SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Hurricane Lee charged through warm Atlantic waters on Friday and threatened to unleash heavy swells across the northeast Caribbean. It became the season’s first Category 5 storm before weakening slightly.

TEHRAN, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani has called on members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to adopt a practical approach toward Iran, instead of making "unreal" claims, so as to prepare the ground for improving and deepening intra-regional relations.

He made the remarks in a statement released by his ministry on Friday, reacting to Iran-related claims in a communique at the end of the 157th Session of GCC Ministerial Council in the Saudi capital of Riyadh on Thursday.

ANTANANARIVO, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Madagascan Foreign Minister Yvette Sylla hailed "dynamic and fruitful" cooperation between Madagascar and China at a reception to celebrate the 74th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in the capital Antananarivo on Thursday.

JAKARTA, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Voices affirming unity and the need to reject bloc confrontation have come under the spotlight in the just-concluded three-day summit here by ASEAN leaders with Asian and Western counterparts.

ASEAN must not be an arena of destructive rivalries, Indonesian President Joko Widodo said during the opening of the 43rd ASEAN Summit on Tuesday. He urged the regional grouping to stay united and not be a proxy to any power.

JAKARTA, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Chinese Premier Li Qiang said on Wednesday it is important to avoid a "new Cold War" when dealing with conflicts between countries as world leaders gathered in Indonesia amid sharpening geopolitical rivalries across the Indo-Pacific region.

Speaking at an annual summit involving members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China, Japan and South Korea, Li said countries needed to "appropriately handle differences and disputes".

05 September 2023; MEMO: The trial of a man accused in a hate-motivated murder of four members of a Muslim family began Tuesday in a Canadian court, Anadolu Agency reports.

Nathaniel Veltman allegedly drove his vehicle on 6 June, 2021, onto the sidewalk and into the Afzaal family, who were out for an evening walk in London, Ontario, west of Toronto.

DENVER (AP) — A liberal group on Wednesday filed a lawsuit to bar former President Donald Trump from the primary ballot in Colorado, arguing he is ineligible to run for the White House again under a rarely used clause in the U.S. Constitution aimed at candidates who have supported an “insurrection.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal prosecutors plan to seek a grand jury indictment of President Joe Biden’s son Hunter before the end of the month, according to court documents filed Wednesday.

The filing came in a gun possession case in which Hunter Biden was accused of having a firearm while being a drug user, though prosecutors did not name exactly which charges they will seek. He has also been under investigation by federal prosecutors for his business dealings.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — An extramarital affair Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton had with a donor’s employee helped connect the dots about why the Republican was using his power in ways that are now at the center of his impeachment trial on accusations of corruption, a former top aide testified Wednesday.

“It answered that ‘why’ question,” said Jeff Mateer, who was Paxton’s second-in-command at the Texas attorney general’s office.

WASHINGTON (AP) — An information technology director at Mar-a-Lago struck a cooperation agreement with federal prosecutors last summer in their investigation of Donald Trump’s retention of classified documents at the former president’s Florida property, according to the worker’s ex-lawyer.

Stanley Woodward, a former attorney for the IT manager, made the revelation in a court filing responding to Justice Department arguments that he had a potential conflict-of-interest because of his representation of another key figure in the Mar-a-Lago probe, Trump valet Walt Nauta.

05 September 2023; MEMO: A cross-party delegation of Australian lawmakers will head to the US later this month to urge Washington to abandon its demand for the extradition of WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, Anadolu Agency reports.

The delegation includes Barnaby Joyce, Tony Zappia and independent lawmaker, Monique Ryan.

Ryan told the broadcaster, ABC, they feel “really, really strongly about the importance of securing Mr. Assange’s freedom.”

Sept 6 (Reuters) - The U.S. Commerce Department should end all technology exports to Huawei and China's top semiconductor firm following the discovery of new chips in Huawei phones that may violate trade restrictions, the chair of the House of Representatives' committee on China said on Wednesday.