Mark Leon

Biden, Zelenskyy and hundreds of world leaders will address the United Nations General Assembly during UNGA week. A schedule of key UN events

Interpol is an international organization with very high name recognition. But few people, even in the foreign policy community, have a decent understanding of how it works. As it happens, before I became a foreign policy journalist I did an internship at Interpol’s headquarters in Lyon, France. This was over 20 years ago — but I’ve been following Interpol’s work closely ever since. I caught up with my guest today, Interpol Secretary General Jurgen Stock, at a unique time in […]

In my 18 years of covering the United Nations, I’ve always caught the annual pre-UNGA press conference from the UN Secretary General — stretching back from Kofi Annan to Antonio Guterres! I wouldn’t say that the Secretary General can set the tone for UNGA— that comes more from the speeches of the Presidents and Prime Ministers. But the UN Secretary General can certainly influence the tenor of this most important week on the international diplomatic calendar. For Antonio Guterres, the 2023 opening […]

UNGA78 is here! Hundreds of world leaders are gathered in New York for the opening of the 78th United Nations General Assembly. I’ve covered 18 of those 78 as a journalist, stretching back to 2005. I’d like to think this gives me a modicum of expertise on all things UNGA, so here are some of the key stories that will drive the agenda during what is known around the UN as “High Level Week.” From Monday to Thursday this week, […]

The Global Dispatches podcast is teaming up with the United Nations Foundation for a special daily series during the 78th United Nations General Assembly. You can listen to this episode and our full UNGA series wherever you get your podcasts by searching for Global Dispatches–World News That Matters, or following this link. Today, Monday, September 18, marks the kickoff to what is known around the UN as “High Level Week.” The main event today was the Sustainable Development Goals Summit. […]

The Global Dispatches podcast is teaming up with the United Nations Foundation for a special daily series during the 78th United Nations General Assembly. You can listen to this episode and our full UNGA series wherever you get your podcasts by searching for Global Dispatches–World News That Matters, or following this link. Tuesday, September 19th marks the start of the General Debate. This is the parade of Presidents and Prime Ministers who address the world from the rostrum in the United Nations General […]

Today is Wednesday, September 20th and it was a very busy day at the United Nations. Of all the days this week, today was arguably the most packed with high level consequential meetings. Throughout the day today was the Secretary General’s Climate Ambition Summit. We will bring you full coverage of that in tomorrow’s episode. Also today, the Security Council held a meeting on Ukraine, which featured Zelenskyy’s first time addressing the Security Council in person since Russia’s invasion. There […]

When I spoke with Olivier Bancoult several years ago, I was genuinely perplexed by the question of how he could maintain a deeply personal connection to a homeland he barely knew? Bancoult is Chagossian. This is a small archipelago in the middle of the Indian Ocean that is formally known as the British Indian Ocean Territory. At the age of four, Bancoult was forcibly deported from his home, along with thousands of others, as part of a deliberate campaign by […]

An opposition candidate named María Corina Machado overwhelmingly won a primary in October to challenge Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro in presidential elections next year. Maduro was the hand picked successor to Hugo Chavez and has been in power since 2013, overseeing an economic free-fall and social dislocation of a massive scale. All the while, Maduro has tightened his grip on power through authoritarian means. Elections in Venezuala have not been free nor fair. But there was a significant political breakthrough […]

This research investigates the biomechanical effects of a novel ceramic implant for the treatment of canine cranial cruciate ligament rupture (CCLR) based on the tibial tuberosity advancement (TTA) method using finite element analysis (FEA). A 3D FEA of the tibiofemoral joint simulating the applied forces (44.5% of body weight) during the mid-stance phase (joint angle 135°) of the dog’s stride was performed. Three conditions were considered for each joint: the physiological condition, the pathological condition with CCLR and the restored condition after TTA. Eight cadavers were used to create fifteen paired knee joints. The results showed significant differences in the forces that could be measured in the patellar tendon (PT) and in the cranial displacement of the tibial tuberosity between the conditions. The PT forces increased in the pathological state and continued to increase in the restored state, while the cranial displacement of the tibial tuberosity increased in the pathological state and decreased again in the restored state. Correlation analyses revealed significant correlations between PT forces, body weight and cranial displacement. The FEA provides initial insights into the force distribution and functionality of the ceramic implant. However, further testing is required to validate reliability and evaluate the efficacy of the implant.