USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — A life-saving Ukrainian volunteer medic captured by Russian forces during their deadly siege of the port city of Mariupol told U.S. lawmakers Thursday how Russians routinely tortured her and others, killing many detainees, in her most detailed public account of her months in captivity.

Yuliia Paievska, detained in Mariupol in March and held by Russian and pro-Russian forces for three months, spoke to lawmakers with the Helsinki Commission, a government agency created in part to promote compliance with human rights internationally.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two buses of migrants from the U.S.-Mexico border were dropped off near Vice President Kamala Harris’ home in residential Washington on Thursday morning in the bitter political battle over the Biden administration’s immigration policies.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s popularity improved substantially from his lowest point this summer, but concerns about his handling of the economy persist, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden announced Thursday that a tentative railway labor agreement has been reached, averting a nationwide strike that could have been devastating to the economy before the pivotal midterm elections.

Railroads and union representatives had been in negotiations for 20 hours at the Labor Department well past midnight to hammer out a deal, as there was a risk of a strike starting on Friday that could have shut down rail lines across the country.

14 Sep 2022; MEMO: The United States imposed sanctions on Wednesday on individuals and entities it linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard for what it called Tehran's "malicious" cyber and ransom ware activity, Reuters reports.

The sanctions were part of a joint response by several US agencies, including the departments of Justice and State, the US Treasury said in a statement.

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 14 (APP): Pakistan needs a “massive inflow of financial resources” to help it cope with the devastation caused by the climate-induced floods, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Wednesday, as he appealed to wealthy countries “not to lose one moment’ in coming to the aid of the country.

“What is happening in Pakistan demonstrates the sheer inadequacy of the global response to the climate crisis, and the betrayal and injustice at the heart of it,” he told his annual pre-General Assembly press conference in response to a question from APP correspondent.

WASHINGTON, Sept 14 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The International Monetary Fund (IMF) confirmed that it is moving toward expanding emergency financing for countries hit by surging food prices and shortages triggered by the war in Ukraine, with some 20 to 30 countries seen most in need.

IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva said the fund’s executive board members were “very positive” about the proposed “food shock window” when they met informally on Monday, and she hoped they would approve it to allow a swift disbursal of funds.

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 14 (NNN-AGENCIES) — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for solidarity and cooperation to address a “world in peril” at the opening of the 77th United Nations General Assembly.

“We face a world in peril across our work to advance peace, human rights and sustainable development,” Guterres said, citing conflicts and climate change, a “broken global financial system,” poverty, inequality, hunger and divisions.

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- The 77th session of the UN General Assembly opened on Tuesday, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for solidarity among member states to address common challenges.

The many challenges that defined the 76th session of the General Assembly are still very much around as the new session starts, Guterres told the opening of the 77th session.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. and Swiss governments and Afghan economics experts said Wednesday they will transfer $3.5 billion in frozen funds from Afghanistan’s central bank to use for the country’s people as hunger grips every province there.

Notably, the Taliban government will not be a part of the new Afghan Fund, which will maintain its account with the Bank for International Settlements in Switzerland.