An emotional PM, AI alarm, Venezuela's 'rebirth' and other UN moments

Key players in some of the world's biggest conflicts were among speakers at the UN on the second day of its annual New York summit.

They included Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian, who moved around Manhattan under the protection of the Secret Service despite his country's ongoing war with the US. (You can read about his speech here.)

AI remained near the top of the agenda too, and Australia's prime minister threw a major revelation into the conversation.

Here are four takeaways from the day.

Security Council considers AI dangers as Australian hack fuels fears

The risks of rogue AI were destined to feature heavily at this year's summit — but nobody foresaw the bombshell news that an OpenAI agent had hacked into Australian Medicare data.

The hack happened in June, but the government apparently only found out a week ago, via an email in a public inbox.

Anthony Albanese shared the news on the same day OpenAI head Sam Altman was at a Security Council meeting on AI's dangers.

His presence at the summit meant Mr Albanese was able to have a "frank" chat with him and pass on "Australia's extreme concern".

"This situation is obviously unacceptable,"

Mr Albanese said.

But it is line with the mounting warnings about AI, which are starting to spur action from some world leaders, despite being dismissed as a "hoax" by US President Donald Trump.

At the Security Council meeting, which was called by France, Mr Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei warned of two main types of AI dangers: humans could misuse it, or humans could lose control of it.

Both AI chiefs said their companies would slow development, but called for global cooperation towards international standards — a mission that could be difficult, given Mr Trump's position and the dire state of diplomacy among some other key nations.

The White House's representative on the UN's AI panel, Michael Kratsios, said the US was committed to talks on new technology, but added: "International dialogue in this forum and in others cannot be allowed to drift towards global governance."

British representative Ed Miliband struck a different tone. "We cannot outsource to private companies the first duty of government — to protect our people, whatever the issue," he said.

Mr Amodei suggested the UN "begin with narrow agreements that every member can support, such as a ban on using AI to make biological weapons".

Albanese and Zelenskyy hold emotional meeting as Australia pledges more aid

Anthony Albanese was close to tears when he caught up with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the summit.

The Australian prime minister embraced Mr Zelenskyy and expressed admiration for his "extraordinary" leadership in the almost five years since Russia's full-scale invasion.

He also pledged $60 million in aid for Ukraine, bringing Australia's total contribution to the country to almost $1.9 billion.

He also said Australia had slapped new sanctions on Russia and confirmed it would join a program, led by the UK and Norway, to help develop Ukraine's navy. The two leaders also signed a decade-long security deal.

During his speech to the UN, Mr Zelenskyy said Ukraine had enjoyed recent successes against Russia, but now faced a "truly difficult" new challenge: Russia's use of Iranian technologies, including jet-powered Shahed drones.

"The Russians launch jet-powered Shaheds every hour," he said.

"Our combat aircraft are fighting them 24/7."

Despite the war, the US revealed it had invited Mr Putin to a summit of G20 countries in Miami in December. "It's an opportunity for him to engage not just with the president but with other world leaders," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.

Trump's Gaza board lays out reconstruction pitch, with big question marks

Donald Trump's "Board of Peace" unveiled a plan to begin rebuilding Gaza, costed at around $US2.45 billion ($3.48 billion).

But the plan is not fully funded, and it is unclear how it would be implemented.

"The goal of today was really just to show you that we're fully committed to doing it," said executive board member Jared Kushner, Mr Trump's son-in-law.

The plan includes 66 separate projects, including repairs to border crossings and power and water infrastructure destroyed by two years of Israeli bombardment.

But it is dependent on the success of a ceasefire, which was announced almost a year ago, but which has failed to lead to the disarmament of Hamas or stop Israeli attacks on Gaza.

At least 1,400 people, mostly civilians, have been killed by Israel since the ceasefire took effect, according to Gazan health officials.

The 28-nation peace board, assembled by Mr Trump and ratified in January, hopes to fund the reconstruction plan with money from the international community.

But it would only cover a fraction of what needs to be done. The board estimates Gaza's full recovery and reconstruction would require more than $US70 billion ($99 billion) over the next decade.

Venezuela's interim leader promises elections, but US retains real control

Delcy Rodríguez, the deputy to Nicolás Maduro before he was snatched by US forces in January, used her speech to the UN to thank Donald Trump for his "cooperation" with Venezuela.

But the unelected US-backed leader also pleaded with the international community to respect her country's sovereignty.

"Venezuela wishes to breathe freely [and] exercise its rights as a sovereign nation without any type of interference," she said, per a live translation of her remarks.

Ms Rodríguez has been working with the US under the threat of facing the same fate as Mr Maduro, who is in a New York prison accused of "narco-terrorism".

The Trump administration has been controlling Venezuela's finances and recently announced a deal for "majority control" of its oil.

Ms Rodríguez, who met Mr Trump the night before her speech, told the UN her country was undergoing a "rebirth" and pledged it would soon hold elections.

"The Venezuelan people, with its age-old wisdom, will determine when the correct time for these elections is," she told the assembly.

The US has said it intends to restore democracy in Venezuela but has not said when elections could be held.