UNITED NATIONS (AP) 鈥 The world's leaders gathered in New York for the beginning of their annual meeting at the U.N. General Assembly. Let鈥檚 just say the vibe was pretty grim.
Leader after leader spoke of the wars in Ukraine, Gaza, and Sudan, climate problems, exclusion from U.N. decision making, poor nations struggling to feed their populations. 鈥淚 cannot recall a time of greater peril than this,鈥 said KING ABDULLAH II of Jordan.
A few speakers, including U.S. President , tried to push a message of hope for the future. "We are stronger than we think. We are stronger together than alone," Biden said. "And what the people call impossible is just an illusion.鈥
But the U.S. was the target of much veiled criticism for acting unilaterally on the response to the Gaza war: 鈥淚mpunity鈥 was the word of the day.
Here鈥檚 your daily guide to what鈥檚 going on at the United Nations this week, day by day:
From the podium
WAR IN GAZA: Many delegates focused their speeches on the war in Gaza. Jordan鈥檚 Abdullah said Israel鈥檚 campaigns are undermining a key part of the international system protecting human rights. He listed as examples: the bombing of U.N. shelters and schools; inability for U.N. workers to assist; and humanitarian workers being subsumed by the conflict. As for the idea of Palestinians finding new homes in Jordan, he said, forced displacement is a war crime and 鈥渢hat will never happen.鈥
Turkish President RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN called the U.N. a 鈥渄ysfunctional, unwieldy and inert structure,鈥 and told delegates that 鈥渋nternational peace and security are too important to be left to the arbitrariness of the privileged five鈥 permanent members of the Security Council. He called for the Security Council to impose sanctions on Israel and said the general assembly should recommend the use of force to achieve an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, the exchange of prisoners, and the unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid.
Brazilian President said: 鈥淭he right to self defense became a right for vengeance, which prevents a deal for the release of hostages and delays a ceasefire.鈥
Biden repeated his calls for a cease-fire and the return of hostages: 鈥淔ull-scale war is not in anyone鈥檚 interest."
IRAN: In his first speech at the U.N. General Assembly鈥檚 annual gathering of world leaders, President struck a somewhat more measured tone than his predecessors often have in recent years. 鈥淚 aim to lay a strong foundation for my country鈥檚 entry into a new era, positioning it to play an effective and constructive role in the evolving global order,鈥 said Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon who ran as a reformer. He took office in July.
LGBTQ+ RIGHTS: Erdogan criticized the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics in July, which featured drag queens and was widely misinterpreted as a representation of Christ鈥檚 last supper with his disciplines. He called it a 鈥渄isgrace鈥 that 鈥渞evealed the dimensions of the threat we face as humanity.鈥 Erdogan, whose government has clamped down on LGBTQ+ events in recent years, added: 鈥淎nyone who raises a voice against this destruction project and shows the slightest reaction is silenced and becomes the target of lynching campaigns," he said. 鈥淭urkey is determined to break this siege and resist this climate of fear at all cost.鈥
On the sidelines
Israel鈥檚 envoy to the U.N. says his country doesn鈥檛 want to send troops into Lebanon but will do 鈥渨hatever necessary鈥 to halt the Hezbollah rocket fire that has driven tens of thousands of Israelis from their country鈥檚 north. 鈥淲e prefer a diplomatic solution. But if it鈥檚 not working, we are using other methods to show the other side that we mean business,鈥 said Ambassador DANNY DANON.
White House Principal Deputy 好色tv Security Adviser JON FINER said that Biden administration officials were in talks with allies to help find an off-ramp to the escalating tensions between Israel and Hezbollah. 鈥淲e鈥檙e working on that it real time right here in New York and in capitals around the world,鈥 Finer said in an appearance at an event hosted by the news site Axios. He sidestepped questions about whether the fighting has already become the all-out war that the U.S. had been pressing Israel to avoid with Lebanon as it continues its nearly year-long conflict in Gaza. But he underscored that a 鈥渂ig war, a wider war鈥 is neither in Israel or Lebanon鈥檚 interest.
Climate moment
In the buildup to introducing Biden for a climate speech in New York, actress and activist JANE FONDA changed some words, some accidentally, some not so to call attention to climate change. In talking about Biden鈥檚 Inflation Reduction Act, Fonda slipped and started to called it the 鈥淚nflammation鈥 Reduction Act and then corrected it, saying inflammation actually works too, given global temperatures. Then in discussing fossil fuels that cause climate change, Fonda was blunt and profane: 鈥淔orget natural gas, but the f鈥-ing fossil gas. There鈥檚 nothing natural about it, and it鈥檚 terrible for people and the environment.鈥
Voices you might have missed
Several leaders from Africa complained again this year about the lack of permanent representation on the U.N. Security Council. 鈥淎frica and its 1.4 billion people remain excluded from its key decision-making structures,鈥 said CYRIL RAMAPHOSA, the president of South Africa. 鈥淭he U.N. Security Council must be reformed as a matter of urgency. It must become more inclusive so that the voices of all nations are heard and considered.鈥
El Salvador President NAYIB BUKELE boasted of his country鈥檚 security turnaround, moving the tiny Central American nation from one of the world鈥檚 most dangerous countries to one of its safest. Bukele was reelected by a landslide to an unprecedented second term in February largely on his security record of crippling the country鈥檚 once-powerful street gangs. The media-savvy millennial leader has locked up more than 81,000 people under a state of emergency now in place for more than 2 1/2 years that suspends some fundamental rights. 鈥淪ome say that we have jailed thousands, but the reality is that we have freed millions,鈥 Bukele said. 鈥淣ow it鈥檚 the good (people) who live free, without fear, with their freedoms and human rights totally respected.鈥
___
"Security is not only about having strong armies and weapons of mass destruction. True security will only be achieved with trust, equality and prosperity for all peoples."
鈥 SADYR ZHAPAROV, president of Kyrgyzstan
Something you probably don't know
Of all the United Nations' 193 countries, Brazil had the first word at the General Assembly鈥檚 big annual debate Tuesday 鈥 as it has since the early days of the U.N. Why? Because back then, Brazil volunteered to speak first when no other nation would. A tradition was born. The United States typically goes second because it hosts the U.N. headquarters in New York. Everyone else鈥檚 speaking slot is determined by multiple variables, including how high-level the speaker is (a head of state versus a cabinet member, for instance), countries鈥 own preferences and geographic balance.
One notable number
Number of times U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the word 鈥渋mpunity鈥 in his opening speech Tuesday: 5
Quotable
鈥淢y fellow leaders, let us never forget some things are more important than staying in power. It鈥檚 your people that matter the most. Never forget, we are here to serve the people, not the other way around.鈥
鈥 Biden, who won applause when he used his decision not to run for re-election as fuel for calling all leaders -- particularly autocrats in the room -- to focus on democracy ahead of personal power
___
鈥淣ot only children are dying in Gaza; the United Nations system is also dying, the truth is dying, the values that the West claims to defend are dying, the hopes of humanity to live in a fairer world are dying one by one."
鈥擡rdogan, speaking about the nations he says blindly support Israel, at the cost of tens of thousands of Palestinian lives.
Up next
Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, the leader of a nation at war, will address the General Assembly on Wednesday. Also Wednesday, the Security Council will hold a meeting about the situation in Lebanon.
___
AP writers Seth Borenstein, Michael Weissenstein, Marcos Alem谩n, Matthew Weis and Matthew Lee contributed. See more of AP鈥檚 coverage of the U.N. General Assembly at
