North America

WASHINGTON (AP) — This probably wasn’t how President Joe Biden envisioned his big foreign policy week ending.

Biden spent much of the time trying to make the case to world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly as well as to Democratic donors and voters that his decades of foreign policy experience and demonstrated moral clarity set him apart from Donald Trump, the early front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Residents in coastal North Carolina and Virginia braced for potential flooding after Tropical Storm Ophelia made landfall near a North Carolina barrier island on Saturday morning, bringing rain, damaging winds and dangerous surges of water.

United Nations (AP) — Russia’s top diplomat denounced the United States and the West on Saturday as self-interested defenders of a fading international order, but he didn’t discuss his country’s war in Ukraine in his speech to the U.N. General Assembly.

“The U.S. and its subordinate Western collective are continuing to fuel conflicts which artificially divide humanity into hostile blocks and hamper the achievement of overall aims. They’re doing everything they can to prevent the formation of a genuine multipolar world order,” Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

NEW YORK (AP) — In late 2020, Sen. Bob Menendez met with Philip Sellinger, a private practice lawyer and former fundraiser for the senator, to assess his potential fit as the next U.S. attorney for the state of New Jersey — and to discuss one case in particular.

If appointed, Sellinger would assume control of one of the largest prosecutor’s offices in the country, a post that comes with the power to bust mob bosses and go after corrupt public officials.

NEW YORK, Sept 22 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim Friday called for a concerted multilateral effort spearheaded by the United Nations to resolve all the conflicts and humanitarian crises in the world, citing the problems in Ukraine, Palestine, Afghanistan and Myanmar as some of these.

He said the world is deeply polarised where major power rivalry unfolds with consequences that would negatively impact nations, especially the smaller ones, in regions of conflict.

WASHINGTON, Sept 22 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden has informed Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that Washington will provide Kyiv with ATACMS long-range missiles, NBC News reported on Friday, citing three U.S. officials and a congressional official.

Kyiv has repeatedly asked the Biden administration for Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) to help attack and disrupt supply lines, air bases and rail networks in Russian occupied territory.

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- World leaders on Thursday, the third day of the General Debate of the UN General Assembly, stressed the central role of the United Nations and the need to reform the organization to make it fit for purpose.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said the principles of the UN Charter have a bearing on the survival of human civilization.

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Thursday blasted the West's double standards in handling international relations.

Addressing the UN General Assembly, Vucic criticised U.S. President Joe Biden's double standards in his speech at the General Debate.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s education chief said he’s open to using “whatever levers” are available — including federal money — to discourage colleges from giving admissions preference to the children of alumni and donors.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said legacy admissions must be revisited for the sake of diversity on campuses following the recent Supreme Court ruling against affirmative action. In a step beyond his previous comments, Cardona said he would consider taking stronger action to deter the practice.

NEW YORK (AP) — The Biden administration pledged $100 million on Friday to support a proposed Kenyan-led multinational force to restore security to conflict-ravaged Haiti and urged other nations to make similar contributions.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the U.S. would provide logistics, including intelligence, airlift, communications and medical support to the mission, which still needs to be approved by the U.N. Security Council. Other than Kenya, which would head the operation, personnel from several Caribbean nations would also be deployed to the country.