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World Leaders to Gather at UN as Crises Grow and Conflicts Rage 

A person walks past the United Nations Headquarters in New York, New York, USA, 19 September 2024. (EPA)
A person walks past the United Nations Headquarters in New York, New York, USA, 19 September 2024. (EPA)
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World Leaders to Gather at UN as Crises Grow and Conflicts Rage 

A person walks past the United Nations Headquarters in New York, New York, USA, 19 September 2024. (EPA)
A person walks past the United Nations Headquarters in New York, New York, USA, 19 September 2024. (EPA)

World leaders will descend on the United Nation's New York HQ from Sunday for the organization's annual signature gathering against an explosive backdrop of raging wars, growing populism and diplomatic deadlock.

The war in Gaza, soaring Middle East tensions, famine conditions in Sudan's civil war and the grinding conflict in Ukraine are among the rancorous issues on the agenda of the presidents and prime ministers attending the General Assembly's high-level week -- the UN's showpiece event.

But UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres insisted this week that the world would be able to "avoid moving to World War Three."

"What we are witnessing is a multiplication of conflicts and the sense of impunity," Guterres said at a briefing.

The gathering "could not come in a more critical and more challenging moment," said Washington's UN envoy Linda Thomas-Greenfield.

"The list of crises and conflicts that demand attention and action only seem to grow and grow... it's easy to fall into cynicism.

"But we can't afford to do that."

It is unclear what if anything the grand gathering, the World Cup of diplomacy, can achieve for the millions mired in conflict and poverty globally.

With Israel's leader Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas and Iran's new President Masoud Pezeshkian, due to attend, "Gaza will obviously be the most prominent of these conflicts in terms of what leaders are saying," said Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group.

He suggested the set piece diplomatic speeches and posturing would "not actually make a great deal of difference to events on the ground."

The war in Gaza began after Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, which ultimately resulted in the deaths of more than 1,200 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

More than 41,272 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's military campaign in Gaza since the war began, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza. The UN has acknowledged these figures as reliable.

Fears are high that the conflict could boil over into Lebanon, where a series of deadly explosions apparently targeted Hezbollah's communications this week. Israel has yet to comment.

The action in New York begins Sunday with a "Summit of the Future," Guterres' flagship attempt to get ahead of challenges that will face the world in coming years.

- Tackle war 'right now' -

World leaders, expected to include India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will attend to adopt a pact on how to confront the most pressing issues going forward.

Despite intense negotiations and Guterres calling on leaders to show "courage," the draft text has been panned by observers as badly lacking in ambition.

"One of the risks, and it's more than a risk, (is) that the Summit of the Future may look like the summit of the past, and in the best-case scenario, the summit of the present," said another diplomat."

Guterres insists the summit has value, saying that "international challenges are moving faster than our ability to solve them."

"We see out of control, geopolitical divisions and runaway conflicts, not least in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan and beyond, runaway climate change, runaway inequalities... and our institutions simply can't keep up," he said.

The ICRC's UN representative Laetitia Courtois said it was vital that conflict was tackled "right now," not as "an objective for the next generation."

The summit will be followed by the high-level week at which the UN's 193 members will address each other, kicking off with Brazil.

That will be followed by the United States, with President Joe Biden due to speak -- likely on ceasefire talks in Gaza, among other issues.

The leaders of China and Russia will be absent as in past years, but Britain's Keir Starmer, Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky, and Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will be present.

Zelensky was the star attraction in 2023, but one diplomat said he would struggle to stay in the spotlight this year as he presents his "plan for victory."

Ahead of the gala events, a security ring of steel was being erected around the UN's riverfront HQ and local people and businesses braced for traffic paralysis caused by the endless VIP motorcades and street closures.

