Thursday Briefing: Climate and Ukraine at the U.N. - The New York Times

Thursday Briefing: Climate and Ukraine at the U.N. - The New York Times

Morning Briefing: Asia Pacific Edition

Plus how rap is written today.

Climate and Ukraine take center stage at the U.N.

The U.N. secretary general, António Guterres, convened a special summit yesterday in New York designed to shine a spotlight on the most ambitious global leaders on climate policy. The leaders of the U.S. and China, the world’s biggest polluters, did not get a turn at the microphone.

Of the world’s four biggest emitters, only the E.U. spoke at the summit. But despite its emphasis on ambition, the summit yielded little in the way of new announcements of climate action. In London, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced a delay on a ban on the sale of new gas and diesel cars, weakening Britain’s climate targets.

Also at the U.N., President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine presented his 10-point plan to end the war with Russia at a Security Council meeting and called for Russia to be stripped of its veto power.

“It is impossible to stop the war because all actions are vetoed by the aggressor,” he said.

Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, was not present for Zelensky’s speech. When Lavrov spoke later, he justified his country’s invasion, reiterating claims that the West had staged a “coup” in Ukraine to install a pro-Western president.

Zelensky had left the chamber by then and was not present for Lavrov’s remarks.

Zelensky is heading to Washington today. His visit comes as dozens of Republicans are opposing President Biden’s latest request of $24 billion for additional military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine’s war.

Ukraine’s counteroffensive gains

As fall approaches, and with it poor weather, Ukraine’s gains around the village of Robotyne, which its forces recaptured over the summer, could dictate the next moves in its southern campaign.

The first big strategic target, the rail and transport hub of Tokmak, is still another 15 miles away. Thirty miles south of Tokmak is the coastal city of Melitopol, a key prize in the battle for the south. This map illustrates the gains so far and the scope of the ground Ukraine still has to cover in its counteroffensive.

Azerbaijan reclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh

Azerbaijan said yesterday that it had restored full control over Nagorno-Karabakh after just two days of fighting. The enclave, which is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, has been under the control of Armenian separatists for more than three decades.

The development could create a wave of new refugees. The fate of the tens of thousands of ethnic Armenians still living in Nagorno-Karabakh is likely to emerge as an explosive and painful question.

The separatists’ surrender could also hasten the decline of Russian influence in the Caucasus, where Moscow has played a role as an arbiter between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

THE LATEST NEWS

Asia Pacific
A 150-year-old giant banyan tree in downtown Lahaina, Hawaii, that burned during the Maui fires is
showing signs of recovery.
The police in South Korea accused 17 U.S. soldiers and five other people of
distributing or using synthetic marijuana that had been brought into the country through the U.S. military’s postal service.
Rugby: An improbable run by the New Zealand Warriors
has offered some excitement to counter the All Blacks’ recent misfortune.

Around the World
A police officer in Britain has been charged with murder in the fatal shooting of a Black man in south London last year,
a rare move in a case that drew outrage.
President Biden met with Benjamin Netanyahu in New York and hinted that the Israeli leader
might be invited to the White House within months — a major boost for the prime minister.
The union representing U.S. autoworkers
threatened to expand its strike to more plants if its contract talks with three automakers failed to make progress.
At least 77 people died in a fire that tore through a dilapidated building in Johannesburg three weeks ago. Here are the
stories of some of the victims.

Other Big Stories
Canada’s accusation that India killed a Sikh separatist leader in British Columbia has revived long simmering
tensions within Canada’s Indian diaspora.
More than a dozen authors, including John Grisham and Jonathan Franzen, are suing OpenAI for
using their books to train its ChatGPT chatbot.
Seven works by Egon Schiele, an Austrian Expressionist, were
handed over to the heirs of the man who had owned them before he was murdered by the Nazis.

A Morning Read

Scientists have unearthed logs in Zambia that are nearly half a million years old and were part of large wooden structures crafted by our early ancestors. The discovery drastically pushes back the historical record of structural woodworking. Before, the oldest known examples of this craft were 9,000 years old.

ARTS AND IDEAS

How rap is written

Many fans might still have an outdated image of an artist scribbling furiously in a notepad — think Tupac, Nas or Eminem. But many younger hip-hop artists grew up idolizing stars like Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Future and Young Thug, all of whom have boasted about never writing lyrics down at all.

Instead, much of modern rap music is composed via a strange, improvisational studio technique known as “punching in” — a freestyle approach to every line, one at a time, until a song is fully formed. Watch how it’s done.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Bake these dreamy four-ingredient Nutella brownies.

Choose which new iPhone to get with help from Wirecutter.

Listen and see red with Doja Cat and other musicians.

Read one of these six young adult novels that focus on teen mental health.

Play Spelling Bee, the Mini Crossword, Wordle and Sudoku.

That’s it for today’s briefing. See you tomorrow. — Justin

P.S. “The Run-Up” podcast plans to answer readers’ questions about the 2024 election. Submit yours here.

We welcome your feedback. Send us your suggestions at briefing@nytimes.com.

Our Coverage of the War in Ukraine
The Future of Ukraine: The European Union and
NATO have promised a path to membership for the country. But real partnership will hold risks and benefits.
Photos: Photographers with The New York Times and other news organizations
have been chronicling the war, capturing a slice of how soldiers and civilians have experienced it. Our photographers say some images will never leave them.
Defying Isolation: After the invasion of Ukraine, the West
tried to cut Russia off from the rest of the world. But wealthy Russians continue to rely on a network of middlemen to circumvent the restrictions.
A Wartime Partnership: The alliance between President Biden and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has
become critical to the world order.
Zelensky’s Rise: The Ukrainian president, once brushed off as a political lightweight,
has become a household name, representing his country’s tenacity.

How We Verify Our Reporting
Our team of visual journalists analyzes satellite images,
photographs, videos and radio transmissions to independently confirm troop movements and other details.
We monitor and authenticate reports on social media, corroborating these with eyewitness accounts and interviews.
Read more about our reporting efforts.