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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Martin Belam

First Thing: Netanyahu lambasts Israel’s critics at UN as New York protesters detained

Benjamin Netanyahu gestures with a raised finger while speaking at the UN General Assembly
Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu speaking at the UN. Photograph: Lev Radin/EPA

Good morning. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, delivered an inflammatory address to the UN in New York, decrying what he said was a global anti-Jewish conspiracy and taking aim at critics of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. He branded Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, a “tyrant”, described Zohran Mamdani as the “antisemitic mayor of New York”, and declared that Israel’s war in Gaza was not a genocide, “it’s the opposite of genocide”.

Netanyahu delivered his address just hours after the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, said his delegation was “unlawfully” denied visas by the Trump administration to attend the meeting. Dozens of delegates, inspired by a Palestinian call, walked out of the General Assembly Hall of the UN headquarters as Netanyahu took the stage.

  • What was the reaction on the streets of New York? More than 100 people were arrested outside the UN headquarters as hundreds of Jewish, Palestinian, Iranian and Lebanese New Yorkers, among others, protested during Netanyahu’s address. Susan Sarandon and Hannah Einbinder were among those detained.

  • What has rapper Macklemore announced? The US rapper, removed from Ed Sheeran’s US tour after voicing his support of Palestine, has convened a Free Palestine tour to benefit humanitarian aid organisations. The charity show will visit Dublin, Paris and London, with a North American run to be announced.

Iran awaiting response from Trump on proposal to open strait of Hormuz in six days

Iran has said it has told Donald Trump it is willing to open the strait of Hormuz in six days, and to start talks on its nuclear program the day after, so long as the US lifts sanctions on Iran’s oil exports in return, ends the war on all fronts – including in Lebanon – and releases some of Iran’s frozen assets.

Privately, Iranian officials believe they could reach a deal with the Americans, but fear Israel will use its influence to pull the US president away from the proposal due to the inclusion of demands over Lebanon.

  • What happened in the Senate about the war? Senate Republicans have blocked a Democratic effort to end the US war against Iran, voting down a House-passed war powers resolution. The measure, which passed the House last week with bipartisan support, failed in the Senate by a 49-50 vote, attracting some Republican support, but not enough to pass.

  • What other developments have there been in the Middle East? Saudi Arabia says it intercepted six ballistic missiles fired by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis, with the latest attacks pushing oil prices ⁠to a one-week high over fears of spiralling supply disruptions.

Texas woman triumphs as court upholds acquittal in voting error case

The nearly decade-long case of a Black Texas woman who was sentenced to five years in prison in a controversial illegal voting case will end with an acquittal, the state’s highest criminal court has ruled in a 5-4 decision. Crystal Mason has been appealing ever since her 2018 conviction for casting a provisional ballot that ultimately was not counted.

  • What is the latest voting controversy in Nevada? The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) wrongly identified 185 people on Nevada’s voter rolls as non-citizens, state officials said this week, escalating concerns over the shoddy methodology the government is using to raise fear about non-citizen voting ahead of the midterm elections.

  • Why is there backlash against a sheriff in California over voting? The Republican sheriff Chad Bianco must return more than 650,000 ballots his department confiscated earlier this year in an unprecedented move that violated election law, a state supreme court has ruled.

Xi Jinping lays out terms to avoid US-China military conflict

Xi Jinping has called for extensive cooperation with Washington to avoid a trap that could put the US and China on a military collision course amid rising tensions over artificial intelligence, trade and Taiwan. Rather than confrontation, conditions for “achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and making America great again go hand in hand” and should be the goal, Xi said. Mark Saunokonoko has this list of key takeaways from the summit.

In other news …

  • Mary Peltola’s campaign says reports of her using slurs and shoving a staffer are exaggerated, but acknowledges the Democratic nominee in Alaska’s pivotal Senate race struggled after the deaths of her husband and mother.

  • Trump’s Food and Drug Administration commissioner nominee, Dr Heidi Overton, has said the MMR vaccine shot is “safe and effective”, weeks after standing behind Trump as he suggested the shot could be “quite lethal”.

  • US mortgage rates passed 7% for the first time since January 2025, according to federal lender Freddie Mac.

  • Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s presidential campaign has accused Donald Trump of wanting to “colonise” Brazil in order to capture its natural resources by meddling in next month’s election there.

Stat of the day: ICE has wasted tens of millions to carry out Trump’s mass detention agenda

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal agencies have wasted tens of millions of dollars pursuing controversial plans to rapidly increase detention capacity – and the total will likely rise due to continuing mismanagement, congressional investigators have warned.

Culture Pick: My dad was a monster! Sara Karloff on reviving Frankenstein, 95 years on

Boris Karloff’s daughter and the composer Michael Shapiro, who has written a 21st-century musical score for the 1931 classic, talk to Pamela Hutchinson about how it became so loved – and the strange experience of watching your father be Dr Frankenstein’s creation as a teenager.

Don’t miss this: Gavin Newsom condemns Democrats’ ‘climate hushing’, predicts Trump’s downfall and expects AOC to run in 2028

Mark Hertsgaard interviews the governor of California, a man who may still – if the circumstances are right for him – run for US president in 2028.

… or this: Amid soaring living costs, America’s biggest convenience-store chains quietly overcharge consumers

A Guardian investigation has revealed that 7-Eleven and Circle K stores often fail to honor advertised prices – charging more at the pump and register for gas, snacks and other items.

Climate check: ‘We wanted to prove we didn’t need air conditioning’ – the airport cooled by natural ventilation

Avoiding a planet-heating disaster will take innovative approaches, and at Roland Garros airport on Réunion island, a unique ceiling design funnels a light tropical breeze into the terminal, ending the need to run air conditioning.

Last Thing: 55,000 fans and nowhere to hide – what it’s like to play in basketball’s biggest arena

I still have nightmares about just a handful of people watching me flounder at sport in my younger years, so appearing at the sprawling Philippine Arena sounds terrifying. Jacob Uitti reports.

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