UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Developments as the United Nations General Assembly marks its 70th year and world leaders debate issues gripping the global community and governments.
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10:55
President Barack Obama says the United States is willing to work with any nation, including Russia and Iran, to solve the Syrian conflict.
But he says bringing about an end to the four-year civil war means Syrian President Bashar Assad cannot stay in office.
Obama says Assad responded to peaceful protests with repression and killing and wouldn’t be able to satisfactorily bring peace to the nation.
Obama calls the situation in Syria “an assault on all our humanity.”
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10:45 a.m.
President Barack Obama says the world cannot stand by while Russia violates Ukraine’s integrity and sovereignty.
He says if there are no consequences for Russia’s annexation of Crimea, it could happen to any other country in the United Nations.
Obama is speaking at the U.N. General Assembly. He’s criticizing Russia just hours before he’s set to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Obama says Russia’s state-controlled media depict recent events as an example of a resurgent Russia. He says that view is shared by many U.S. politicians who think the world is in a new Cold War.
But Obama says that’s not true. He says Ukrainians are more interested than ever in aligning with the West.
Obama says the U.S. doesn’t want to isolate Russia. He says he wants Russia to engage diplomatically and resolve the crisis in a way that lets Ukraine determine its own future.
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10:35 a.m.
President Barack Obama is warning U.N member nations of the risks of failing to work together to solve world problems.
He says the work of the United Nations remains incomplete seven decades after its founding and warns that “dangerous currents risk pulling us back into a darker, more disordered world.”
Addressing the U.N. General Assembly gathering of world leaders, Obama spoke of leaders who believe power is a “zero sum game,” or that stronger states must impose their will on weaker ones, or that individual rights don’t matter and order must be imposed by force.
Obama says the world’s nations cannot go back to the “old ways of conflict and coercion” and that “we will all suffer the consequences” for failing to work together more effectively.
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10:20 a.m.
Brazil’s president says her country’s deeply troubled economy is in a “moment of transition to another cycle of economic expansion,” one that is more profound, solid and long-lasting.
President Dilma Rousseff spoke to a packed chamber Monday at the annual U.N. General Assembly of world leaders. President Barack Obama was set to speak after her.
This is a time of extreme volatility for Brazil’s economy, with inflation hovering around 10 percent and unemployment the highest in decades.
But Rouseff told world leaders that the economy is “stronger, more solid and resilient than some years ago.”
Credit agency Standard & Poor’s downgraded the country’s sovereign debt to “junk” status earlier this month.
Rousseff has submitted a budget to Congress with a built-in deficit of about $10 billion.
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9:05 a.m.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon for the first time is calling for the situation in Syria to be referred to the International Criminal Court.
In his state of the world address to leaders from the U.N.’s 193 member states, Ban says “innocent Syrians pay the price of more barrel bombs and terrorism” and there must be no impunity for “atrocious” crimes.
His call opened the annual General Assembly gathering of world leaders that includes addresses from President Barack Obama, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday morning alone.
Ban says five countries “hold the key” to a political solution to Syria: Russia, the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iran.
The U.N. chief says the Syrian conflict is “driven by regional powers and rivalries.”
