KOMMERSANT (RUSSIA): Первые теледебаты кандидатов на пост президента США Дональда Трампа и Камалы Харрис не стали моментом истины, но внесли важные акценты в ход избирательной кампании. Главный вывод: изначально считавшаяся более слабым полемистом Камала Харрис, ранее собравшая богатую коллекцию уничижительных оценок со стороны Дональда Трампа, не просто сумела не провалиться. Без тени робости, с ухмылкой на лице она раз за разом переводила мяч на половину своего более опытного и титулованного соперника, уже побывавшего в кресле президента США и, казалось бы, прошедшего огонь, воду и медные трубы американской политики. Дональд Трамп явно не ждал такого поворота событий и оказался к этому не готов. С удовольствием рассуждавший прежде о невеликих умственных способностях “заменителя Байдена”, он не нашел способа доказать то, в чем всегда был глубоко убежден: кажущуюся ему очевидной непроходимую глупость претендентки на президентский пост. Однако появившиеся после дебатов комментарии о том, что этот раунд остался за демократическим кандидатом, все же не вполне отражают смысл произошедшего.
USA TODAY: Donald Trump’s erratic debate performance on Tuesday night torpedoed his best chance to tarnish Kamala Harris’ image with swing voters, some Republicans believe, with GOP strategists and party leaders calling their 2024 presidential nominee's effort a “missed opportunity” that could come back to haunt him in November. The ABC News-hosted debate was a critical moment for both presidential campaigns, as Democratic nominee Harris sought to better introduce herself to voters after a whirlwind two-month campaign and prove she could handle a spotlight unlike anything she's ever experienced before. For his part, Trump entered the first and perhaps only showdown with the incumbent 59-year-old vice president looking to blunt her early momentum and tie her to voters’ sour feelings about how the Biden administration has addressed issues including the economy and immigration.
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST (HONG KONG, CHINA): Harris-Trump: tough talk on China but little substance in first US presidential debate. Vice-president accuses Republican of ‘selling out’ to Beijing after he claims tariffs helped raise “billions and billions of dollars”. Kamala Harris was widely seen as having come out on top in her first presidential debate with Donald Trump, where both candidates traded blows on who would take a tougher approach towards China. Many analysts judged the vice-president to have come across as calmer and more consistent in contrast to Trump, who appeared more angry and focused on personal attacks.
ARAB NEWS (SAUDI ARABIA): The Trump-Harris debate is unlikely to sway undecided Arab American voters. Experts say neither candidate succeeded in convincing the non-monolithic community to lend them their support in November. Commentators feel both the Republican and Democrat relied on fear-mongering rather than in-depth policy discussions. While the US presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump on Tuesday night demonstrated sharp contrasts on major issues, experts suggest it may have done little to sway undecided voters, including those in the Arab American community.
LE FIGARO (FRANCE): Avec Kamala Harris comme avec Donald Trump, l’élection américaine ne joue pas en faveur des intérêts européens. Entre l’imprévisibilité de l’un et l’imprécision de l’autre, l’Ukraine et ses alliés craignent un désengagement américain. Donald Trump ou Kamala Harris? « C’est kif-kif bourricot » pour l’Europe et pour l’Ukraine, entend-on parfois dire à Kiev, à Tbilissi et même Washington.
THE WASHINGTON TIMES (USA): Vice President Kamala Harris emerged from her debate with former President Donald Trump confident that she could win the White House with an aspirational message that was light on specifics. In the weeks since becoming the Democratic Party nominee, Ms. Harris has talked about joy, vision and values but has been bereft of policy ideas. Instead, she has called for a broad range of standard proposals embraced by mainstream Democrats. She added policies to her website this week, more than 50 days after President Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed her. Ms. Harris’ policy page is vague and dedicates nearly as much space to criticizing Mr. Trump’s proposals as it does detailing hers. The Harris campaign has been adamant about avoiding specifics. It is betting that good vibes for the first major-party Black female nominee, who replaced the nation’s oldest president, will carry her to the White House. That was evident during Tuesday night’s debate as Ms. Harris steered clear of laying out a comprehensive vision for the country.
