotlight is certain to be on the war in Gaza and escalating violence across the Israeli-Lebanon border, which is now threatening to spread to the wider Middle East. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled to speak Thursday morning and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday afternoon. Zelenskyy will get the spotlight twice. He will speak Tuesday afternoon at a high-level meeting of the U.N. Security Council called by the United States, France, Japan, Malta, South Korea and Britain, whose foreign ministers are expected to attend. He will also address the General Assembly on Wednesday morning.

Five things to watch for at the UNGA

Foreign dignitaries will descend on New York City beginning Tuesday for this week's United Nations General Assembly, tackling topics including the powder keg situation in the Middle East and ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Sudan. The 79th UNGA's theme is "advancing peace, sustainable development, and human dignity." It will include a Summit of the Future to address challenges in global governance, geopolitical competition and worldwide conflicts. While climate and economy are expected to be major topics at the gathering, along with new technologies like artificial intelligence, foreign policy will likely take center stage. Expected at the forefront of that are conversations around how to stem wars in Gaza, Ukraine, and Sudan, as well as prevent wider regional conflict in the Middle East and quell aggression from China. For the event, President Biden is set to undertake an intensive stretch of diplomatic engagements, including meetings on the sidelines of the assembly. This will be Biden's last major UN meeting as president, and he will be closely watched throughout the week. Biden, who will deliver opening remarks on Tuesday around 9 a.m., is expected to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday. The commander-in-chief may also meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid escalating tensions between Israel and Hezbollah in the Middle East. A senior administration official told reporters on Monday that Biden and other world leaders will discuss the "need to strengthen our systems for providing humanitarian assistance to end brutal wars in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan." A big part of Biden's Tuesday speech will be on how to tackle global challenges, from wars to the climate crisis, the official said. "We're going into a General Assembly this year with the world facing many steep challenges, problems so big, no one country can solve them on their own, " the official said, "but that's why the president feels so strongly the world needs strong and effective global institutions, including an adapted United Nations. "This is his vision of countries working together. That's been a theme of his presidency and an important part of his legacy." Zelensky is making an urgent appeal to both presidential candidates and Biden for sustained help in combating Russia's invasion. The Ukrainian leader is expected to press the U.S. and Western leaders to lift a policy that prohibits deep strikes into Russia. The Biden administration has yet to budge on the restraint amid fears of escalation with Moscow and whether lifting the policy would have any practical effects. But Ukraine, some members of Congress and some Western leaders have argued it could help Kyiv target Russian airfields and help stop punishing glide bombs. Zelensky will also reportedly present Biden with a victory plan, which he has claimed includes Ukrainian operations in the Russian region of Kursk. Ukraine invaded Kursk in early August with some success, but the goal of diverting a large number of Russian troops from the frontlines, where they are pressuring Ukrainian forces, has not been met. Vice President Harris does not plan to travel to New York for the assembly, but she is set to meet with Zelensky in Washington on Thursday. And on Wednesday afternoon, Biden is expected to meet with world leaders to discuss reconstruction in Ukraine. The Middle East National security spokesperson John Kirby said Sunday that cease-fire talks with Israel and Hamas have not been "achieving any progress" in recent weeks, and the Biden administration appears to be growing impatient. Biden has grown frustrated with the inability of both Israel and Hamas to agree on a ceasefire and hostage release deal to begin phasing out the war in Gaza. The U.S. also is trying to resolve another crisis in Lebanon, where Israel and the militant group Hezbollah have been exchanging fire for more than 11 months. The senior U.S. official said Biden is expected to address the tough year since the war broke out in Gaza and that the Middle East conflict will be an "important theme" across the assembly. Tensions have dramatically escalated in the region this past week after Israel ramped up airstrikes - with shells and bombs landing Monday across southern Lebanon, killing at least 490 people, according to the country's health minister - and the detonation of pager and handheld radios in the country last week. Netanyahu, a former ambassador to the UN, is expected to attend the assembly this week, and he may meet with Biden on the sidelines. The Israeli prime minister may also speak to the General Assembly later this week, either Thursday or Friday, which is sure to lead to at least a few walkouts from those who have criticized Israel's war in Gaza. Netanyahu has been accused of war crimes in the conflict, with a panel of judges from the International Criminal Court currently considering whether to charge him. China Tensions with China in the South China Sea could also lead to talks this week at the assembly. Recently, Beijing has been clashing with the Philippines, a major U.S. ally, in disputed areas of the South China Sea. Also looming over the region is a potential Chinese invasion of the self-governing island nation of Taiwan. Under the Biden administration, the U.S. has been shoring up support across the Indo-Pacific region. Over the weekend, Biden hosted leaders from Australia, Japan and India at his Wilmington, Del., house, as part of a cooperative partnership in the region called the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue. Biden is expected to meet Wednesday with Vietnamese President Tô Lâm to discuss Southeast Asia issues. The senior administration official said "an important part of the president's legacy has been thinking about how we responsibly manage our competition with China," which will be referenced in his speech. But trade disputes are also expected to take center stage. The Biden administration announced on Monday a proposed ban on certain Chinese-made hardware and software in cars. Biden has also kept tariffs on some Chinese goods from the Trump administration, and he slapped a 100 percent tariff on Chinese-made electric cars earlier this year. Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to skip the assembly, sending a high-ranking minister to speak in his stead. Sudan The war in Sudan has become one of the deadliest conflicts in the world and the worst global humanitarian crisis since it broke out in April 2023, making it poised to be a key talking point. Millions have been forcibly displaced, with roughly 25.6 million people facing famine in the country, according to UN agencies. The U.S. has long pushed for an end to the war, setting up ceasefire talks last year and in August that ultimately failed to end the war. This week's will likely center among U.S. allies and other partners who want to see an end to the war. Biden met with United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Monday, and the two discussed efforts to end the war and protect civilians. The UAE, however, has been accused of supporting the paramilitary force, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), in the war. A White House readout did not provide any details about whether the issue was brought up in Monday's meeting. Other nations have also meddled in the conflict, with Iran supporting the Sudanese armed forces and Russia playing both sides. Biden's legacy After deciding not to seek re-election in July, Biden will leave the Oval Office in January, making the UN assembly one of his last big stages to cement his legacy and foreign policy goals. Much of Biden's presidency has centered on foreign policy after a disastrous Afghanistan pullout, the eruption of Russia's war in Ukraine in 2022 and the Gaza war in October 2023. "I've been clear that human rights will be the center of our foreign policy," he said hours after the last U.S. troops and officials were flown out of Afghanistan, pledging continued support for Afghans left behind. The message, an often repeated campaign promise, has reappeared in speeches throughout his presidency. But Biden's record reveals that human rights concerns have on numerous occasions been pushed aside in favor of continued engagement with foreign powers, national security priorities, or simply not prioritized. The U.S., in particular, has come under intense criticism for its support for Israel in the war in Gaza, where more than 41,000 Palestinians have died in nearly a year of the conflict. The senior administration official said Biden's "engagements this week reflect his vision for a world where countries come together to solve big problems." "When President Biden came to office nearly four years ago, he pledged to restore American leadership on the world stage, and given that this is the president's last General Assembly, it's a chance for him to talk about how this approach has produced results, real achievements for the American people and for the world," the official said. "That vision has produced results. And there are many opponents and critics of that vision, not just internationally, but at home," the official added. "It has been the president's view that he needs to explain why this vision of working together with countries to solve these big challenges actually produces results." Speaking to reporters on Air Force One en route to New York, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said as it relates to Biden's legacy, he has been able to "reaffirm American leadership at the UN and restore America's standing at the world' stage." She added: "He looks forward to building on that progress this week."

