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World Leaders Set to Address UN General Assembly

Margaret Besheer

   UNITED NATIONS - World leaders involved in some of the most high
   profile geopolitical issues are among those set to speak on the first
   day of the U.N. General Assembly in New York.

   After opening remarks from U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres,
   those gathered for the annual meeting will hear from a group that
   includes U.S. President Donald Trump, Turkish President Recep Tayyip
   Erdogan, Korean President Moon Jae-in and French President Emmanuel
   Macron.

   The addresses come a day after Swedish teen activist Greta Thunberg
   scolded world leaders at a U.N. summit calling for climate action,
   saying people are suffering and dying from the effects of global
   warming and that all the leaders have are empty words.

   "We are in [the] beginning of a mass extinction and all you can talk
   about is money," said Thunberg, who ignited a youth movement with her
   Friday school strikes for climate action.

   She said the science has been clear for 30 years, and still they are
   not doing enough.

   "You are failing us! But the young people are starting to understand
   your betrayal," Thunberg said in a voice filled with emotion. "The eyes
   of all future generations are upon you. And if you choose to fail us, I
   say we will never forgive you."

   The 16-year-old warned the more than 60 presidents and prime ministers
   gathered in the General Assembly hall for the summit that the youth
   would not let them "get away with this." She said they draw the line
   here and now and "change is coming," whether they like it or not.

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