VEDOMOSTI (RUSSIA): В Санкт-Петербурге 11 сентября началась основная часть мероприятий саммита представителей государств БРИКС и их партнеров, курирующих вопросы безопасности. Всего в Россию прибыли представители из 21 страны, включая Сербию, Турцию и Вьетнам. Модератором встречи стал секретарь Совета безопасности России Сергей Шойгу. Шойгу в своей вступительной речи на саммите говорил о том, как Запад “навязывает мировому сообществу так называемый порядок, основанный на правилах”, которые, по его мнению, противоречат сути международного права. Он также призвал страны БРИКС вместе бороться с криминалом в информационных технологиях. Секретарь Высшего совета национальной безопасности Ирана Али Акбар Ахмадиян предложил институализировать сотрудничество стран БРИКС в области безопасности, создав для этого специальную структуру. Среди тех, кто вызвал наибольший резонанс при анонсе поездки в Петербург, 79-летний советник премьер-министра Индии по нацбезопасности и опытный переговорщик Аджит Довал. Канал India Today и вовсе назвал его первоочередной задачей в России обсудить с Путиным мирное урегулирование конфликта на Украине. Впрочем, договоренность о визите Довала в Россию, по данным индийской прессы, была достигнута в телефонном разговоре Нарендры Моди с Путиным еще в августе, после того как глава индийского правительства посетил Киев.
GLOBAL TIMES (CHINA): China’s top diplomat Wang Yi attended the 14th meeting of the BRICS high-ranking officials responsible for security matters and national security advisors, in St. Petersburg, Russia on Wednesday. Wang proposed four initiatives for BRICS countries to jointly address security threats. BRICS countries should take the lead in practicing peaceful coexistence, and adhering to independence and autonomy. They should also be guided by true multilateralism, reject exceptionalism and double standards. BRICS countries should firmly promote the political resolution of hotspot issues, and respect each other's legitimate concerns. They must take the lead in speaking out for justice and handling affairs fairly on the international stage, and jointly advocate for an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, Wang said.
THE GUARDIAN (GB): West’s missile go-ahead to Ukraine would hold no shortage of risks. Antony Blinken and David Lammy’s joint trip to Kyiv, to be followed by Keir Starmer’s trip to Washington DC to see Joe Biden on Friday, has inevitably lifted expectations that Ukraine will shortly be given permission to fire Anglo-French Storm Shadow and US Atacms missiles, which have a range of 190 miles plus, into Russia. There are no shortage of risks. Allowing Ukraine to fire western-made weapons deep into Russia could have a dramatic political impact on the course of a war mired in a grim, attritional slog that appears to be favouring Moscow, whose forces are bearing down on the strategic town of Pokrovsk. Blinken and Lammy provided a potential justification for the missile escalation on Tuesday, censuring Iran for supplying a first batch of short-range, high-speed Fath-360 ballistic missiles to Russia, a step up from the slower Shahed drones it has given Moscow until now. Russia was likely to use the missiles “within weeks”, Blinken warned.
THE NEW YORK TIMES (USA): Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, arrived in Iraq on Wednesday for his first trip abroad since taking office in July, a demonstration of the value the Iranians place on the strategic alliance with their neighbor as tensions rise in the region around them. Mr. Pezeshkian’s three-day trip will include visits to several cities that represent Iran’s political, religious, economic and security interests in Iraq. He was traveling with a delegation of senior officials and businessmen, according to Iranian media. The trip comes as Iraq moves closer to taking a number of steps that align with Iran’s long-term objectives, including moving forward on negotiations for the departure of U.S. troops in Iraq. Iran and the United States have regarded each other as enemies since the 1979 hostage crisis and have not had diplomatic relations since then. Iran has been leery of the presence of those U.S. troops, which they see as a potential danger.
NIKKEI (JAPAN): Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party kicked off a two-week campaign on Thursday to pick its next leader to succeed Prime Minister Fumio Kishida as it seeks to win back public trust eroded by a political funds scandal. The race to choose a new party president to replace Kishida in that role means the winner will also become prime minister early next month when the Diet, Japan’s parliament, reconvenes as the LDP dominates the legislature as the majority party.
THE JERUSALEM POST (ISRAEL): Hamas’s negotiating delegation claimed that the terror group is ready to implement a ceasefire agreement based on President Biden’s original plan laid out in July but rejects any new conditions, according to their Telegram on Wednesday night. Hamas said they were “ready immediately to implement the ceasefire agreement based on President Biden’s previous announcement and Security Council Resolution No. 2735 and what was previously agreed upon, especially the agreements of July 2, without setting any new demands, and its rejection of any new conditions on this agreement by any party”. However, Hamas said it welcomed continuing negotiations in an effort to reach a ceasefire, the withdrawal of the IDF from the Gaza Strip and the exchange of prisoners.
