Breakfast News Recap: UN gathers as wars, sanctions and Asia markets dominate a crowded global briefing

The United Nations General Assembly has opened in New York with nearly 130 heads of state and government due to speak, as the annual gathering begins against a backdrop of war, diplomatic strain and a push for new global rules on artificial intelligence.  🔗

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UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the world is getting worse as conflicts multiply and the Security Council remains paralysed, warning that divisions among major powers are weakening the international response to crises.  🔗 Twenty two world leaders have also called for urgent AI guardrails, while twenty countries and the European Union backed stronger global oversight and even a possible international body to police the technology.  🔗  🔗

In the Middle East, fighting around Yemen's Red Sea coast has intensified, with the Group of Seven warning Iran over its support for the Houthis and condemning renewed attacks on Saudi Arabia and civilian shipping.  🔗  🔗 The United Kingdom has agreed to provide limited defensive air to air refuelling for Saudi jets after a request from Riyadh, as the conflict escalates and a strike on Mokha killed at least six people.  🔗

Israeli fire continued in southern Lebanon, with artillery and machine gun fire reported around Zawtar al Sharqiyah, shelling and a drone strike on the outskirts of Mayfadoun, and a hostile drone dropping a sound bomb over Hadatha.  🔗  🔗  🔗 Former Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt said armistice talks could be useful if they lead to an Israeli withdrawal, after meeting President Joseph Aoun in Baabda.  🔗

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Russia and its neighbours remain under pressure. United Russia has won a record supermajority in the State Duma, according to preliminary and near complete results, even as Russian voters abroad backed the liberal New People party by a wide margin.  🔗  🔗 A Kyiv drone strike hit Moscow during the vote, while Lithuania said it has evacuation plans in place amid persistent Russian threats and drone incursions.  🔗  🔗

Elsewhere in Europe and the wider security picture, the United Kingdom and the United States carried out a first ever test fire of a heavyweight torpedo from an uncrewed underwater vessel under the AUKUS partnership.  🔗 In Brussels, EU member states failed to give final approval to a deal that would lift sanctions on Russian oligarchs Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman before the deadline.  🔗

Asia has seen a mix of natural disaster and political and military developments. Typhoon Dujuan has left at least four people dead and 22 injured in Japan, with power cuts, landslides and missing people still reported near Tokyo.  🔗 North Korea said Kim Jong un oversaw the test of a new type weapon system after recent missile launches, while China expelled two senior military officers as its anti corruption purge deepened.  🔗  🔗 China also announced that Xi Jinping will soon make a state visit to the United States for talks on key bilateral issues.  🔗

In the Americas, a United Nations human rights expert said US strikes on suspected drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean may amount to crimes against humanity as the death toll rises.  🔗 Donald Trump's approval rating has fallen to 32 percent, a record low in a Reuters Ipsos poll, amid backlash over the Iran war and the cost of living.  🔗 Major US television networks have suspended their pool coverage of Trump after the White House barred three news organisations from access, deepening the fight with the press.  🔗

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Other developments include Paramount reaching a settlement with California and 11 other states, clearing a major obstacle to its planned 110 billion dollar takeover of Warner Bros Discovery.  🔗 Trump also said Washington is working on a massive potash deal with Belarus, potentially shifting supply away from Canada.  🔗 In Africa, Mali marked its 66th independence anniversary under growing insurgent pressure and a fuel blockade, while in The Gambia, former Junglers leader Sanna Manjang appeared before a military court on desertion charges linked to abuses under Yahya Jammeh.  🔗  🔗

In health and justice news, the World Health Organisation said an Ebola vaccine trial is underway in Ituri province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with frontline health workers among those being vaccinated.  🔗 UK prosecutors also brought the country's first genocide charges linked to Rwanda's 1994 killings, accusing a London based doctor of offences including conduct and complicity.  🔗

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