Trump at this week’s U.N.: Diplomacy’s largest stage amid a cascade of crises

President Trump returns to diplomacy’s largest stage this week, facing the possibility of a spiraling conflict with Iran but with few prospects for finding the friends he needs to ease global tensions.

Last year, the assembled world leaders at the annual United Nations General Assembly laughed at Trump when he bragged about his accomplishments. This year, humor may be harder to come by. Trump has alienated many allies, while the leaders he seems to like best, such as Russian President Vladimir Putin, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and China’s Xi Jinping, are no-shows.

The “fraying world” is at a “critical point on several fronts,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned, citing climate change, growing inequality and hatred, “as well as an alarming number of peace and security challenges.”

Read the full story and more in the Los Angeles Times.