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World

Iran President Tells Putin Region Can Solve Problems without US

Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian during the official welcoming ceremony at the Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) in Moscow, Russia, October 27, 2026. (Reuters)
Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian during the official welcoming ceremony at the Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) in Moscow, Russia, October 27, 2026. (Reuters)
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Iran President Tells Putin Region Can Solve Problems without US

Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian during the official welcoming ceremony at the Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) in Moscow, Russia, October 27, 2026. (Reuters)
Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian during the official welcoming ceremony at the Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) in Moscow, Russia, October 27, 2026. (Reuters)

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Tuesday that the Middle East can solve its problems without the involvement of the United States.

"I believe we are capable of resolving our problems in the region without relying on the United States," Pezeshkian said at a meeting with Putin on the sidelines of a summit of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum in Moscow.

"Our trade is expanding and growing day by day. US actions in the region make it easier for us to move towards greater multilateralism and strengthen our cooperation with you and other countries subject to unilateral US sanctions," he told Putin.

Putin said he discussed the war with Pezeshkian, expressing hope that the situation would improve.

"We spoke earlier, one-on-one, about the situation in the region -- a situation that, undoubtedly, cannot help but cause concern," he said, adding that he hoped it would "evolve in a positive direction".

Pezeshkian said he was confident the will existed on both sides to expand cooperation in science, industry, culture, security and military affairs.

Moscow has been looking to mediate to help end the Middle East war which broke out on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

Last week Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited Iran for the first time since the war broke out, saying Russia's efforts were "aimed at preventing the return of a large-scale war", with talks stalled between Tehran and Washington.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi later said Russia and Iran have "never" worked so closely.

Negotiations between Washington and Tehran have been stalled for months, with both the US and Israel threatening to resume their strikes on Iran.

World

Burnham Reignites Britain’s Divisive Brexit Debate with His Push for Closer EU Ties

Britain's Prime Minister Andy Burnham gestures as he speaks while hosting a "Rough Sleeping Summit" in Downing Street in central London on October 26, 2026, to push for further action to support people to get off the streets for good. (Reuters)
Britain's Prime Minister Andy Burnham gestures as he speaks while hosting a "Rough Sleeping Summit" in Downing Street in central London on October 26, 2026, to push for further action to support people to get off the streets for good. (Reuters)
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Burnham Reignites Britain’s Divisive Brexit Debate with His Push for Closer EU Ties

Britain's Prime Minister Andy Burnham gestures as he speaks while hosting a "Rough Sleeping Summit" in Downing Street in central London on October 26, 2026, to push for further action to support people to get off the streets for good. (Reuters)
Britain's Prime Minister Andy Burnham gestures as he speaks while hosting a "Rough Sleeping Summit" in Downing Street in central London on October 26, 2026, to push for further action to support people to get off the streets for good. (Reuters)

For a decade, British governments have observed a cardinal rule: Don’t mention Brexit. In particular, don’t suggest that voters’ 2016 decision to leave the European Union should be reversed.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who marked his 100th day in office on Tuesday, has broken that code of silence and reignited a debate that bitterly divided the country. He says Brexit has been a failure and the UK should seek a much closer relationship with the EU, with options up to and including rejoining the 27-nation bloc.

“I am positive about closer ties with Europe and I’m not hiding that,” Burnham told the Sunday Times. “I think it will add to British GDP. I think it will give us stronger control of migration. I want to make those arguments.”

In recent interviews, Burnham has said the country should have an “evidence-based debate” about the consequences of Brexit. He gave the example of immigration. Supporters of Brexit argued that it would give the country control over its borders by ending the right of EU citizens to live and work in the UK, and of British nationals to settle across the bloc.

While Britain now sets its own immigration policy, Burnham said leaving the bloc had made it harder to control unauthorized migration because Britain has lost access to EU databases and agreements.

“The truth of the matter is we’ve lost immigration control in the way that we once had,” Burnham told broadcaster ITV on Monday.

Most economists agree that Brexit has hurt the British economy, but few politicians have wanted to reopen the painful debate.

The decision of British voters, by 52% to 48%, to leave the bloc after four decades of membership was followed by years of UK-EU wrangling over divorce terms. Britain finally left the EU in 2020 with a bare-bones trade deal that erected new barriers to doing business with the bloc of 450 million people on the UK’s doorstep.

