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Tuesday briefing: Europe thinks Russia is preparing to test Nato’s limits

In today’s newsletter: Intelligence chiefs warn that Russia’s appetite for risk is growing, as sabotage and other covert attacks target countries supporting Ukraine Good morning. As the UN general assembly kicks off in New York later today, we anticipate a heavy focus on the ongoing conflicts in Iran, Ukraine and the Gulf – as well as the inevitable body language analysis of Andy Burnham’s first in-person meeting with Donald Trump. But another related conflict is likely to dominate informal discussions: the intensifying acts of sabotage on European states that are believed to trace back to Russia but deliberately fall below the threshold for military response – a so-called hybrid or “shadow war” with the singular purpose of disrupting support for Ukraine. Yemen | The UK has agreed to provide defensive air support to Saudi Arabia to help counter Houthi fighters and restore stability in the Middle East while driving down the cost of living at home, Andy Burnham has said, ahead of his first meeting with Donald Trump. Environment | The “jaw-dropping” El Niño currently heating up the planet has burst through the highest temperature ever recorded for the phenomenon, several months before its expected peak. Gaza | Israeli and UK military commanders could be requested to give evidence to an inquest concerning three British aid workers killed in Gaza when aid vehicles they were travelling in were hit by an airstrike. US | After President Trump’s snap decision to ban CNN from the White House, the four other networks that comprise the White House’s TV pool decided they would cease their pooled coverage of the president. Slavery | Bones of the enslaver Edward Colston are likely to remain interred in a church in Bristol if and when the currently unused building is given a new lease of life as a community resource, it has emerged. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Libby Brooks22 Sept
  • neutral toward North Atlantic Treaty Organization · 96%

‘Good music is good music, and most music is not!’ As he hits 90, master minimalist Steve Reich looks back

At 14, he heard Stravinsky and resolved to be a composer. As Reich approaches his 10th decade, the man revered by the likes of David Bowie reflects on a life that changed the soundtrack of modern living Steve Reich is not yet 90 but the celebrations have already begun, with the world premiere of his new piece for large ensemble, In All Your Ways , at the Edinburgh festival last month and a late-night concert at the BBC Proms . But when I ask this most supremely influential of living composers how he feels about becoming a nonagenarian on 3 October, Reich is coy. “I haven’t quite got there yet,” he says. “I don’t want to dot the i before I even get there. I’ll let you know in due course …” Born in New York in 1936, Reich has spent the last six decades producing music that has changed the soundtrack of modern life in Europe and North America, and inspired superlatives from a wide array of music critics. The New Yorker has called him “the most original musical thinker of our time”. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Flora Willson22 Sept

Middle East live: Yemen fighting escalates as Trump heads to UN

Saudi airstrikes on Yemen's Red Sea port of Mokha have killed at least six people as Iran-backed Houthis press their offensive. The escalation comes as the US and its allies face growing pressure to protect Saudi Arabia and regional energy infrastructure, while Donald Trump prepares to address the UN in New York. Follow our live blog for the latest developments.

France 24France 24•FRANCE 2422 Sept
  • neutral toward Donald Trump · 96%

Trump and Mamdani appear friendly after ‘wide-ranging’ meeting at Gracie Mansion

Republican president said he hoped the democratic socialist would be a ‘great mayor’ for New York City Donald Trump said on Monday that he hoped Zohran Mamdani would be a “great mayor” for New York, an unusually warm assessment of the democratic socialist leader whom the president and who the Republicans have spent months holding up as a symbol of the Democratic party’s alleged embrace of “communism” ahead of the November midterms. At a news conference following their closed-door meeting at Gracie Mansion, Trump and Mamdani appeared friendly as they have in previous meetings. Mamdani said he and Trump held a “wide-ranging” discussion, which touched on affordable housing and immigration, but did not offer extensive details regarding any disagreements between them. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•José Olivares in New York and David Smith in Washington22 Sept
  • neutral toward Donald Trump · 93%

