(USA Today) U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday pledged to push for lasting peace in the Middle East and an end to the conflict in Darfur in the coming year, calling it one of the most challenging in the U.N.'s history.
At the opening of the U.N. General Assembly's annual ministerial meeting, Ban took the podium for the first time as U.N. chief and called for "an internal climate of change" at the world body to address the growing number of issues requiring collective action.
"Looking to the coming year and beyond, we can foresee a daunting array of challenges to come," he said. "They are problems that respect no borders - that no country, big or small, rich or poor, can resolve on its own."
The high-level session opened with speeches by Ban and President Bush.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose speech at Columbia University on Monday provoked widespread protests, will take the podium later in the day.