This morning, President Obama, speaking for the last time to the General Assembly in his current role, told world leaders countries can not live in isolation.
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Obama’s message seemed tailored as much for American voters looking towards the November election as for the worldwide leaders who assembled in New York City.
“I called this summit because this crisis is one of the most urgent tests of our time”, he said. “It makes good business sense”, he said.
“If there’s one thing that I hope comes out of today, it is a shared understanding that the children we see in these refugee camps are as precious as our children”, Mr. Obama said.
It was the second time that Obama has used the podium at the General Debate to attack Donald Trump’s stated desire to erect a wall along the U.S. -Mexico border.
The UN estimates that there are about about 21.3 million refugees forced to flee due to armed conflict or persecution.
President Barack Obama is urging nations to reject authoritarianism and embrace more open societies. Please see our terms of service for more information.
The UN chief hailed the aid workers on the convoy to Aleppo province as “heroes” and said “those who bombed them were cowards” before calling for accountability for crimes committed in the war.
Since then, more than 9,000 people have died of the disease that causes uncontrollable diarrhea and 800,000 people have fallen ill, mostly in the first two years of the outbreak. “Despite enormous progress as people lose trust in institutions, governing becomes more hard and tensions between nations become more quick to surface”.
The United Nations will put forward a package of assistance for cholera victims and help Haiti build sound water, sanitation and healthy systems, he said.
The president credited global economic integration with lifting billions of people out of poverty over the last quarter-century. He says the global economy needs to work better for all people, not just those at the top.
The top US diplomat has urged Pakistan’s prime minister to prevent “all terrorists” from using the nation’s territory as safe havens. The cessation of hostilities had been wrangled by Secretary of State John F. Kerry and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov. Obama has used his United Nations addresses in the past to confront domestic anxieties, including during his reelection battle with Mitt Romney in 2012 and later when racial tensions prompted protests in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014.
India on Tuesday accused Pakistan of firing at an Indian military position in Kashmir, which Pakistan denied.
After Brazil’s President Michel Temer finished his address, president of the General Assembly Peter Thomson said Obama is delayed and has not yet arrived for his speech to the General Assembly.
Ban said “many groups have killed innocent civilians – none more so than the government of Syria”.
The two leaders also discussed the alarming situation on the Korean Peninsula and in South Sudan.
“Powerful patrons that keep feeding the war machine also have blood on their hands”, he said.
Still, even as both Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton also stopped by NY this week to meet with world leaders attending the General Assembly, Obama hopes to achieve a last push for greater cooperation between nations even after he leaves office.
Bocelli’s performance of Nessun Dorma on Monday earned a standing ovation from heads of state.
As far as the threat posed by migrants, Mr. Trump also has cited an internal Homeland Security Department audit showing that the USA mistakenly granted citizenship to at least 858 immigrants from “special interest countries” that present national security concerns or high rates of immigration fraud.
Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Morocco are expected to hand over documents at the U.N.in NY on Wednesday to formally complete the ratification process.
Follow @cparsons for news about the White House.
Speaking at a US-led refugee summit at the United Nations, Obama praised Germany and Canada among other countries for opening up their doors to those fleeing the war in Syria and other conflicts.
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Obama’s address marks his swan song on the worldwide stage.