World Leaders Meet Under Shadow of Global Divisions, 3 Wars and Possible Mideast Conflict

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- World leaders will open their annual meeting at the U.N. General Assembly Tuesday under the shadow of increasing global divisions, major wars in Gaza, Ukraine and, Sudan and the threat of an even larger conflict in the wider Middle East. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres previewed his opening "State of the World" speech to presidents, prime ministers, monarchs and ministers at Sunday's "Summit of the Future," saying "our world is heading off the rails -- and we need tough decisions to get back on track." He pointed to conflicts "raging and multiplying, from the Middle East to Ukraine and Sudan, with no end in sight" and to the global security system, which he said is "threatened by geopolitical divides, nuclear posturing, and the development of new weapons and theaters of war." He also cited huge inequalities, the lack of an effective global system to respond to emerging and even existential threats, and the devastating impact of climate change. One notable moment at Tuesday's opening assembly meeting: U.S. President Joe Biden's likely final major appearance on the world stage, a platform he has tred upon for decades. U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters last week that the U.S. focus in the assembly will be on ending "the scourge of war," lamenting that roughly 2 billion people live in conflict-affected areas. But she also said: "The most vulnerable around the world are counting on us to make progress, to make change, to bring about a sense of hope for them." Among other speakers on opening day are Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, King Abdullah II of Jordan, and Iran's new President Masoud Pezeshkian. The Iranian leader accused Israel on Monday of seeking a wider war in the Middle East and laying "traps" to lead his country into a broader conflict. He pointed to the deadly explosions of pagers, walkie-talkies and other electronic devices in Lebanon last week, which he blamed on Israel, and the assassination of Hamas' political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31, hours after Pezeshkian's inauguration. "We don't want to fight," the Iranian president said. "It's Israel that wants to drag everyone into war and destabilize the region. ... They are dragging us to a point where we do not wish to go." Iran supports both Hamas in Gaza and Lebanon's Hezbollah militants. International Rescue Committee President David Miliband recalled that at the San Francisco conference in 1945 where the U.N. was established, then-U.S. President Harry Truman pleaded with delegates to reject the premise that "might makes right" and reverse it to "right makes might," which was enshrined in the U.N. Charter. "Almost 80 years later, we have seen the terrible consequences of the failure to flip this equation," Miliband said. "In contexts like Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine, might is making right." Facing mounting global humanitarian needs, unchecked conflict, unmitigated climate change and growing extreme poverty, Miliband challenged world leaders asking: "How will you strengthen, not weaken, the principles of the U.N. Charter for the next 80 years?" The assembly's annual meeting, which ends on Sept. 30, followed the two-day Summit of the Future, which adopted a blueprint aimed at bringing the world's increasing divided nations together to tackle the challenges of the 21st century from conflicts and climate change to artificial intelligence and women's rights. The 42-page "Pact for the Future" challenges leaders of the 193 U.N. member nations to turn promises into real actions that make a difference to the lives of the world's more than 8 billion people. "We are here to bring multilateralism back from the brink," Guterres said. By adopting the pact, leaders unlocked the door, he said. "Now it is our common destiny to walk through it. That demands not just agreement, but action." At last year's U.N. global gathering, Ukraine and its president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, took center stage. But as the first anniversary of Hamas' deadly attack in southern Israel approaches on Oct. 7, the spotlight is certain to be on the war in Gaza and escalating violence across the Israeli-Lebanon border, which is now threatening to spread to the wider Middle East. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled to speak Thursday morning and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday afternoon. Zelenskyy will get the spotlight twice. He will speak Tuesday afternoon at a high-level meeting of the U.N. Security Council called by the United States, France, Japan, Malta, South Korea and Britain, whose foreign ministers are expected to attend. He will also address the General Assembly on Wednesday morning. Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

