North America

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Two Russian Indigenous Siberians were so scared of having to fight the war in Ukraine, they chanced everything to take a small boat across the treacherous Bering Sea to reach American soil, Alaska’s senior U.S. senator said after talking with the two.

The two, identified as males by a resident, landed earlier this month near Gambell, on Alaska’s St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Strait, where they asked for asylum.

NEW YORK (AP) — More than three years after Manhattan prosecutors started investigating Donald Trump — after going to the Supreme Court twice to gain access to his tax records — the only criminal trial to arise from their efforts is about to begin.

No, the former president isn’t going on trial. His company is.

The Trump Organization, the holding company for Trump’s buildings, golf courses and other assets, is accused of helping some top executives avoid income taxes on compensation they got in addition to their salaries, like rent-free apartments and luxury cars.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Hurricane Roslyn slammed into a sparsely populated stretch of Mexico’s Pacific coast between the resorts of Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan Sunday morning and quickly moved inland.

By Sunday morning, Roslyn remained a major hurricane with winds of 120 mph, down only slightly from its peak of 130 mph. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Roslyn was about 55 miles (90 kms) northwest of Tepic, the inland capital of Nayarit state.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A surge in migration from Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua in September brought the number of illegal crossings to the highest level ever recorded in a fiscal year, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The year-end numbers reflect deteriorating economic and political conditions in some countries, the relative strength of the U.S. economy and uneven enforcement of Trump-era asylum restrictions.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a telephone call days after the 2020 election, Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes urged followers to go to Washington and fight to keep President Donald Trump in office.

A concerned member of the extremist group began recording because, as he would later tell jurors in the current seditious conspiracy trial of Rhodes and four associates, it sounded as if they were “going to war against the United States government.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden wants to tame inflation. He wants Congress to protect access to abortions. He wants to tackle voting rights. And he’s taking on China, promoting construction of new factories, addressing climate change, forgiving student debt, pardoning federal marijuana convictions, cutting the deficit, working to lower prescription drug prices and funneling aid to Ukraine.

23 October 2022; MEMO: The United States has denounced the restoration of ties between the Syrian regime and the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 22 (APP): Warning that disinformation had become a “global pandemic”, Pakistan has called for international cooperation to counter this scourge, which fuels hate speech.

“The disinformation operations via cyber-meddling did not stop after EU Disinfo Lab’s groundbreaking revelations and comprehensive evidence of targeting the UN bodies, its member states, core institutions and core values,” Mariam Shaikh, the Pakistani delegate, told the UN General Assembly’s Fourth Committee, which deals with special political and decolonization matters.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 22 (NNN-XINHUA) – The international community should step up efforts to promote women’s participation in conflict-prevention and peacebuilding, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, said.

The participation of women at all levels “has played a pivotal role in changing the way we approach peace and security, over the last 20 years,” Amina told a UN Security Council open debate on the theme of “Strengthening Women’s Resilience and Leadership as a Path to Peace in Regions Plagued by Armed Groups.”

WASHINGTON, Oct 21 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Friday temporarily blocked President Joe Biden's plan to cancel billions of dollars in college student debt, one day after a judge dismissed a Republican-led lawsuit by six states challenging the loan-forgiveness program.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted an emergency stay barring the discharge of any student debt under the program until the court rules on the states' request for a longer-term injunction while Thursday's decision against them is appealed.