U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday questioned a decision by his top trade negotiators to ask Chinese officials to delay a planned trip to U.S. farming regions after trade talks last week, saying he wanted China to buy more American farm products. Trump, speaking alongside Mnuchin, questioned his Treasury chief about the request that the Chinese delay a trip to meet with U.S. farmers in Montana and Nebraska. Mnuchin had said the trip was delayed at the administration’s request to avoid confusion over the talks. “Why was that our request, just out of curiosity?” Trump asked. Mnuchin explained again that the U.S. side “didn’t want confusion around the trade issues.” Trump then interjected: “Yeah, but I want them to buy farm products.” “There was no confusion,” Mnuchin replied. “We want them to buy agriculture. They have committed to buy agriculture. And they’re doing that” Trump added that China had “committed to buy a lot of agriculture” and the United States should ship the products as fast as possible. The exchange came after Chicago grain traders said Chinese importers on Monday had bought about 10 boatloads of U.S. soybeans — around 600,000 tons — to be shipped from Pacific Northwest ports …

U.S. President Donald Trump “listened with interest” about New Zealand’s gun reforms introduced after the mass shooting in Christchurch, the Pacific country’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Tuesday. New Zealand’s moves on gun control have won global praise, especially in the United States, where lawmakers favoring gun control and activists have struggled to address firearms violence despite back-to-back mass shootings in Texas and Ohio last month. Ardern, 39, met Trump, 73, at the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, in what was the first formal meeting between the two leaders. In this image made from video, people bring their guns to exchange for money in Christchurch, New Zealand, July 13, 2019. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Ardern said New Zealand’s gun buy-back and the process it had gone through was a big part of the 25-minute meeting, along with trade, tourism and what happened in Christchurch. “It was a conversation around our (gun) buy-back and the work we had done to remove military-style, semi-automatic weapons and assault rifles,” Ardern said in videos posted by media members traveling with the prime minister. “I sensed an interest,” Ardern said. “Obviously, we were able to move very …

Two dozen mainly European countries voiced concern Monday at alleged torture, unlawful detentions and unfair trials of critics, including women activists and journalists, in Saudi Arabia. It was the second joint statement criticizing the kingdom read out at the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva in six months, following the first censure of Saudi Arabia at the forum in March. FILE – A protester holds a poster with a picture of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, outside Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, Oct. 25, 2018. The new statement urged Saudi authorities to establish the truth about the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul in October and ensure the perpetrators were held to account. Fifteen European Union members, including Britain and Germany, were among the signatories, as well as Canada, New Zealand, and Peru, diplomats said. France, Italy and Spain did not sign. There was no immediate response from the Saudi delegation, which is among the U.N. rights council’s 47 member states but was absent when the statement was read out. The kingdom has regularly denied allegations of torture and unfair detention. The joint statement acknowledged Saudi reforms, including the announcement last month that restrictions …

Mexicans say corruption is falling even as a third of them also report paying a bribe, a survey by Transparency International said on Monday, as the 10-month-old administration of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador sets its sights on stamping out graft. The Global Corruption Barometer 2019 report shows that 44% of Mexicans say corruption has increased over the last year, compared with 61% of Mexicans in 2017. Veteran leftist Lopez Obrador took office in December promising to root out the entrenched corruption, poverty and violence afflicting Latin America’s second-largest economy. A majority of Mexicans, 61% of those polled, said Lopez Obrador was doing a “good” or “very good” job of fighting corruption. Only 24% said the same thing about his predecessor, former president Enrique Pena Nieto, in the 2017 report. In line with that, one of every five respondents said corruption in Mexico decreased over the last year, versus only 6% of those surveyed in the 2017 poll. Still, nine of 10 Mexicans surveyed by the anti-graft group “underscored that corruption remains a problem for the country, although they perceive changes compared to previous years,” the report showed. Some 34% of those polled said they had paid a bribe over …

Hundreds of activists blocked major intersections across the nation’s capital Monday, demanding immediate government action on climate change. The action came as world leaders met Monday in New York for a United Nations summit on climate change.  As Veronica Balderas Iglesias reports, the Washington protesters used a sailboat, vans, cars, ladders and sit-ins to block key intersections around the District.   …

Three House leaders are demanding Secretary of State Mike Pompeo start turning over all documents related to the Trump-Ukraine telephone call by Thursday or face subpoenas. The Democratic chairmen of the House Foreign Affairs, Intelligence, and Oversight committees — Elliot Engel, Adam Schiff, and Elijah Cummings — say they first made their demand in a letter to the State Department two weeks ago. FILE – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks to newly elected Ukrainian parliament deputies during parliament session in Kyiv, Aug. 29, 2019. The chairmen say the State Department has admitted that a senior Pompeo staffer directly helped set up meetings between U.S. President Donald Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and Ukrainian officials days after Trump’s telephone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Trump has admitted he and Zelenskiy talked about corruption and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden during their July 25 telephone call. The three chairmen say according to press reports, Giuliani personally briefed two top State Department officials about his meeting. They want Pompeo to let them know by Thursday if he will comply with their demand for documents before subpoenas are served. “By withholding these documents and refusing to engage with the committees, the Trump Administration is …