Anwar Gargash: The region cannot continue to move from one crisis to another

His Excellency Dr Anwar bin Mohammed Gargash, Diplomatic Advisor to His Highness the President of the UAE, affirmed that the region cannot continue to move from one crisis to another, noting the need for Iran to make concessions in any new agreement to end the war. He stressed that the principle of non-aggression is of particular importance to the UAE. In an interview with the American website Al-Monitor, during an event in New York on Sunday, His Excellency stressed the need to adopt a regional strategic vision that places the Arab Gulf states at the heart of security talks with Iran, instead of them merely being a party that receives Iranian attacks while Tehran conducts negotiations with the United States. His Excellency predicted a period of instability in Iranian society, while emphasising the UAE’s commitment to prioritising diplomacy and establishing good relations with its neighbour. Speaking about the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, Gargash said: “We realise that we will be dealing with an unstable Iran for some time… Ultimately, we are facing a crisis that will go through different phases and will take a long time. We also see an Iran that is completely different from what it has been for the past 37 years under a single central authority represented by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.” The diplomatic advisor to His Highness the President of the UAE pointed out that it will be difficult for the new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, to fill this huge void or to live up to the level of his predecessor. He said that the Iranians prefer to discuss strategic issues with the United States, noting that Tehran tends to discuss issues of a reciprocal nature, such as the issue of frozen funds, with its neighbours. He added: "We need a new mindset. Such discussions about the nature of the region we all want, the form of stability we seek, and the foundations of development, which are closely linked to stability, are discussions that, although they can be conducted at the Iranian-American level, should also take place at the Iranian-Arab level."

MBMobile Business•Emirates24721 Sept

Bhutan Should Release All Remaining Political Prisoners

Click to expand Image Prime Minister of Bhutan Tshering Togay speaks to the United Nations General Assembly during Summit of the Future at the U.N. headquarters, September 22, 2024. © 2024 Frank Franklin/AP Photo When Bhutan’s Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay meets world leaders at the United Nations general assembly in New York this week, they should urge him to release the at least 28 political prisoners who are still held in dreadful conditions in his country’s jails. The small Himalayan kingdom projects itself to the world as the land that invented “gross national happiness,” but that image is belied by its detention and treatment of political prisoners. Most are from the country’s Nepali-speaking community, and their cases relate to a period of rights violations that the community faced in the early 1990s. They were allegedly tortured before being convicted of terrorism and treason offenses at trials during which they had no defense lawyers. Most are serving sentences of life without parole. Four of the prisoners belong to the Sharchop ethnic community and were accused of membership of the Druk National Congress, a banned political party that existed before Bhutan introduced democratic reforms in 2008. In June, after the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention reviewed their cases, Bhutan released Chatur Man Tamang, 42, and Hasta Bahadur Rai, 44. They were serving life sentences since 2008, when they returned to the country as members of the Bhutan Communist Party to campaign for the rights of fellow Nepali-speaking Bhutanese refugees. Their release showed how easily and swiftly Bhutan could free the remaining prisoners. Among those still being held, 11 were convicted in nearly identical cases to Tamang and Rai’s. The prisoners are held in deplorable conditions, mostly in the “anti-national wing” of Chemgang prison near Bhutan’s capital Thimphu, or at Rabuna, a secretive and remote military prison. Former prisoners have described to Human Rights Watch how the men held at Chemgang have meage rations, little medical care, and no warmth in winter. They are denied communications with their families outside the country. The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and other UN rights experts have found that their detention is in breach of international human rights standards. Bhutan should end these rights violations now and release all 28 of the remaining political prisoners. And until it does, international partners should make clear they are not buying the kingdom’s glossy sales pitch.

Human Rights WatchHuman Rights Watch•Human Rights Watch21 Sept

Trump says Mamdani has ‘great potential’ after Gracie Mansion visit

NEW YORK — President Trump offered rare praise for New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) Monday, saying he has “great potential.” The two leaders chatted inside Gracie Mansion before holding a press conference ahead of Tuesday’s United Nations General Assembly in the city. “No, I certainly hope he will be a great mayor,” Trump…

The HillThe Hill•Mallory Wilson21 Sept
  • neutral toward Donald Trump · 93%