North America

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior U.S. senator demanded on Tuesday an investigation of the Trump administration’s withholding of millions of dollars in aid for Ukraine, as congressional Democrats worked to increase pressure on the president.

Senator Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Congress had not been made aware of any substantive review of security assistance to Ukraine or any policy reason the funds should have been withheld.

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday denied trying to coerce Ukraine into investigating his Democratic rival Joe Biden, but wavered about whether he would release a transcript of a phone call that some Democrats say is grounds for his impeachment.

Trump told reporters in New York that he did not pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a July phone call to launch a corruption investigation into Biden and his son in return for U.S. military aid.

“No I didn’t,” Trump said.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido’s envoy to the United States, Carlos Vecchio, said on Tuesday that the opposition needed more support from Europe to oust socialist President Nicolas Maduro.

The opposition and the United States consider Maduro’s 2018 re-election fraudulent and he has overseen an economic and political crisis. On Monday, a group of Latin American countries agreed to implement sanctions on members of Maduro’s government during a meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- China regrets to see the United States using religious freedom as a cover to wantonly criticize other sovereign countries by disrespecting and distorting facts, said a spokesperson for the Chinese Delegation to the 74th Session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly.

On Monday, the United States held a "global call" on "protecting religious freedom" at the UN headquarters. At this event, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence attacked religious freedom in many countries, including China.

New Delhi; GANASHAKTI: When the Indian mainstream media was going ballistic over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s much-hyped mega event, in Houston, US, that ended up virtually helping Donald Trump’s election campaign, massive protests were going on outside the venue – predictably blacked out by the Indian media.

However, the media in the US did cover the protests, with CNN commenting that Trump and Modi were “two side of the same coin”.

New York, Sep 24 (AFP/PTI) US President Donald Trump stirred up fresh outrage on social media Monday with a tweet mocking an impassioned speech made by 16-year-old activist Greta Thunberg at the UN climate summit in New York.

Her voice shaking with emotion in an address that was the defining moment of the summit, Thunberg accused world leaders of betraying her generation by failing to act on rising emissions, repeating the words "how dare you" four times.

NEW YORK (AP) — The United States and more than a dozen Latin American countries agreed Monday to investigate and arrest associates and senior officials of the Venezuelan government of Nicolás Maduro who are suspected of crimes like drug trafficking, money laundering and financing terrorism.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Many of the same Democratic donors who helped Joe Biden raise money at the start of his White House run welcomed the former vice president back to Philadelphia on Monday for a big-dollar fundraiser featuring tickets that cost as much as $40,000.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In 2016, Donald Trump blew through the guardrails of American politics. In his bid for reelection, he’s poised to blow them up.

This time around, he’s aided by the power of the presidency, with its unmatched megaphone and resources. And his latest provocation — prodding a foreign leader to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden — suggests he sees little issue using his office for his personal political interests.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — President Donald Trump goes before the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday to try to square his “America First” approach to foreign policy with his administration’s hope for a multi-national response to Iran’s escalating aggression.

While Trump wants allies to join the U.S. in further isolating Iran, he also seems to be holding to his go-it-alone strategy of using economic sanctions to pressure Tehran to give up its nuclear program and stop attacks that are rattling the Middle East.