Wang met President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly
The top diplomat promised China would “always be a trustworthy partner”
Updated 25 September 2024
AFP
BEIJING: China’s top diplomat Wang Yi pledged to support Iran in safeguarding its security against “external forces” in a meeting with the country’s new president in New York, Beijing’s foreign ministry said Wednesday.
Wang met President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly, Beijing said, as Israel launched more strikes against Tehran’s ally Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The top diplomat promised China would “always be a trustworthy partner.”
“China will continue to support Iran in safeguarding its sovereignty, security, territorial integrity, and national dignity,” Wang said on Tuesday, according to a foreign ministry statement.
Beijing also opposed “external forces interfering in Iran’s internal affairs and imposing sanctions or pressure,” he added.
Conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite militant movement backed by Iran, has intensified in recent weeks.
Lebanon said Israeli strikes killed at least 558 people on Monday — the deadliest day of violence in the country since its 1975-90 civil war.
Iran, regarded by Israel as its archenemy, is an influential player in the Middle East, supporting armed groups in the region including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
China is a close partner of Iran, its largest trade partner, and a top buyer of its sanctioned oil.
Both countries have often faced Western pressure in the form of sanctions, most recently because of their stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Trump links autism to Tylenol and vaccines, claims not backed by science
Researchers say there is no firm evidence of a link between the use of Tylenol and autism
Updated 17 sec ago
Reuters
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Monday linked autism to childhood vaccines and also to the use of popular pain medication Tylenol for pregnant women and children, claims which are not backed by decades of science. In an extraordinary news conference at the White House, the Republican president delivered medical advice to pregnant women and parents of young children, repeatedly telling them not to use or administer the over-the-counter pain killer.
The advice from Trump, who has no medical training and also pointed out “I’m not a doctor,” goes against that of medical societies, which cite data from numerous studies showing acetaminophen plays a safe role in the well-being of pregnant women.
“I want to say it like it is, don’t take Tylenol. Don’t take it,” Trump said. “Fight like hell not to take it. There may be a point where you have to, and that you’ll have to work out with yourself, so don’t take Tylenol.”
Standing next to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vaccine critic who has argued that no vaccine is safe, Trump called for a reexamination of a link between vaccines and autism, a theory that has been repeatedly debunked, and a series of changes not grounded in science.
“We believe independent, sound science clearly shows that taking acetaminophen does not cause autism. We strongly disagree with any suggestion otherwise and are deeply concerned with the health risk this poses for expecting mothers,” Kenvue, the maker of Tylenol, said in a statement ahead of the announcement.
Shares of Kenvue slid more than 7 percent during Monday’s stock market session as investors braced for Trump’s announcement. But the shares recovered 5 percent in extended trade.
Trump said he is a big believer in vaccines, having led in his first-term the pandemic initiative to speed COVID-19 vaccine development. Still, he called for the removal of mercury from vaccines and said children should not get the hepatitis B vaccine before the age of 12. It is given in the first 24 hours after birth. He also said the measles-mumps-rubella combination vaccine should be split into three separate vaccines.
The announcement was reminiscent of Trump’s regular press briefings in the early months of the pandemic when he would frequently dispense advice that was not founded on science, including his suggestion that people drink bleach, which his supporters later said was not serious.
Studies have shown vaccines are safe and have saved millions of lives, eradicating childhood diseases such as polio and measles in the US.
Over the last 50 years, it is estimated that essential vaccines have saved at least 154 million lives, UNICEF USA President & CEO Michael J. Nyenhuis has said.
Only one in four Americans believe recent recommendations for fewer vaccines from the Trump administration were based on scientific evidence and facts, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed this month.
“I cannot say that I’ve ever experienced anything like this in vaccines,” said Dr. Norman Baylor, former director of the FDA’s Office of Vaccines Research and Review.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES STEPS IT WILL TAKE
The Trump Administration also suggested leucovorin, a form of folic acid, as a treatment for autism symptoms. The Food and Drug Administration approved a version of the drug made by GSK it had previously withdrawn for a condition it associated with autism. Once it is established for the use, the administration said, Medicaid insurance for low-income people would cover the drug for autism symptoms. The FDA, in its approval, cited a review of the use of leucovorin in 40 patients with a rare metabolic disorder called cerebral folate deficiency that can lead to a range of neurological symptoms, some of which are seen in people with autism.
