United Nations General Assembly meets in NYC to discuss climate change and COVID-19

On Tuesday, the United Nations began its meeting to hear world leaders speak, discuss climate changes and assess the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the New York Times.

The week-long General Assembly meeting saw President Joe Biden give his debut speech to other world leaders. He was the first to speak to the 193 other members amid doubts about his ability to return the United States to a position of global leadership.

“We’re opening a new era of relentless diplomacy, of using the power of our development aid to invest in new ways of lifting people up around the world,” Biden said.

The President took the approach to support less fortunate countries in both their COVID-19 and climate change issues.

Biden pledged to double U.S. financial aid in poorer countries to help them make the switch to cleaner energy and deal with the adverse effects of climate change, although past promises have fallen short, according to the Associated Press.

Biden also shut down the idea of “a new Cold War” with China, saying, “Bombs and bullets cannot defend against COVID-19 or its future variants.”

Trudeau remains Prime Minister in Canada election but loses majority vote for Liberal Party

Justin Trudeau won his third election for Canadian Prime Minister but failed to secure the majority votes for a Liberal Party Government, according to the Wall Street Journal.

While the Liberal Party was expected to win the majority vote in Tuesday’s snap election, the party only received 157 out of the 170 votes needed to gain majority favor.

The remaining seats go to the leftist New-Democratic Party and the Bloc Quebecois separatist party from Quebec.

Trudeau stated, “What we’ve seen tonight is that millions of Canadians have chosen a progressive plan. Some have talked about division but that’s not what I see. That’s not what I’ve seen these past weeks across the country.”

The prime minister called for a snap election in August in hopes that he could win majority party votes due to his leadership of Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nearly a third of Australia’s koala population lost over past three years

Almost 30% of the koala population has been lost in the last three years due to wildfires and forest demolition, CNN reported.

Australian Koala Foundation Chair Deborah Tart says, “The declines are quite dramatic.”

With the koala population above 80,000 in 2018, the non-profit organization averages that the population is less than 58,000 this year, with the worst decline seen in New South Wales.

The Australian government plans to release a koala recovery plan for New South Wales on Friday in hopes that it can save this “vulnerable” species before they reach a status of endangerment.

Hunt for Brian Laundrie continues as autopsy confirms body to be Gabby Petito

On Tuesday, as police and FBI search for Brian Laundrie, medical examiners scheduled the autopsy for the body that was found in Wyoming and it was later identified as Gabriella “Gabby” Petito, Reuters reported.

Petito, 22, was on a cross-country trip with her fiancé, Laundrie, 23, when she was reported missing by her family after they had not heard from her in multiple days. Petito, who is originally from New York state, was pursuing a career as a “van-life” travel vlogger and planned on uploading her adventures of U.S. national parks with Laundrie on social media.

Petito was last seen on Aug. 24 after she was witnessed leaving a hotel in Salt Lake City. Laundrie was last seen on Sept. 1, 10 days before Petito was reported missing.

On Sunday, the body matching Petito’s description was found in Bridger-Teton National Forest near Jackson, WY, and on Tuesday, the FBI confirmed it was indeed Petito.

Investigators say Laundrie, who refused to speak with police before he disappeared, is a person of interest in the case.