The world has a new global voice, and it belongs to Dilma Rousseff. The Brazilian president’s fiery speech yesterday at the United Nations condemning the US spying program solidified her position on the world’s podium as a civil liberties champion unafraid to stand up to Washington, analysts say.

On a day when President Obama told delegates at the United Nations that he welcomed the opportunity posed by diplomatic overtures from Iran’s new president, Israeli diplomats in Washington sounded a very different note online, mocking the moderate cleric as scarcely different from his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani, told world leaders Tuesday that his government is prepared to “engage immediately in result-oriented” talks with the United States, but also complained about American economic sanctions and military intervention in the Middle East. In a widely anticipated speech at the United Nations General Assembly, Rouhani said that Iran and the U.S. “can arrive at a framework to manage our differences,” adding that his government has no desire to increase tensions between the two longtime adversaries.

President Barack Obama, speaking at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, appeared to open the door for diplomatic solutions in the Syrian conflict and with Iran. In his 50-minute speech to the General Assembly, Obama pressed the United Nations and its member states to take action to resolve the Syrian conflict, saying that the "crisis in Syria and the destablization of the region goes to the heart of the broader challenges the international community must now face."

The Executive Director of U.N. Women says your tweets can help stop violence against women. “I would like all those men and boys…to stand up against violence against women,” Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said during the 2013 Social Good Summit Sunday. She explained that men can make a difference by “tweeting about it, hosting conversations, fighting against those sites that abuse women.”

Citing Afghans’ “exuberant” display of national unity and pride at the war-wracked country’s victory in a regional football championship as a “welcome sign” on the gradual path to normalcy, the top United Nations envoy there today also pointed to other recent political and security gains despite major challenges.

Since the founding of the United Nations in 1946, the United Nations Security Council has existed to oversee decisions made by the U.N. The five permanent members—China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States, and France—have a veto power that enables them to prevent the passage of any "substantive" draft Council resolution even if the other countries support it.

As the United Nations opens its 68th General Assembly session, publics around the world continue to have a positive impression of the international organization. Clear majorities in 22 of the 39 countries surveyed say they have a favorable view of the UN, including thumbs-up from Security Council permanent members Britain, France and the U.S. Ratings for the UN are on balance favorable in Russia. But the Chinese are divided in their opinion. However, views trend negatively in key Middle Eastern publics, including Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan and Turkey.