USA

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday ruled out negotiations with the United States unless the latter lifts sanctions on his country first.

"On behalf of my nation and state, I would like to announce that our response to any negotiation under sanctions is negative," Rouhani told the UN General Assembly General Debate.

Washington, Sep 26 (PTI) Days after US President Donald Trump tried to woo Indian Americans by joining Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a mega rally in Houston, Democratic presidential aspirant Joe Biden was hosted for a major fund-raiser by this small but rich community.

The fund-raiser in Los Angeles Wednesday night was organised by Indian-American surgeon Sanjay Khurana and his software-engineer wife Mona, at their picturesque Manhattan Beach home. It was attended by about 150 top Indian Americans from in and around Hollywood.

Washington, Sep 26 (AFP/PTI) A homemade submarine carrying more than five tons of cocaine was intercepted in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of South America, the US Coast Guard said.

The 39-foot-long (12 metre) vessel had previously been detected by maritime surveillance, according to a statement published Tuesday.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- The executive board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday approved the nomination of Bulgaria's Kristalina Georgieva, chief executive officer of the World Bank, to be the IMF managing director for a five-year term starting on Oct. 1.

Noting that it's a "huge honor" for her to have been selected as the next managing director, Georgieva told reporters at the IMF headquarters Wednesday afternoon that she steps into the role as a "firm believer" in the mandate of the global lender.

NEW YORK, Sept 25 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has sounded the clarion call for the international community to put the Rohingya crisis squarely on its radar with a view to resolving it now.

Speaking at his first engagement since arriving in New York for the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), he said it was clear that the Myanmar government was unwilling to take any action to resolve the crisis.

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — West African and international powers are failing to tackle the spiralling threat of militancy in the Sahel region, which is spreading towards the Gulf of Guinea, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.

Groups with links to al Qaeda and Daesh have strengthened their foothold across the arid Sahel region this year, making large swathes of territory ungovernable and stoking ethnic violence, especially in Mali and Burkina Faso.

NEW YORK, Sept 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Honduras signed a deal with the U.S. government on Wednesday that could push migrants who cross the country on the way to the United States back to seek asylum, in the latest bilateral deal with Central American countries aimed at curbing migration.

Wednesday’s “safe third country”-type deal is similar to agreements signed by El Salvador on Sept 20 and Guatemala on July 26. The countries have released few details about how the agreements would be implemented.

NEW YORK (AP) — A judge delayed enforcement of a subpoena seeking President Donald Trump’s tax returns Wednesday until at least next week.

The delay came as the Justice Department was told to decide by Monday whether it will join Trump’s fight to block the state grand jury subpoena for tax records that was served on his longtime accountant.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In offering Ukraine’s president the help of Attorney General William Barr in investigating rival Joe Biden, President Donald Trump is once again inserting the nation’s top law enforcement officer in a political fray.

It’s a role Barr has embraced since taking command of the Justice Department in February, most notably by casting special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on the Russia investigation as a vindication for Trump, even though Mueller pointedly said he was not exonerating Trump of obstructing justice.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — An Arizona man has become the second person arrested on drug charges as authorities investigate the overdose death of rapper Mac Miller.

Police gave no details on the connection between him and 26-year-old Miller, who died a year ago in his Los Angeles home of an accidental overdose of cocaine, alcohol and fentanyl, a powerful opioid that’s contributed to a deadly epidemic in the U.S. and claimed other musicians, like Prince.