President Biden's last speech on the world stage

Hello. Joe Biden has delivered a speech at the UN General Assembly, his final as US president. Tom Bateman reflects on his legacy as full-out war in the Middle East looms. From the US state of Nevada, Samantha Granville and Emma Vardy explain why the Murdoch family wanted to keep their succession battle behind closed doors. In Ukraine, Abdujalil Abdurasulov speaks to soldiers who pulled off a daring escape from a Russian trap. And finally, meet the big baby penguin that is turning heads, and winning hearts, at a Melbourne aquarium.

QUESTIONS ANSWERED

A conflict Biden is struggling to contain

Biden used his speech at the UN to warn that "a full-scale war is not in anyone’s interest." Credit: EPA

President Biden has spent nearly a year vowing his determination to prevent the war in Gaza engulfing the wider Middle East. On Tuesday, he repeated that resolve as he addressed the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, saying: "A diplomatic solution is still possible. In fact, remains the only path to lasting security."

What can Biden's speech achieve?

Biden’s calls for restraint from the podium of the UN, like his pleas for Israel and Hamas to finally reach a ceasefire and hostage release deal, are being heard in the hall but not in the region. Once again the US is trying to restrain Israel, the key regional ally it arms, and urging its adversaries against escalating too, all the while seeking a diplomatic outcome that the sides themselves lack either the ability or will to agree.

What is Biden's solution to the crisis?

President Biden always believed the key to solving the crisis on the Israel-Lebanon border, involving 11 months of cross-border fire and tens of thousands of people displaced on either side, was instead clinching the ceasefire deal in Gaza. But this is badly stalled with few signs either side is willing to reach it.

What are the chances for a breakthrough?

Behind the scenes here in New York, a stream of diplomacy is taking place. According to a senior state department official, the US is presenting allies with potential plans to resolve the crisis between Israel and Hezbollah. The official also renewed US opposition to any Israeli ground invasion of Lebanon.

THE BIG PICTURE

Ukraine troops rescued from Russian trap

Russian troops are closing in on Vuhledar - a city on the southern part of the Donbas frontline. Credit: BBC

Russian troops are continuing to push into eastern Ukraine as they try to seize the entire Donetsk region. A group of Ukrainian soldiers who found themselves in encircled by enemy forces told Abdujalil Abdurasulov how they escaped from a Russian trap in the village of Komyshivka in eastern Ukraine.

And finally... in Australia

Pesto the king penguin is making headlines across the world thanks to its unusually large size. Chocolatey brown, obscenely fluffy, and towering a head above his own foster parents, nine-month-old Pesto weighs more than both combined. At a whopping 22.5kg (50lb), he is the biggest chick the Melbourne Sea Life aquarium has ever seen. See for yourself.