Trump tells UN in speech that it is 'not even coming close to living up' to its potential
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — President Donald Trump castigated the United Nations as a feckless institution in a speech to the world body on Tuesday, praising the turn America has taken under his leadership while warning Europe will be ruined if it doesn’t turn away from a “double-tailed monster” of ill-conceived migration and green energy policies.
His roughly hourlong speech before the U.N. General Assembly was both grievance-filled and self-congratulatory as he used the platform to applaud his second-term achievements and lament that some of his fellow world leaders' countries were “going to hell."
The address was the latest reminder for U.S. allies and foes that the United States — after a four-year interim under the more internationalist President Joe Biden — has returned to an unapologetically “America First” posture with an antagonistic view toward the United Nations. Trump also sharply criticized the global body for inaction, saying it was filled with “empty words” that “don’t solve wars.”
“What is the purpose of the United Nations?” Trump said. “The U.N. has such tremendous potential. I’ve always said it. It has such tremendous, tremendous potential. But it's not even coming close to living up to that potential.”
Afterward, Trump attempted to assuage fears from some diplomats by assuring the top U.N. leader that the U.S. remained “100%” supportive of the global body despite his earlier criticism.
Trump says he now believes Ukraine can win back all territory lost to Russia with NATO's help
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he believed Ukraine could win back all territory lost to Russia, a dramatic shift from the U.S. leader’s repeated calls for Kyiv to make concessions to end the war.
Trump posted on social media soon after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly gathering of world leaders.
“I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form," Trump wrote. "With time, patience, and the financial support of Europe and, in particular, NATO, the original Borders from where this War started, is very much an option.”
The strengthened support from Trump, if it sticks, is a huge win for Zelenskyy, who has urged the American president to keep up the pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to end his war. It was a departure from Trump's previous suggestions that Ukraine would never be able to reclaim all the territory that Russia has occupied since seizing the Crimean Peninsula in 2014.
That had disheartened Zelenskyy, Europeans and Ukrainians and called into question the U.S. commitment to U.N. principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity. But now, Trump’s view of the battlefield coincides more with Ukraine’s, Zelenskyy said.
UN chief warns world leaders of 'an age of reckless disruption and relentless human suffering'
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — With global peace and progress under siege, the United Nations chief challenged world leaders Tuesday to choose a future where the rule of law triumphs over raw power and where nations come together rather than scramble for self-interests.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the U.N.’s founders faced the same questions 80 years ago, but he told today’s world leaders at the opening of their annual gathering at the General Assembly that the choice of peace or war, law or lawlessness, cooperation or conflict, is “more urgent, more intertwined, more unforgiving.”
“We have entered in an age of reckless disruption and relentless human suffering,” he said in his annual “State of the World” speech. “The pillars of peace and progress are buckling under the weight of impunity, inequality and indifference.”
But despite all the internal and external challenges facing the U.N., he and General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock pleaded with its members not to give up. “If we stop doing the right things, evil will prevail,” Baerbock said in her opening remarks.
Looking broadly at the changing world, Guterres said it is becoming increasingly multipolar – certainly a nod to rising economic powers China and India but a slap to the U.S. insistence on superpower status. The U.N. chief said a world of many powers can be more diverse and dynamic but warned that without international cooperation and effective global institutions there can be “chaos.”
Emotional Jimmy Kimmel says in late-night return he never intended to make light of Kirk's killing
NEW YORK (AP) — Jimmy Kimmel returned to late-night television Tuesday after a nearly weeklong suspension and nearly broke down in tears, saying he wasn't trying joke about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
“I have no illusions about changing anyone’s mind, but I do want to make something clear, because it’s important to me as a human and that is, you understand that it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man," Kimmel said, his voice breaking. "I don’t think there’s anything funny about it.”
Kimmel added: “Nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions of what it was obviously a deeply disturbed individual. That was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make.” He said he understood his remarks last week to some “felt either ill-timed or unclear or maybe both.”
Kimmel criticized the ABC affiliates who took his show off the air. “That’s not legal. That’s not American. It’s unAmerican.”
He thanked the people who supported him, and even people who doesn’t like him who stood up for his right to speak, including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. “It takes courage for them to speak out against this administration. They did and they deserve credit for it.”
Typhoon Ragasa batters Hong Kong and southern China after causing deaths in Taiwan and Philippines
HONG KONG (AP) — Super Typhoon Ragasa, one of the strongest in years, whipped waves taller than lampposts onto Hong Kong promenades and halted life on the southern Chinese coast early Wednesday after leaving deadly destruction in Taiwan and the Philippines.
In Taiwan, 14 people died in a flooded township, and four deaths were reported in the Philippines.
The fierce winds woke Hong Kong residents in the early hours, and many went online to describe scenes like a kitchen ventilation fan being blown down and a crane swaying.
Strong winds blew away parts of a pedestrian bridge’s roof and knocked down hundreds of trees across the city. Some vessels crashed into the shore, shattering a row of glass railings along the waterfront. Areas around some rivers and promenades were flooded, including cycling lanes and playgrounds. At a promenade restaurant, furniture was scattered chaotically by the winds. Over 30 injured people were treated at hospitals.
A video that showed waves of water crashing through the doors of a hotel and flooding its interiors went viral in the financial hub. The hotel has not immediately commented on the incident. But staff were seen cleaning up the lobby, with parts of its exterior damaged.
