USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — Votes in hand, Senate Republicans are charging ahead with plans to confirm President Donald Trump’s pick to fill the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Supreme Court seat before the Nov. 3 election, launching a divisive fight over Democratic objections before a nominee is even announced.

Trump said Tuesday he will name his choice Saturday, confident of support. Democrats say it’s too close to the election, and the winner of the presidency should name the new justice. But under GOP planning, the Senate could vote Oct. 29.

(AP) --- The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus topped 200,000 Tuesday, by far the highest in the world, hitting the once-unimaginable threshold six weeks before an election that is certain to be a referendum in part on President Donald Trump’s handling of the crisis.

“It is completely unfathomable that we’ve reached this point,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, a Johns Hopkins University public health researcher, eight months after the scourge first reached the world’s richest nation, with its state-of-the-art laboratories, top-flight scientists and stockpiles of medical supplies.

UNITED NATIONS, September 22. /TASS/: Russia supports the call by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres for global ceasefire amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

UNITED NATIONS, September 22. /TASS/: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called to avoid "a new Cold War" between the US and China during his speech at the General Debate of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly.

"The world needs a global ceasefire to stop all "hot" conflicts. At the same time, we must do everything to avoid a new Cold War," he said.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that he is considering five women for the Supreme Court seat vacated by the death of liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Speaking to reporters at the White House before leaving for state of Ohio to campaign, Trump said they are being "vetted very carefully" and that he has spoken to some of the candidates and will also have some in-person meetings.

The president said the announcement of his pick will be on "probably Saturday, but Friday or Saturday."

WASHINGTON, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- While the U.S. economy has picked up from its depressed level in the second quarter, the path ahead continues to be "highly uncertain" and depend on the pandemic, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Monday.

"Many economic indicators show marked improvement. Household spending looks to have recovered about three-fourths of its earlier decline," Powell said in prepared testimony, posted Monday on the Fed's website, for a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday.

NEW YORK, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- The world's challenges are interconnected and can only be addressed through reinvigorated multilateralism, which is a necessity as we build back better for a more equal, more resilient and more sustainable world, the United Nations (UN) said Monday in a declaration to commemorate its 75th anniversary.

The COVID-19 pandemic, the largest global challenge in the history of the UN, has not only caused death and serious illness, but also global economic recession, increased poverty, anxiety and fear, leaving no one untouched, the UN said.

Washington, Sep 22 (PTI) US President Donald Trump has threatened to cut off TikTok if the popular Chinese video sharing app's tentative deal with two American companies Walmart and Oracle does not go through.

Trump has for weeks threatened to ban TikTok, which is owned by China's ByteDance, on national security grounds unless an American company takes control of its US operations. TikTok has roughly 100 million users in the US, and Trump says the app gives China access to the personal data of Americans.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A 13-year-old Utah boy with autism was shot by police after his mother asked for help getting him hospital mental-health treatment and officers agreed to talk with him, police footage released Monday showed.

The videos show Salt Lake City officers chasing him down an alley after they arrive at his home, then yelling at him to get on the ground. The boy collapses after a series of shots ring out, moaning, “I don’t feel good. I don’t feel good.” He survived but suffered broken bones and pierced organs, the family’s attorney has said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump, who prefers speaking to boisterous crowds, is set to give a prerecorded address to the U.N. General Assembly as he grapples with the coronavirus pandemic, chilly relations between the U.S. and China and ongoing threats from North Korea and Iran — all during a heated campaign for reelection.

Trump told reporters Monday that he’d have a “strong message” for China, where the first cases of COVID-19 were reported, but he didn’t elaborate ahead of the Tuesday address.