World leaders meet under shadow of global divisions, 3 wars and possible Mideast conflict

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- World leaders will open their annual meeting at the U.N. General Assembly Tuesday under the shadow of increasing global divisions, major wars in Gaza, Ukraine and, Sudan and the threat of an even larger conflict in the wider Middle East. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres previewed his opening "State of the World" speech to presidents, prime ministers, monarchs and ministers at Sunday's "Summit of the Future," saying "our world is heading off the rails -- and we need tough decisions to get back on track." He pointed to conflicts "raging and multiplying, from the Middle East to Ukraine and Sudan, with no end in sight" and to the global security system, which he said is "threatened by geopolitical divides, nuclear posturing, and the development of new weapons and theaters of war." He also cited huge inequalities, the lack of an effective global system to respond to emerging and even existential threats, and the devastating impact of climate change. One notable moment at Tuesday's opening assembly meeting: U.S. President Joe Biden's likely final major appearance on the world stage, a platform he has tred upon for decades. U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters last week that the U.S. focus in the assembly will be on ending "the scourge of war," lamenting that roughly 2 billion people live in conflict-affected areas. But she also said: "The most vulnerable around the world are counting on us to make progress, to make change, to bring about a sense of hope for them." Among other speakers on opening day are Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, King Abdullah II of Jordan, and Iran's new President Masoud Pezeshkian. The Iranian leader accused Israel on Monday of seeking a wider war in the Middle East and laying "traps" to lead his country into a broader conflict. He pointed to the deadly explosions of pagers, walkie-talkies and other electronic devices in Lebanon last week, which he blamed on Israel, and the assassination of Hamas' political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31, hours after Pezeshkian's inauguration. "We don't want to fight," the Iranian president said. "It's Israel that wants to drag everyone into war and destabilize the region. ... They are dragging us to a point where we do not wish to go." Iran supports both Hamas in Gaza and Lebanon's Hezbollah militants. International Rescue Committee President David Miliband recalled that at the San Francisco conference in 1945 where the U.N. was established, then-U.S. President Harry Truman pleaded with delegates to reject the premise that "might makes right" and reverse it to "right makes might," which was enshrined in the U.N. Charter. "Almost 80 years later, we have seen the terrible consequences of the failure to flip this equation," Miliband said. "In contexts like Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine, might is making right." Facing mounting global humanitarian needs, unchecked conflict, unmitigated climate change and growing extreme poverty, Miliband challenged world leaders asking: "How will you strengthen, not weaken, the principles of the U.N. Charter for the next 80 years?" The assembly's annual meeting, which ends on Sept. 30, followed the two-day Summit of the Future, which adopted a blueprint aimed at bringing the world's increasing divided nations together to tackle the challenges of the 21st century from conflicts and climate change to artificial intelligence and women's rights. The 42-page "Pact for the Future" challenges leaders of the 193 U.N. member nations to turn promises into real actions that make a difference to the lives of the world's more than 8 billion people. "We are here to bring multilateralism back from the brink," Guterres said. By adopting the pact, leaders unlocked the door, he said. "Now it is our common destiny to walk through it. That demands not just agreement, but action." At last year's U.N. global gathering, Ukraine and its president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, took center stage. But as the first anniversary of Hamas' deadly attack in southern Israel approaches on Oct. 7, the spotlight is certain to be on the war in Gaza and escalating violence across the Israeli-Lebanon border, which is now threatening to spread to the wider Middle East. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled to speak Thursday morning and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday afternoon. Zelenskyy will get the spotlight twice. He will speak Tuesday afternoon at a high-level meeting of the U.N. Security Council called by the United States, France, Japan, Malta, South Korea and Britain, whose foreign ministers are expected to attend. He will also address the General Assembly on Wednesday morning.

