Xi tells UN: China accelerates greenhouse gas emission reductions

Today's headlines: A 21-point plan on Gaza to be announced with Qatar at the centre of Trump's meeting with Arab-Muslim leaders; Thailand's new foreign minister to Cambodia: let's ease military presence at the border; To Lam to visit Pyongyang, first visit by a Vietnamese leader since 2007; Overtourism is prompting Japanese schools to cancel school trips to Kyoto.

CHINA

China plans to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 7-10% from their peak by 2035. This was announced by President Xi Jinping in a live message from Beijing to the climate summit hosted by UN Secretary-General António Guterres on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, in an indirect response to the part of Trump's speech that condemned green policies against climate change. Until now, China had always limited itself to postponing the zero emissions target set by the Paris Agreement for 2035 to the very distant deadline of 2060. Xi also said that China intends to increase its installed wind and solar power capacity to more than six times 2020 levels within ten years, and to increase the share of non-fossil fuels in domestic energy consumption to more than 30% by 2035.

GAZA-ISRAEL-UNITED STATES

There is reportedly a new 21-point plan on Gaza that the United States is preparing to announce in the coming days together with Qatar in a symbolically significant gesture after the Israeli raid on Doha. The plan is said to be the outcome of a meeting between Trump and several Arab and Muslim leaders held the other evening in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. According to information obtained by the United Arab Emirates newspaper The National, the plan would provide for a permanent ceasefire and the immediate release of all hostages still being held, along with a gradual withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip and an amnesty for Hamas officials if they agree to leave the coastal enclave. The proposal would also include the dismantling of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and the transfer of food aid distribution to the UN and other international humanitarian organisations.

THAILAND-CAMBODIA

Bangkok's new foreign minister has said that Thailand and Cambodia should reduce their military presence along their shared border and work together to ease tensions. Shortly after officially taking office alongside Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, Sihasak Phuangketkeow stressed the need to respect the ceasefire agreed between the two countries at the end of the five-day conflict in July. Speaking to reporters on his first day as foreign minister, he said his priority was to ensure peace between the two Southeast Asian countries.

VIETNAM-NORTH KOREA

Vietnamese Communist Party Secretary To Lam is expected to visit North Korea next month, according to two Vietnamese officials, marking the first visit by a Vietnamese leader to Pyongyang in nearly 20 years. The two communist countries maintain close diplomatic ties but currently have no trade relations. The last visit by a Vietnamese leader to North Korea was in 2007, when the then head of the ruling Communist Party, Nong Duc Manh, made a three-day trip to the country, marking the first visit since Ho Chi Minh's in 1957. In a rare trip abroad, Kim Yong-un travelled to Hanoi in 2019, as part of a visit that culminated in a summit with US President Donald Trump, then in his first term.

JAPAN

The overwhelming influx of foreign tourists to Kyoto is prompting more and more Japanese schools to abandon the ancient capital as a traditional destination for educational trips. According to city statistics, 750,000 students arrived in 2024, compared to 810,000 the previous year. Teachers complain about crowded buses and subways, queues at temples and shrines, and hotel and restaurant prices that have doubled or even tripled. This change would be viewed with disappointment by students and parents who consider the school trip to Kyoto a rite of passage.

GEORGIA-UN

The ruling Georgian Dream party sent President Mikhail Kavelašvili, whose legitimacy is not recognised by pro-Western opposition forces, to the UN assembly for the 80th anniversary session, instead of the prime ministers who had attended in previous years. His visit to New York is his first appearance outside international isolation 10 months after his election. He will speak in Georgian as he does not know English.

RUSSIA

Metropolitan Tikhon (Shevkunov), considered Vladimir Putin's “spiritual father”, has praised Trumpian hero and martyr Charlie Kirk, stating that 'in the age of post-truth, relativism and militant liberalism, when reality is constructed by the media and social networks and conformism has become the norm, Kirk dared to go against the tide, rejecting half-measures, compromises and deceitful conscience."