USA

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California told automakers Friday they must still comply with the state’s strict vehicle mileage standards even if President Donald Trump rolls back federal rules.

The action by California Air Resources Board was widely expected. It sets up a likely court battle if the Trump administration follows through with an attempt to revoke California’s unique authority to set its own vehicle emissions standards. Those standards have been adopted by 12 other states that account for about a third of vehicle sales in the United States.

NEW YORK; 29 Sep 2018; (AP) — The Trump administration pressed ahead Friday with plans to create an “Arab NATO” that would unite U.S. partners in the Middle East in an anti-Iran alliance, but Qatar said the crisis among Gulf countries must be solved first.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met in New York with foreign ministers from Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to advance the project.

WASHINGTON; 29 Sep 2018; (AP) — Reversing course, President Donald Trump bowed to Democrats’ demands Friday for a deeper FBI investigation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh after Republican Sen. Jeff Flake balked at voting for confirmation without it — a sudden turn that left Senate approval newly uncertain amid allegations of sexual assault.

UNITED NATIONS, September 29. /TASS/. Moscow is completing preparation of lawsuits for US courts over the situation with Russian diplomatic property, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday at a news conference upon the results of his participation in the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly.

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday warned against attempts to contain Iran.

There are attempts to weaken Iran's position in order to stabilize Yemen, Syria and Iraq. But that would be unrealistic, said Lavrov.

"Not a single country with such history, population and civilizational values as Iran can be locked in a cage within its borders," he told a news conference at UN Headquarters in New York.

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- China's Belt and Road Initiative is a public good China offers the world, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Friday.

Addressing the General Debate of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly, Wang said the initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping has grown into the largest platform for international cooperation.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday signed an 854-billion-U.S.-dollar spending bill to avoid a government shutdown before the new fiscal year begins on Monday.

The bill, approved by the Congress earlier this week, would provide the U.S. Departments of Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education with the funding for the full fiscal year ending on Sept. 30, 2019, as well as two months' funding for other government agencies.

New York, Sept 27; PTI: The attitude of only one country is hampering the spirit of the SAARC, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Thursday as he accused India of being an obstacle in regional cooperation.

Qureshi's comments after he participated in the the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation council of foreign ministers meet here on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj also attended the meeting but left early.

Qureshi said he did not talk to his Indian counterpart.

New York, Sep 28 (AFP) Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi dismissed fears Friday that his country was seeking to overtake the United States as the pre-eminent world power, saying Beijing wants global harmony.

27 Sep 2018; AFP: The Palestinians will no longer accept the United States as the sole mediator in the Middle East peace process, their president Mahmud Abbas said Thursday, accusing Donald Trump's "biased" administration of undermining a two-state solution.

Speaking a day after the US president said he favored a two-state solution to end the conflict between the Israel and Palestinians and revealed he would unveil a new peace plan within months, Abbas said Trump could not be regarded as a neutral broker.