World leaders meet under shadow of global divisions, 3 wars and possible Mideast conflict

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- World leaders will open their annual meeting at the U.N. General Assembly Tuesday under the shadow of increasing global divisions, major wars in Gaza, Ukraine and, Sudan and the threat of an even larger conflict in the wider Middle East. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres previewed his opening "State of the World" speech to presidents, prime ministers, monarchs and ministers at Sunday's "Summit of the Future," saying "our world is heading off the rails -- and we need tough decisions to get back on track." He pointed to conflicts "raging and multiplying, from the Middle East to Ukraine and Sudan, with no end in sight" and to the global security system, which he said is "threatened by geopolitical divides, nuclear posturing, and the development of new weapons and theaters of war." He also cited huge inequalities, the lack of an effective global system to respond to emerging and even existential threats, and the devastating impact of climate change. One notable moment at Tuesday's opening assembly meeting: U.S. President Joe Biden's likely final major appearance on the world stage, a platform he has tred upon for decades. U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters last week that the U.S. focus in the assembly will be on ending "the scourge of war," lamenting that roughly 2 billion people live in conflict-affected areas. But she also said: "The most vulnerable around the world are counting on us to make progress, to make change, to bring about a sense of hope for them." Among other speakers on opening day are Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, King Abdullah II of Jordan, and Iran's new President Masoud Pezeshkian. The Iranian leader accused Israel on Monday of seeking a wider war in the Middle East and laying "traps" to lead his country into a broader conflict. He pointed to the deadly explosions of pagers, walkie-talkies and other electronic devices in Lebanon last week, which he blamed on Israel, and the assassination of Hamas' political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31, hours after Pezeshkian's inauguration. "We don't want to fight," the Iranian president said. "It's Israel that wants to drag everyone into war and destabilize the region. ... They are dragging us to a point where we do not wish to go." Iran supports both Hamas in Gaza and Lebanon's Hezbollah militants. International Rescue Committee President David Miliband recalled that at the San Francisco conference in 1945 where the U.N. was established, then-U.S. President Harry Truman pleaded with delegates to reject the premise that "might makes right" and reverse it to "right makes might," which was enshrined in the U.N. Charter. "Almost 80 years later, we have seen the terrible consequences of the failure to flip this equation," Miliband said. "In contexts like Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine, might is making right." Facing mounting global humanitarian needs, unchecked conflict, unmitigated climate change and growing extreme poverty, Miliband challenged world leaders asking: "How will you strengthen, not weaken, the principles of the U.N. Charter for the next 80 years?" The assembly's annual meeting, which ends on Sept. 30, followed the two-day Summit of the Future, which adopted a blueprint aimed at bringing the world's increasing divided nations together to tackle the challenges of the 21st century from conflicts and climate change to artificial intelligence and women's rights. The 42-page "Pact for the Future" challenges leaders of the 193 U.N. member nations to turn promises into real actions that make a difference to the lives of the world's more than 8 billion people. "We are here to bring multilateralism back from the brink," Guterres said. By adopting the pact, leaders unlocked the door, he said. "Now it is our common destiny to walk through it. That demands not just agreement, but action." At last year's U.N. global gathering, Ukraine and its president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, took center stage. But as the first anniversary of Hamas' deadly attack in southern Israel approaches on Oct. 7, the spotlight is certain to be on the war in Gaza and escalating violence across the Israeli-Lebanon border, which is now threatening to spread to the wider Middle East. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled to speak Thursday morning and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday afternoon. Zelenskyy will get the spotlight twice. He will speak Tuesday afternoon at a high-level meeting of the U.N. Security Council called by the United States, France, Japan, Malta, South Korea and Britain, whose foreign ministers are expected to attend. He will also address the General Assembly on Wednesday morning.

