Live blog: Tuesday at the U.N. General Assembly
- The world's leaders are in New York for the 68th annual U.N. General Assembly
- Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon kicks off assembly: We have power to "wipe poverty from the face of the Earth"
- President Obama calls for U.N. resolution to back agreement that Syria should hand over chemical weapons stockpile
- Iran's newly elected President Hassan Rouhani says his country willing to "time-bound" talks over nuclear program
- Rouhani and Obama won't meet at the U.N. General Assembly, U.S. sources say
- Updates below; also, check out our full story
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It's a big day at the United Nations. Many world leaders are expected to speak at the General Assembly in New York over the next few days, with 34 -- including U.S. President Barack Obama -- speaking on Tuesday. We'll be live-blogging the day's events on this page. CNN's Joe Sterling and Jason Hanna, among others, will be at your service. -
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The General Assembly is a chance for about 200 countries to -- as our colleague Holly Yan puts it -- step up to the global stage and tell the world what they want. Among the hot topics you'll expect to be addressed: Syria, where more than 100,000 people have died since an uprising began there two years ago.
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The United States is pushing for a U.N. Security Council resolution this week to enforce a deal, brokered by Russia and the United States, in which Syria would give up its chemical weapons -- a deal that came after a chemical weapons attack in the Damascus suburbs on August 21.
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Another thing to look for today: What will Iranian President Hassan Rouhani say when he speaks this afternoon -- and will he interact with Obama? For the past several years, the General Assembly was then-Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's chance to needle the United States and the West, with many Western diplomats often walking out on his speeches.
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But Rouhani, a moderate politician elected in June, has called for better engagement with the West, including in a Washington Post op-ed last week, in which he called for nations to work together on contentious issues such as Iran's nuclear program. Iran contends its nuclear program is for peaceful energy purposes; the United States and other Western nations accuse Iran of trying to develop a nuclear weapons program.
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by United Nations via twitter 9/24/2013 12:46:37 PM
Photo: Ban Ki-moon & Protocol Chief Yoon Yeocheol ahead of today's #UNGA meetings. Info here: j.mp/9UFPSF http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BU7almgCAAAWmRh.jpg
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So how will Obama respond to Rouhani's overtures this week? No meeting between the two presidents has been scheduled, as far as we know. But a senior U.S. administration official said Tuesday that the White House has "left the door open" to some kind of face-to-face interaction between the two, CNN's Jim Acosta reported.
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Secretary of State John Kerry, however, will be meeting with Iranian counterpart, Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif, at a Thursday meeting of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, plus Germany. Discussions will surround restarting talks on Iran's nuclear program.
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by Javad Zarif via twitter edited by Jason.Hanna 9/24/2013 12:52:46 PM(A Tweet earlier this morning from Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif)
we have a historic opportunity to resolve the nuclear issue. 5+1 needs to adjust its posture commensurate with the new Iranian approach. -
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Regarding Obama's speech this morning, scheduled for around 10:10 a.m.: He will focus on U.S. policy toward the Middle East and North Africa, a White House official said, according to CNN's Jim Acosta.
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Ban has kicked things off: "We come together not to preserve the status quo, but to drive our world forward." He's simultaneously giving a message of optimism and prodding -- he says our generation has the ability to "wipe poverty from the face of the Earth," but we're hindered by a number of problems, such as unresolved conflicts and youths without jobs.
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by CNNgo via twitter 9/24/2013 1:08:33 PM -
Ban stressed the importance of the fostering the rights of women, who face abuse in many countries across the world. When girls are healthy and in school and "when women's lives are free of violence and discrimination, nations thrive." "Let the 21st century be the century of women." -
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Speaking about Syria, Ban said the international response to the chemical weapons problem in the devastated county has created "diplomatic momentum" for peace. "We must build on it to get the parties to the negotiating table," he said. "The only answer is a political settlement."
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Ban said that the civil war in Syria has left the economy "in ruins" and communities "torn apart." "We face a moment of reckoning." He said Syria's government must obey international obligations regarding its chemical weapons stockpile but also stressed that the vast majority of the killing and atrocities have been carried out with "conventional weapons." He appealed to all states to end the arms flow into Syria.
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In a related Syria item: We just learned, from Ban's associate spokesman Farhan Haq, that U.N. weapons inspectors will be back in Syria on Wednesday to assess at least a half a dozen claims of chemical weapons use in Syria - some alleged to be regime use, others alleged to be rebel use. That note comes to us from CNN's Nick Thompson in London.
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by United Nations via twitter 9/24/2013 1:21:11 PM
Behind-the-scenes: President of Brazil @DilmaBR is getting ready to address the #UNGA while Ban Ki-moon speaks. http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BU7kzTrCEAANry1.jpg
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by United Nations via twitter edited by Jason.Hanna 9/24/2013 1:25:28 PM(A Tweet from the United Nations)
Ban Ki-moon to #UNGA : "Let us empower the United Nations to be more than a first responder or a last resort." j.mp/9UFPSF -
by United Nations via twitter 9/24/2013 1:27:47 PMNow speaking: President of #UNGA John Ashe from Antigua and Barbuda. Follow him here: @UN_PGA . j.mp/9UFPSF
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Rousseff should be interesting from the U.S. government's point of view. Earlier this month, the U.S. and Brazil jointly agreed to postpone her planned October visit to Washington because of a controversy over reports the U.S. government was spying on her communications.
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Rousseff's now-postponed state visit to Washington had been intended to bring the two biggest economies in the Americas closer together -- the United States is Brazil's second-biggest trading partner after China. But reports that alleged the U.S. National Security Agency spied on Rousseff's mobile phone and e-mail communications embarrassed her, as CNN's Shasta Darlington reported last week.
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Dilma Rousseff has started. She sent along her condolences to the families of victims in Nairobi, Kenya, where the terror group Al-Shabaab attacked a mall. She said "terrorism" should be condemned and there should be determination to tackle the problem.
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Rousseff said Brazil would continue demanding explanations and apologies from the United States regarding its electronic surveillance programs. Friendly governments that want strategic partnerships “cannot possibly allow recurring and illegal actions to go on," she said.
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by United Nations via twitter edited by Jason.Hanna 9/24/2013 1:55:59 PM(Tweet from the United Nations)
Flags fly outside #UNGA as world leaders speak inside. vine.co/v/hrdFrWIeH33 -
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by UN Spokesperson via twitter 9/24/2013 2:00:24 PMNow available: #UNSG Ban Ki-moon's full remarks at this morning's General Debate bit.ly/1fy6Vbn #UNGA
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Rousseff is calling for an expansion of the number of permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, no doubt with a view that Brazil should be among them. Criticizing the current setup -- what she called the "limited representation" on the Security Council -- she said the council has been unacceptably paralyzed in addressing such important issues as the Syrian conflict and the Israeli-Palestinian question. She also suggested the council should be changed to reflect new challenges.
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The Brazilian president notes that the conflict in Syria is breeding "a sense of anger" and said it is imperative that a solution to the warfare, which began in March 2011, be found. She said Brazilians, including the many of Syrian ancestry, are deeply concerns about the plight of Syrians. "It is necessary to silence weapons, whether conventional or chemical."
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by RafaelRomoCNN via twitter 9/24/2013 2:10:55 PMBrazilian President: "We fully support the [chemical weapons] agreement between the US and #Rusia ." @dilmabr #Brazil @blogplanalto
