North America

UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- The top UN envoy in Colombia said Thursday that the peace process has continued to move forward through a challenging period.

Two years after the successful conclusion of the laying down of arms by former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels, the vast majority of former fighters remain engaged and committed to the peace agreement, said Carlos Ruiz Massieu, the UN secretary-general's special representative and head of the UN Verification Mission in Colombia.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- China and the United States kicked off here on Thursday a new round of high-level consultations to address their differences on outstanding economic and trade issues.

The Chinese delegation is led by Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chief of the Chinese side of the China-U.S. comprehensive economic dialogue, and the U.S. team is headed by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

EL PASO, Texas (AP) — The 21-year-old man charged with capital murder in the fatal shooting of 22 people at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, pleaded not guilty Thursday during a brief initial hearing.

Police have said Patrick Crusius of Dallas confessed to the Aug. 3 mass shooting and that he targeted Mexicans. Some two-dozen people survived the attack with injuries, and two of them remain in the hospital, hospital officials said.

WASHINGTON, Oct 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Top US and Chinese negotiators wrapped up a first day of trade talks in more than two months on Thursday as business groups expressed optimism the two sides might be able to ease a 15-month trade war and delay a US tariff hike scheduled for next week.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer met with Vice Premier Liu He and other senior Chinese officials for about seven hours at the USTR’s headquarters near the White House.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 11 (NNN-Xinhua) — The top UN envoy in Colombia said that the peace process has continued to move forward through a challenging period.

Two years after the successful conclusion of the laying down of arms by former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels, the vast majority of former fighters remain engaged and committed to the peace agreement, said Carlos Ruiz Massieu, the UN secretary-general’s special representative and head of the UN Verification Mission in Colombia.

HAVANA, Oct 11 (NNN-Xinhua) — Cuban leader Miguel Diaz-Canel was elected on Thursday to serve in the newly-created post of president of the Republic of Cuba.

The election took place at an extraordinary legislative session of the National Assembly of People’s Power, the single-chamber parliament.

Currently serving as president of the Council of State and Ministers, Diaz-Canel received 579 votes in favor from the 580 deputies present in the election, and he will be in office through 2023.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA launched a satellite on Thursday night to explore the mysterious, dynamic region where air meets space.

The satellite — called Icon, short for Ionospheric Connection Explorer — rocketed into orbit following a two-year delay. It was dropped from a plane flying over the Atlantic off the Florida coast.

Five seconds after the satellite’s release, the attached Pegasus rocket ignited, sending Icon on its way.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — President Donald Trump was defiant in the face of an impeachment probe Thursday as he sought to convert the threat to his presidency into a weapon on the campaign trail, with biting and unsupported attacks on potential Democratic challenger Joe Biden.

Confronting an investigation provoked by his unprecedented calls for Ukraine and then China to assist in digging up dirt on his political rivals, Trump continued to lay into Biden and his son Hunter, whom he and his allies have accused, without evidence, of illegally profiting off his father’s office.

CALIMESA, Calif. (AP) — Don Turner’s 89-year-old mother was missing Thursday night after a wind-driven wildfire sparked by burning trash swept through a Southern California mobile home park, destroying dozens of residences.

Lois Arvickson called her son from her cellphone to say she was evacuating shortly after the blaze was reported in the Calimesa area, Turner said while with family members at an evacuation center.

“She said she’s getting her purse and she’s getting out, and the line went dead,” he said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine was removed from her post after insisting that Rudy Giuliani’s requests to Ukrainian officials for investigations be relayed through official channels, according to a former diplomat who has spoken with her.

The ambassador, Marie Yovanovitch, is scheduled to testify before congressional lawmakers on Friday as part of the House impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. Democrats say they expect her to appear despite the White House’s position that no administration officials cooperate with the probe.