United Nations chief calls global situation 'unsustainable' as annual meeting of leaders opens

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres warned world leaders Tuesday (September 24, 2024) that impunity, inequality and uncertainty are creating an "unsustainable world" where a growing number of countries believe they should have a "get out of jail free" card. "We can't go on like this," he said as the General Assembly's annual debate among presidents, prime ministers, monarchs and other leaders began. Also read | Reform global institutions for peace and development, Modi tells U.N. Citing deepening geopolitical divisions, wars with no end in sight, climate change and nuclear and emerging weapons, he said humanity is "edging towards the unimaginable - a powder keg that risks engulfing the world." But, he said, "the challenges we face are solvable" if the international community confronts the uncertainty of unmanaged risks, the inequality that underlies injustices and grievances and the impunity that undermines international law and the U.N.'s founding principles. "Today, a growing number of governments and others feel entitled to a "get out of jail free' card," he said in a reference to the classic board game Monopoly. The world leaders' meeting opened under the shadow of increasing global divisions, major wars in Gaza, Ukraine and, Sudan and the threat of an even larger conflict in the wider Middle East. Mr. Guterres previewed his opening speech at Sunday's "Summit of the Future," where he pointed to conflicts from the Middle East to Ukraine and Sudan and to the global security system, which he said is "threatened by geopolitical divides, nuclear posturing, and the development of new weapons and theaters of war." At UN summit, India calls for global shift to sustainable living He also cited huge inequalities, the lack of an effective global system to respond to emerging and even existential threats, and the devastating impact of climate change. One notable moment at Tuesday's opening assembly meeting: U.S. President Joe Biden's likely final major appearance on the world stage, a platform upon which he has treaded for decades. U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters last week that the U.S. focus in the assembly will be on ending "the scourge of war," lamenting that roughly two billion people live in conflict-affected areas. "The most vulnerable around the world are counting on us to make progress, to make change, to bring about a sense of hope for them," she said. Among other speakers on opening day are Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, King Abdullah II of Jordan, and Iran's new President Masoud Pezeshkian. The Iranian leader accused Israel on Monday of seeking a wider war in the Middle East and laying "traps" to lead his country into a broader conflict. He pointed to the deadly explosions of pagers, walkie-talkies and other electronic devices in Lebanon last week, which he blamed on Israel, and the assassination of Hamas' political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31, hours after Pezeshkian's inauguration. "We don't want to fight," the Iranian president said. "It's Israel that wants to drag everyone into war and destabilize the region. ... They are dragging us to a point where we do not wish to go." Iran supports both Hamas in Gaza and Lebanon's Hezbollah militants. International Rescue Committee President David Miliband recalled that at the San Francisco conference in 1945 where the U.N. was established, then-U.S. President Harry Truman pleaded with delegates to reject the premise that "might makes right" and reverse it to "right makes might," which was enshrined in the U.N. Charter. "Almost 80 years later, we have seen the terrible consequences of the failure to flip this equation," Miliband said. "In contexts like Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine, might is making right." Facing mounting global humanitarian needs, unchecked conflict, unmitigated climate change and growing extreme poverty, Miliband challenged world leaders asking: "How will you strengthen, not weaken, the principles of the U.N. Charter for the next 80 years?" The assembly's annual meeting, which ends on September 30, followed the two-day Summit of the Future, which adopted a blueprint aimed at bringing the world's increasing divided nations together to tackle the challenges of the 21st century from conflicts and climate change to artificial intelligence and women's rights. The 42-page "Pact for the Future" challenges leaders of the 193 U.N. member nations to turn promises into real actions that make a difference to the lives of the world's more than 8 billion people. "We are here to bring multilateralism back from the brink," Guterres said. By adopting the pact, leaders unlocked the door, he said. "Now it is our common destiny to walk through it. That demands not just agreement, but action." At last year's U.N. global gathering, Ukraine and its president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, took center stage. But as the first anniversary of Hamas' deadly attack in southern Israel approaches on Oct. 7, the spotlight is certain to be on the war in Gaza and escalating violence across the Israeli-Lebanon border, which is now threatening to spread to the wider Middle East. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled to speak Thursday morning and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday afternoon. Zelenskyy will get the spotlight twice. He will speak Tuesday afternoon at a high-level meeting of the U.N. Security Council called by the United States, France, Japan, Malta, South Korea and Britain, whose foreign ministers are expected to attend. He will also address the General Assembly on Wednesday morning. Published - September 24, 2024 07:20 pm IST Read Comments

World leaders meet under shadow of global divisions, 3 wars and possible Mideast conflict

