North America

by Peter Mertz

DENVER, the United States, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- The so-called U.S. Friday deadline for Canada to agree to trade terms elapsed with little fanfare, as both countries agreed to wait until next week to resume talks. Experts and scholars see the two sides are keeping "alert" about any bad deal or no deal for them.

"It is unclear what the ultimate shape of any deal with Canada would look like," said Vincent Smith, an economics professor of Montana State University (MSU).

By Yoshita Singh

United Nations, Sep 1 (PTI) UN chief Antonio Guterres has expressed regret over the US' decision to provide no further funding to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, urging other countries to help fill the financial gap.

His remarks came after the US decided to stop funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

WASHINGTON, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to pull his country out of the World Trade Organization (WTO), a move that could further undermine the global trading system and economic stability.

"If they don't shape up, I would withdraw from the WTO," Trump said during an interview with Bloomberg News at the Oval Office.

The comments came as Washington's trade disputes with other economies continue to put global economy at risk, as pundits urge them to be addressed via multilateralism, including the WTO.

29 Aug 2018; DW: Four million refugee children around the world are excluded from education, according to a United Nations report. A solution should be to allow refugees to attend regular schools, the UNHCR has demanded.

With more and more children forced to leave their homes, the number of refugees out of education has topped four million, the UN's Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said on Wednesday.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for accountability for the “horrendous persecution” of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar on Tuesday, and Sweden and the Netherlands urged the Security Council to refer the crimes to the International Criminal Court.

But China, which has close ties to Myanmar’s government, said the international community should stop putting pressure on Myanmar and let its government work out the repatriation of Rohingya refugees as soon as possible with Bangladesh, where nearly one million have fled.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett told the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday that nothing prepared her for “the extent and depth of suffering” she saw when she visited camps in Bangladesh for Rohingya Muslim refugees who fled a violent crackdown by Myanmar’s military.

In her very different role as a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. refugee agency, Blanchett said she heard “gut-wrenching accounts” of torture, rape, people seeing loved ones killed before their eyes, and children thrown into fire and burned alive.

UNITED NATIONS, August 28. /TASS/. Russia’s Defense Ministry, unlike foreign agencies, does not spread fake news, particularly on Syria, Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya said in response to a statement made by UK Ambassador to the UN Karen Pierce.

Earlier on Tuesday, Pierce told reporters that the Russian Defense Ministry’s statement about preparations for a chemical weapons provocation involving White Helmets members was fake news.

UNITED NATIONS, August 28. /TASS/. Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya will discuss a possible chemical weapons provocation in Syria, as well as a UN directive hampering the country’s reconstruction, with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, as he himself told reporters.

WASHINGTON, August 27. /TASS/. The United States’ sanctions on Russia over Moscow’s alleged involvement in poisoning of former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia come into effect on Monday.

The US State Department claimed that by using lethal chemical or biological weapons against its own nationals Russia had violated the US Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991.

WASHINGTON, August 27. /TASS/. Washington’s new sanctions against Moscow bring the US closer to the point of no return in resolving current international issues with Russia. Besides, such measures are fruitless and futile, the message published on Monday by the Russian Embassy in Washington states.