Nearly 160 world leaders plan to attend UN September meeting

By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — A very high number of heads of state and government — 157 — say they plan to attend September’s first totally in-person gathering of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly since the COVID-19 pandemic began in early 2020. The 104 heads of state on the just released provisional list of speakers include U.S. President Joe Biden, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and the presidents of Iran, France, Brazil, Colombia, South Korea, South Africa, Egypt and Venezuela. The 53 heads of government listed include the next still-to-be-chosen British prime minister, Germany’s chancellor and the Japanese, Israeli and Iraqi  prime ministers.