The FDA will notify doctors that using Tylenol during pregnancy can be associated with a very increased risk of autism, Trump said, without presenting evidence for the claim.
The Trump administration said it plans to initiate a change to the safety label on Tylenol, which would say that research shows it can lead to adverse neurological outcomes.
Researchers say there is no firm evidence of a link between the use of Tylenol and autism. A 2024 study of nearly 2.5 million children in Sweden found no causal link between in utero exposure to acetaminophen and neurodevelopmental disorders.
A 2025 review of 46 earlier studies did suggest a link between prenatal acetaminophen exposure and increased risks of these conditions, but the researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Harvard University and others said the study does not prove the drug caused the outcomes. They advised that pregnant women should continue to use acetaminophen as needed, at the lowest possible dose and for the shortest possible period.
Tylenol is made by consumer health company Kenvue, which was spun off from Johnson & Johnson in 2023, and generic versions of acetaminophen are also available. The company said on Monday it disagreed with the suggestion of a link which it said was not based in science.
Researchers say leucovorin, used to treat some cancer patients on chemotherapy, has shown some promise in very small trials, but that large, randomized trials are still needed.
Trump to slam ‘globalist’ bodies, Palestinian recognitions at UN
Trump has repeatedly criticized the UN and other multilateral institutions as part of his ‘America First’ policy
Trump will meanwhile hold a ‘multilateral meeting’ with the leaders of key Muslim countries at the UN assembly
Updated 22 September 2025
AFP
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump will hit out at “globalist institutions” and criticize the recognition of a Palestinian state by Western allies in a speech to the United Nations, the White House said Monday.
Trump is set to deliver the first speech of his second term to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, as the annual diplomatic gathering is dominated by Israel’s war in Gaza.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump would tout “the renewal of American strength around the world” in his address.
“The president will also touch upon how globalist institutions have significantly decayed the world order, and he will articulate his straightforward and constructive vision for the world,” she added.
Trump has repeatedly criticized the UN and other multilateral institutions as part of his “America First” policy, and either cut funding for or withdrawn from a number of UN bodies.
Trump will meanwhile hold a “multilateral meeting” with the leaders of key Muslim countries at the UN assembly, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Turkiye, Pakistan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, Leavitt told a briefing.
The move comes after several Western governments recognized a Palestinian state, angering Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will speak at the UN on Friday, has vowed to expand Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank after the recognitions.
Trump himself opposed the moves by Britain, Canada and Australia to recognize the state of Palestine, which France is due to follow on Monday.
“The president has been very clear he disagrees with this decision,” Leavitt said, noting that he had publicly done so with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer during a UK state visit last week.
“Frankly, he believes it’s a reward to Hamas. So he believes these decisions are just more talk and not enough action from some of our friends and allies, and I think you’ll hear him talk about that tomorrow” at the UN, she added.
Trump will also meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the UN gathering, Leavitt said, as Kyiv seeks Western-backed security guarantees to prop up an elusive ceasefire with Russia.
In addition, the US president will meet Argentinian counterpart and key ally Javier Milei, a day after the US Treasury said it was mulling an economic lifeline for Argentina as it battles to calm jittery markets.
Putin offers Trump one-year extension to nuclear weapons treaty
The treaty caps the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads at 1,550 and the number of delivery vehicles — missiles, submarines and bombers — at 700 on each side
Russia and the United States have by far the biggest nuclear arsenals in the world, and many experts fear that ending the limits could fuel an arms race as both sides boost strategic weapons deployments
Updated 22 September 2025
Reuters
MOSCOW/WASHINGTON: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday offered to voluntarily maintain the limits on deployed strategic nuclear weapons set in the 2010 New START accord after it expires in February if the US agreed to do the same.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Putin’s proposal sounded “pretty good,” but she added that US President Donald Trump would address the offer himself. The agreement is the last US-Russia strategic nuclear arms control accord.
It allowed for only one five-year extension, which Putin and former US President Joe Biden agreed to implement in 2021. The offer, which comes as Ukraine tries to convince Trump to impose harsher sanctions on Russia, was made public by Putin at a meeting of his Security Council.
