Australia PM cites killed aid worker in speech on Palestinian recognition
Australia PM cites killed aid worker in speech on Palestinian recognition/node/2616332/world
Australia PM cites killed aid worker in speech on Palestinian recognition
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese addresses delegates during a high-level meeting of heads of state on a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians at United Nations headquarters in New York City, U.S., September 22, 2025. (REUTERS)
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Updated 20 min 8 sec ago
Reuters
Australia PM cites killed aid worker in speech on Palestinian recognition
“Aid workers have been killed trying to deliver humanitarian assistance, including Australian Zomi Frankcom,” he said, noting also the journalists “killed trying to bring the truth to light”
Updated 20 min 8 sec ago
Reuters
NEW YORK: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese cited an Australian aid worker killed in Gaza, along with journalists and “tens of thousands of civilians,” in a speech at the United Nations where dozens of leaders met on Monday to promote Palestinian statehood.
Australia, Britain and Canada on Sunday recognized Palestine, joining more than three-quarters of the 193 UN members who already recognize a Palestinian state, a move opposed by the United States and Israel.
Australia was the first United Nations member to vote 78 years ago for the plan that made Israel’s statehood possible, and continued to stand with the Jewish people against anti-semitism, Albanese told the meeting.
“The Israeli Government must accept its share of responsibility” for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where tens of thousands of civilians had been killed, he said.
“Aid workers have been killed trying to deliver humanitarian assistance, including Australian Zomi Frankcom,” he said, noting also the journalists “killed trying to bring the truth to light.”
Albanese’s center-left Labor government had decided to recognize Palestine based on commitments from the Palestinian Authority that Hamas hand over its weapons and have no role in a future state, and that elections are held, he added.
Albanese is attending the United Nations General Assembly for the first time. Despite earlier hopes the trip would provide an opportunity for his first meeting with Trump, an important security ally, Australia did not appear among the countries listed by the White House on Monday for bilateral meetings in New York.
Australian media outlets on Tuesday reported this as a “snub,” after Trump a week earlier told reporters that Albanese would be coming for a visit to see him “very soon.”
What you will and won’t see at this year’s UN General Assembly
The meeting and expanded recognition of Palestinian statehood will likely have little if any actual impact on the ground, where Israel is waging another major offensive in the Gaza Strip and expanding settlements in the occupied West Bank
Updated 23 September 2025
AP
UNITED NATIONS: The annual high-level gathering at the UN General Assembly this week will see more than 140 world leaders descend upon New York City in an effort to secure global peace and security despite growing divides on how to do that.
Nearly 90 heads of state, 43 heads of government and one crown prince are among the dignitaries to appear on the UN stage beginning on Tuesday to make their case for how to bring an end to regional conflicts in Europe and the Middle East, while addressing the growing climate crisis and the dangers posed by the rapid development and use of artificial intelligence.
Looming over the week-long summit is the internal financial turmoil plaguing the United Nations as it celebrates the 80th anniversary of its founding, which emerged from the rubble of World War II.
(L/R) ֱ's Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and France's President Emmanuel Macron attend a United Nations Summit on Palestinians at UN headquarters during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York on September 22, 2025. (AFP)
Questions about the UN’s relevancy and efficiency have sharpened from supporters and critics alike. Recent US cuts to foreign assistance and the reevaluation of humanitarian contributions by other countries have forced a reckoning for the world body.
Here are five things to look out for this week:
Outcome of the two-state solution conference
The week began with a high-profile meeting chaired by France and ֱ focused on garnering support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The hours-long conference ended late Monday with several countries, including France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Malta, and Monaco, announcing or confirming their recognition of a Palestinian state, a day after the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Portugal did. Germany, Italy and Japan took part in the conference but did not recognize such a state.
The US and Israel boycotted the event, saying the international push for a Palestinian state rewards Hamas and makes it harder to reach a deal to halt the war and return the remaining hostages.
