This week, the world heard from an often quiet figure at the center of the Iran-U.S. war: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. While subservient to Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, Pezeshkian wields immense power as the head of government, and a fiery speech at the United Nations General Assembly showed that the Iranian president has no intention of rolling over for the U.S.

Heart surgeon-turned-president
Pezeshkian, 71, was born in the city of Mahabad and completed his military conscription service at age 19. During conscription, he served in Zabul, “one of the most deprived cities in Sistan and Balochestan province — an experience that was said to be his political awakening,” said The Guardian. 

In 2024, he ran for president as a moderate pledging to “open Iran to the world,” said Deutsche Welle. His campaign focused on “rebuilding trust between the government and the Iranian people” and “fighting disillusionment after persistent economic woes and political repression.” And while Khamenei remains the country’s ultimate authority, Pezeshkian has become a historically significant leader.

‘Never bow our head or bend at the knee’
Pezeshkian has been pushing back against U.S. aggression. He struck back at the U.N. General Assembly against President Donald Trump, who spoke the day before and threatened Iran. 

Iran will “never bow our head or bend at the knee,” said Pezeshkian in his speech. He repeatedly accused the U.S. of war crimes and “held up a photo of children killed in a U.S. strike on an Iranian primary school at the start of the war,” said USA Today.

And while much of the ongoing tension surrounds Iran’s alleged attempts to enrich uranium, Pezeshkian has denied that his country “wanted a nuclear weapon” but “refused limitations on the country’s civilian nuclear program,” said NPR. His conditions for negotiating in the future are  the “halting” of U.S. “hostilities,” an end to the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports, and the release of Iranian funds.”

For most of this century, homebuyers could depend on relatively low mortgage rates at no more than 5%. But that’s no longer true. The average 30-year mortgage rate hit 7% this week, and high rates may be here to stay, which could profoundly impact an already dysfunctional U.S. housing market.

What did the commentators say?
The “sharp rise” in rates in recent months is “squeezing the budgets of homebuyers” and seems likely to “deepen the freeze” on a housing market that has been stymied by high prices in recent years, said NPR. Rising rates “contributed to a 2% decline” in existing home sales in August.

High mortgage costs are “forcing home sellers to slash prices,” said Bloomberg. Nearly a fifth of homes for sale had a “price cut in August,” the highest rate since the pandemic. 

While current rates are “far from the double-digit levels of the 1980s,” they discourage homebuying when combined with other factors like “stubborn inflation, rising energy prices” and “record-high home prices,” said Bloomberg. And would-be buyers who can afford the higher rates are “coming to the table expecting to negotiate the price down.” This leaves home sellers “feeling the strain.”

More buyers are moving to adjustable-rate mortgages by which the rate “changes typically after five, seven or 10 years,” said Marketplace. That can make a “big difference in affordability” for buyers but is also risky. An adjustable-rate mortgage that starts at 6% today could in “five years be 8.10%,” said Susan Wachter, of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, to the outlet. Many buyers take the adjustable mortgages betting that rates will drop and they will “be able to refinance,” said Marketplace.

What next?
The high rates may play a role in November’s midterm election, said Politico. President Trump in 2024 “vowed that interest rates on mortgages would drop to 2%.” That promise is “looking less likely than ever” to come to fruition. We should “expect 7% as the new normal,” said economist Lawrence Yun in a blog post for the National Association of Realtors. 

Priests, along with 50,000 other Catholics, attend the beatification of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, who died in 1979, at America’s Center in St. Louis, Missouri. The U.S.’s “most visible Roman Catholic clergyman of the 20th century” was “responsible for 42,000 conversions,” said The New York Times.
Kate Munsch / AP Photo

Bring on the hot-air blast of a roaring oven. Autumn’s new cookbooks are an inspiriting combination of history, practicality and endless attractive recipes.

‘Happy Snacking, Don’t Die!: Foraging and Vegan Recipes with Black Forager’ 
If you know the Black Forager on social media, you love her — or you should. Alexis Nikole Nelson, the freewheeling, insanely knowledgeable person behind the handle, has debuted her first cookbook, and it’s a bounty of charming encouragement and cheeky asides. The “joy Nelson injects into the book makes foraging approachable,” said Emily Conover at ScienceNews. (out now, $35, Simon & Schuster)

‘No. 1 Best Indian Cookbook in the World’ 
Meherwan Irani, the owner of a few Chai Pani restaurants in the southern U.S. and the spice company Spicewalla, is one of several Indian American chefs who have noted the strong parallels between the cooking of the Indian subcontinent and that of the South. Irani’s debut cookbook is proof that Indian cuisine is “not only approachable” but also “not that different from what you are already cooking and eating,” said Alana Al-Hatlani at Southern Living. (out now, $40, Ten Speed Press)

‘Daily Dessert: Treats on Repeat’ 
Dessert-making need not always be like climbing Kilimanjaro. Sometimes it can be a stroll across a hillock, and celebrated New York City pastry chef Caroline Schiff has written a book about “making baking less annoying and more chill — a boon for anyone who would love baked goods more often but hates the thought of all the fuss,” said Bettina Makalintal at Eater. (Oct. 13, $35, Abrams)