This is an emergency of enormous scale, and we all have a moral obligation to stand shoulder to shoulder to ensure its swift conclusion. Especially, as we see time and again, it is the poorest and most vulnerable that are most at risk.

India's prime minister is proposing a new addition to the lengthy list of annual U.N. observances: World Yoga Day. In his speech to the U.N. General Assembly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi extolled the therapeutic powers of yoga and said it could help tackle global problems.

The largest climate change demonstration in history took place on Sunday. According to organizers of thePeople’s Climate March, an estimated 400,000 people participated in the protest in New York. For comparison, the size of the march was comparable to the scale of the February 15 anti-war demonstration in 2003. The demonstration at the Copenhagen Summit in 2009 mobilized about 100,000 people, but US demonstrations at that time generally mobilized fewer than 1,000 people.

As leaders from around the world gather at the United Nations this week for a global summit on climate change, the outlook is gloomy. The U.S, historically the world's worst polluter, can't even decide if man-made climate change exists. Meanwhile, China, the current king of greenhouse gas emissions, is reluctant to sign on to any climate change pact that would hinder its growth. All of which got me thinking about Sting.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif held several diplomatic meetings with his foreign counterparts and UN officials in New York, where world leaders are gathering in to attend the 69th annual session of the United Nations General Assembly.

A marquee has been erected on the driveway of the United Nations to deprive potential snipers of a line of site, as world leaders lever themselves out of their limousines. Even inside the headquarters building, blue partitions have been put up, presumably to sequester the leaders from the journalists who work here day in day out. With some 140 heads of state and government scheduled to attend, a record-breaking number, leaders' week at the United Nations is like no other.

In an emergency session yesterday convened by the United States, 131 members of the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution declaring the Ebola outbreak spreading now in Africa a threat to international peace and security.

North Korea appears to be launching an unusual diplomatic marathon. Earlier this month, the South Korean daily, Joongang Daily, reported that North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong plans to attend the United Nations General Assembly next week in New York. It will be the first time a North Korean foreign minister has attended the forum in 15 years, and only the third time ever Pyongyang’s top diplomat has attended the annual summit in the country’s history.