About 130 world leaders are attending this year’s global gathering, but all eyes will be on Trump, whose “America First” agenda has alarmed both allies and foes. The UN’s number one financial backer, the United States has threatened deep cuts to UN funding that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said would create an “unsolvable problem” for the world body. Guterres, who is pushing for an overhaul of the UN bureaucracy, will also address the event at which leaders will sign a pledge of support for reform. MyanmarBritish Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson to host a meeting on the military campaign in Myanmar which the United Nations has described as “ethnic cleansing” after more than 410,000 Rohingya Muslims were forced to flee. Ahead of the opening of the General Assembly, UN member-states will discuss the aftermath of Hurricane Irma that devastated parts of the United States and the Caribbean.

Source: Dhaka Tribune September 18, 2017 13:30 UTC