First Thing: New Fed chair Kevin Warsh faces early test amid bond market worries

• Pope Francis welcomed a major pilgrimage from the Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Australia, New Zealand, and Oceania during a weekly general audience in September 2026. • The event included academic delegations alongside the religious pilgrims at the Vatican.

• Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned an alleged drone attack attempt on Mecca and praised Saudi armed forces for stopping the strike. • The Prime Minister described the attempted attack as "dastardly and heinous" while the Houthis in Yemen denied any involvement.

• Houthi rebels intensified attacks recently, triggering alerts in Jeddah, Taif, and the holy city of Mecca. • The UN refugee agency reported on Tuesday that more than 100,000 people have been displaced within Yemen.

• Climate experts are urging the United Nations General Assembly and COP31 to establish trackable commitments following a deadly glacier collapse in Nepal and a global energy crisis. • The current crisis is driven by the Iran war, which has triggered what is described as the worst energy crisis in history.

• Global leaders, including presidents and prime ministers, gather at the United Nations Headquarters in New York every September for the General Assembly High-Level Week. • The agenda focuses on specific global crises including climate change, pandemic preparedness, sea-level rise, and the fight against racism.

• A new 34-country survey released ahead of the United Nations General Assembly found that preventing wars and conflicts is the top priority for international cooperation. • Support for global cooperation rose to 61% in wealthier economies but fell to 53% in developing economies this year.

• The UN Secretary-General and the UN Mission in Libya welcomed the House of Representatives' endorsement of the Smaller Convening Agreement signed on August 30. • This endorsement serves as a formal step toward resolving the current political deadlock within the country.

• Southeast Asia is experiencing a regional arms race characterized by military expansion and increased securitization across Myanmar, the Philippines, and Indonesia. • Intensified military operations and foreign defense cooperation in the Philippines and Indonesia have exacerbated local conflicts and humanitarian crises.

• DeepSeek released Logic 2 in January 2025, causing U.S. tech stocks to lose approximately one trillion dollars in value. • China is leveraging open-weighting, or sharing the internal parameters of AI models, through the 29-country World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization and 5,000 training slots for developing nations.

• The United Nations appointed diplomat Martin Kimani as the Assistant Secretary-General for Africa to oversee political and peace operations across the continent. • Kimani will lead efforts to resolve conflicts through preventive diplomacy, mediation, and early warning analysis to address crises before they escalate.

• A Saudi-led coalition promised to respond firmly to recent Houthi strikes targeting urban areas within Saudi Arabia. • The coalition issued this warning following attacks launched by Houthi forces against populated centers.

• A new UN Global Risk Report identifies the threat of a large-scale war as the top global fear among experts. • The report notes that this risk has shifted from a distant hypothetical to the primary concern in just two years.