Good morning. A judge in Washington ordered that the White House “immediately” restore access to CNN, MS NOW and Politico. And an OpenAI agent hacked Australia’s public health care system. We’ll get to more news below. But first, let’s visit the United Nations.
The big showThe most riveting theatrical performances in New York aren’t on Broadway right now. They’re happening in Turtle Bay, in the General Assembly Hall of the United Nations, where hundreds of leaders of sovereign nations have gathered this week to debate (and maybe even address?) global issues. It’s been super weird. Just seven months ago, Masoud Pezeshkian was running Iran from an underground bunker, trying to stay alive as American and Israeli missiles rained down. Now he’s moving around New York under the protection of the Secret Service. Yesterday, he accused the United States and Israel of “cowardly" attacks on his country, a day after President Trump mulled from the same lectern about whether to make a deal with Iran or “annihilate” the nation. It was the first time in the U.N.’s 81-year history that a leader whose country is at war with the United States had ever addressed the Assembly. Here was President Javier Milei of Argentina whaling on the U.N. itself, a bunch of “fatally arrogant parasites masquerading as well-intentioned bureaucrats.” Nice to see you, sir. There was U Kyaw Moe Tun of Myanmar, the lonely representative of a government overthrown by a military putsch in 2021. The U.N. still recognizes his ambassadorship, but his own country doesn’t. He didn’t speak. Dramatis personae
Let’s look at some of the main players in the show. President Masoud Pezeshkian of Iran: Pezeshkian held up pictures of people killed by American and Israeli airstrikes and defiantly vowed that Iran could “not be made to surrender.” He said the country would never accept limits on a nuclear program meant only for peaceful purposes, though he allowed that Iran was “ready for dialogue.” President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine: He’s in a tough spot. His country is low on munitions that can intercept Russian drones and missiles, and so is the United States. He warned the General Assembly that without aid, his country might not survive — and that Russia’s “ridiculous and never-ending” war could spread beyond Ukraine. He predicted a harsh winter but pledged, “We will have no choice but to make it painful for Russia, too.” Delcy Rodríguez, interim president of Venezuela: She’s in a tough spot, too. Eight months ago, U.S. Special Forces showed up in Caracas to snatch her predecessor, Nicolás Maduro, and lock him up in a Brooklyn jail. Then, the United States claimed a significant portion of Venezuela’s oil reserves. She spoke last night from the cultural capital of the nation that essentially appointed her, vowing to oversee elections and an “orderly legal transition” after years of authoritarian rule by her party. Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada: Over the past year, Carney has emerged as the most prominent global leader to take on Trump. At a news conference at the U.N., he spoke about how nations can protect their mutual interests after a “rupture” in the world order caused by the United States and China. And in a discussion with The Times, he described in close detail how he is systematically reducing Canada’s reliance on the United States. OffstageA number of leaders are absent from the General Assembly. One is Xi Jinping of China, who arrived in Washington last night to see Trump. Their meeting today is expected to overshadow any speeches at the Assembly. On the anticipated docket: tariffs, the sale of weapons to Taiwan and, most of all, artificial intelligence. The race to develop the tech has become a kind of arms race between the two countries. (Some of America’s biggest A.I. magnates, including executives from OpenAI, Google and Nvidia, are expected to be at the state dinner honoring Xi at the White House this evening.) The meeting’s unlikely to be too chilly. We’re a long way from the harsh anti-China rhetoric Trump was using a decade ago, during his first run for the presidency. Trump describes Xi as more of a friend than a competitor. The friendlier stance, my colleague Anton Troianovski reports, reflects a real change in public opinion: No matter their political views, more Americans now see China in a positive light, according to a new Pew Research Center poll:
And a Gallup poll earlier this year found that the share of Americans with a favorable view of China was 34 percent, up from 15 percent in 2023. That feeling is more pronounced among younger Americans. Why? The surveys don’t pinpoint a reason, but experts told Anton that fading memories of the Covid pandemic, knowledge of China’s innovations in tech and dissatisfaction with Trump’s trade wars could all be contributing to the altered mood. It also may have something to do with how the United States views itself. Another poll this week recorded a sense of decline in the United States’ global standing: Sixty-two percent of Americans said the country was respected less in the world today than it was 10 years ago. “You see fears of what’s happening to America be refracted through assessments of China,” one scholar told Anton.
Opening up: An Indigenous group in northern Panama has mostly avoided outsiders for 500 years. Now many members are backing a major road through their territory. Why? Times exclusive: Democrats hope that Mary Peltola can flip a Senate seat in Alaska, but former aides describe a campaign and congressional office marked by abusive treatment and unusual demands, like feeding her pet chameleon live crickets. Waiting: This New York surgeon changed the world of organ transplants. Then he needed one of his own. Child’s play: A 6-year-old girl in China set a Rubik’s Cube world record. Your pick: The most clicked link in The Morning yesterday was about luxurious private train cars.
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149.99— That is the cost, in rubles, of a kilo of bananas at a Russian supermarket this month. In August 2022, it was 79.90. Prices for many grocery items have risen sharply in Russia since the invasion of Ukraine. From January 2022 to July 2026, the average price of beef went up 76 percent. The cost of fresh coffee rose 81 percent. See the receipts.
Soccer: The English football star Harry Kane told reporters that he was considering moving to the United States, signing with an M.L.S. team and trying to make it as an N.F.L. kicker. N.B.A.: The league is looking into a potential cap-circumvention violation by the Milwaukee Bucks and the shooting guard Gary Trent Jr., whose four-year, $64 million guaranteed contract has raised suspicions. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
