Antonio Guterres, Modi Discuss BRICS Priorities, Global Conflicts and AI Weapons

By Deepak Arora

NEW DELHI: With wars continuing in the Middle East and Ukraine, global food supplies under pressure and major questions hanging over the future of international cooperation, UN Secretary-General António Guterres met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Friday on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit. The meeting brought together several of the most pressing issues facing the world, from reform of global institutions and freedom of navigation to food security, sustainable development, renewable energy and the rapidly growing role of artificial intelligence....more

‘Make a deal or annihilate Iran?’ Trump lays out his options in UNGA speech

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 22: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he is deciding between making a deal with Iran or "annihilating" the Islamic Republic. But, Trump also suggested that the US will make a deal right after the November midterm elections.

Trump has often taken pride in having allegedly mediated several wars. In his address at the UN General Assembly in New York, he referred to two key conflicts in the world at the moment -- one, his own country's war with Iran, and the second, the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

With respect to Iran, he has a big decision to make. And on the conflict in Ukraine, he said the US is working very closely with the two countries and will get a deal done.

Talking about Iran, Trump asked, "Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before — maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East or even the world?"

Or, the US President said, should he "annihilate" the Islamic Republic "quickly", "never giving them a chance to kill and destroy again?"

"Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness?" Trump asked.

The US President justified the strikes on Iran, saying that he did so after giving the Islamic Republic every chance for a deal.

Noting that the anniversary of the October 7 attack on Israel was approaching, Trump said that it was one such event where "terrorists funded by Iran tortured, mutilated, and killed 1,200 innocent civilians, including dozens of Americans."

Trump alleged that the then-Supreme Leader of Iran had celebrated the massacre, calling it a "service to humanity."

He further alleged that the Iranian regime had also "slaughtered over 72,000 of its own citizens this year."

"Just imagine if such a vile regime were ever empowered to carry out large-scale terror attacks from behind a nuclear shield," Trump added.

He said that far too many countries "preferred" to ignore this reality.

"After giving Iran every chance for a deal, I took action to ensure that neither the United States, nor any nation in this hall, would ever have to face such a nightmare," Trump added.

The US President also thanked the UN Security Council for passing a resolution condemning Iran's "despicable terrorist attacks on commercial shipping."

According to Trump, the resolution had received more co-sponsors from the UN member nations than any Security Council resolution in history.

He said the member nations should be equally united in maintaining pressure. Referring to his economic warfare tactics, Trump said, "I call on all nations to join us in enforcing the complete economic isolation of Iran until they stop their attacks on commercial shipping, relinquish their nuclear ambitions, and cease their support of terror."

On reports of low US munitions, Trump said "cowards and traitors" would love to say so, however, "that's not true."

"We have more munitions than we could ever possibly think of using and are building them up at levels we have never done before," he clarified.

At UNGA, Trump also said that massive munitions plants will be opening in the very near future, with 18 of them being under "rapid construction" currently.

Trump once again, for the nth time now, claimed that he has settled eight wars since he took office.

While talking about these wars, the US President also mentioned the ongoing conflict in Russia and Ukraine.

With Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the audience, Trump said the US is working very closely with the leaders of both countries, adding that it will get a deal done. "It's going to happen, I think, more quickly than people understand. They've had it," he added.

Trump also mentioned the recently passed Russian sanctions law. He said the law gives him enormous new tariff authorities, and if necessary, he will use those powers. "It is time to stop the killing," he said on the deaths in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Trump rechristens artificial intelligence as ‘super intelligence’, dismisses AI risk concerns

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 22: United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday rechristened “artificial intelligence” to “super intelligence” during his address at the United Nations General Assembly and said that the US government documents would use the new term going forward.

"From this point forward, all of United States documents, and hopefully the world's will be changed to use the much more accurate term 'super' as opposed to artificial. So it's super intelligence," Trump said said while strongly advocating for AI.

"I'm not going to stifle growth of something that will be bigger than the industrial revolution," he added.

Apart from the nomenclature of artificial intelligence, Trump also sought to dismiss risks associated with the tech and reiterated that warnings against AI are “hoax”.