While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Sept 20
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses the United Nations General Assembly, in New York City.
PHOTO: AFP
At UN, Zelensky says Russia must be pushed back
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky implored world leaders gathered at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday to stand united against Russia’s invasion and said Moscow had to be pushed back so the world could turn to solving pressing global challenges.
Mr Zelensky drew applause as he took his place at the United Nations General Assembly lectern in New York for his first in-person appearance at the annual UNGA since Russia invaded his country in 2022.
“Ukraine is doing everything to ensure that after Russian aggression, no one in the world will dare to attack any nation,” he said. “Weaponisation must be restrained, war crimes must be punished, deported people must come back home and the occupier must return to their own land.”
He accused Russia of manipulating global food markets to seek international recognition of ownership of land it seized from Kyiv.
Azerbaijan strikes, raising risk of new Caucasus war
Azerbaijan sent troops backed by artillery strikes into Armenian-controlled Nagorno-Karabakh on Tuesday in an attempt to bring the breakaway region to heel by force, raising the threat of a new war with its neighbour Armenia.
Karabakh, a mountainous area in the volatile wider South Caucasus region, is internationally recognised as Azerbaijani territory. But part of it is run by separatist Armenian authorities who say the area is their ancestral homeland.
Karabakh has been at the centre of two wars - the latest in 2020 - since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union.
US senators can wear workout clothes to work under new rules
NYT
Critics warn decorum is falling apart at the seams in the US Senate, after the Democratic leadership changed the rules to end the old requirement on wearing a jacket and tie in the tradition-bound chamber.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told the Senate Sergeant at Arms that the chamber’s unwritten dress code need no longer be enforced.
The relaxed attire rule applies to all of the chamber’s lawmakers, but the switch was seen as a special deal for Democratic Senator John Fetterman, whose love of shorts and hoodies has turned dress-down Friday into dress-down every day.
Musk’s brain implant startup recruiting for clinical trial
REUTERS
Neuralink, the brain implant startup led by billionaire Elon Musk, is recruiting patients for a clinical trial, a long-awaited step that brings the science fiction-esque technology closer to human reality.
In a blog post, the company said it was recruiting patients with quadriplegia due to cervical spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) for the trial.
Neuralink plans to evaluate the safety and functionality of its tool allowing people to manipulate external devices with their minds.
Alvarez guides City to Champions League win
EPA-EFE
Julian Alvarez’s double saved Manchester City’s blushes as the holders began their Champions League defence with a 3-1 win after Red Star Belgrade took a shock lead at the Etihad on Tuesday.
The visitors’ goal had been bombarded before they stunned Pep Guardiola’s men when Osman Bukari opened the scoring in first-half stoppage time.
However, Alvarez continued his sparkling early season form by levelling just two minutes after the break.
