North America

WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s a consequential week for President Joe Biden’s agenda, as Democratic leaders delicately trim back his $3.5 trillion “Build Back Better” package to win over remaining lawmakers and work to quickly pass legislation to avoid a federal shutdown.

JOPLIN, Mont. (AP) — Federal investigators are seeking the cause of an Amtrak train derailment near a switch on tracks in the middle of vast farmland in far northern Montana that killed three people and left seven hospitalized over the weekend.

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 26 (APP): Saima Saleem, a visually impaired Pakistani diplomat, has become the first to speak using Braille in the United Nations General Assembly hall.

On Friday, Ms. Saleem, a counselor at the Pakistan Mission to the UN, took the floor to respond to an Indian delegate who made critical remarks after Prime Minister Imran Khan’s strong advocacy of the Kashmiri people’s UN-pledged right of self-determination.

MEXICO CITY, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Fourteen Mexican soldiers were detained early Saturday morning for several hours by U.S. border agents after they crossed into El Paso, Texas, from Mexico's Ciudad Juarez, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)said.

"Just after midnight today CBP officers working at the Bridge of the America's international crossing in El Paso noted two Mexican military vehicles crossing the boundary and entering the U.S.," the CBP told Reuters in an emailed statement.

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- In his speech to the UN General Assembly on Saturday, Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob stressed the importance of peaceful coexistence and multilateralism.

Malaysia has always been a firm believer in all efforts and initiatives that promote peaceful coexistence between nations, between different peoples, and between different faiths and cultures, he said. "As a multi-cultural, multi-racial and multi-religious country, Malaysia strongly believes what we have been practicing can also be applied to the entire world."

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- It is impossible to achieve the political process in Afghanistan without the Taliban's cooperation, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday told a press conference at the UN headquarters in New York.

The Security Council resolutions have a need to advance the political process in Afghanistan, and this is impossible to achieve without working with the Taliban, said the top Russian diplomat in response to a question about the possibility or plan of either easing or lifting the international sanctions against the Taliban.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Deported from the United States, Pierre Charles landed a week ago in Port-au-Prince, a capital more dangerous and dystopian than the one he’d left four years before. Unable to reach his family, he left the airport alone, on foot.

26 Sep 2021; MEMO: President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Ersin Tatar on Saturday met with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the sidelines of the 76th session of UN General Assembly in New York, reports Anadolu Agency.

The two exchanged views on the Cyprus issue, according to a statement by the UN.

Tatar on Monday will attend a tripartite meeting and will meet with Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades at a luncheon to be hosted by the UN secretary-general.

26 Sep 2021; MEMO: Mexico has sent a letter to Israel's government urging it to facilitate the extradition of a former Mexican official in charge of a controversial investigation into the disappearance of 43 student teachers seven years ago, a senior official said on Friday, reports Reuters.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Ethiopia told the international community Saturday to steer clear of sanctions and avoid meddling over its war with forces from its Tigray region, and to let the African Union work on bringing all parties together.

Speaking at the U.N. General Assembly meeting of world leaders, Deputy Prime Minster Demeke Mekonnen defended his country’s conduct in the 10-month-old war.