ASHARQ AL-AWSAT (GB): The 162nd Ministerial Meeting of the Arab League Council set aside on Tuesday regional issues to focus solely on the war on Gaza. The foreign ministers of the Arab League met in Cairo to offer support to Palestine. Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit told a press conference that issues related to Somalia and the Renaissance dam have not been forgotten, but the participants opted to focus on the conflict in the Palestinian territories.
ASIA NEWS (HONG KONG, CHINA): Middle East conflict is no longer just about Arabs and Israelis. But to many academics, foreign policy experts and international observers, what is taking place is also the latest episode in the decadeslong conflict commonly referred to as the “Arab-Israeli conflict”. The experience of the past 11 months has led many experts on the region to reassess that term. Is “Arab-Israeli conflict” an accurate reflection, given that the active participants are no longer just Arabs and Israelis? Should we retire that term for good now that the conflict has widened, drawing in the United States and Iran – and potentially Turkey and others in the coming years?
DAILY SABAH (TURKEY): Moscow is working to complete the preparations for President Vladimir Putin’s long-anticipated visit to Türkiye for talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday. Peskov also said Moscow hopes Putin and Erdoğan can hold talks on the sidelines of an upcoming BRICS summit in the Russian city of Kazan, where Türkiye’s formal bid to join the bloc will be up for consideration. Putin’s trip to Ankara has been delayed several times since last year, reportedly over security concerns, especially amid the Ukraine war.
THE TIMES OF INDIA: India has invited the Philippines to partner with its defence industry for co-development and co-production of weapons systems and platforms, even as it supplies the country with BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles. Amid the ongoing heightened tensions between China and the Philippine in the South China Sea, which has seen Beijing use strong-arm tactics, defence secretary Giridhar Aramane appreciated the “self-reliance defence posture act” of the Philippines government for modernising its armed forces during the fifth bilateral joint defence cooperation committee meeting at Manila.
RENMIN RIBAO (CHINA): China puts the development of relations with Saudi Arabia as a priority in its overall diplomacy, especially in its Middle East diplomacy, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said. The premier made the remarks when meeting with Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, and co-chairing the Fourth Meeting of the High-Level Chinese-Saudi Joint Committee with him. China is willing to firmly support each other with Saudi Arabia and work towards mutual achievements, firmly regard each other’s development as an important opportunity, and further strengthening the role of the High-Level Chinese-Saudi Joint Committee, with the aim of advancing bilateral relations to new heights and continuously improving the well-being of both peoples, said the premier.
THE MAINICHI SHIMBUN (JAPAN): Japan, S. Korea must uphold improving ties without retreating. Japan’s outgoing Prime Minister Fumio Kishida recently visited South Korea for a meeting with President Yoon Suk Yeol. The leaders affirmed that the two countries would cooperate in evacuating their nationals in the event of an emergency in a third country. They also agreed to streamline immigration procedures for travelers visiting each other's country. At stake is whether Japan and South Korea can keep their improving bilateral relations from backpedaling, leading to further development.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL (USA): U.S. forces try to regroup as al Qaeda, Islamic State sow terror in West Africa. After being evicted from its counterterrorism stronghold in Niger, the U.S. is adopting a smaller military footprint in Africa. The U.S. is gradually moving aircraft and commandos into coastal West Africa in an urgent effort to try to stop the march of al Qaeda and Islamic State militants across one of the world’s most volatile regions. American forces were evicted this summer from their regional stronghold in Niger, further inland, and now the Pentagon is patching together a backup counterinsurgency plan in neighboring countries.
THE WASHINGTON POST (USA): America’s most secret spy agency now has a podcast. The National Security Agency opens up for the first time about its role in the hunt for Osama bin Laden. It used to be known as “No Such Agency” — a play on its initials NSA. It was so secretive, its campus didn’t even have an exit sign on the parkway. But the National Security Agency is finally emerging from the shadows. The famously circumspect spy service just launched a podcast. And now it’s willing to reveal details of work it once considered so sensitive, officials shared updates only on paper.
THE ECONOMIC TIMES (INDIA): Turkey said it condemned this week’s signing of a roadmap to boost two-way defence co-operation between the United States and the Republic of Cyprus. The move came amid United Nations efforts to find common ground for the resumption of long-stalled negotiations between the rival Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities on the Mediterranean island, which has been divided for decades. The U.S. steps, including last June’s announcement of the launch of a strategic dialogue with Cyprus, are detrimental to the security of the Turkish Cypriot side of the island, the Turkish foreign ministry said.