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Just more than a year ago, Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) stood in the way of controversial U.N. ambassador pick John Bolton. The Bush administration worked around Senate opposition by giving Bolton a recess appointment to the job. Now Bolton is back up for Senate confirmation.

In New York for his first visit to the U.N. since becoming president, Barack Obama spent time meeting with other world leaders. He also addressed the U.N. Summit on Climate Change. With progress stalled on Middle East peace talks as well as climate change, it was a day that underscored the challenges Obama faces.

President Obama challenged leaders gathered at the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday to join the U.S. in solving the world's problems rather than waiting for America to do it on its own. Obama used his first address to the U.N. General Assembly to calls for a "new era of engagement."

World leaders gather in New York with the goal of adopting reforms at the United Nations. The General Assembly has approved a document that touches on issues like human rights, world poverty and terrorism. But the document was watered down greatly in negotiations just prior to the summit.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is in Sri Lanka to discuss how to handle the quarter-million people displaced by that island nation's 25-year civil war. The government said more than 6,200 of its forces were killed and almost 30,000 wounded in the final three years of its war against the Tamil Tiger rebels, which ended last weekend.

The UN climate conference in Egypt is in its second week. Here's an update on how negotiations are progressing.

One month after a bombing that killed 21 people at the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad, the organization has sharply reduced its humanitarian efforts in Iraq. U.N. officials say they are struggling to deliver food, water and medical services with a much thinner staff. Hear U.N. Undersecretary for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland.

Cigarette smuggling has been the focus of a United Nations conference in New York this week.

In an address to the U.N. General Assembly, President Bush defends the U.S. decision to go war in Iraq and warns that the move toward Iraqi self-government will take time. Bush asks for greater international assistance in stabilizing Iraq. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and others criticize the U.S. decision to go war without the U.N. Security Council's approval. Hear NPR's Vicky O'Hara and Lionel Barber of the Financial Times.

As the United States and allies formally ask the U.N. Security Council to lift sanctions on Iraq, France and Germany question aspects of the resolution and Russia's stance is unclear. Russia's foreign minister shows support for lifting sanctions, but its U.N. ambassador expresses reservations. But Russian President Vladimir Putin has maintained that the U.N. should complete arms inspections before sanctions are lifted. NPR's Lawrence Sheets reports.