Monday, Sep 23, 2019 | View in browser

Good morning.

We’re covering the outreach of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the U.S., the U.N. General Assembly and the bold, beautiful birds of Sydney.

By Alisha Haridasani Gupta

President Donald Trump at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally in Texas. Doug Mills/The New York Times

‘Howdy, Modi!’ bolsters U.S.-India relationship

In Houston on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India shared the stage with President Trump at a rally attended by more than 50,000 people (and uncounted others on Mr. Modi’s live stream).

Amid traditional tabla players, colorfully dressed dancers and thunderous applause, the leaders leveraged their talents at commanding crowds to project the strength of U.S.-India relations.

The two countries are on the verge of a deal to ease trade tensions that have worsened the economic slowdown in India. Sales of cars, homes and even biscuits are down, the rupee’s value has plunged and layoffs are piling up.

Related: Mr. Modi’s recent decision to revoke the autonomy of Kashmir is casting a shadow on his big U.S. trip, and possibly on his speech on Friday at the United Nations General Assembly.

A world of conflict at the U.N.G.A

The annual United Nations General Assembly unfolds this week with 600 meetings and five days of speeches. Expect the agenda to be dominated by the weakening global economy and heightened tensions over Iran — but especially by climate change.

The event comes days after students around the world staged massive protests for action on the issue, ramping up pressure.

But the Trump administration, which has sometimes dismissed international institutions like the U.N., has created a common denominator for the 193-member assembly: uncertainty over U.S. policy.

Notably absent: President Xi Jinping of China; Vladimir Putin of Russia; Benjamin Netanyahu, the embattled prime minister of Israel; and Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela.

A fight escalates over a whistle-blower complaint

Without mentioning impeachment, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said President Trump’s refusal to disclose the secret complaint to Congress would trigger a “new chapter of lawlessness.”

Sources have told our reporters, and those of other news organizations, that the complaint lodged by an unnamed whistle-blower details Mr. Trump’s efforts to press the newly elected Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, to investigate Joe Biden’s son for business dealings he had in Ukraine while Mr. Biden was vice president.

On Sunday, Mr. Trump acknowledged discussing Mr. Biden in the call, but defended the conversation as appropriate.

Why it matters: U.S. aid to Ukraine was delayed, adding to concerns that Mr. Trump could have manipulated foreign policy to damage Mr. Biden’s election campaign and bolster his own re-election efforts.

Isla Perico, an island in El Salvador that would have been the base of a Chinese commercial project. Daniele Volpe for The New York Times

China’s longest march: To the future

Around the world, Beijing is building trade and transportation infrastructure — and governmental partnerships — through its multibillion-dollar Belt and Road initiative. At home, the Chinese government continues to tighten social and religious controls.

For years, our correspondents have been tracking China’s emergence as a global powerhouse. and finding the trouble spots. Their latest work:

Business controls: Beijing is amassing vast troves of data — including payroll data, copyright violations, even how many employees are members of the Communist Party — and using that to grade businesses and their operators.

The penalties for low grades in China’s expansion of its “social credit system” could be high, and not just for Chinese companies: Warnings have been sent to United Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and FedEx.

A crackdown on Islam: China’s restrictive treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang is spreading to other parts of the country, with the removal of minarets and even the Arabic script.

Foiled in El Salvador: About a year ago, when a Chinese state-owned company began dealings with El Salvador to create an alternative trade route to the Panama Canal, U.S. officials used interviews, meetings with opinion makers and posts on social media to turn public opinion against the Chinese project.

If you have 10 minutes, this is worth it

For resettled Rohingya, a new fear

Todd Heisler/The New York Times

Of the vast flood of Rohingya Muslims who fled violent repression in Myanmar in 2017, a few thousand, including unaccompanied children, have been resettled in the U.S. Their hopes that their families might follow could be crushed by President Trump’s expected scale-back of the country’s refugee program this week.

“I’m afraid my mom and dad will die before I can touch them again,” said the Rohingya youth pictured above, now living with a foster family in Michigan.

Here’s what else is happening

Hong Kong: The police went undercover as protesters in August, causing mayhem on the streets, beating demonstrators with batons and arresting them. Now, the men they targeted are telling their stories.

