USA

WASHINGTON, Oct 22 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega on Friday of preparing a sham election next month and trying to establish an “authoritarian dynasty” amid a wave of arrests ahead of Nicaragua’s Nov. 7 vote.

Blinken, who visited Latin America this week with stops in Ecuador and Colombia, welcomed a vote on Wednesday by the Organization of American States expressing “alarm” over Nicaraguan government actions it says will undermine the election, in which Ortega seeks a fourth consecutive term. 

NEW YORK, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- The old Cold War is the wrong way to frame what is happening now between China and the United States, and both sides should cooperate on climate and other issues, said an article published on The New York Times.

"Governments that plunge into a Cold War mind-set can exaggerate every conflict," said David E. Sanger, White House and national security correspondent, in the article earlier this week. "They can miss opportunities for cooperation."

UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- More than 80 countries opposed the interference in China's internal affairs under the pretext of human rights at the Third Committee of the 76th session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on Thursday.

During the meeting, Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the UN, resolutely refuted the unfounded accusations against China which were launched by a few countries, including the United States and France.

He expressed China's firm opposition, and later held a press conference on China's position on human rights issues.

NEW YORK (AP) — Millionaire real estate scion Robert Durst has been charged in suburban New York City with the death of his former wife, Kathie Durst, who vanished in 1982, authorities confirmed Friday.

A state police investigator filed a criminal complaint on Tuesday at a town court in Lewisboro, New York, accusing Durst of second-degree murder.

The action wasn’t announced at the time by any law enforcement officials or Westchester District Attorney Mimi Rocah, who recently convened a grand jury to consider charges.

(AP) --- Kid-size doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine appear safe and nearly 91% effective at preventing symptomatic infections in 5- to 11-year-olds, according to study details released Friday as the U.S. considers opening vaccinations to that age group.

The shots could begin in early November — with the first children in line fully protected by Christmas — if regulators give the go-ahead.

21 Oct 2021; MEMO: The United Nations said Thursday it has launched a crisis trust fund to provide money directly to Afghans to prevent a humanitarian crisis and the breakdown of the economy following the Taliban's takeover this August, Anadolu News Agency reports.

The UN Development Program (UNDP) launched a new crisis response initiative as part of an overall response to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe and the breakdown of the country's economy.

21 Oct 2021; MEMO: An Afghan detainee who was held for 14 years at the US detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, will soon be released after a federal judge ruled his detention was illegal, Anadolu News Agency reports.

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — The Coast Guard received multiple reports of a possible fuel spill off the Southern California coast earlier than previously disclosed and asked local authorities to investigate about 15 hours before its own personnel confirmed a large oil slick, which came from a leaking undersea pipeline, records show.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House and Democrats are hurriedly reworking key aspects of President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion domestic policy plan, trimming the social services and climate change programs and rethinking new taxes on corporations and the wealthy to pay for a scaled-back package.

The changes come as Biden more forcefully appeals to the American public, including in a televised town hall Thursday, for what he says are the middle-class values at the heart of his proposal.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House has voted to hold Steve Bannon, a longtime ally and aide to former President Donald Trump, in contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena from the committee investigating the violent Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.

In a rare show of bipartisanship on the House floor, the committee’s Democratic chairman, Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, led the floor debate along with Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, one of two Republicans on the panel. Still, the vote Thursday was 229-202 with all but nine GOP lawmakers who voted saying “no.”