USA

UN, October 18. /TASS/: The embargo on supplies to Iran and on Iranian export of conventional weapons expired on Sunday, the fifth anniversary from the effective time of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on settlement of the situation regarding the Iranian nuclear program and the UN Security Council’s Resolution 2231 approved in its support, which set the relevant term for restrictions.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said differences remain with President Donald Trump’s administration on a wide-ranging coronavirus relief package, including language on testing provisions that affect minority populations.

“They took out ... 55% of the language that we had there for testing and tracing. And the tracing part is so important because communities of color had been disproportionately affected by this,” Pelosi said on ABC’s “This Week.”

NEW YORK, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- New York State broke a new COVID-19 testing record on Friday, with over 159,000 tests reported, Governor Andrew Cuomo tweeted on Saturday.

"We do more testing than any other state in the country," he said, adding that the entire country of France reported just under 200,000 tests on Friday.

Of the 159,972 tests reported on Friday, 1,784 were positive, or 1.11 percent of the total, said Cuomo.

18 Oct 2020; MEMO: An arms embargo imposed since 2007 by the UN Security Council (UNSC) ended Sunday, according to Iran’s foreign ministry, Anadolu Agency reports.

(AP) --- Facebook is facing its toughest challenge yet: an election complicated by a pandemic, a deeply divided nation lured by conspiracy theories and alternate versions of reality. Is it ready? Here are some of its biggest steps and missteps it’s taken in the fight against misinformation since 2016.

Nov. 10, 2016: Days after the election of President Donald Trump, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg calls the idea that “fake news” on Facebook had influenced the election “a pretty crazy idea.” He later walks back the comment.

Washington, Oct 18 (PTI) The upcoming US elections on November 3 could very well see the expansion of the so called Samosa Caucus, a termed coined by Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi for informal grouping of Indian-American lawmakers, according to the latest Congressional polls coming from states.

The "Samosa caucus" comprises of five Indian-American lawmakers, including four members of the House of Representatives and Senator and Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris.

(AP) --- Thousands of mostly young women in masks rallied Saturday in the nation’s capital and other U.S. cities, exhorting voters to oppose President Donald Trump and his fellow Republican candidates in the Nov. 3 elections.

The latest of rallies that began with a massive women’s march the day after Trump’s January 2017 inauguration was playing out during the coronavirus pandemic, and demonstrators were asked to wear face coverings and practice social distancing.

JANESVILLE, Wisconsin (AP) — President Donald Trump leaned into fear tactics Saturday as he accused the left of trying to “destroy the American way of life” in a late reelection pitch to voters in Michigan and Wisconsin — two Midwestern states that were instrumental to his 2016 victory but may now be slipping from his grasp.

In back-to-back rallies, Trump accused the left of wanting to “erase American history” and “purge American values.” He claimed, with no basis, that Democratic rival Joe Biden would put communities at risk.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 17 (APP): A UN human rights expert Friday criticized the misuse of terrorism laws by some States, saying that inappropriate use of such measures in the context of complex and violent conflicts sometimes only worsened the situation on the ground.

The UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, told the General Assembly that counter-terrorism operations and measures were frequently being applied in the context of non-international armed conflicts and complex humanitarian settings.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- The members of the United Nations Security Council reiterated on Friday that only an inclusive political solution can end the conflict in Yemen.

In a press statement, they urged the parties to the conflict to urgently endorse the UN-facilitated Joint Declaration proposals without delay in order to achieve an inclusive and sustainable peace.