Former combatants for Colombia’s once-largest rebel army asked for forgiveness Monday as they acknowledged kidnappings during the nation’s long civil conflict at a special tribunal created by the peace process. Eleven former rebels gave the Special Peace Jurisdiction three file folders offering the first joint, written testimony outlining the guerrilla army’s responsibility in kidnappings of politicians, soldiers and civilians. “We are reflecting deeply over the acts of war so that we can ask for forgiveness for the errors committed,” said Rodrigo Londono, alias Timochenko, the guerrilla army’s former leader who is now spearheading their nascent political party. The testimony comes as cracks in Colombia’s still-fragile peace process continue to emerge. A small cadre of ex-rebel commanders officially abandoned the historic accord recently and announced they are rearming. Vast stretches of remote, rural land remain in the control of illegal armed groups fighting over drug routes. Meanwhile, many former combatants transitioning to civilian life have turned up dead. Accompanied by his wife Johana Castro and their child, former rebel leader commander Rodrigo Londono arrives to appear before Colombia’s special peace tribunal in Bogota, Colombia, Sept. 23, 2019. Londono showed up at the Special Peace Tribunal in Bogota carrying a car seat …

The World Health Organization is “rationing” Ebola vaccines in Democratic Republic of Congo, with access controls meaning too few people at risk are being protected in an outbreak of the deadly disease, the aid group MSF said Monday. The medical charity Medicins Sans Frontiers (MSF) accused the WHO of using a rigid system of eligibility for vaccination, and said the restrictions are allowing the viral disease to resurge in communities previously thought to be protected. “The WHO is rationing Ebola vaccines and hampering efforts to make them quickly available to all who are at risk of infection,” MSF said in a statement. “As a result, the outbreak keeps coming back to areas that have supposedly been covered by vaccination.” FILE – A nurse prepares a vaccine against Ebola in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, Aug. 7, 2019. The WHO denied it was rationing the vaccine and said it was working as hard as any organization to end Congo’s deadly Ebola outbreak. “We partner closely with the DRC government to reach as many communities and individuals in the outbreak area as possible and are not limiting access to vaccine,” it said in a statement. The Congo Ebola outbreak has killed more …

Rising tensions over Syria is expected to top the agenda of talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The meeting, expected to take place Wednesday evening on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, comes as Ankara is threatening to move further into Syria to attack Kurdish militia forces. The YPG is a critical American ally and Ankara designates the group a terrorist organization linked to an insurgency inside Turkey. Turkish forces are massing on the Syrian frontier, facing off against the YPG. FILE – Kurdish fighters from the People’s Protection Units (YPG) run across a street in Raqqa, Syria, July 3, 2017. “All of our preparations have been completed along the border,” Erdogan said Saturday before leaving for New York. “We have no wish to come face-to-face with the U.S. However, we cannot afford to overlook the support that the U.S. is giving to a terrorist organization.” On Sunday, Trump and Erdogan spoke by telephone on what was described as security matters. Neither side gave further details on what was discussed. The YPG is a crucial ally in Washington’s war against the Islamic State. In the face of strong opposition by Ankara, U.S. …

Russia’s Interior Ministry says a former Kremlin official, whom media reports have called a CIA informant, has been officially declared missing. The ministry said on Monday that it had added Oleg Smolenkov, born in 1969, to its list of missing people and that it has launched a search to locate him. Earlier this month, U.S. media reports from Reuters, CNN, The New York Times, and The Washington Post said a CIA informant in the Russian government had been extracted and brought to the United States in 2017. Some of the reports said the unidentified Russian had provided intelligence from inside President Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin about alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The CIA, the State Department, and the White House have said the reports were inaccurate. Public records from the Russian government administration in 2008 and 2010 show a person named Oleg Smolenkov employed in the administration of Putin, who served as prime minister between 2008 and 2012. In 2010, Smolenkov was promoted to a relatively high civil-service ranking, under an order signed by then-President Dmitry Medvedev. Smolenkov was listed earlier as working as a second secretary at the Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C., according to a …

