North America

WASHINGTON (AP) — And then there were 10.

The Democratic Party’s strongest presidential contenders — according to polls and fundraising, at least — meet on the same debate stage for the first time Thursday night.

The lineup in Houston will be different but the dynamic familiar: Former Vice President Joe Biden will fight to preserve his front-runner status as a crowded stage of lower-tier candidates scrap for attention and momentum any way they can. Opportunities and risks abound for a race that is far from settled.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is allowing nationwide enforcement of a new Trump administration rule that prevents most Central American immigrants from seeking asylum in the United States.

The justices’ order late Wednesday temporarily undoes a lower-court ruling that had blocked the new asylum policy in some states along the southern border. The policy is meant to deny asylum to anyone who passes through another country on the way to the U.S. without seeking protection there.

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 11 (APP): Pakistan has urged the United Nations Security Council to explore the possibility of strengthening the UN Military Observer Mission in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP), which monitors the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir, as New Delhi’s revocation of the disputed state’s special status has heightened tensions between the two South Asian neighbours.

10 Sep 2019; MEMO: US President Donald Trump abruptly fired his national security adviser John Bolton amid disagreements with his hard-line aide over how to handle foreign policy challenges such as North Korea, Iran, Afghanistan, and Russia, reports Reuters.

“I informed John Bolton last night that his services are no longer needed at the White House. I disagreed strongly with many of his suggestions, as did others in the Administration,” Trump tweeted.

Washington, Sep 10 (AFP/PTI) US agents extracted a high-level Russian government source who had confirmed Vladimir Putin's direct role in interfering in the 2016 US presidential election, US media reported.

The source, who had been providing information for decades, had access to Putin and had sent pictures of high-level documents on the Russian leader's desk, CNN reported.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- Despite U.S. tariffs on China's exports to the United States, it appears, at least so far, that multinational firms, including those based in the United States, continue to find China an "attractive environment for new investment," U.S. economist Nicholas Lardy said Tuesday.

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- The UN envoy for Afghanistan on Tuesday voiced support for the relative Afghan parties to conduct a "credible and inclusive" presidential election slated for later this month.

Tadamichi Yamamoto, the special representative of the secretary general for Afghanistan, described the election as "another step in strengthening the foundation of a representative democratic political system" in the country.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Historically black colleges and universities with a religious affiliation will no longer be restricted from accessing federal funding for capital projects, President Donald Trump announced Tuesday.

Trump said federal law had restricted more than 40 faith-based HBCUs and seminaries from fully tapping a program that provides federal loan guarantees for their construction projects.

WASHINGTON (AP) — John Bolton was in Mongolia.

More than 1,200 miles away, President Donald Trump orchestrated an image for the world’s front pages by becoming the first U.S. president to set foot in North Korea, shaking hands with Kim Jong Un on the north side of the demilitarized zone.

The distance was telling.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A draft plan from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi leaked Tuesday would overhaul how Medicare pays for prescription drugs, by negotiating prices for costly medications, curbing annual price hikes, and limiting what seniors pay out of their own pockets.

With President Donald Trump highly interested in a deal on prescription drugs, the ambitious plan appeared to be Pelosi laying down a marker that represents what House Democrats would want to see happen.