News Digest

World leaders meet with multiple crises on agenda

Facing a world in turmoil from multiple crises ranging from wars in the Mideast and Africa to the deadly scourge of Ebola and growing Islamic radicalism, leaders from more than 140 countries open their annual meeting at the United Nations on Wednesday with few solutions. The issue certain to top the agenda is the threat from Islamic terrorists intent on erasing borders, with the first U.S. and Arab airstrikes in Syria delivered Monday night in response. Many diplomats hope that crisis won’t drown out the plight of millions of civilians caught in conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Central African Republic, South Sudan, Ukraine and Gaza; the misery of the largest number of refugees since World War II; and global support for new U.N. goals to fight poverty and address climate change. The opening of the annual U.N. meeting, which ends September 30, follows the highest-level meeting ever on climate change, with some 120 world leaders responding to the secretary-general’s call for increased political momentum to address the warming planet.

For all the immediate challenges that we gather to address this week - terrorism, instability, inequality, disease - there’s one issue that will define the contours of this century more dramatically than any other, and that is the urgent and growing threat of a changing climate.

U.S. President Barack Obama

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who will deliver his state of the world report at Wednesday’s opening of the General Assembly ministerial session, gave a bleak preview to reporters last week: The world is facing “multiple crises,” with all featuring attacks on civilians and having dangerous sectarian, ethnic or tribal dimensions. The secretary-general said he will call on world leaders to unite to uphold human dignity and the rule of law. U.S. President Barack Obama will step to the podium, and he is certain to dwell on the terrorist threat. Obama will also chair a Security Council meeting later Wednesday at which members are expected to adopt a resolution that would require all countries to prevent the recruitment and transport of foreign fighters preparing to join terrorist groups such as the Islamic State.