Globe Trot 09.26

This morning, Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks to the UN General Assembly—on Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. Expect his predictable militancy before the global gathering, and the predictable walkout by Western delegates in protest. Yesterday, the Iranian president told reporters in New York: "Iran has been around for the last seven, 10 thousand years. They [the Israelis] have been occupying those territories for the last 60 to 70 years, with the support and force of the Westerners. They have no roots there in history."

President Barack Obama addressed the UN General Assembly yesterday, focusing on attacks on the United States in the Middle East and promising and to "do what we must to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon." Read the text of his remarks.

As world leaders gather at UN headquarters in New York, free speech is the dividing issue between the West and Muslim nations.

Riots in Madrid over—guess what?—anti-austerity measures are growing and Spain looks to be the next in line after Greece to ask the EU for a rescue package to cover its ballooning debt. On Tuesday, 64 police and protesters were injured and 28 protesters arrested in the capital.

Taiwan has joined the hostilities over islands in the East China Sea, sending 60 fishing vessels into the disputed waters and vowing to establish a marine park on one of the islands. Here’s a brief on the controversy.

China’s vice president and leader in waiting Xi Jiping is back. He went missing for two weeks this month, and skipped a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.