North America

20 Sep 2022; MEMO: Steps that Turkish lenders, Isbank and Denizbank, took to suspend the use of Russian payment system, MIR, make a lot of sense, a senior US administration official said on Tuesday, and said the United States expects more banks will cut off MIR over sanctions risk, Reuters reports.

21 Sep 2022; MEMO: SpaceX will apply for an exemption from US sanctions imposed on Iran, in an effort to provide satellite internet service in Iran, AFP reported Elon Musk saying.

"Starlink will ask for an exemption to Iranian sanctions in this regard," Musk said in response to a tweet from a science reporter.

Starlink plans to launch 42,000 satellites and provide a global internet service.

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 20 (APP): Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Tuesday voiced hope for “permanent peace and prosperity” in Jammu and Kashmir, while also urging the world community to help the flood-hit people of Pakistan, in his address to the 77th session of the UN General Assembly.

“India and Pakistan, after having established their sovereignty and independence 75 years ago, still haven’t established peace and solidarity between one another. This is much unfortunate,” he told the 193-member Assembly in its high-level debate on issues of global peace and security.

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 20 (APP): The President of 77th session of the UN General Assembly Csaba Korosi said Tuesday that devastation left behind by the unprecedented foods in Pakistan “can be a window into our future.”

“I stand in solidarity with the people of Pakistan, where devastating floods washed away hundreds of villages,” he told the 193-member’s Assembly at the start of its high-level debate.

WASHINGTON, Sept 20 (Reuters) - A top adviser to U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned on Tuesday that China's foot-dragging on debt relief could burden dozens of low- and middle-income countries with years of debt servicing problems, lower growth and underinvestment.

Yellen's counselor Brent Neiman criticized China's "unconventional" debt practices and its failure to move forward with debt relief at an event at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

WASHINGTON, Sept 20 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden will try to rally the world against Russia's invasion of Ukraine in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, saying Moscow's war against its neighbor violates the tenets of the U.N. charter that established the post-World War Two body.

Biden departs on Tuesday to join the conclave of world leaders in New York. He will have his first in-person meeting with new British Prime Minister Liz Truss on Wednesday and participate in a summit aimed at collecting pledges to help nations battle diseases.

NEW YORK, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- The United States is dealing with more state fragility than many realize -- people do not trust their government, and surrounding institutions, including the media, are doing little to earn back that trust, reported The Hill on Sunday.

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- U.S. top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said Monday that the United States is not where it needs to be regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, a day after U.S. President Joe Biden said that "the pandemic is over."

In a talk with the U.S. Center for Strategic and International Studies, Fauci said that much depends on how the country handles future virus variants.

"How we respond and how we're prepared for the evolution of these variants is going to depend on us," Fauci was quoted by The Hill as saying.

CHICAGO (AP) — Eight people were rushed to hospitals after being injured when an explosion Tuesday tore through the top floor of a Chicago apartment building, officials said.

The explosion at the 36-unit, four-story apartment building in the South Austin neighborhood occurred at about 9 a.m., officials said. Chicago Fire Department Deputy Chief Marc Ferman told reporters a few hours later that the department had finished searching for potential victims and was “confident” that nobody remained trapped inside the building, of which much of the top floor had collapsed.

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats are voting this week on changes to a 19th century law for certifying presidential elections, their strongest legislative response yet to the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection and former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat.

The vote to overhaul the Electoral Count Act, expected Wednesday, comes as a bipartisan group of senators is moving forward with a similar bill. Lawmakers in both parties have said they want to change the arcane law before it is challenged again.