In seeking closer ties, Burnham remains bound by the pledge of Keir Starmer, whom he replaced as Labour Party leader and prime minister, not to rejoin the bloc’s tariff-free customs union or frictionless single market for goods, services and workers.

Burnham says that could change after the next national election, which must be held by 2029.

He told the Labour Party’s annual conference last month that “Brexit has done more harm than good” and he will seek political consensus on a new relationship, with future options including rejoining the bloc.

A UK-EU summit in Brussels on Nov. 20 is set to discuss a more limited reset: a trade deal for food and drink, agreements on energy and emissions trading and a plan to let young people work for limited periods across Britain and the EU.

Around the same time as the summit, the British government says Burnham will set out options for the long-term relationship with Europe, and ask the public to weigh in.

Burnham’s office stressed that he wasn’t prejudging the outcome of that debate. But Downing Street acknowledged that UK and EU officials are already holding informal talks about the future relationship, with options including a return to the single market and freedom of movement.

The EU is welcoming but wary

The EU has welcomed Britain’s warmer tone, but its leaders are wary of UK attempts to secure some of the benefits reserved for members only.

In Britain, the return of the Brexit debate has stirred mixed feelings of hope, opposition and dread.

Anti-immigration Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who campaigned for years to take the country out of the EU, said Burnham “has no mandate” to renegotiate Brexit.

Even within the governing center-left Labour Party, views are mixed. Labour lawmaker Melanie Onn, who represents a district that voted heavily in favor of Brexit in 2016, warned against “reopening the divisions of the past.”

“Political trust is hard won and easily lost,” she wrote on the Politics.co.uk website.

David Henig, a trade expert at the European Centre for International Political Economy, said public support for Brexit has declined over the years. But he said politicians remain reluctant to revisit an issue that caused “a nervous breakdown for UK politics,” triggering a decade in which the UK has had seven prime ministers.

He said that for Burnham, “it’s the wider political support that is not there at the moment: within Labour, within his own Cabinet.

“The biggest challenge is actually not in Brussels,” Henig said. “I don’t think it’s with the public either. It’s whether he can make this work in terms of the politics.”

World

Iran Says Supreme Leader Met with Security Chief Over Hormuz

A cargo ship sails in the Arabian Gulf toward the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026. (AP)
A cargo ship sails in the Arabian Gulf toward the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026. (AP)
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Iran Says Supreme Leader Met with Security Chief Over Hormuz

A cargo ship sails in the Arabian Gulf toward the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026. (AP)
A cargo ship sails in the Arabian Gulf toward the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026. (AP)

Iran's supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who has yet to appear in public since he took office in March, has met with security chief Mohsen Rezaei to discuss regional security and the Strait of Hormuz, his office said Tuesday.

Mojtaba was chosen in March to succeed his father and longtime ruler Ali Khamenei, who was killed in US-Israeli strikes on February 28 in central Tehran alongside senior military commanders, and was said to have been injured in the same attack.

He has only communicated through written messages since his appointment, some of them published in handwriting attributed to him.

During the meeting, the first publicly announced encounter between Rezaei and the leader, they discussed "strengthening bilateral relations with neighboring countries" and "safeguarding national and regional security through the management of the Strait of Hormuz," Khamenei's office said in a statement.

Khamenei "emphasized the need to safeguard the rights and interests of the Iranian nation and the resistance front by adhering to the conditions set by the country's authorities, with the aim of ending the war and the state of neither war nor peace," it added.

Neither the date nor the location of the meeting was disclosed.

Iran claims control over the Hormuz strait and regularly targets vessels that attempt to cross without its authorization, while the United States has imposed a naval counter-blockade on Iranian ports.

Diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis remain stalled, especially since the collapse of a June deal which laid out a pathway to a permanent settlement.

Several Iranian officials, including Judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei and parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, have in recent days said they held rare meetings with the supreme leader.