It came as several US allies, including Canada and the United Kingdom, announced recognition of an independent Palestinian state over the weekend. The meeting and expanded recognition of Palestinian statehood will likely have little if any actual impact on the ground, where Israel is waging another major offensive in the Gaza Strip and expanding settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has long opposed Palestinian statehood, has threatened to take even further unilateral action in response. But proponents of the effort, including top UN officials, remain unpersuaded that recognition of Palestine is crucial at this stage of the conflict.
As the US isolates, other world powers reaffirm climate pledges
More than 110 world leaders will speak at a special UN climate summit on Wednesday, designed to get nations to strengthen their required but already late plans to wean themselves from coal, oil and natural gas that cause climate change. Dozens of business leaders are in New York networking in various conferences aimed at greener and cleaner energy.
“Don’t believe the doomsters and the gloomsters and the naysayers who say that somehow the world is moving away from climate action, clean energy,” United Kingdom climate chief Ed Millibrand said.
The nations of the world were all supposed to come up with new five-year plans for curbing carbon emissions by February, leading into the Brazil negotiations. But only 47 of the 195 nations — responsible for less than a quarter of global emissions — have done so. UN officials said they really need to be submitted by the end of this month so experts can calculate how the world is doing in its emission reduction efforts.
The world’s biggest emitter, China, and another top polluter, the European Union, are expected to announce their plans or rough sketches of their plans this week. The United Nations session this week is designed to cajole countries to do more.
Trump returns to UN after retreating US from world stage
President Donald Trump will be the second leader to speak when the General Assembly kicks off its debate Tuesday morning. Trump will be returning to the UN for the first time since beginning his second term in January.
His speech will be among the most anticipated as America’s allies and adversaries wait to see what the president will say about ongoing efforts to end the wars in Gaza and Ukraine. UN officials will be holding their breath to see if more funding cuts from the US — their largest donor — are on the horizon after Trump and his allies spent the first few months in office slashing international aid spending.
He issued a first-day executive order withdrawing the US from the UN’s World Health Organization. That was followed by ending US participation in the UN Human Rights Council, and ordering up a review of US membership in hundreds of intergovernmental organizations aimed at determining whether they align with the priorities of his “America First” agenda.
“There are great hopes for it, but it’s not being well run, to be honest,” Trump told reporters last week as he prepared for his address to the General Assembly.
Eyes on Syria and Iran’s presidents at high-stakes moment
Following Trump’s remarks, the two other headline speakers come from the Middle East, where various conflicts have thrown the region into further tumult over the last several years. On Wednesday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will appear on the UN stage at a moment of great magnitude for his country, as a 30-day window to stop the reimposition of sanctions on Tehran is closing at the end of this week.
The clock started when France, Germany and the United Kingdom on Aug. 28 declared Iran wasn’t complying with its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. It also comes after a series of last-ditch diplomatic talks to avoid reimposing UN sanctions appeared to break down in recent days, with European leaders accusing Iran of not being serious about the conditions outlined.
Pezeshkian and his foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, have the next few days to meet with their European counterparts in New York to come to a resolution that would avoid the series of financial penalties that would push the already crippling Iranian economy into further disarray.
A few hours later, Iran’s once strategic ally, Syria, will debut its new leader, the first head of state to represent the war-torn country at the UN in nearly six decades. Ahmad Al-Sharaa will officially represent the new Syria on the world stage for the first time since the ousting of then-President Bashar Assad in December by a lightning insurgent offensive led by Al-Sharaa.
Al-Sharaa has spent nine months seeking to restore ties with Arab countries and the West, where officials were initially wary of his past ties with the Al-Qaeda militant group. His speech on Wednesday will also be watched closely by the US, which previously designated Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, the rebel group Al-Sharaa formerly led, as a terrorist group.
All the meetings you won’t see
Some of the most tantalizing and impactful diplomacy conducted during the UN General Assembly will likely happen behind the scenes during embassy receptions and at private dinners and drinks at some of Manhattan’s most exclusive restaurants and clubs.
The high-level week, noted by some UN watchers as the World Cup of diplomacy, is jam-packed with official and unofficial gatherings between heads of state and government, where complex trade deals, sensitive peace negotiations, and even normalization efforts between allies and adversaries alike could see breakthroughs.
Officials state that more than 1,600 bilateral meetings are scheduled to take place inside the sprawling UN campus that oversees the East River.
