USA

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday accused U.S. Attorney General William Barr of going “rogue” in the Justice Department’s handling of a whistleblower report that President Donald Trump solicited a political favor from Ukraine’s president that could help him get re-elected.

The Democratic House leader, who launched an impeachment inquiry on Tuesday against the Republican Trump, has accused the administration of trying to cover up the whistleblower complaint.

BEDFORD, N.H. (Reuters) - Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, whose sweeping anti-corruption plan has powered her ascendant presidential campaign, stepped up her offensive on Friday, vowing to increase funding for congressional research to reduce corporate lobbyists’ political sway.

Her proposals include providing competitive salaries for congressional staff members and reinstating a research office dedicated to scientific and technological policy that was defunded decades ago.

27 Sep 2019; MEMO: Human Rights Watch (HRW) condemned, Thursday, US President Donald Trump’s remarks on Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, during their recent meeting at the United Nations.

In a statement posted on its Web site, the international organisation condemned Trump’s description of Al-Sisi as “the great leader who has brought Egypt out of turmoil.”

27 Sep 2019; MEMO: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has rejected an offer to join a dinner with the US President Donald Trump upon seeing the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi accompanying him, local Daily Hurriyet reported yesterday.

United Nations, Sep 26 : Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Thursday boycotted External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's opening statement at the meeting of the SAARC Council of Foreign Ministers, saying his country will not engage with India "until and unless" it lifts the "siege" in Kashmir.

The meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session here started in his absence.

WASHINGTON, Sept 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Trump administration plans to dramatically lower the ceiling of a decades-old refugee resettlement programme to 18,000 people from its current level of 30,000, the State Department said.

“This refugee admissions proposal reaffirms America’s enduring commitment to assist the world’s displaced people, while fulfilling our first duty to protect and serve the American people,” the department said.

NEW YORK, Sept 27 (NNN-BSS) –Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said the world must take all measures to compel Myanmar to create conditions enabling the Rohingyas’ safe, dignified and voluntary repatriation to their ancestral homes.

“Rohingya crisis is a formidable challenge for Bangladesh … we want a peaceful and immediate resolution of the crisis. Myanmar has created the crisis and the solution lies in Myanmar,” she said.

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas told the United Nations he would terminate all signed agreements with Israel if it moved forward with plans announced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to annex a key part of the West Bank.

Netanyahu, who is trying to form a new government following a deadlocked election, pledged before the vote to impose Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and the northern Dead Sea which account for one-third of the West Bank.

NEW YORK, Sept 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States vowed a response on Thursday as it said it had confirmed another chemical weapons attack by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in May.

The Assad regime used chlorine on May 19 in Latakia province as part of its deadly offensive to take back the last major rebel stronghold in nearby Idlib, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said.

NEW YORK, Sept 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Iranian President Hassan Rouhani challenged the US and others to provide evidence to back up their accusations that Tehran carried out this month’s attack on a Saudi oil facility.

“Those who make the allegations must provide the needed proof. What is your evidence?” he told reporters in New York, a day after addressing the UN General Assembly.