Benjamin Netanyahu gestures with a raised finger while speaking at the UN General Assembly
Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu speaking at the UN. Photograph: Lev Radin/EPA
Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu speaking at the UN. Photograph: Lev Radin/EPA

First Thing: Netanyahu lambasts Israel’s critics at UN as New York protesters detained

More than 100 people arrested, including celebrities, while Israeli PM was claiming war on Gaza is ‘the opposite of genocide’. Plus a Guardian investigation reveals the extents to which some convenience stores fail to honor their prices

Good morning. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, delivered an inflammatory address to the UN in New York, decrying what he said was a global anti-Jewish conspiracy and taking aim at critics of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. He branded Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, a “tyrant”, described Zohran Mamdani as the “antisemitic mayor of New York”, and declared that Israel’s war in Gaza was not a genocide, “it’s the opposite of genocide”.

Netanyahu delivered his address just hours after the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said his delegation was “unlawfully” denied visas by the Trump administration to attend the meeting. Dozens of delegates, inspired by a Palestinian call, walked out of the General Assembly Hall of the UN headquarters as Netanyahu took the stage.

  • What was the reaction on the streets of New York? More than 100 people were arrested outside the UN headquarters as Netanyahu made his address, after a protest drew hundreds of Jewish, Palestinian, Iranian and Lebanese New Yorkers, among others. Susan Sarandon and Hannah Einbinder were among those detained.

  • What has rapper Macklemore announced? The US rapper, removed from Ed Sheeran’s US tour after voicing support of Palestine, has convened a Free Palestine tour to benefit humanitarian aid organisations. The charity show will visit Dublin, Paris and London, with a North American run to be announced.

Iran awaiting response from Trump on proposal to open strait of Hormuz in six days

US fighter aircraft on desk of the George Washington
US aircraft carrier the George Washington launching night air operations. Photograph: Ed Ou/Reuters

Iran has said it has told Donald Trump it is willing to open the strait of Hormuz in six days, and to start talks on its nuclear program the day after, so long as the US lifts sanctions on Iran’s oil exports in return, ends the war on all fronts – including in Lebanon – and releases some of Iran’s frozen assets.

Privately, Iranian officials believe they could reach a deal with the Americans, but fear Israel will use its influence to pull the US president away from the proposal due to the inclusion of demands over Lebanon.

  • What happened in the Senate about the war? Senate Republicans have blocked a Democratic effort to end the US war with Iran, voting down a House-passed war powers resolution. The measure, which passed the House last week with bipartisan support, failed in the Senate by a 49-50 vote, attracting some Republican support, but not enough to pass.

  • What other developments have there been in the Middle East? Saudi Arabia says it intercepted six ballistic missiles fired by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis, with the latest attacks pushing oil prices ⁠to a one-week high over fears of spiralling supply disruptions.

Texas woman triumphs as court upholds acquittal in voting error case

Crystal Mason flanked by supporters speaking to press
Crystal Mason had been sentenced to five years in prison in a controversial illegal voting case. Photograph: Desiree Rios/AP

The nearly decade-long case of a Black Texas woman who was sentenced to five years in prison in a controversial illegal voting case will end with an acquittal, the state’s highest criminal court has ruled in a 5-4 decision. Crystal Mason has been appealing ever since her 2018 conviction for casting a provisional ballot that ultimately was not counted.

  • What is the latest voting controversy in Nevada? The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) wrongly identified 185 people on Nevada’s voter rolls as non-citizens, state officials said this week, escalating concerns over the shoddy methodology the government is using to raise fear about non-citizen voting ahead of the midterm elections.

  • Why is their backlash against a sheriff in California over voting? The Republican sheriff Chad Bianco must return more than 650,000 ballots his department confiscated earlier this year in an unprecedented move that violated election law, a state supreme court has ruled.

At Trump meeting, Xi Jinping lays out terms to avoid US-China military conflict

Trump and Xi standing together at the White House with their wives, Melania Trump and Peng Liyuan, behind them
Trump and Chinese President Xi at the White House. Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

Xi Jinping has called for extensive cooperation with Washington to avoid a trap that could put the US and China on a military collision course amid rising tensions over artificial intelligence, trade and Taiwan. Rather than confrontation, conditions for “achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and making America great again go hand in hand” and should be the goal, Xi said. Mark Saunokonoko has this list of key takeaways from the summit.

In other news …

Mary Peltola.
Mary Peltola. Photograph: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Stat of the day: ICE has wasted tens of millions to carry out Trump’s mass detention agenda

Person handcuffed after ICE raid in Denver
The Trump administration has spent resources on seeking, detaining and removing people with no criminal history. Photograph: Kevin Mohatt/Reuters

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal agencies have wasted tens of millions of dollars pursuing controversial plans to rapidly increase detention capacity – and the total will likely rise due to continuing mismanagement, congressional investigators have warned.

Michael Shapiro conducting Frankenstein.
Michael Shapiro conducting Frankenstein. Photograph: Handout

Boris Karloff’s daughter and the composer Michael Shapiro, who has written a 21st-century musical score for the 1931 classic, talk to Pamela Hutchinson about how it became so loved – and the strange experience of watching your father be Dr Frankenstein’s creation as a teenager.

Don’t miss this: Gavin Newsom condemns Democrats’ ‘climate hushing’, predicts Trump’s downfall and expects AOC to run in 2028

Gavin Newsom.
Newsom could yet run for president himself. Photograph: Charly Triballeau/AFP/Getty Images

Mark Hertsgaard interviews the governor of California, a man who may still – if the circumstances are right for him – run for US president in 2028.

… or this: Amid soaring living costs, America’s biggest convenience-store chains quietly overcharge consumers

Collage of 7-Eleven and Circle K signs, products and receipts.
Collage of 7-Eleven and Circle K signs, products and receipts. Illustration: Guardian Design / Getty Images

A Guardian investigation has revealed that 7-Eleven and Circle K stores often fail to honor advertised prices – charging more at the pump and register for gas, snacks and other items.

Climate check: ‘We wanted to prove we didn’t need air conditioning’ – the airport cooled by natural ventilation

Roland Garros airport in Réunion
Roland Garros airport in Réunion. Photograph: Studio Lumière

Avoiding a planet-heating disaster will take innovative approaches, and at Roland Garros airport on Réunion island, a unique ceiling design funnels a light tropical breeze into the terminal, ending the need to run air conditioning.

Last Thing: 55,000 fans and nowhere to hide – what it’s like to play in basketball’s biggest arena

A basketball player doing a slam dunk as opposing players look on
Players compete in the Commissioner’s Cup finals in the Philippines. Photograph: Xinhua/Rouelle Umali/Xinhua/Alamy

I still have nightmares about just a handful of people watching me flounder at sport in my younger years, so appearing at the sprawling Philippine Arena sounds terrifying. Jacob Uitti reports.

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