What an inspiring New York weekend that was: from witnessing 9/11 memorials that testified to the city’s enduring resilience, through to the U.S. Open finals, where four teenagers inspired the crowds. Emma Raducanu — born to Chinese and Romanian parents in Canada, but a Londoner through and through, lifted the women’s singles trophy. The women’s doubles final followed with two mixed race teams and victory for a Chinese and Australian pair — all the more extraordinary given an economic and rhetorical war between the two countries. The crowd then backed a Russian victory in the men’s singles. The world is alright, if not all right.
“No one is arguing that the state of Afghanistan has ceased to exist, and the rest of the world can’t avoid interacting with it,” said Scott Anderson, a former State Department lawyer who studies the topic of government recognition. “At some point, people are going to have to acknowledge some entity as having the capacity to speak for Afghanistan.”
Putting a number on humanitarian needs: Ahead of a ministerial conference on Monday convened by U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres on how to avoid humanitarian disaster on Monday, former U.N. humanitarian envoy Mark Lowcock outlines the needs: “the short and long-term security of millions of innocent civilians is on the line.”