North America

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — They came from the same country. They were in town for the same reason — as diplomatic representatives of their government. And they took pains to make sure their paths never, ever crossed.

Two separate Venezuelan delegations can be found at the United Nations during the General Assembly gathering of world leaders this year, shadowing and circling each other in a fierce fight for international recognition as the country reels from an economic collapse and political uncertainty.

NEW YORK (AP) — Iranian President Hassan Rouhani urged the United States on Thursday to “cease this policy of maximum pressure” on his nation, saying it was driving the possibility of negotiations even further away.

Rouhani stuck to his insistence that U.S. sanctions must be lifted before he would talk with U.S. President Donald Trump, although he did not explicitly rule out such a meeting if they remain in place. He spoke about discussions with the leaders of France, Japan and Pakistan about trying to promote talks, and he made clear that such contacts are continuing.

WASHINGTON (AP) — When it comes to Ukraine, Rudy Giuliani became President Donald Trump’s courier, attack dog, fixer and a self-described meddler in another country’s affairs. His purpose was single-minded: get information “very, very helpful to my client.”

To hear the intelligence-community whistleblower tell it in the complaint unwrapped Thursday, Giuliani was a one-man wrecking ball, breaking things in a complex international landscape and leaving actual diplomatic envoys to clean up his “damage.”

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Saudi Arabia called on the world to apply “utmost pressure with every tool available” to end Iran’s aggressive conduct, saying Thursday that the most effective way to control Tehran is to cut off its financial resources.

Saudi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Assaf again blamed Iran for the Sept. 14 missile and drone attack on Saudi oil facilities, which jolted global oil prices and temporarily knocked out nearly 6% of daily global crude production.

NEW YORK (AP) — Users of Amazon’s Alexa digital assistant can now request that recordings of their voice commands delete automatically.

Amazon says it saves such commands to improve the service. But the practice has raised concerns with privacy experts who say the recordings could get into the wrong hands, especially as Amazon and other companies use human reviewers rather than just machines.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — The “OK” hand gesture, a mass killer’s bowl-style haircut and an anthropomorphic moon wearing sunglasses are among 36 new entries in a Jewish civil rights group’s online database of hate symbols used by white supremacists and other far-right extremists.

The Anti-Defamation League has added the symbols to its online “Hate on Display” database , which already includes burning crosses, Ku Klux Klan robes, the swastika and many other of the most notorious and overt symbols of racism and anti-Semitism.

NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump said at the United Nations this week that “protecting religious freedom is one of my highest priorities.” But his promise rings hollow to advocates for persecuted religious minorities seeking refuge in the United States.

Trump’s administration already has slashed the nation’s refugee admissions ceiling to a historic low and on Thursday proposed a further cut for next year, to 18,000 — an 84% drop from the cap proposed during the last year of Barack Obama’s presidency.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas took to the world stage on Thursday to slam the United States for “depriving the peace process of any credibility” and undermining prospects for a two-state solution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In a speech before the U.N. General Assembly, Abbas also criticized the U.S. for recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, for saying that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories are legitimate and for cutting development aid to the Palestinians.

WASHINGTON (AP) — White House officials took extraordinary steps to “lock down” information about President Donald Trump’s summertime phone call with the president of Ukraine, even moving the transcript to a secret computer system, a whistleblower alleges in a politically explosive complaint that accuses the administration of a wide-ranging cover-up.

NEW YORK, Sep 26 (APP): Digital billboards at the iconic Times Square in New York flashed with the slogans of ‘Stand with Kashmir’ and ‘Free Kashmir’ to highlight the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Indian occupied valley at a time when the world leaders are in the metropolitan to attend the 74th session of UN General Assembly.

Bursts of bright red light-emitting phrases in favour of Kashmiris, caught the attention
of hundreds of visitors and international tourists, who got an awareness about the ongoing atrocities in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.