North America

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal officials are warning ahead of the November midterms that Russia is working to amplify doubts about the integrity of U.S. elections while China is interested in undermining American politicians it sees as threats to Beijing’s interests.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is taking up an Alabama redistricting case that could have far-reaching effects on minority voting power across the United States.

The justices are hearing arguments Tuesday in the latest high-court showdown over the federal Voting Rights Act, lawsuits seeking to force Alabama to create a second Black majority congressional district. About 27% of Alabamians are Black, but they form a majority in just one of the state’s seven congressional districts.

FAIRMEAD, Calif. (AP) — As California’s drought deepens, Elaine Moore’s family is running out of an increasingly precious resource: water.

The Central Valley almond growers had two wells go dry this summer. Two of her adult children are now getting water from a new well the family drilled after the old one went dry last year. She’s even supplying water to a neighbor whose well dried up.

BONITA SPRINGS, Fla. (AP) — Nearly a week after Hurricane Ian smashed into Florida and carved a path of destruction that reached into the Carolinas, more than half a million statewide residents faced another day without electricity Tuesday as rescuers continued their search for those trapped inside homes inundated with lingering floodwaters.

At least 78 people have been confirmed dead from the storm: 71 in Florida, four in North Carolina and three in Cuba since Ian made landfall on the Caribbean island on Sept. 27, and in Florida a day later.

Washington, Oct 4 (PTI) The US will soon impose further costs on the perpetrators of violence against peaceful demonstrators who protested against the death of a 22-year-old woman in the custody of the morality police in Iran, President Joe Biden has said, as he expressed grave concern over the crackdown on them.

Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old from Iranian Kurdistan, was arrested for allegedly violating the country's strict Islamic dress code.

WASHINGTON, Oct 03 (APP): Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States, Masood Khan, has called for a long-term US commitment to enable developing countries, like Pakistan, cope with the impacts of climate change that are disrupting the natural, economic and social systems.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 03 (APP): Pakistan, speaking for Group of 77 (developing countries) and China, has underscored the need for addressing the challenges of recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic, financing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), fighting poverty, and combating the impacts of climate change that have adversely impacted the poorest nations.

WASHINGTON, Oct 2 (Reuters) - U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan met with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's chief adviser Ibrahim Kalin in Istanbul on Sunday and discussed "progress on NATO accession for Finland and Sweden", the White House said in a statement.

The two, whose meeting was unannounced to the media beforehand, also discussed Turkey's condemnation of Russia's annexation of Ukrainian territory.

MEXICO CITY, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador congratulated Brazilian leftist presidential candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva after he came first in an initial round of voting on Sunday but failed to secure enough support to win outright.

"Congratulations, brother and companion Lula. The people of Brazil demonstrated once again their democratic vocation and, in particular, their inclination for equality and justice," Lopez Obrador, a fellow leftist, said on Twitter.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is beginning its new term, welcoming the public back to the courtroom and hearing arguments for the first time since issuing a landmark ruling stripping away women’s constitutional protections for abortion.

Monday’s session also is the first time new Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the court’s first Black female justice, will participate in arguments. And the public is back for the first time since the court closed in March 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.