U.S. and world news for Sept. 24

(COVER PHOTO: Satellite photo via Google Maps)

Jimmy Kimmel returns

Jimmy Kimmel made an emotional return to late-night TV on Tuesday after nearly a weeklong suspension. He received a standing ovation from audience members before his opening monologue, in which he addressed the controversy directly and assailed “anti-American” efforts to curtail free speech in the U.S. “What’s important is that we live in a country that allows us to have a show like this,” Kimmel told viewers. He also discussed his September 15 remarks about Charlie Kirk’s suspected killer that led ABC to halt production of his show. “It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man,” he said. “Nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions of what was obviously a deeply disturbed individual.” The conservative Sinclair group of TV stations and Nexstar Media Group, which together own about one in five ABC affiliates nationwide, said they will still keep the show off their airwaves for now.

Trump’s U.N. speech

President Donald Trump lambasted the U.N. and countries around the world during a lengthy speech at the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday. In largely off-script remarks, Trump criticized the U.N. over what he views as its ineffectiveness. He addressed the most pressing conflicts — the wars in Ukraine and Gaza — only in passing. Afterwards, Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the UNGA and shifted his tone about Russia’s ongoing invasion. The president on social media said Ukraine is now in a position to “fight and WIN” back its original borders, escalating his rhetoric against Moscow. Trump also said NATO countries should shoot down Russian aircraft if they violate their airspace.

Trump again doubts climate change

Scientists have warned for years that climate change is happening and that it is mainly caused by fossil fuel pollution. But in remarks on Tuesday at the U.N. General Assembly, President Trump launched into a familiar tirade against the concept of global warming. The president called climate change “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world,” and he also referred to “the global warming hoax.” He didn’t precisely explain what he was calling the con job or hoax, but global warming is a demonstrated fact. The vast majority of climate scientists have concluded that the warming effects of climate change are making extreme weather events more powerful. Its toll is evident across the globe: heat waves are more intense, droughts are more widespread, and storms are more unpredictable and deadly.

Trump’s escalator and teleprompter

When Donald Trump was arriving at the U.N. for his speech and riding an escalator upstairs, the escalator stopped and Trump and his wife had to walk up. During his speech, the teleprompter from which he was reading would not work. Ad-libbing, Trump lambasted the U.N. as being inept because of both incidents. However, follow-up reporting has found that the reason the escalator stopped was that someone clearing the path for Trump accidentally triggered the emergency stop button. Also, the teleprompter was being operated by Trump’s White House, not U.N. staff members.

Typhoon Ragasa impacts China coast

Nearly two million people in southern China have been evacuated as Typhoon Ragasa slams into one of the world’s most densely populated coasts. Packing hurricane-force winds, the storm has left a trail of damage, triggering landslides, flooding and huge waves. It is now bearing down on China’s Guangdong province, where massive cities like Shenzhen and Guangzhou are located. In Taiwan, at least 17 people died and rescuers are scrambling to locate several others missing after a natural dam holding back a recently formed lake collapsed, unleashing 68 million tons of water and flooding the nearby Guangfu township.

Decisive vote to release Epstein files

CNN projects Democrat Adelita Grijalva will win a U.S. House special election in Arizona, which will deliver the final vote needed to pass a House measure requiring the Trump administration to release the Jeffrey Epstein case files. The race was held to determine who would fill the seat held by her late father, Democratic Rep. Raul Grijalva, who died in March. Former Rep. Grijalva’s daughter was heavily favored against her Republican challenger, Daniel Butierez. House Democrats will now have the 218 members needed to force a vote on a contentious measure that would require the Trump administration to turn over any information related to Epstein. Few Republicans back forcing a vote, although several support the bill itself to compel the full release of the documents. Still, it would face an uphill battle in the Senate if it passed the House.