New Syria leader, in US, plays down Israel normalization
Syria has been subjected to more than 1,000 Israeli raids, strikes and incursions from the Golan Heights into Syria,” he said
Sharaa met in May in Riyadh with US President Donald Trump, who took the advice of ֱ and Turkiye to lift Assad-era sanctions on Syria, despite Israeli misgivings
Updated 23 September 2025
AFP
NEW YORK: Syria’s new leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa, visiting New York for the UN General Assembly, voiced hope Monday for a security deal that eases tensions with Israel but he played down the prospect of recognition.
Sharaa, a former jihadist whose forces toppled longtime leader Bashar Assad in December, met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and later will deliver the first address in decades by a Syrian leader to the General Assembly.
Syrian officials have set a goal of reaching military and security agreements by the end of the year with Israel, whose military has repeatedly battered its neighbor and longtime adversary in the chaos since Assad’s fall.
“I hope that that will lead us to an agreement that will keep the sovereignty of Syria and also resolve some of the security fears of Israel,” Sharaa told the Concordia summit at a New York hotel on the sidelines of the UN summit.
But he balked when asked if Syria would join the so-called Abraham Accords, in which the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco normalized relations with Israel in 2020.
“Syria is different as those that are part of the Abraham Accords are not Israel’s neighbors. Syria has been subjected to more than 1,000 Israeli raids, strikes and incursions from the Golan Heights into Syria,” he said.
He voiced doubts about trusting Israel, questioning whether it sought to expand in Syria and charging that Israel has violated peace agreements with two other neighbors, Egypt and Jordan.
“There is also huge anger over what’s going on in Gaza, not only in Syria but in the entire world, and of course this impacts our position on Israel,” he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that there was a new window of possibility for peace with both Syria and Lebanon after an Israeli military campaign devastated Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese Shiite militant movement that was close to Assad.
Sharaa met in May in Riyadh with US President Donald Trump, who took the advice of ֱ and Turkiye to lift Assad-era sanctions on Syria, despite Israeli misgivings.
Sharaa hailed Trump’s move and called on the US Congress to fully lift sanctions, which “put a burden on people who have already suffered from the former regime’s oppression.”
Rubio, in his meeting with Sharaa, discussed Syria’s relations with Israel and called on the country to seize the chance to “build a stable and sovereign nation,” State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said.
Trump links autism to Tylenol and vaccines, claims not backed by science
Researchers say there is no firm evidence of a link between the use of Tylenol and autism
Updated 23 September 2025
Reuters
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Monday linked autism to childhood vaccines and also to the use of popular pain medication Tylenol for pregnant women and children, claims which are not backed by decades of science. In an extraordinary news conference at the White House, the Republican president delivered medical advice to pregnant women and parents of young children, repeatedly telling them not to use or administer the over-the-counter pain killer.
The advice from Trump, who has no medical training and also pointed out “I’m not a doctor,” goes against that of medical societies, which cite data from numerous studies showing acetaminophen plays a safe role in the well-being of pregnant women.
“I want to say it like it is, don’t take Tylenol. Don’t take it,” Trump said. “Fight like hell not to take it. There may be a point where you have to, and that you’ll have to work out with yourself, so don’t take Tylenol.”
Standing next to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vaccine critic who has argued that no vaccine is safe, Trump called for a reexamination of a link between vaccines and autism, a theory that has been repeatedly debunked, and a series of changes not grounded in science.
“We believe independent, sound science clearly shows that taking acetaminophen does not cause autism. We strongly disagree with any suggestion otherwise and are deeply concerned with the health risk this poses for expecting mothers,” Kenvue, the maker of Tylenol, said in a statement ahead of the announcement.
Shares of Kenvue slid more than 7 percent during Monday’s stock market session as investors braced for Trump’s announcement. But the shares recovered 5 percent in extended trade.
Trump said he is a big believer in vaccines, having led in his first-term the pandemic initiative to speed COVID-19 vaccine development. Still, he called for the removal of mercury from vaccines and said children should not get the hepatitis B vaccine before the age of 12. It is given in the first 24 hours after birth. He also said the measles-mumps-rubella combination vaccine should be split into three separate vaccines.