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Ryan Routh is found guilty of trying to assassinate Trump at Florida golf course
FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) — After a two-week trial, a jury took just two hours Tuesday to convict Ryan Routh of trying to assassinate Donald Trump on a Florida golf course last year, a plot that was undone when a Secret Service agent spotted Routh and fired a shot that sent him running.
Chaos ensued in the courtroom shortly after Routh was found guilty on all counts by a federal jury of seven women and five men. Routh tried to stab himself in the neck with a pen and officers quickly dragged him out.
As he was removed, Routh’s daughter, Sara Routh, screamed: “Dad, I love you, don’t do anything. I’ll get you out. He didn’t hurt anybody.” She was escorted from the courtroom and later waited outside with her brother, Adam Routh.
The pen Routh used was flexible, a design to prevent people in custody from using it as a weapon, according to a person familiar with the matter who could not publicly disclose details and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity. Routh did not puncture his skin or otherwise hurt himself, the person said.
After order was restored, Routh was brought before U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon. He was shackled and no longer in the jacket and tie he wore while representing himself at the trial.
Trump cancels White House meeting with Schumer and Jeffries despite risk of a government shutdown
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has abruptly canceled this week's planned meeting with congressional Democratic leaders, refusing to negotiate over their demands to shore up health care funds as part of a deal to prevent a potential looming federal government shutdown.
In a lengthy Tuesday social media post, Trump rejected the sit-down that the White House had agreed to a day before. It would have been the first time the Republican president met with the Democratic Party's leaders, Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, since his return to the White House.
“I have decided that no meeting with their Congressional Leaders could possibly be productive,” Trump wrote in the post.
The president complained the Democrats “are threatening to shut down the Government of the United States” unless the Republicans agree to more funding for health care for various groups of people he has criticized. Trump did not close the door on a future sit-down with the Democratic leaders, but he warned of a “long and brutal slog” ahead unless Democrats dropped their demands to salvage health care funds.
The stalemate over a funding deal — or even talks between the White House and Congress to strike a compromise — has quickly intensified the risk of federal closures, starting as soon as next week, ahead of the Oct. 1 deadline for the start of the government's new fiscal year.
Iran's supreme leader rejects direct nuclear talks with US as European negotiations remain unmoved
VIENNA (AP) — Iran's supreme leader on Tuesday rejected direct negotiations with the United States over his country's nuclear program, likely slamming the door shut on a last-ditch effort to halt the reimposition of United Nations sanctions on Tehran.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's remarks, aired on Iranian state television, likely constrain any possible outreach to the U.S. by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who is in New York for the U.N. General Assembly. Separately, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held meetings there with diplomats from France, Germany and Britain over the reimposition of the sanctions, set to take effect Sunday.
Talks with the U.S. represent “a sheer dead end,” Khamenei said.
“The U.S. has announced the results of the talks in advance," he added. "The result is the closure of nuclear activities and enrichment. This is not a negotiation. It is a diktat, an imposition.”
The German Foreign Office, in comments posted on X after the meeting with Araghchi, said that France, Germany, Britain and the EU urged Iran to take steps within days, “if not hours,” to address concerns over its nuclear program. It should resume direct talks with the U.S. and provide the International Atomic Energy Agency with access to all its nuclear sites, ”in line with its obligations," the statement said.
FACT FOCUS: A look at false and misleading claims made by Trump about autism, Tylenol and pregnancy
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump announced Monday that his administration is strongly recommending that women limit Tylenol use during pregnancy unless medically necessary. “I want to say it like it is, don’t take Tylenol,” he said, encouraging women to “just fight like hell not to take it.” But his comments came under intense criticism from medical experts and researchers — because there's no proof tying the painkiller to autism. He also made a number of dubious claims about autism, vaccines and treatments.
Here's a look at the facts.
TRUMP: “Since 2000, autism rates have surged by much more than 400%.” He said the rate used to be 1 in 20,000, then 1 in 10,000 and now is 1 in 31, saying “there’s something artificial” to explain it.
THE FACTS: It’s true that autism rates have ballooned but Trump’s numbers are off. The 1 in 10,000 figure dates back to the 1990s. In 2000, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put the rate at 1 in 150. In 2018, it was 1 in 44. The latest count, based on 2022 data, is 1 in 31.
Scientists say the explanation is that decades ago diagnosis was rare, given only to kids with severe problems. Diagnosis of “autism spectrum disorder” began jumping as scientists learned the developmental disorder encompasses a wide range of traits and symptoms. And as educational and other services grew, more parents began seeking diagnoses to help their kids.
Trump's 'tough it out' advice to expectant moms is the latest example of men opining on women's pain
From the pulpit of the presidency, Donald Trump offered some advice to pregnant women: “Tough it out” before taking Tylenol.
Nine times in all, Trump said expectant mothers should suffer through their discomfort instead of reaching for acetaminophen — or paracetamol in countries outside the U.S. — to cure their fevers or headaches, despite the drug being one of the few painkillers that pregnant women are allowed to take.
“Fight like hell not to take it,” Trump instructed at a Monday news conference meant to address autism. He added that if pregnant women absolutely have to take Tylenol, that’ll be something that they “work out with themselves.”
What many women and experts heard was the latest example of a man telling women how much physical pain they should endure — and an age-old effort to blame mothers for their babies’ autism.
“His use of ‘tough it out’ really was infuriating because it dismissed women’s pain and the real danger that exists with fever and miscarriage during pregnancy,” said women’s rights advocate and social media influencer Amanda Tietz, a 46-year-old mom of three in Wisconsin, in an email. “Not to mention the pain we can experience in pregnancy that can be debilitating.”
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