WeWork: Some board members and investors are privately discussing whether to remove the chief executive and co-founder, Adam Neumann, after the company was forced to delay its initial public offering.

South Korea: News reports that a North Korean refugee and her 6-year-old son had died of starvation in their apartment in Seoul — and that it took weeks for their bodies to be found — have shocked the country. The case is a stark reminder of the difficulties that North Koreans face in transitioning to life in the South.

Israel: In an Op-Ed, the leader of the Parliament’s newly empowered Arab Joint List argues that Benny Gantz should become the next prime minister.

India: The hard landing of the Chandrayaan-2 lunar probe marks 60 years of belly flops across the solar system, starting with the crash of a Soviet probe on the moon in 1959.

David Gray for The New York Times

Snapshot: Above, a Kookaburra, one of the many Australian species that make up a lively bird scene in Sydney. The colorful mix, writes our Australia bureau chief, “turns urbanites into bird people, and birds into urbanites.”

Jonathan Van Ness: The self-described “effervescent, gregarious majestic” star of the popular Netflix series “Queer Eye” paints a different image of himself in his new memoir, detailing sexual abuse, drug abuse and living with H.I.V. “I want people to realize you’re never too broken to be fixed,” he told our reporter.

The Emmys: The most celebratory night for television will kick off in a few hours, but this time without a host and, because of a legal fight between television writers and their agents, fewer glamorous parties. Here’s our live briefing.

What we’re reading: This profile in Vanity Fair. “The complexities and nuances of Lupita Nyong’o are rendered in exquisite glory by the curious and nimble Kimberly Drew,” writes Jenna Wortham, our Magazine writer and “Still Processing” co-host.

Now, a break from the news

Andrew Purcell for The New York Times. Food Sylist: Barrett Washburne.

Cook: Sweet and sour eggplant with garlic chips delivers complex flavors from pantry staples and a few fresh herbs.

Watch: “Inside Bill’s Brain,” a three-part documentary on Netflix, traces how Bill Gates’s experience as the founder of Microsoft informs his humanitarian work.

Read: “The Penguin Book of Migration Literature,” an expansive new anthology, is one of 11 new books we recommend.

Smarter Living: Our food writer Julia Moskin made the transition to cooking vegetarian at home this year. If you plan to shift, too, she has some tips. Push flavor into everything, adding umami with cooked tomatoes, mushrooms and Parmesan cheese. And build elements like sweetness, heat, acid and smoke. Smoked paprika stirred in at the end of cooking “is vegan sorcery,” she writes.

And what if instead of fixating on getting ahead, we focused on having enough?

And now for the Back Story on …

U.N.G.A. speeches

You never know what you’ll hear out of the annual United Nations General Assembly, where world leaders begin delivering their (supposedly 15-minute) speeches tomorrow. So listen up.

Fidel Castro during his marathon address at the U.N. in 1960. Associated Press

A few past highlights:

“The devil came here yesterday. And it smells of sulfur still today.” That was Venezuela’s president, Hugo Chávez, referring to George W. Bush in 2006.

“I have come bearing an olive branch and a freedom fighter’s gun. Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand.” Yasir Arafat called for Palestinians’ right to sovereignty in 1974, in his first-ever address to the U.N.

“It is imperative to do away with the enormous inequality that separates the developed from the developing countries.” In 1960, Fidel Castro gave the longest G.A. speech ever: 4 hours and 29 minutes.

And a fact-check: The Soviet premier Nikita Krushchev probably did not bang his shoe on a podium in 1960, but it sure makes a good story.

Please note: In Friday’s Back Story, the name of the leader of Earth, Wind & Fire should have been Maurice White, not Wright, and we meant to say that Sept. 21 — the date mentioned in the band’s hit song “September” — fell on Saturday, not Sunday.

So let’s chase the clouds away.

— Alisha

Thank you
To Mark Josephson and Eleanor Stanford for the break from the news. Victoria Shannon, on the briefings team, wrote today’s Back Story. You can reach the team at briefing@nytimes.com.

P.S.
• We’re listening to “The Daily.” Our latest episode is on Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign rallies.
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