Not-So-United Nations

Trump and Xi clash at the virtual UNGA; FinCEN leaks reveal the power of hidden money.   Tonight's Sentences was written by Benjamin Rosenberg. TOP NEWS UN General Assembly kicks off amid multiple global crises Spencer Platt/Getty Images The 75th General Assembly of the United Nations began this week in New York, though most leaders are delivering remarks remotely. President Donald Trump again blamed China and the World Health Organization, from which he has begun to withdraw the US, for the spread of Covid-19. [NPR / Scott Neuman] The WHO is just the latest UN agency that Trump has pulled out of; he withdrew from the Human Rights Council in 2018, among others. A second Trump term could cast the future of the UN, which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year, into doubt. [Vox / Jen Kirby] Trump accused China of being slow to deliver information on the virus to other world leaders — even after the president's interviews with Bob Woodward surfaced earlier this month that showed he knew how dangerous it was in February, but continued to downplay the threat. [NewsNation / Alexis Mencia] Chinese President Xi Jinping responded to Trump's comments later Tuesday. Xi painted his country as a potential leader in global cooperation in contrast to the US, saying the world should listen to scientists and follow WHO guidance. [Vox / Jen Kirby] Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right leader who ran promising to exploit the rainforest, tried to defend his administration's environmental record, claiming Brazil is a victim of a "brutal disinformation campaign." [AP / David Biller and Mauricio Savarese] France's president, Emmanuel Macron, also spoke Tuesday, attempting to paint himself as a world leader as the US and other countries turn increasingly inward. Macron expressed support for the 2015 nuclear agreement between the US and Iran that Trump pulled out of in 2018. [The Guardian / Oliver Holmes] Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, meanwhile, went after the US for ending the agreement. "Iran is not a bargaining chip in US elections and domestic policy," he said. "Any US administration after the upcoming elections will have no choice but to surrender to the resiliency of the Iranian nation." [Reuters] FinCEN leaks show how criminals are exploiting banks to transfer money Over the weekend, BuzzFeed News and more than 100 other outlets published an explosive set of leaked documents that shed light on how several major banks are allowing criminals to illegally transfer money to all parts of the globe. [BuzzFeed News] The FinCEN files — FinCEN is the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, an arm of the Treasury Department — are made up of over 2,000 "suspicious activity reports." SARs are alerts banks can file to the US government raising concerns about their clients' activities. [BBC News] More than half of the illicit money moved was through Deutsche Bank, with most of the rest going through JPMorgan, Standard Chartered, Bank of New York Mellon, and Barclays. The leaks sent banking stocks into a tailspin on Monday. [Business Insider / Yelena Dzhanova and Mia Jankowicz] The suspicious money has the potential to power drug cartels and other criminal activities, not to mention autocratic governments. It can be used to make the wealthy even richer and diminish confidence in democracies. [International Consortium of Investigative Journalists / Will Fitzgibbon, Amy Wilson-Chapman, and Ben Hallman] Standard Chartered, for example, worked with Al Zarooni Exchange, a Dubai business later accused of helping finance the Taliban. The money helped the Taliban carry out a series of violent attacks against both soldiers and civilians. [BuzzFeed News] Several financial experts, however, said loopholes in the regulatory system, rather than the banks, are primarily at fault. Octavio Marenzi, CEO of the management consultancy Opimas, said the belief that banks are "knowingly and willingly helping terrorists is a bit silly." [CNBC / Elliot Smith] Knowingly or not, the banks have continued to profit alongside their suspicious customers under current financial criminal law. Filing a SAR essentially gives banks "a free pass to keep moving the money and collecting the fees." [BuzzFeed News] MISCELLANEOUS Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) said he would vote in favor of President Trump's Supreme Court nominee to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg, presumably giving the Republicans all the votes they need to push the nominee through. [Vox / Li Zhou] Economic analysts said the battle to confirm the next Supreme Court justice will distract lawmakers from passing another stimulus bill to bail out individuals and small businesses before the election. [Forbes / Sergei Klebnikov] South Africa avoided an influenza outbreak this year thanks to protocols already in place to combat the spread of Covid-19. School and border closures, social distancing, masks, and other sanitary practices helped make an impact. [CBS News / Debora Patta] British Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered pubs and restaurants to close by 10 pm starting Thursday, as the United Kingdom sees a resurgence in Covid-19 cases. [NYT / Stephen Castle] Researchers in Saudi Arabia have discovered several hundred fossilized footprints from about 120,000 years ago, suggesting early humans might have lived in the area then. [CNN / Amy Woodyatt] VERBATIM "America is fulfilling our destiny as a peacemaker. As we pursue this bright future, we must hold accountable the nation which unleashed this plague unto the world: China." [President Trump, during his remarks to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday] LISTEN TO THIS   Republicans appear ready to fill the seat left vacant by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg before the end of the year. Vox's Ian Millhiser explains Democrats' last defense. [Spotify / Ian Millhiser] Read more from Vox   Court-packing, Democrats' nuclear option for the Supreme Court, explained   Why Walmart thinks TikTok is the future of its business   It's easier than ever to find out how your favorite websites are tracking you   The hell that is remote learning, explained in a comic   The Republican Party is an authoritarian outlier   Facebook Twitter YouTube This email was sent to milburnkennedy@hotmail.com. Manage your email preferences, or unsubscribe to stop receiving all emails from Vox. If you value Vox's unique explanatory journalism, support our work with a one-time or recurring contribution. View our Privacy Notice and our Terms of Service. Vox Media, 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20036. Copyright © 2020. All rights reserved.