Obama makes forceful defense of new development goals

Lebanon’s prime minister tells the United Nations that the Syrian refugee crisis is costing his tiny country one-third of its gross domestic product and strangling development.

Arriving in the Big Apple Sunday for a three-day stay that will include an address before the UN General Assembly, President Obama called on the world’s nations to eliminate extreme poverty and invest in poor populations in order to save lives and reduce global conflict.

“Barring either regime victory over the insurgency, which is unlikely, or a US policy shift toward political transition away from Assad – which would bring regional allies and insurgents on board against ISIS – I don’t see any prospect of defeating ISIS“, Itani said.

He has also scheduled meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday night to discuss plans to curb the burgeoning violence in Syria, and with Cuban President Raul Castro on Tuesday.

In heralding the adoption of the new development agenda, the US President said the vicious cycle of poverty gripping people around the globe could be broken.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, meets with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Sunday, September 27, 2015, in New York. Putin wants to talk about Syria; Obama wants to concentrate on Ukraine. The Kremlin and the White House, meanwhile, have spent the few days since the Obama-Putin meeting was announced sniping at each other over who requested it.

The US, Germany, Britain, China, Russian Federation and France have agreed to lift economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program.

The Iran nuclear deal has raised expectations that Tehran might engage more on other crucial issues.

A campaign against IS militants who have claimed broad sections of Iraq and Syria remains far from achieving Obama’s goal to “degrade and ultimately destroy” the group, despite more than a year of military airstrikes against IS targets by a U.S.-led coalition of more than 60 countries.

Speaking on CBS’s “Face the Nation”, Boehner unloaded against conservatives long outraged that even with control of both houses of Congress, Republicans have not succeeded on key agenda items, such as repealing President Barack Obama’s health care law and striking taxpayer funding from Planned Parenthood. Addressing the world’s greatest refugee crisis since World War II as millions flee conflict in Syria and elsewhere, he said countries “that can, must do more to accommodate refugees” but added those efforts must be matched by diplomacy.

The four regional leaders said in a joint statement Saturday that “a more representative, legitimate and effective” council is needed more than ever to address spiraling global crises and conflicts.

He cited Pope Francis, who has won a warm reception on a visit to the United States and has heartened Obama by taking up the cause of climate change.

The current system is a reflection of the global power structure after World War II when the United Nations was founded.