Friday briefing: The US at 250: who gets to tell the story?

• World leaders will gather for the UN General Assembly to discuss global crises and ongoing wars. • Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to speak on Thursday, while the US denied a visa to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

• World leaders gathered in New York on Tuesday for the 81st UN General Assembly to begin high-level debates on global crises and governance. • The agenda focuses on regulating artificial intelligence, addressing climate change, and managing conflicts in Ukraine, Sudan, and the Middle East.

• World leaders are gathering for the UN General Assembly to address ongoing wars, the risks of artificial intelligence, and the need for institutional reform. • The organization continues to manage humanitarian relief, refugee assistance, peacekeeping, and diplomacy.

• Hundreds of diplomats and world leaders are gathering this week at the United Nations headquarters in New York for the General Assembly. • The event serves as the largest annual meeting for global diplomacy.

• Iran warned on Sunday that it would expand the geography of the war and use different weapons if the U.S. launches new assaults. • Tehran's top negotiator stated that Iran has sent conditions to Washington via mediators to reopen the blockaded Strait of Hormuz.

Exclusive: Collection’s 300,000 pages record lives of enslaved people in countries including the Bahamas, Barbados, Jamaica, Mauritius, South Africa and TrinidadNearly 4m records documenting the lives of enslaved people across 20 former British colonies have been made searchable online for the first time.The records have been digitised and indexed by the genealogy company Ancestry, which has partnered with the Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery at University College London. Continue reading...

Shane de Kauwe tells corruption inquiry he was instructed by Toplace laywer Sharangan Maheswaran to investigate minister David ElliottFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA private investigator says he was asked to surveil a Liberal minister and provided secret recording devices to a fugitive property developer, the New South Wales anti-corruption watchdog has heard.Shane de Kauwe told the Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) on Tuesday he had installed a static camera on a building to record a person connected with the former NSW Liberal MP David Elliott. Continue reading...

Storm triggers landslides and travel chaos while cutting off almost ‌50,000 homes from electricityTyphoon Dujuan has killed at least two people in Japan, while thousands of houses near Tokyo remained without power after the storm swept through the region, authorities said on Tuesday.Dujuan – which brought violent winds of 144km/h (89mph) – was moving away from Japan on Tuesday morning, allowing authorities to downgrade most heavy rain and landslide warnings. Continue reading...

Executive tells court he was groped on bottom at Sydney event after ex-broadcaster pleads not guilty to 21 indecent assault and sexual touching chargesAn executive has testified in a Sydney court that he didn’t react when allegedly groped by talkback titan Alan Jones because he didn’t want to cause a scene.The fourth alleged victim gave evidence on Tuesday in the trial of the retired broadcaster who has pleaded not guilty to 21 indecent assault and sexual touching charges. One charge was withdrawn on Monday. Continue reading...

Canadian province alleges deadly attack could have been prevented if company had warned police of shooter’s ChatGPT useBritish Columbia has sued OpenAI in California, saying a mass shooting at a school in the province could have been prevented if the company had warned local ⁠law enforcement that the shooter ⁠had used ChatGPT to ​plan the massacre.The lawsuit filed in San Francisco federal court on Monday names OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, as defendants. It is seeking damages to fund recovery efforts in the province after the February attack, as well as an order directing changes to the way the company handles ChatGPT conversations that could lead to violence. Continue reading...

One academic says prediction for 2066 ‘is negligent in ignoring the economic damage’ on the horizon Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAn Australian government snapshot of life in 40 years has been sharply criticised for underplaying the economic and social damage expected due to the worsening climate crisis.The government’s seventh intergenerational report, which projects out to 2066, finds the effects of global heating four decades from now are “highly uncertain”, pointing to the pace of the global energy transition as a key source of unpredictability. Continue reading...

Trump’s announcement on Russia ally comes as he steps up his trade war with Canada, a long-term US ally and top supplier of potashPresident Donald Trump has said he is working on a “massive” deal to buy fertiliser from Belarus, pivoting away from main supplier Canada amid an escalating trade dispute, and moving instead toward an ally of Russia.“The United States is working on a massive deal with respect to the purchase of Potash from Belarus,” Trump said on his Truth Social network. “The pricing would be for substantially less than we are currently paying to Canada, very good news for our farmers and ranchers.” Continue reading...