In Brief | Nation & World 9-28-15

Obama makes forceful defense of new UN development goals

UNITED NATIONS — President Barack Obama on Sunday committed the U.S. to a new blueprint to eliminate poverty and hunger around the world, telling a global summit that a sweeping new development agenda is “not charity but instead is one of the smartest investments we can make in our own future.”

It was the first of two addresses Obama is making at the United Nations. His second on Monday morning, to the annual U.N. General Assembly of world leaders, will be a broader examination of world issues, especially the ever-more complicated conflict in Syria and the related refugee crisis.

Obama offered a powerful defense of a 15-year development agenda and will require trillions of dollars of effort from countries, companies and civil society.

Global war on IS a focus at UN General Assembly

BEIRUT — When world leaders convene for the U.N. General Assembly this week, it will be a year since the U.S. president declared the formation of an international coalition to “degrade and ultimately destroy” the Islamic State group.

Despite billions of dollars spent and thousands of airstrikes, the campaign appears to have made little impact.

The extremist group may control slightly less territory than a year ago, but it continues to launch attacks and maintains key strongholds in Syria and Iraq. The militants’ reach has expanded to other countries, including Libya, Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula and Afghanistan.

U.S.-led airstrikes helped Syrian Kurds hold the strategic border town of Kobani in January, and seize another key border town, Tal Abyad, this summer. But a much-touted offensive to oust IS militants from the Iraqi city of Ramadi remains stalled; there have been grave losses among the few Syrian rebels trained by the U.S. to fight IS; an IS-free zone announced by Turkey and the U.S. has failed to materialize.

By wire sources