North America

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- The president of the upcoming 77th session of the UN General Assembly, Csaba Korosi, vowed on Monday to build bridges and make the work of the assembly more impact-oriented.

"We must continue to reform and transform the United Nations, including the General Assembly, and strengthen our cooperation through trust," he told reporters after taking the oath as president of the upcoming session of the General Assembly.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — President Joe Biden has the same authority to impose a COVID-19 vaccine requirement on federal workers that private employers have for their employees, an administration lawyer told a federal appeals court Tuesday.

A lawyer for opponents of the vaccine requirement, which has been blocked nationwide by a federal judge in Texas, said the requirement imposes an “unconstitutionally intolerable choice” for executive branch workers — taking a vaccine they don’t want or losing their jobs.

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — UPS is delivering for Boeing, helping boost the aircraft maker’s August sales numbers with an order for cargo planes.

Boeing said Tuesday that it took orders for 26 planes net last month, with the biggest being a United Parcel Service Inc. order for eight freighters. Arlington-based Boeing also took orders for 13 more 737 Max planes, including two for American Airlines.

European rival Airbus recorded no new orders in August and canceled orders for 19 A350 jets by Qatar Airways because of a running dispute over the quality of the fuselage surfaces.

(AP) --- Democratic lawmakers intent on making sure that unprecedented efforts by the Trump administration to politicize the 2020 census never happen again are moving forward with plans for safeguards they say will help the U.S. head count stay free of future interference.

Democratic House members are preparing this week to send legislation to the House floor that would put in place roadblocks against political meddling in the U.S. census, which determines political power and federal funding.

NEW YORK (AP) — The NBA has suspended Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury owner Robert Sarver for one year, plus fined him $10 million, after an investigation found that he had engaged in what the league called “workplace misconduct and organizational deficiencies.”

The findings of the league’s report, published Tuesday, came nearly a year after the NBA asked a law firm to investigate allegations that Sarver had a history of racist, misogynistic and hostile incidents over his nearly two-decade tenure overseeing the franchise.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The former security chief at Twitter told Congress that the social media platform is plagued by weak cyber defenses that make it vulnerable to exploitation by “teenagers, thieves and spies” and put the privacy of its users at risk. Peiter “Mudge” Zatko, a respected cybersecurity expert, appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee to lay out his allegations Tuesday.

“I am here today because Twitter leadership is misleading the public, lawmakers, regulators and even its own board of directors,” Zatko said as he began his sworn testimony.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The National Archives is still not certain that it has custody of all Donald Trump’s presidential records even after the FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago club, a congressional committee said in a letter Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lower gas costs slowed U.S. inflation for a second straight month in August, but most other prices across the economy kept rising — evidence that inflation remains a heavy burden for American households.

Consumer prices surged 8.3% last month compared with a year earlier, the government said Tuesday, down from an 8.5% increase in July and a four-decade high of 9.1% in June. On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.1%, after a flat reading in July.

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 12 (NNN-XINHUA) — At a time of unprecedented challenges and upheaval, “solutions lie in solidarity,” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a message commemorating the United Nations Day for South-South Cooperation.

“South-South and triangular cooperation are critical for developing countries to mitigate and adapt to climate disruption, address the global health crisis, including COVID-19 recovery, and achieve all 17 Sustainable Development Goals,” said the top UN official.

MEXICO CITY, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Monday his government will present a proposal to the United Nations aimed at resolving Russia's war against Ukraine.