HIGHLIGHTS
• US-Russia arms control treaty due to expire in February
• Treaty limits nuclear weapons in both countries
• Putin proposes a one-year rollover if Trump does same
“Russia is prepared to continue adhering to the central numerical limits under the New START Treaty for one year after February 5, 2026,” he said.
“Subsequently, based on an analysis of the situation, we will make a decision on whether to maintain these voluntary, self-imposed restrictions.” Trump in July said he would like to maintain the limits on deployed strategic nuclear weapons set in the 2010 New START pact after it expires on February 5. Russia and the United States have by far the biggest nuclear arsenals in the world, and many experts fear that ending the limits could fuel an arms race as both sides boost strategic weapons deployments. The treaty caps the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads at 1,550 and the number of delivery vehicles — missiles, submarines and bombers — at 700 on each side.
PUTIN UNDER PRESSURE TO END UKRAINE WAR
Putin said his proposal was in the interests of global non-proliferation and could help spur dialogue with Washington about arms control.
“This measure will only be viable if the United States acts in a similar manner, and does not take steps that undermine or violate the existing balance of deterrence capabilities,” Putin said. He has been under pressure from Trump to agree to end the war in Ukraine, something Moscow says is part of a slew of security issues that have raised East-West tensions to their most dangerous level since the Cold War.
The proposal appears to be a unilateral change of policy by Moscow, which has until now insisted it would only engage with Washington on such matters if overall ties — hampered by stark differences over the war in Ukraine — improved.
TALKS ON OVERHAULING TREATY YET TO START
Differences over Ukraine mean the two superpowers have not started talks on renewing or overhauling the treaty, though Trump has spoken of his desire to do a new nuclear arms control deal, albeit with China as well.
Beijing has rejected the idea that it should be included.
Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association advocacy group, said Putin’s offer was “a positive and welcome move.”
Urging Washington to reciprocate, Kimball said Trump and Putin could “help reduce the most immediate existential security threat facing the world.”
Putin said Russia would be monitoring US nuclear arms and defense activity, paying particular attention to plans to beef up missile defenses and proposals to deploy missile interceptors in space.
“The practical implementation of such destabilising actions could nullify our efforts to maintain the status quo in the field of START,” said Putin. “We will respond accordingly.”
Konstantin Kosachyov, a senior Russian senator, said Putin was sending a message to the US that he was ready to enter talks on a new arms control treaty.
“I hope that this signal will be heard and correctly interpreted,” Kosachyov said on Telegram.
Gifted Gazan students set to arrive in UK to take up scholarships at British universities
They include Palestinian recipients of the Chevening scholarship, a highly competitive program for foreign students that aims to recognize potential leaders
Officials say the support recognizes the roles the students might play in eventual reconstruction of the territory and building a better future for Israelis and Palestinians
Updated 22 September 2025
Arab News
LONDON: Gazan students awarded prestigious scholarships to study in the UK will begin arrive in the country this autumn, after support from the British government enabled them to leave the war-torn territory, ministers said on Monday.
They include Palestinian recipients of the Chevening scholarship, a highly competitive program for foreign students that aims to recognize potential leaders, and other gifted individuals, and provide them with fully funded places on undergraduate and master’s degree courses at leading UK universities.
Officials said the educational support for Gazan students is recognition of the roles they might play in the eventual reconstruction of the territory and building a better future for Israelis and Palestinians.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the conflict in Gaza had devastated education, and praised students for their “incredible resilience and unwavering determination” to continue their studies.
She thanked the government’s international partners, including the Jordanian government and Israeli authorities, for helping the students to leave Gaza, adding: “Our support also reflects the UK’s commitment to the future of postwar Gaza, where educating the next generation will play a vital role.”
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said she was “relieved” the students will be able to study in safety.
“These students have lived through an appalling ordeal, with many losing loved ones and having their studies torn apart by the devastating impact of war,” she said.
“Education offers hope and opportunity and we are determined to ensure that all young people, whatever their circumstances, are able to benefit from it.”
The government said the move was part of wider UK efforts to help vulnerable groups leave Gaza amid the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in the enclave.
