New York

New York, Sep 29; PTI:  With a tougher round of US sanctions on Iran coming into effect from November 4, a top Trump administration official said Washington recognises India's need for significant oil imports and is having conversations to ensure there are alternative supplies of the fuel "so that our friend India's economy is not adversely affected".

Earlier this year, the US had withdrawn from the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal and reimposed a series of tough sanctions on Iran.

29 Sep 2018; AFP: The UN General Assembly may be one of the most unwieldy events on the diplomatic calendar, with non-stop speeches by 193 leaders and hundreds more side events, all in a few blocks along New York's East River.

But for Maria Fernanda Espinosa, the newly-elected president of the General Assembly who watches over the gathering, the format is spot-on.

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.

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.

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.

27 Sep 2018; AFP: The UN Human Rights Council voted Thursday to set up a panel to prepare criminal indictments over atrocities committed in Myanmar, amid allegations of genocide against the Rohingya minority.

The top UN rights body voted to "establish an ongoing independent mechanism to collect, consolidate, preserve and analyse evidence of the most serious international crimes and violations of international law committed in Myanmar since 2011".

UNITED NATIONS, September 27./TASS/. Moscow urges all countries that are imposing unilateral sanctions against North Korea to abandon this practice, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a UN Security Council ministerial session on denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- European Council President Donald Tusk said Thursday that the European Union (EU) is fighting to preserve the rules-based international order, which, he said, is under great strain in terms of trade, security, climate change and human rights.

"We say this not only as countries strongly supporting the United Nations, but as a continent that cares deeply about respect, mutual understanding and solidarity between nations," Tusk told the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).