In this photo illustration, Tylenol packages and caplets are displayed, in Los Angeles, California, on September 22, 2025. (AFP)
The announcement was reminiscent of Trump’s regular press briefings in the early months of the pandemic when he would frequently dispense advice that was not founded on science, including his suggestion that people drink bleach, which his supporters later said was not serious.
Studies have shown vaccines are safe and have saved millions of lives, eradicating childhood diseases such as polio and measles in the US.
Over the last 50 years, it is estimated that essential vaccines have saved at least 154 million lives, UNICEF USA President & CEO Michael J. Nyenhuis has said.
Only one in four Americans believe recent recommendations for fewer vaccines from the Trump administration were based on scientific evidence and facts, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed this month.
“I cannot say that I’ve ever experienced anything like this in vaccines,” said Dr. Norman Baylor, former director of the FDA’s Office of Vaccines Research and Review.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES STEPS IT WILL TAKE
The Trump Administration also suggested leucovorin, a form of folic acid, as a treatment for autism symptoms. The Food and Drug Administration approved a version of the drug made by GSK it had previously withdrawn for a condition it associated with autism. Once it is established for the use, the administration said, Medicaid insurance for low-income people would cover the drug for autism symptoms. The FDA, in its approval, cited a review of the use of leucovorin in 40 patients with a rare metabolic disorder called cerebral folate deficiency that can lead to a range of neurological symptoms, some of which are seen in people with autism.
The FDA will notify doctors that using Tylenol during pregnancy can be associated with a very increased risk of autism, Trump said, without presenting evidence for the claim.
The Trump administration said it plans to initiate a change to the safety label on Tylenol, which would say that research shows it can lead to adverse neurological outcomes.
Researchers say there is no firm evidence of a link between the use of Tylenol and autism. A 2024 study of nearly 2.5 million children in Sweden found no causal link between in utero exposure to acetaminophen and neurodevelopmental disorders.
A 2025 review of 46 earlier studies did suggest a link between prenatal acetaminophen exposure and increased risks of these conditions, but the researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Harvard University and others said the study does not prove the drug caused the outcomes. They advised that pregnant women should continue to use acetaminophen as needed, at the lowest possible dose and for the shortest possible period.
Tylenol is made by consumer health company Kenvue, which was spun off from Johnson & Johnson in 2023, and generic versions of acetaminophen are also available. The company said on Monday it disagreed with the suggestion of a link which it said was not based in science.
Researchers say leucovorin, used to treat some cancer patients on chemotherapy, has shown some promise in very small trials, but that large, randomized trials are still needed.
Trump to slam ‘globalist’ bodies, Palestinian recognitions at UN
Trump has repeatedly criticized the UN and other multilateral institutions as part of his ‘America First’ policy
Trump will meanwhile hold a ‘multilateral meeting’ with the leaders of key Muslim countries at the UN assembly
Updated 22 September 2025
AFP
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump will hit out at “globalist institutions” and criticize the recognition of a Palestinian state by Western allies in a speech to the United Nations, the White House said Monday.
Trump is set to deliver the first speech of his second term to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, as the annual diplomatic gathering is dominated by Israel’s war in Gaza.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump would tout “the renewal of American strength around the world” in his address.
“The president will also touch upon how globalist institutions have significantly decayed the world order, and he will articulate his straightforward and constructive vision for the world,” she added.
Trump has repeatedly criticized the UN and other multilateral institutions as part of his “America First” policy, and either cut funding for or withdrawn from a number of UN bodies.
Trump will meanwhile hold a “multilateral meeting” with the leaders of key Muslim countries at the UN assembly, including Qatar, ֱ, Indonesia, Turkiye, Pakistan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, Leavitt told a briefing.
The move comes after several Western governments recognized a Palestinian state, angering Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will speak at the UN on Friday, has vowed to expand Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank after the recognitions.
Trump himself opposed the moves by Britain, Canada and Australia to recognize the state of Palestine, which France is due to follow on Monday.