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during "Summit of the Future" on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, Sunday. AFP-Yonhap World leaders will open their annual meeting at the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday under the shadow of increasing global divisions, major wars in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan and the threat of an even larger conflict in the wider Middle East. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres previewed his opening "State of the World" speech to presidents, prime ministers, monarchs and ministers at Sunday's "Summit of the Future," saying "our world is heading off the rails -- and we need tough decisions to get back on track." He pointed to conflicts "raging and multiplying, from the Middle East to Ukraine and Sudan, with no end in sight" and to the global security system, which he said is "threatened by geopolitical divides, nuclear posturing, and the development of new weapons and theaters of war." He also cited huge inequalities, the lack of an effective global system to respond to emerging and even existential threats, and the devastating impact of climate change. One notable moment at Tuesday's opening assembly meeting: U.S. President Joe Biden's likely final major appearance on the world stage, a platform upon which he has treaded for decades. U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters last week that the U.S. focus in the assembly will be on ending "the scourge of war," lamenting that roughly 2 billion people live in conflict-affected areas. "The most vulnerable around the world are counting on us to make progress, to make change, to bring about a sense of hope for them," she said. Among other speakers on opening day are Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, King Abdullah II of Jordan, and Iran's new President Masoud Pezeshkian. The Iranian leader accused Israel on Monday of seeking a wider war in the Middle East and laying "traps" to lead his country into a broader conflict. He pointed to the deadly explosions of pagers, walkie-talkies and other electronic devices in Lebanon last week, which he blamed on Israel, and the assassination of Hamas' political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31, hours after Pezeshkian's inauguration. "We don't want to fight," the Iranian president said. "It's Israel that wants to drag everyone into war and destabilize the region. ... They are dragging us to a point where we do not wish to go." Iran supports both Hamas in Gaza and Lebanon's Hezbollah militants. International Rescue Committee President David Miliband recalled that at the San Francisco conference in 1945 where the U.N. was established, then-U.S. President Harry Truman pleaded with delegates to reject the premise that "might makes right" and reverse it to "right makes might," which was enshrined in the U.N. Charter. "Almost 80 years later, we have seen the terrible consequences of the failure to flip this equation," Miliband said. "In contexts like Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine, might is making right." Facing mounting global humanitarian needs, unchecked conflict, unmitigated climate change and growing extreme poverty, Miliband challenged world leaders asking: "How will you strengthen, not weaken, the principles of the U.N. Charter for the next 80 years?" The assembly's annual meeting, which ends on Sept. 30, followed the two-day Summit of the Future, which adopted a blueprint aimed at bringing the world's increasing divided nations together to tackle the challenges of the 21st century from conflicts and climate change to artificial intelligence and women's rights. The 42-page "Pact for the Future" challenges leaders of the 193 U.N. member nations to turn promises into real actions that make a difference to the lives of the world's more than 8 billion people. "We are here to bring multilateralism back from the brink," Guterres said. By adopting the pact, leaders unlocked the door, he said. "Now it is our common destiny to walk through it. That demands not just agreement, but action." At last year's U.N. global gathering, Ukraine and its president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, took center stage. But as the first anniversary of Hamas' deadly attack in southern Israel approaches on Oct. 7, the spotlight is certain to be on the war in Gaza and escalating violence across the Israeli-Lebanon border, which is now threatening to spread to the wider Middle East. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled to speak Thursday morning and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday afternoon. Zelenskyy will get the spotlight twice. He will speak Tuesday afternoon at a high-level meeting of the U.N. Security Council called by the United States, France, Japan, Malta, South Korea and Britain, whose foreign ministers are expected to attend. He will also address the General Assembly on Wednesday morning. (AP)

World Leaders Gathering for UN General Assembly Amid an Atmosphere of Gloom and 'Impunity'

