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US President Barack Obama Wednesday urged world leaders to move in a new direction saying they "must embrace a new era of engagement" in his first speech to the annual UN General Assembly.
"It is my deeply held belief that in the year 2009 more than at any point in human history, the interests of nations and peoples are shared," the US leader said after receiving warm applause as he stepped up to the podium in the imposing United Nations building.
"The religious convictions we hold in our hearts can forge new bonds among people or they can tear us apart," Obama said.
"We don't have the luxury of indulging our differences to the exclusion of the work we must do together. I have carried this message and it is what I will speak about today.
"Because the time has come for the world to move in a new direction. We must embrace a new era of engagement based on mutual interest and mutual respect and our work must begin now."