“The president has been very clear he disagrees with this decision,” Leavitt said, noting that he had publicly done so with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer during a UK state visit last week.
“Frankly, he believes it’s a reward to Hamas. So he believes these decisions are just more talk and not enough action from some of our friends and allies, and I think you’ll hear him talk about that tomorrow” at the UN, she added.
Trump will also meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the UN gathering, Leavitt said, as Kyiv seeks Western-backed security guarantees to prop up an elusive ceasefire with Russia.
In addition, the US president will meet Argentinian counterpart and key ally Javier Milei, a day after the US Treasury said it was mulling an economic lifeline for Argentina as it battles to calm jittery markets.
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a Security Council meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (AP
Updated 22 September 2025
Reuters
Putin offers Trump one-year extension to nuclear weapons treaty
The treaty caps the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads at 1,550 and the number of delivery vehicles — missiles, submarines and bombers — at 700 on each side
Russia and the United States have by far the biggest nuclear arsenals in the world, and many experts fear that ending the limits could fuel an arms race as both sides boost strategic weapons deployments
Updated 22 September 2025
Reuters
MOSCOW/WASHINGTON: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday offered to voluntarily maintain the limits on deployed strategic nuclear weapons set in the 2010 New START accord after it expires in February if the US agreed to do the same.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Putin’s proposal sounded “pretty good,” but she added that US President Donald Trump would address the offer himself. The agreement is the last US-Russia strategic nuclear arms control accord.
It allowed for only one five-year extension, which Putin and former US President Joe Biden agreed to implement in 2021. The offer, which comes as Ukraine tries to convince Trump to impose harsher sanctions on Russia, was made public by Putin at a meeting of his Security Council.
HIGHLIGHTS
• US-Russia arms control treaty due to expire in February
• Treaty limits nuclear weapons in both countries
• Putin proposes a one-year rollover if Trump does same
“Russia is prepared to continue adhering to the central numerical limits under the New START Treaty for one year after February 5, 2026,” he said.
“Subsequently, based on an analysis of the situation, we will make a decision on whether to maintain these voluntary, self-imposed restrictions.” Trump in July said he would like to maintain the limits on deployed strategic nuclear weapons set in the 2010 New START pact after it expires on February 5. Russia and the United States have by far the biggest nuclear arsenals in the world, and many experts fear that ending the limits could fuel an arms race as both sides boost strategic weapons deployments. The treaty caps the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads at 1,550 and the number of delivery vehicles — missiles, submarines and bombers — at 700 on each side.
PUTIN UNDER PRESSURE TO END UKRAINE WAR
Putin said his proposal was in the interests of global non-proliferation and could help spur dialogue with Washington about arms control.
“This measure will only be viable if the United States acts in a similar manner, and does not take steps that undermine or violate the existing balance of deterrence capabilities,” Putin said. He has been under pressure from Trump to agree to end the war in Ukraine, something Moscow says is part of a slew of security issues that have raised East-West tensions to their most dangerous level since the Cold War.
The proposal appears to be a unilateral change of policy by Moscow, which has until now insisted it would only engage with Washington on such matters if overall ties — hampered by stark differences over the war in Ukraine — improved.
TALKS ON OVERHAULING TREATY YET TO START
Differences over Ukraine mean the two superpowers have not started talks on renewing or overhauling the treaty, though Trump has spoken of his desire to do a new nuclear arms control deal, albeit with China as well.
Beijing has rejected the idea that it should be included.
Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association advocacy group, said Putin’s offer was “a positive and welcome move.”
Urging Washington to reciprocate, Kimball said Trump and Putin could “help reduce the most immediate existential security threat facing the world.”
Putin said Russia would be monitoring US nuclear arms and defense activity, paying particular attention to plans to beef up missile defenses and proposals to deploy missile interceptors in space.
“The practical implementation of such destabilising actions could nullify our efforts to maintain the status quo in the field of START,” said Putin. “We will respond accordingly.”
Konstantin Kosachyov, a senior Russian senator, said Putin was sending a message to the US that he was ready to enter talks on a new arms control treaty.
“I hope that this signal will be heard and correctly interpreted,” Kosachyov said on Telegram.