UN takes center stage

The 68th session of the UN General Assembly, which officially started on Sept 17, has stepped into the international limelight this week after the higher-level "general debate" began on Tuesday.

As a parade of about 130 heads of state, heads of government and deputy prime ministers will address the conference on topics of national or international concern over eight days, there are expectations that the annual event might help build a greater international consensus on some serious issues the world is facing today.

The theme for the 68th session's general debate, The Post-2015 Development Agenda: Setting the Stage, shows the world body is giving top priority to discussing a sustainable new global agenda to succeed the Millennium Development Goals, which galvanized the world in 2000.