US President George W. Bush and other world leaders sought today to contain the fallout from a financial crisis engulfing Wall Street and global markets.
Mr Bush used his farewell speech to the United Nations to offer assurances of his commitment to stabilising world markets, for the moment overshadowing international concerns about tense standoffs with Russia, Iran and North Korea.
But he also faced criticism at the annual UN General Assembly over the excesses of a global free enterprise system that Washington has long pushed as the path to economic growth and prosperity.
The session opened amid intensive efforts in Washington between the Bush administration to craft an unprecedented $700 billion bailout spurred by the worst upheaval in the US financial system since the Great Depression.
"I can assure you that my administration and our Congress are working together to quickly pass legislation approving this strategy, and I'm confident we will act in the urgent time frame required," Mr Bush said in his eighth speech to the United Nations.
With investors still worried and the crisis spreading internationally, other economic powers are also feeling the pinch. Poor countries fear this could lead to cuts in the aid budgets of their biggest donors.
The US president also urged world leaders to reach a new trade agreement as soon as possible. "The recent impasse in the Doha round is disappointing but that does not have to be the final word," he said.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said financial turmoil jeopardises efforts to reduce world poverty and demands a new approach with less "uncritical faith in the 'magic' of markets."
"The global financial crisis endangers all our work," Mr Ban told the General Assembly. "We need to restore order to the international financial markets."
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva also sounded a dire warning about the threat to the world economy in his speech to the assembly and said the United Nations should be the forum to discuss solutions.
He blamed "irresponsible" speculators. "We must not allow the burden of the boundless greed of a few to be shouldered by all," he said.
"Only decisive action by governments, especially in countries where the crisis is focused, will be able to control the disorder that has spread through the world's financial sector."
Issues of war and peace, normally the mainstay of UN business, were also on high on the agenda.
Mr Bush reasserted US accusations that Iran and Syria sponsor terrorism - charges that they deny - and urged UN member states to enforce sanctions against Iran and North Korea over their nuclear programs. "We must remain vigilant against proliferation," Mr Bush said.
Foreign ministers from Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States are planning to meet on Thursday to discuss the possibility of drafting a fourth UN sanctions resolution against Iran over its nuclear program.
Previous rounds of sanctions and an upgraded offer of economic incentives have failed to budge Iran, which denies it is seeking nuclear weapons and insists it only wants civilian nuclear energy.
Mr Bush also renewed US support for Georgia, which Russia invaded in August after the former Soviet republic tried to retake control of its pro-Moscow breakaway region of South Ossetia.
But he did not repeat his direct criticism of Russia, which has faced heavy international condemnation for its military actions against Georgia.
Reuters