World body's own secretary-general rues what he calls 'the fact that nobody takes even seriously the capacity of the powers to solve problems on the ground.' UNITED NATIONS -- Facing a swirl of conflicts and crises across a fragmented world, leaders attending this week's annual United Nations gathering are being challenged: Work together, not only on front-burner issues but on modernizing the international institutions born after World War II so they can tackle the threats and problems of the future. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued the challenge a year ago after sounding a global alarm about the survival of humanity and the planet: Come to a "Summit of the Future" and make a new commitment to multilateralism -- the foundation of the United Nations and many other global bodies -- and start fixing the aging global architecture to meet the rapidly changing world. The UN chief told reporters last week that the summit "was born out of a cold, hard fact: international challenges are moving faster than our ability to solve them." He pointed to "out-of-control geopolitical divisions" and "runaway" conflicts, climate change, inequalities, debt and new technologies like artificial intelligence which have no guardrails. The two-day summit started Sunday, two days before the high-level meeting of world leaders begins at the sprawling UN compound at New York City. The General Assembly approved the summit's main outcome document -- a 42-page "Pact of the Future" -- on Sunday morning with a bang of the gavel by the Assembly president, Philémon Yang, signifying consensus, after the body voted 143 to seven with 15 abstentions against considering Russian-proposed amendments to significantly water it down. The pact is a blueprint to address global challenges from conflicts and climate change to artificial intelligence and reforming the U.N. and global institutions. Its impact will depend on its implementation by the assembly's 193 member nations. "Leaders must ask themselves whether this will be yet another meeting where they simply talk about greater cooperation and consensus, or whether they will show the imagination and conviction to actually forge it," said the secretary-general of Amnesty International, Agnès Callamard. "If they miss this opportunity, I shudder to think of the consequences. Our collective future is at stake." This is the UN's biggest week of the year. The summit is the prelude to this year's high-level meeting, held every September. More than 130 presidents, prime ministers and monarchs are slated to speak along with dozens of ministers, and the issues from the summit are expected to dominate their speeches and private meetings, especially the wars in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan and the growing possibility of a wider Mideast war. "There is going to be a rather obvious gap between the Summit of the Future, with its focus on expanding international cooperation, and the reality that the U.N. is failing in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan," said the UN director for the International Crisis Group, Richard Gowan. "Those three wars will be top topics of attention for most of the week." One notable moment at Tuesday's opening assembly meeting: President Biden's likely final major appearance on the world stage, a platform he has tread upon and reveled in for decades. At the upcoming meetings, the American ambassador, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, told reporters this week: "The most vulnerable around the world are counting on us to make progress, to make change, to bring about a sense of hope for them." To meet the many global challenges, she said, the American focus at the U.N. meetings will be on ending "the scourge of war." Roughly 2 billion people live in conflict-affected areas, she said. Last September, the war in Ukraine and its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, took center stage at the global gathering. As the first anniversary of Hamas's deadly attack in southern Israel approaches on October 7, the spotlight is certain to be on the war in Gaza and escalating violence across the Israeli-Lebanon border, which is now threatening to spread to the wider Middle East. Iran supports both Hamas in Gaza and Lebanon's Hezbollah militants. Its new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, will address world leaders on Tuesday afternoon. President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority is scheduled to speak Thursday morning, and Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Thursday afternoon. Mr. Zelensky will get the spotlight twice. He will speak Tuesday at a high-level meeting of the Security Council -- called by America, France, Japan, Malta, South Korea, and Britain -- and will address the General Assembly on Wednesday morning. Slovenia, which holds the council's rotating presidency this month, chose the topic "Leadership for Peace" for its high-level meeting Wednesday, challenging its 15 member nations to address why the UN body charged with maintaining international peace and security is failing -- and how it can do better. "The event follows our observation that we live in a world of grim statistics, with the highest number of ongoing conflicts, with record high casualties among civilians, among humanitarians, among medical workers, among journalist," the Slovenian ambassador, Samuel Zbogar, told reporters. He cited a record-high 100 million people driven from their homes by conflict. "The world is becoming less stable, less peaceful, and with erosion of the respect for the rules, it is sliding into the state of disorder," Mr. Zbogar said. "We have not seen this high need to rebuild trust to secure the future ever before." A key reason for the Security Council's dysfunction is the division among its five veto-wielding permanent members. America, Israel's closest ally, is a supporter of Ukraine alongside Britain and France. Russia invaded Ukraine and has a military and economic partnership with China, though Beijing reasserted its longstanding support for every country's sovereignty without criticizing Russia in a recent briefing paper for the UN meetings. President Macron of France and Britain's new prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, will be at the United Nations this week along with Mr. Biden. Presidents Putin of Russia and Xi of the People's Republic of China are sending their foreign ministers instead. Neither Messrs. Putin nor Xi attended last year, either. Mr. Guterres, who will preside over the whole affair this week, warned that the world is seeing "a multiplication of conflicts and the sense of impunity" -- a landscape where, he said, "any country or any military entity, militias, whatever, feel that they can do whatever they want because nothing will happen to them." He rued what he called "the fact that nobody takes even seriously the capacity of the powers to solve problems on the ground."

