Syria, North Korea take swipes at West as UN assembly ends

Some of the West’s fiercest critics made their cases in the closing hours of the U.N. General Assembly meeting of world leaders, as Syria and North Korea on Monday accused the United States and its allies of trying to impose their will on the world.
Syria’s top diplomat called for a U.S.-led military coalition to get out of his country, a North Korean ambassador said his nation wouldn’t yield to U.N. demands to give up its nuclear weapons program, and both condemned sanctions against their countries.
If the messages weren’t exactly new, they carried the extra weight of a once-a-year chance to speak from the same famous podium as the leaders of other nations, including their adversaries. U.S. President Joe Biden addressed the assembly last week, making no direct mention of Syria but briefly complaining that North Korea “continues to blatantly violate U.N. sanctions” over its nuclear activities.