An incredible series of world leader portraits — including audio about each subject’s photo — by Platon of The New Yorker, taken during the latest sitting of the UN General Assembly.
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UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY
The UN: a glorified global beauty pageant
The United Nations is nothing more than a “theatre for the absurd”, says Alex Castellanos, where “terrorists and madmen” stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the leader of the free world — and the US foots almost a quarter of the bill for the privilege.
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Are the Libs taking the climate change road less travelled?
Liberals might like to pretend that climate change action is radical, but as seen at last week’s UN, it’s become the diplomatic lingua franca. How are the Libs so out of line with the global political agenda?
READ MOREThe 10 most cuckoo crazy UN speeches ever
Muammar Gaddafi may be copping it for his UN tirade last week, but he’s not the first world leader to get controversial at the UN General Assembly. Like, when Castro labelled JFK a “millionaire, illiterate, and ignorant”.
READ MOREG20: present at the Ruddation
It won’t get any better than this for Rudd: he may have inherited the G20 from his predecessor, but it will now forever be linked to his name in Australian foreign policy.
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The lingering absurdity of the UN
This week we’ve had the world powers of the G20 and the UN General Assembly hitting the headlines. Except, only one of these two institutions is making any sense.
READ MOREIran vs. the world
Over the weekend, Obama and the UN called Iran out over a secret nuclear facility. Ahmedinejad came clean and invited the IAEA over for a look. But the US wants to come too. So Iran allayed everyone’s fears by firing off some missiles. Will Obama respond with tougher sanctions?
READ MOREBrazil puts the heat on Honduras
The ousted Honduran president Manuel Zelaya has returned and is in hiding, while the coup continues and the world’s media misreports events. It’s no wonder free elections are impossible.
READ MOREFace-to-face with Ahmadinejad
The world has walked out on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, after his hate-filled, anti-Semitic speech to the UN. In an exclusive interview, Newsweek grills the embattled leader over his continued Holocaust denial and nuclear ambitions.
READ MORETowards a nuclear-free world
The UN Security Council has unanimously backed a resolution to rid the world of nuclear weapons. It’s an historic move, but is it enough to head off a nuclear showdown with Iran?
READ MOREObama wimps out on climate change
Barack Obama’s speech to the UN was lacklustre for those who give a damn about the environment. He’ll have to do better if he wants to rally Congress for support, writes Bill McKibben.
READ MOREObama running out of Mid-East options
The tone from Washington has changed this year: there is a note of urgency and real rather than manufactured impatience with Israeli policy, notably on the West Bank settlements.
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Rudd puts G20 front and centre
Rudd’s Foreign Policy Association speech – once you get past the obsequious praise of the United States – is an almost blunt demand that the G20 become the critical instrument of world economic regulation.
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Rudd’s radical global reforms
Pals Kevin Rudd and Barack Obama may be due for their first rumble. Rudd’s major NY speech calls on the US for global leadership, while Obama tells the UN the US can’t fix the world’s problems.
READ MOREIs China’s climate pledge all just hot air?
China’s President Hu Jintao addressed the UN General Assembly for the first time in 40 years, making a much-hyped commitment to act on the country’s carbon emissions. But unfortunately, says Jonathan Watts, his speech was pretty light-on for substance and specifics.
READ MOREWorld leaders talk the talk on climate change
Barack Obama, Hu Jintao and other major world players have all paid lip service to the importance of acting on climate change at the UN’s climate summit. Now for the hard bit…
READ MOREUN prepares for climate clash: the players and problems
A global climate change treaty will be one of the biggest issues at this week’s UN General Assembly, but with a range of agendas, targets and hot-headed players set to clash, it won’t just be the planet heating up.
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Copenhagen heats up with Wong’s big plan
The boiling point for climate change reform is Copenhagen, and today Penny Wong announces a radical plan for developing countries: they submit their own national targets and schedules.
READ MOREUS scrubs up nicely for UN talks
America’s global image is looking a lot shiner since President Barack Obama took the reigns of power — but that doesn’t mean other world leaders are actually listening to him.
READ MORERudd and Clinton chew the fat
Kevin Rudd and former US President Bill Clinton shared a fruit salad and a chat yesterday, with the Aussie PM packing his social and diplomatic schedule while in the US for the UN General Assembly.
READ MORENew York, New York: UN hits the big apple
Jintao, Ahmadinejad, Gadaffi, Brown, Obama — the biggest and most controversial names in world politics (and also Kevin Rudd) have hit New York for this year’s UN General Assembly.
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