World leaders meet under shadow of wars and global divisions | BreakingNews.ie

World leaders will open their annual meeting at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday under the shadow of increasing global divisions, major wars in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan and the threat of an even larger conflict in the wider Middle East. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres previewed his opening State Of The World speech to presidents, prime ministers, monarchs and ministers at a previous Summit Of The Future, saying "our world is heading off the rails -- and we need tough decisions to get back on track". He pointed to conflicts "raging and multiplying, from the Middle East to Ukraine and Sudan, with no end in sight" and to the global security system, which he said is "threatened by geopolitical divides, nuclear posturing, and the development of new weapons and theatres of war". He also cited huge inequalities, the lack of an effective global system to respond to emerging and even existential threats, and the devastating impact of climate change. One notable moment at Tuesday's opening assembly meeting: US President Joe Biden's likely final major appearance on the world stage, a platform he has been on for decades. US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters last week that the US focus in the assembly will be on ending "the scourge of war", lamenting that roughly two billion people live in conflict-affected areas. But she also said: "The most vulnerable around the world are counting on us to make progress, to make change, to bring about a sense of hope for them." Among other speakers on the opening day are Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, King Abdullah II of Jordan and Iran's new President Masoud Pezeshkian. The Iranian leader accused Israel on Monday of seeking a wider war in the Middle East and laying "traps" to lead his country into a broader conflict. He pointed to the deadly explosions of pagers, walkie-talkies and other electronic devices in Lebanon last week, which he blamed on Israel, and the assassination of Hamas's political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31, hours after Mr Pezeshkian's inauguration. "We don't want to fight," the Iranian president said. "It's Israel that wants to drag everyone into war and destabilise the region ... They are dragging us to a point where we do not wish to go." Iran supports both Hamas in Gaza and Lebanon's Hezbollah militants. International Rescue Committee president David Miliband recalled that at the San Francisco conference in 1945 where the UN was established, then-US president Harry Truman pleaded with delegates to reject the premise that "might makes right" and reverse it to "right makes might", which was enshrined in the UN Charter. "Almost 80 years later, we have seen the terrible consequences of the failure to flip this equation," Mr Miliband said. "In contexts like Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine, might is making right." Facing mounting global humanitarian needs, unchecked conflict, unmitigated climate change and growing extreme poverty, Mr Miliband challenged world leaders asking: "How will you strengthen, not weaken, the principles of the UN Charter for the next 80 years?" The assembly's annual meeting, which ends on September 30, followed the two-day Summit Of The Future, which adopted a blueprint aimed at bringing the world's increasing divided nations together to tackle the challenges of the 21st century from conflicts and climate change to artificial intelligence and women's rights. The 42-page Pact For The Future challenges leaders of the 193 UN member nations to turn promises into real actions that make a difference to the lives of the world's more than eight billion people. "We are here to bring multilateralism back from the brink," Mr Guterres said. By adopting the pact, leaders unlocked the door, he said. "Now it is our common destiny to walk through it. That demands not just agreement, but action." At last year's UN global gathering, Ukraine and its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, took centre stage. But as the first anniversary of Hamas's deadly attack in southern Israel approaches on October 7, the spotlight is certain to be on the war in Gaza and escalating violence across the Israeli-Lebanon border, which is now threatening to spread to the wider Middle East. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled to speak on Thursday morning and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday afternoon. Mr Zelensky will get the spotlight twice. He will speak on Tuesday afternoon at a high-level meeting of the UN Security Council called by the US, France, Japan, Malta, South Korea and Britain, whose foreign ministers are expected to attend. He will also address the General Assembly on Wednesday morning.

'We can't go on like this': UN Secretary-General warns world leaders of deepening global divides

Guterres' remarks came as conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine, and Sudan persist, while the threat of a larger war looms in the Middle East. UN Secretary-General António Guterres delivered a stark warning to world leaders on Tuesday, stating that impunity, inequality, and escalating global risks are driving the world toward an unsustainable future. As the annual UN General Assembly debate began, Guterres said, "We can't go on like this," citing deepening geopolitical divides, ongoing wars, climate change, and the development of dangerous new weapons. The Secretary-General emphasised that humanity is "edging towards the unimaginable" and described the world as a "powder keg" with the potential to engulf everyone. Yet, he also asserted that the global challenges are solvable, provided nations address rampant uncertainty, inequality, and impunity, which are undermining international law and the UN's founding principles. Guterres' remarks came as conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine, and Sudan persist, while the threat of a larger war looms in the Middle East. He also previewed key topics from the UN's "Summit of the Future," including how geopolitical divides, nuclear threats, and climate change are destabilising the global security system. Biden's Likely Final UN Address Tuesday's assembly also marked what is likely US President Joe Biden's final major appearance on the global stage. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, representing the U.S., highlighted that the nation's focus will be on ending global conflicts, noting that 2 billion people live in areas affected by war. "The most vulnerable around the world are counting on us to make progress, to make change, to bring about a sense of hope for them," she said. World Leaders Speak Amid Escalating Tensions Several prominent leaders addressed the Assembly on the opening day, including Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian. The Iranian president accused Israel of escalating tensions in the Middle East, pointing to alleged Israeli provocations in Lebanon and the assassination of a Hamas leader in Tehran earlier in the year. Reaffirming the UN Charter's Principles David Miliband, President of the International Rescue Committee, invoked the UN's founding principles, urging world leaders to reject the "might makes right" mentality and reaffirm the values enshrined in the UN Charter. Addressing the worsening global humanitarian crises and unchecked conflicts, Miliband challenged leaders, asking, "How will you strengthen, not weaken, the principles of the UN Charter for the next 80 years?" The Assembly's annual meeting, which will run until September 30, follows the Summit of the Future, where leaders adopted the "Pact for the Future." This blueprint calls for urgent global cooperation on major challenges such as climate change, artificial intelligence, and women's rights. Guterres urged leaders to take real action following the pact's adoption, stating, "We are here to bring multilateralism back from the brink." Focus on Key Conflicts This year's assembly will spotlight the war in Gaza, the escalating conflict on the Israeli-Lebanon border, and the war in Ukraine. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are scheduled to speak on Thursday, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will address both the General Assembly and a high-level UN Security Council meeting.