WASHINGTON, Sept 25 (Reuters) - The United States would respond decisively to any Russian use of nuclear weapons against Ukraine and has spelled out to Moscow the "catastrophic consequences" it would face, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday.

Sullivan's remarks represented the latest American warning following the thinly veiled nuclear threat made by Vladimir Putin last Wednesday in a speech in which the Russian president also announced his country's first wartime military mobilization since World War Two. 

Beijing, Sep 25 (PTI) The countdown for next month's key Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) began as the ruling party on Sunday announced that all delegates totalling nearly 2,300 were "elected" for the once-in-a-five year meeting in which President Xi Jinping is widely expected to get endorsed for a record third term.

New Delhi, Sep 25 (PTI) The Indian rupee sliding to a historic low of 81.09 to a dollar will make import of crude oil and other commodities expensive further fueling inflation which for the past several months has remained above the Reserve Bank's upper tolerance level of 6 per cent.

The pressure on the domestic currency, which is mainly due to repeated hikes in interest rate by the US Fed, is likely to continue with rise in trade deficit and gradual withdrawal of funds by institutional investors.

25 Sep 2022; MEMO: Israel assassinated Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh on 11 May while she was covering the occupation army's storming of Jenin refugee camp. The 51-year-old was wearing a flak jacket clearly displaying the word "Press" and had a helmet on, but was still shot in the head by an Israeli sniper.

New York, Sep 25 (PTI) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said that he had a wide-ranging conversation with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov during which they discussed a number of issues, including bilateral cooperation, the Ukraine conflict, G20 and UN reforms as he described Russia a "major partner in many domains." Jaishankar made the remarks during his interaction with a group of Indian reporters after his meeting with Lavrov on the margins of the UN General Assembly session, just hours before his address to the UN General Debate on Saturday.<

NEW YORK, September 25. /TASS/: SpaceX launched the Falcon 9 carrier rocket on Saturday to bring 52 Starlink satellites into orbit, the American company said in a statement.

"Deployment of 52 Starlink satellites confirmed," the company said.

Earlier the company tweeted that Falcon 9's first stage has landed on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship in the Atlantic Ocean. The launch took place from the spaceport at Cape Canaveral (Florida).

Sept 25 (Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in an interview broadcast on Sunday that Ukraine had received sophisticated air defence systems from the United States.

It was the first acknowledgment that Ukraine had received the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS), long sought by Kyiv and whose shipment was approved by Washington late last month.

Sept 25 (Reuters) - Russia's two most senior lawmakers on Sunday addressed a string of complaints about Russia's mobilisation drive, ordering regional officials to get a handle on the situation and swiftly solve the "excesses" that have stoked public anger.

President Vladimir Putin's move to order Russia's first military mobilisation since World War Two triggered protests across the country and seen flocks of military-age men flee, causing tailbacks at borders and flights to sell out.

LONDON, Sept 25 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Liz Truss said allies should stand firm on Ukraine and ignore Russian President Vladimir Putin's "sabre-rattling".

Truss, who met U.S. President Joe Biden and France's Emmanuel Macron on her first foreign trip as prime minister to New York last week, in an interview with CNN called on like-minded democracies to be firm against "autocratic regimes".

24 Sep 2022; MEMO: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel of killing Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh and urged the US to prosecute her killers.

Abbas announced before the United Nations (UN) General Assembly that Israel is killing the Palestinian people without accountability, as it did with Shireen Abu Akleh: "Who was killed by a sniper's bullet intended to kill her, and Israel admitted that the sniper did indeed kill her."

24 Sep 2022; MEMO: Ukraine has downgraded its diplomatic relations with Iran and withdrew the accreditation of the Iranian ambassador over Tehran's supply of drones to Russia.

DUBAI, Sept 25 (Reuters) - U.S. support for "rioters" is contrary to Washington's diplomatic stance towards Iran, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian was quoted as saying by the semi-official ISNA news agency on Sunday.

"Peaceful protest is the right of every nation. However, the U.S. involvement in Iran's affairs and support to 'rioters' in implementing their destabilisation project is in clear conflict with Washington's diplomatic messages to Iran regarding the necessity of a nuclear deal and establishing stability in the region," Amirabdollahian said.