British authorities officially recognized a Palestinian state on Sunday, and continue to call for an immediate ceasefire agreement in the territory, the release of all hostages, unrestricted deliveries of humanitarian aid, and a pathway to long-term peace in the wider conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
Palestinian mission in UK celebrates statehood recognition, raises flag in London
Palestinian ambassador says British recognition comes at a time of ‘unimaginable pain and suffering’ for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank
First Minister of Scotland John Swinney attended the event along with former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn
Palestine, a former British colony for nearly 30 years, was never recognized when the mandate ended, despite the UK’s recognition of the fledgling State of Israel in 1950
LONDON: Palestinians marked the announcement of the UK government’s formal recognition of the State of Palestine with a flag-hoisting ceremony attended by senior UK officials, members of Parliament, ambassadors, and members of the Palestinian community on Monday.
The official ceremony in the London borough of Hammersmith featured a speech by Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian ambassador, outside the Palestine Mission to the UK, soon to be upgraded into an embassy.
“In the same capital of the Balfour Declaration, after more than a century of ongoing denial, dispossession and erasure, the UK government has finally taken the long overdue step of recognizing the State of Palestine,” Zomlot began his speech.
Palestine, a former British colony for nearly 30 years, was never recognized when the mandate ended, despite the UK’s recognition of the fledgling State of Israel in 1950, an entity that was envisioned in the Balfour Declaration of 1917, which promised to establish a homeland for the Jewish people in Palestine.
This moment stands as a defiant act of truth, a refusal to let genocide be the final word; a refusal to accept that occupation is permanent
Husam Zomlot, Palestinian ambassador
The historic and long-awaited decision was announced on Sunday by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who described it as “a pledge to the Palestinian and Israeli people that there can be a better future.”
It marks a shift in policy in the UK and some European countries, which have long stated that recognizing Palestine will occur only at the conclusion of peace negotiations. Hamas attacks in October 2023, followed by an ongoing campaign of vengeance by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, signaled to Starmer that “the hope for a two-state solution is fading.”
Zomlot said that British recognition comes at a critical time of “unimaginable pain and suffering” for Palestinians, a population of 5.5 million in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
Since August, Israeli forces have conducted a demolition campaign targeting high-rise buildings in Gaza City, continuing nearly two years of assaults on the coastal enclave, where over 65,000 people have been killed. Officials from the UN and the EU, along with the mayor of London, have recently described Israeli actions in Gaza as genocide. In the West Bank, the Israeli government announced its approval of the E1 settlement, which would divide the territory in half and severely undermine any hope for a Palestinian state.
The Palestinian Mission to the UK in London held a special ceremony on Monday to mark British recognition of Palestinian statehood. (AN Photo/Mustafa Abu Sneineh)
“It comes as our people in Gaza are being starved, bombed, and buried under the rubble of their homes; as our people in the West Bank are being ethnically cleansed, brutalized by daily state-sponsored terrorism, land theft and suffocating oppression,” Zomlot said.
Palestinians hope that the UK’s recognition will be more than merely “symbolic” and will contribute to a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that has embroiled the Middle East since 1948.
The UK, a permanent member of the Security Council and a G7 country, joined Canada, Australia, and Portugal on Sunday in recognizing Palestinian statehood, while France is expected to follow suit this week at the UN General Assembly.
“This moment stands as a defiant act of truth, a refusal to let genocide be the final word; a refusal to accept that occupation is permanent; a refusal to be erased and a refusal to be dehumanized,” Zomlot said.
“(It is) righting historic wrongs and committing together to a future based on freedom, dignity and fundamental human rights.”
A defining moment in securing self-determination for Palestine and peace through a two-state solution
John Swinney, Scotland’s first minister
The impassioned speech quoted the famous lines, “On This Land, There Are Reasons to Live,” a poem by the national poet Mahmoud Darwish.
“Please join me as we raise the flag of Palestine with its colors representing our nation: black for our mourning, white for our hope, green for our land and red for the sacrifices of our people,” Zomlot concluded.
John Swinney, the first minister of Scotland, attended the event along with former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. Swinney wrote on X that it was “a defining moment in securing self-determination for Palestine and peace through a two-state solution.”
Corbyn, an independent MP, congratulated those “who have tirelessly campaigned for the recognition of Palestine,” which he described as an “inalienable right” of the Palestinian people, in a post on the X platform.
He called on the UK government to “recognize the genocide in Gaza, end its complicity in crimes against humanity, and stop arming Israel.”
Saudi Arabia and France are co-hosting a one-day event at the UN in New York this week to advance the two-state solution, as more countries are expected to recognize the State of Palestine.
