But even at the first plenary session this week, controversies began to cut through the congratulatory platitudes.

ECONOMIST: Wales

The President will then attend the first plenary session of the G-20 Summit.

WHITEHOUSE: Vice President's Schedule

The internal mid-term elections of the European Parliament took up the first couple of days of the first plenary session of 2012.

BBC: Democracy Live site links

The last mayor to address the United Nations was Vincent Impelliteri in 1952, who spoke to the first plenary session of the General Assembly.

CNN: Annan, Giuliani address U.N. General Assembly

Labour AM Mick Antoniw was one of those who did not attend the tributes, which opened the assembly's first plenary session after the Easter recess on Tuesday.

BBC: Thatcher legacy: Welsh Labour and Tory leaders divided

The first session of the IPBES plenary meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, on 3-7 October 2011, has made important steps forward in establishing and operationalizing the platform.

UNESCO: Social and Human Sciences

During the first session of the IPBES plenary meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, on 3-7 October 2011, delegates made considerable progress in determining the platform's modalities and institutional arrangements.

UNESCO: Indigenous Peoples