Swedish teen activist Greta Thunberg scolded world leaders Monday at a United Nations summit calling for climate action, saying people are suffering and dying from the effects of global warming and that all the leaders have are empty words. “We are in [the] beginning of a mass extinction and all you can talk about is money,” said Thunberg, who ignited a youth movement with her Friday school strikes for climate action. She said the science has been clear for 30 years, and still they are not doing enough. “You are failing us! But the young people are starting to understand your betrayal,” Thunberg said in a voice filled with emotion. “The eyes of all future generations are upon you. And if you choose to fail us, I say we will never forgive you.” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, far left, and young environmental activists look on as Greta Thunberg, of Sweden, in red, addresses the Climate Action Summit in the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters, Sept. 23, 2019. The 16-year-old warned the more than 60 presidents and prime ministers gathered in the General Assembly hall for the summit that the youth would not let them “get away with this.” …

At least two people were wounded when shots were fired in the yard of the Haitian Senate Monday.  Eyewitnesses say a senator wielded the gun that shot the victims, as the Senate was readying a vote to confirm the prime minister designate, Fritz William Michel. Witnesses said that shooter was Senator Ralph Fethiere. Among those wounded is an AP photojournalist who spoke to VOA Creole. “I was shot in the jaw,” Chery Denalio said, holding a cloth to stop the bleeding as he walked toward the exit. “I’m going to the hospital now.”   The journalist told VOA that he saw another person shot in the stomach. That victim is the inspector of police for the parliament, VOA Creole reporters were told. Senate leader Carl Murat Cantave left the parliament after the shooting surrounded by security detail. This is a developing story. Check back later for more details …

Uganda’s longtime leader is disputing United States sanctions targeting a former protege accused of rights violations during his role as police boss between 2005 and 2018. President Yoweri Museveni on Sunday said Gen. Kale Kayihura’s alleged offenses “will be handled in Uganda.” The sanctions are widely seen in Uganda as sending a strong message to Museveni about alleged corruption and rights violations. Museveni says his government will never hand any Ugandan to global justice mechanisms such as the International Criminal Court, even though his country is a state party to the statute creating the ICC. The U.S. this month blocked Kayihura’s assets and imposed a travel ban on him and family members, saying units under his command committed “serious human rights abuses.” He also is accused of corruption and bribery.   …

In 2014, then-Vice President Joe Biden was at the forefront of American diplomatic efforts to support Ukraine’s fragile democratic government as it sought to fend off Russian aggression and root out corruption. So it raised eyebrows when Biden’s son Hunter was hired by a Ukrainian gas company. The Obama White House said at the time that there was no conflict because the younger Biden was a private citizen. And there’s been no evidence of wrongdoing by either Biden. Yet the matter is back in the spotlight following revelations that President Donald Trump prodded Ukraine’s president to help him investigate any corruption related to Joe Biden, now one of the top Democrats seeking to defeat Trump in 2020. Trump’s private lawyer Rudy Giuliani has also publicly urged Ukrainian officials to investigate the Bidens. Hunter Biden was named a paid board member of Burisma Holdings in April 2014. The company’s founder was a political ally of Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraine’s Russia-friendly president, who was driven out in February 2014 by mass protests. Yanukovych’s ouster prompted the Obama administration to move quickly to deepen ties with Ukraine’s new government. Joe Biden played a leading role, traveling to Ukraine and speaking frequently with its new …

President Donald Trump suggested that he raised former Vice President Joe Biden and Biden’s son in a summer phone call with Ukraine’s new leader, as Democrats pressed for investigations into whether Trump improperly used his office to try to dig up damaging information about a political rival. Trump told reporters that the July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was “congratulatory” and focused on corruption in the East European nation. In his remarks to reporters, he then raised Biden as an example, although there is no evidence of wrongdoing by Biden or his son Hunter, who was on the board of a Ukrainian gas company. “It was largely the fact that we don’t want our people, like Vice President Biden and his son, creating to the corruption already in the Ukraine,” Trump said as he left the White House for a trip to Texas. Biden, who is among the front-runners for the Democratic presidential nomination, accused Trump of making a baseless political smear. The matter has sparked a fierce debate over whether Trump misused his office for political gain and whether his administration is withholding from Congress critical information about his actions. The incident is part of a whistleblower …

Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, began their first official tour as a family Monday with their infant son, Archie, in South Africa, with Meghan declaring to cheers that “I am here with you as a mother, as a wife, as a woman, as a woman of color and as your sister.” The first day of their 10-day, multi-country tour started in Cape Town with visits to girls’ empowerment projects that teach rights and self-defense. Harry danced a bit as a musical welcome greeted them in the township of Nyanga, whose location was not made public in advance because of security concerns.   Violent crime is so deadly in parts of Cape Town that South Africa’s military has been deployed in the city, and its stay was extended last week.   The royal couple also was meeting with former residents of District Six, a vibrant mixed-race community that was relocated from the inner city during South Africa’s harsh period of apartheid, or white minority rule, that ended in 1994.   FILE – Diana, Princess of Wales is seen in this Jan. 15 1997 file picture walking in one of the safety corridors of the land mine …

