Obama presses UN for Mideast peace effort

EXHORTING world leaders to push past years of cynicism and pessimism, President Barack Obama challenged the countries of the United Nations yesterday to unite around peace efforts that he said could achieve agreement within a year to create an independent Palestine and a secure Israel.

Obama, in a speech to the UN General Assembly, urged fellow world leaders to press forward with renewed determination in the quest for Middle East peace, an effort he acknowledged has encountered “few peaks and many valleys”.

Without an agreement, he said, “more blood will be shed” and “this Holy Land will remain a symbol of our differences, instead of our common humanity”.