The New York Times: Το ντεμπούτο του νέου προέδρου της Συρίας στην παγκόσμια σκηνή – Οι Ουκρανοί αντέδρασαν στην ανατροπή του Τραμπ για τον πόλεμο – Ο Σι Τζινπίνγκ έθεσε στόχο τη μείωση των εκπομπών της Κίνας – Ο τυφώνας Ραγκάσα έπληξε τη νότια Κίνα – Λύνοντας ένα μυστήριο του Ρέμπραντ – Από τζιχαντιστής σε πολιτικό – Το κάλεσμα του Ζελένσκι στα όπλα – Ένα εκατομμύριο κάτοικοι της Γκουανγκντόνγκ, στη νότια Κίνα, εκκενώθηκαν πριν ο τυφώνας Ραγκάσα φτάσει στην ξηρά. Τουλάχιστον 18 άνθρωποι έχουν σκοτωθεί στην πορεία του. Φωτογράφοι απαθανάτισαν τις συνέπειες της κατάρρευσης ενός φράγματος στην Ταϊβάν

The debut of Syria’s new president on the world stage.

Also:

Plus, solving a Rembrandt mystery.

From jihadist to statesman

President Ahmed al-Shara yesterday became the first Syrian leader to address the U.N. General Assembly since 1967, when Lyndon Johnson was in the White House and Leonid Brezhnev ran the Kremlin.

It was a stunning turnabout for al-Shara, a former rebel leader once affiliated with Al Qaeda. He is still officially designated as a terrorist by the U.S. and the U.N.

In the speech, he described the decades of oppression Syria suffered under former President Bashar al-Assad and highlighted his efforts to remake Syria’s image.

“Syria has transformed from an exporter of crisis to an opportunity for peace for Syria and the region,” said al-Shara, who led opposition forces that toppled the decades-long reign of the Assad family in December.

Al-Shara reiterated his recent calls for talks with Israel, which has launched hundreds of airstrikes in Syria since he rose to power.

“Israeli strikes and attacks against my country continue, and Israeli policies contradict the international supporting position for Syria, which threatens new crises and struggles in our region,” al-Shara said.

“In the face of this aggression,” he added, “Syria is committed to dialogue.”

As al-Shara ended his address — at around eight minutes, it was one of the shortest at this year’s U.N. meeting — he expressed his support for the residents of Gaza. “The suffering Syria endured, we wish upon no one,” he said. “For this reason, we stand firmly with the people of Gaza.”

The many faces of Syria’s leader: My colleague Ben Hubbard, who’s met al-Shara twice, wrote an in-depth profile. You can read it here.

Zelensky’s call to arms

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, asked world leaders for more military aid to fight Russia at the U.N. meeting.

“International law does not fully function without powerful friends ready to defend it,” he said. “Even having friends won’t work without weapons. The only guarantee of security is friends and weapons.”

Zelensky’s plea, accompanied by warnings that the world was entering a new era of drone-based warfare, came a day after President Trump reversed course by saying Ukraine could reclaim all of its territory from Russia. Many Ukrainians were unsure how to process Trump’s abrupt shift.

Also at the U.N.:

All this week, Ana Swanson, who writes about trade and international economics from Washington, is answering your questions about tariffs. Thank you to all the readers who wrote in.

One of the main justifications from the Trump administration for the tariff regime is that it will return manufacturing to the U.S. Is there any evidence of this starting to occur? — Anthony Bernard-Sasges, Rhode Island, U.S.

Ana: There’s certainly no clear sign of a manufacturing resurgence occurring in the data. But it’s still early days for the effect of tariffs to be felt, and there are some mixed indicators that allow both proponents and critics of tariffs to cherry-pick numbers to support their claims.

The Trump administration has pointed to big investment commitments that companies have announced to shore up its claim that manufacturing is returning to the U.S. But critics say that some of these may never materialize and that tariffs can often hurt manufacturers by raising the cost of materials they need, like metals and parts.

So far, factory employment has continued to slump, and spending on the construction of new factories in the U.S. is down sharply from 2024, when it was pushed up by subsidies for clean energy and chip manufacturing.

Football: FIFA discussed expanding the men’s World Cup to 64 teams in 2030 to mark the 100th anniversary of the competition.

Formula 1: Is Max Verstappen really in the championship race this season? The Athletic answers several questions.

Golf: Bethpage Black, the 2025 host venue of the Ryder Cup, is one of the hardest courses in the world.

Hernán Cortés vanquished the Aztecs and claimed Mexico for Spain five centuries ago. But unlike the grand pantheons and mausoleums honoring other major figures in Mexico’s history, the conquistador’s tomb has fallen into neglect.

The treatment of Cortés’s remains, which lie in a tomb in a stone wall, spotlights how controversy over the conquistador continues to shape views of colonialism, Mexican nationalism and the country’s strained relations with Spain. Read the full dispatch.

Solving a Rembrandt mystery

You might not notice it when you first glance at Rembrandt’s monumental group portrait “The Night Watch.” But if you look closely, you can see a dog in the lower right corner.

Now, researchers at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, where the painting hangs, have discovered Rembrandt’s inspiration for the dog: a drawing by another artist. The dog’s breed, however, is still an enigma. Read more.

Cook: Tender lumps of crab make this rice dish special.