North America

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden met Friday with family members of WNBA star Brittney Griner and another American detained in Russia, Paul Whelan, the first face-to-face encounter that the president has had with the relatives.

In a statement after the meetings, which were held separately, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden stressed to the families his “continued commitment to working through all available avenues to bring Brittney and Paul home safely.”

HAVANA (AP) — Tropical Storm Fiona was expected to become a hurricane as it neared Puerto Rico on Saturday, threatening to dump up to 20 inches (51 centimeters) of rain as people braced for potential landslides, severe flooding and power outages.

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Residents on Alaska’s vast and sparsely populated western coast braced Friday for a powerful storm that forecasters said could be one of the worst in recent history, threatening hurricane-force winds and high surf that could knock out power and cause flooding.

The storm is the remnants of what was Typhoon Merbok, which University of Alaska Fairbanks climate specialist Rick Thoman said is also influencing weather patterns far from Alaska — a rare late-summer storm now is expected to bring rain this weekend to drought-stricken parts of California.

(AP) --- Spurred by conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election, activists around the country are using laws that allow people to challenge a voter’s right to cast a ballot to contest the registrations of thousands of voters at a time.

In Iowa, Linn County Auditor Joel Miller had handled three voter challenges over the previous 15 years. He received 119 over just two days after Doug Frank, an Ohio educator who is touring the country spreading doubts about the 2020 election, swung through the state.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden headed to the United Kingdom on Saturday to pay his respects to Queen Elizabeth II at a time of transition in US-UK relations, as both a new royal and a new prime minister are settling in.

The hawkish approach of Prime Minister Liz Truss to Russia and China puts her on the same page as Biden. But the rise of Truss, 47, who once called the US-UK relationship “special but not exclusive,” could mark a decidedly new chapter in the trans-Atlantic partnership on trade and more.

16 Sep 2022; MEMO: Two UN experts have called on Tunisian authorities to stop harassing judges who are exercising their right to peaceful assembly.

HAVANA, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- Cuba will again submit a resolution against the U.S. trade embargo at this year's United Nations General Assembly in November, Foreign Affairs Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla said Thursday.

"After more than 60 years of siege, that policy impacts, like never before, Cuban families inside and outside of the country," he posted on Twitter, noting it will be the 30th time to present the resolution.

The resolution calling for an end to the embargo has consistently won the overwhelming support of UN members.

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- Vanessa Nakate, a 25-year-old climate activist from Uganda, was appointed on Thursday as the newest goodwill ambassador of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).

UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell described Nakate as instrumental in redirecting the conversation on climate change to focus on the people most affected by the crisis: the poor and the marginalized.

(AP) --- Stocks fell broadly in morning trading on Wall Street Friday, putting the market on track for another week of sizable losses.

The latest discouraging news for traders came from corporate giants FedeEx and General Electric, which warned about worsening trends in the economy hurting business.

The S&P 500 fell 1.1% as of 10:12 a.m. Eastern. The benchmark index is down 5% for the week, with much of the loss coming from a rout on Tuesday following a surprisingly hot report on inflation.

EDGARTOWN, Mass. (AP) — Republican governors are escalating their partisan tactic of sending migrants to Democratic strongholds without advance warning, including a wealthy summer enclave in Massachusetts and the home of Vice President Kamala Harris, to taunt leaders of immigrant-friendly “sanctuary” cities and stoke opposition to Biden administration border policies.