New York

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (AP) — Witnesses have gathered in a small city in upstate New York over the past three weeks to testify in the trial of a man accused of strangling a young nursing student. But there is no jury, no American judge and the man accused is seated next to his defense attorney 2,200 miles (3,540 kilometers) away — in Nicaragua.

NEW YORK (AP) — The Senate’s top Democrat is calling on the Food and Drug Administration to examine a report that found dozens of baby food products contaminated with lead and other metals.

Sen. Chuck Schumer says Sunday the FDA must take more action to regulate the baby food industry. A study by Healthy Babies Bright Futures found the presence of heavy metals in 95% of the 168 baby foods that were tested.

The study found 95% of the food tested contained lead, arsenic, mercury or cadmium. It found one in four baby foods that were tested contained all four metals.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 19 (APP): United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed his “gratitude and admiration” for Maleeha Lodhi, Pakistan’s outgoing ambassador to the UN, during her farewell call on him, and he went on to say that she did her country proud, according to informed sources.

The UN chief, accompanied by his Chef de Cabinet Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, came into the waiting room to walk the Pakistan envoy to his 38th-floor office, the sources said. Ambassador Lodhi was accompanied by Tipu Usman, a political counsellor at the Pakistan Mission.

NEW YORK, Oct 19 (APP): Former Vice President Joe Biden’s support jumped five points this month in his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination this month, slightly extending his lead over Senator Bernie Sanders, a liberal candidate, in a new poll released Friday.

The Hill-HarrisX poll showed that 34 percent of likely Democratic primary voters back Biden, marking a 14-point lead over Sanders, as more than a dozen vie for the part’s nomination to challenge President Donal Trump, a Republican, in 2020 presidential race .

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City lawmakers voted Thursday to close the notorious Rikers Island jail complex, which has become synonymous with violence and neglect, and replace it with four smaller jails intended to be more modern and humane.

The City Council voted 36-13 to replace the complex with four smaller jails located closer to the city’s main courthouses in Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens.

Rikers is scheduled to shutter by 2026, ending a decadeslong run as one of the world’s largest jails.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 17 (APP): UNITED NATIONS, Oct 17 (APP): UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for redoubling of efforts to eradicate poverty it in its entirety to ensure a sustainable future for all.

“Ending extreme poverty is at the heart of the world’s efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and build a sustainable future for all,” he said in his message for the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

NEW YORK, Oct 17 (APP): India violated United Nations resolutions as well as bilateral agreements with Pakistan when it annexed occupied Kashmir more than two months ago and brought in thousands of additional Indian troops to clampdown on the disputed state, Prime Minister Imran Khan has said, and reiterated his call on the world body to intervene.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 16 (APP): Pakistan has reaffirmed its full support to the call by the United Nations (UN) human rights office for an investigation of the gross and systematic human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir, saying the situation in the disputed state had now become “dire”.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres "is gravely concerned over the military developments in northeast Syria," as the number of civilian casualties increase and the number of displaced persons swells to 160,000, his spokesman said on Monday.

Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman, said Guterres continues to call for maximum restraint, reminding that any military operation must fully respect international law and humanitarian aid access.

NEW YORK (AP) — Facing intense scrutiny from President Donald Trump and his Republican allies, Hunter Biden said Sunday he will step down from the board of directors of a Chinese-backed private equity firm at the end of the month as part of a pledge not to work on behalf of any foreign-owned companies should his father win the presidency.