But the gathering getting underway in Paris this week, the 21st annual convening to address the problem of climate change, offers a chance for the U.N. to actually do what it was intended to do: Bring countries together to solve a mutual problem with multiple culprits.
As the holiday gathering got underway Wednesday morning, Syed Rizwan Farook joined dozens of his colleagues from San Bernardino County's public health department.
But as the gathering got underway, those themes seemed like afterthoughts, overshadowed by contentious matters from the U.S.-China trade dispute to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Military officials with their chests covered in medals and Workers Partyy delegates in dark suits gave Kim round after round of standing ovations and occasionally broke into cheers as the gathering got underway, images from North Korean state TV showed.
At this year's Cannes Film Festival, the prestigious and peculiarly French cinema gathering now underway, many of the hottest titles don't come from an obscure group of Europeans, as they have so often before.
The departure of Courage Campaign from the 2010 campaign removes a significant amount of volunteer resources from the signature gathering efforts currently underway to place an initiative on the ballot next November.
"I think a lot of schools have been left to their own devices, in many respects, depending on the strength of their local authority," says Graham Gunn, curriculum deputy at Bishop Stortford High school (tbshs.herts.sch.uk) in Hertfordshire, adding that preparations to start in January are well underway and gathering speed.
Photograph: YORGOS KARAHALIS/REUTERS 9.17am BST Greece protests get underway Crowds are gathering in Athens for today's marches organised by labour groups.
Plans for commemorative ceremonies, gatherings, and memorial services are underway.
Preparations were underway Monday morning, with workers gathering supplies for the repair job and trucks bringing in rocks and other materials.
Negotiations are underway in Panama, the last gathering of climate diplomats prior to the big Durban Climate Conference at the end of the year.