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign has failed, and that sanctions it imposed after abandoning the 2015 agreement on Iran’s nuclear program show the United States is desperate. Speaking before traveling to New York to participate the annual United Nations General Assembly meetings, Rouhani also said the United States and Saudi Arabia have exaggerated the damage done by an attack on Saudi oil facilities earlier this month. Rouhani accused the Trump administration of wanting to take control of the region.  He said earlier his plans for the U.N. meetings include presenting a regional cooperation plan for peace.  U.S. and Saudi officials have blamed Iran for the attacks, which shut down half of Saudi Arabia’s oil production.  British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Monday his government believes there is a “high probability” Iran was responsible. Iranian officials, including Rouhani, have denied Iran was involved. While many world leaders will hold talks on the sidelines of the U.N. meetings this week, a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Rouhani seems unlikely.   Trump said Sunday he had no intention of talking with Rouhani, and the Iranian president has said he would not meet with Trump until …

Young people around the world have been organizing protests to demand action on climate change. Millions walked out of their schools and workplaces last Friday as part of demonstrations leading up to the Youth Climate Summit at United Nations headquarters in New York.  Swedish teenage activist Greta Thunberg helped inspire the protests, staging weekly demonstrations for the past year calling on world leaders to bolster efforts to combat climate change. Saqib Ul Islam has more in this report from New York. …

U.S. President Donald Trump joined India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the “Howdy Modi” event organized by the Indian- American community in Houston, Texas. The president praised bilateral relations with the world’s second-most populous nation, but also seemed to use the occasion to woo Texas voters ahead of the 2020 election. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports an estimated 50,000 people attended the rally addressed by the two leaders.  …

Tensions between Rwanda and Uganda are on the rise, with Rwanda accusing its neighbor of hosting terrorist groups and torturing Rwandan nationals. The countries signed a memorandum of understanding last month to improve relations, but observers are skeptical the agreement will improve things. Eugene Uwimana has the story from Kigali. …

Malawi is trying to find ways to contain overfishing in its largest body of water, Lake Malawi. The third largest lake in Africa has long been the economic hub for thousands of fishing communities along the lakefront areas. However, locals say unsustainable fishing practices and climate change have led to dwindling catches, forcing some fishermen to look for alternatives. Lameck Masina reports from the town of Mangochi. …

A powerful typhoon battered southern South Korea, injuring 26 people and knocking out power to about 27,790 houses, officials said Monday.  Typhoon Tapah earlier lashed parts of Japan’s southern islands with heavy rains and winds that caused flooding and some minor injuries. South Korea’s interior ministry said Monday the typhoon also caused strong winds and heavy rainfall in southern South Korean cities and towns on Sunday and Monday. The storm did not make landfall on the peninsula as it moved northeast and weakened Monday. The ministry said one person was hurt seriously and the 25 others had minor injuries. Some South Korean media had reported three deaths, but the ministry said none of those deaths was caused by the typhoon.  It flooded streets, damaged houses, and led to about 250 flight cancellations in 11 airports in South Korea, according to the ministry report. South Korean weather officials said the typhoon likely caused light rain in eastern coastal towns in North Korea but won’t likely cause damage there. Typhoon Tapah hit the southern Japanese island of Okinawa on Friday and Saturday and left 18 people with minor injuries. The storm disrupted air and train travel in the region during what is …

“Game of Thrones” resurrected the Iron Throne at Sunday’s Emmy ceremony, ruling as top drama on a night of surprises in which “Pose” star Billy Porter made history and the comedy series “Fleabag” led a British invasion that overturned expectations. “This all started in the demented mind of George R.R. Martin,” said “Game of Thrones” producer David Benioff, thanking the author whose novels were the basis of HBO’s fantasy saga. Porter, who stars in the FX drama set in the LGBTQ ball scene of the late 20th century, became the first openly gay man to win a best drama series acting Emmy.  “God bless you all. The category is love, you all, love. I’m so overjoyed and so overwhelmed to have lived to see this day,” said an exuberant Porter, resplendent in a sparkling suit and swooping hat.  Amazon’s “Fleabag,” a dark comedy about a dysfunctional woman, was honored as best comedy and earned top acting honors for its British creator and star, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and a best director trophy. Phoebe Waller-Bridge, winner of the awards for outstanding lead actress in a comedy series, outstanding comedy series and outstanding writing for a comedy series for “Fleabag.” “This is getting ridiculous,” …

British tour operator Thomas Cook collapsed after failing to secure rescue funding, and travel bookings for its more than 600,000 global vacationers were canceled early Monday. The British government said the return of the firm’s 150,000 British customers now abroad would be its largest repatriation in peacetime history.  The Civil Aviation Authority said Thomas Cook has ceased trading, its four airlines will be grounded, and its 21,000 employees in 16 countries, including 9,000 in the UK, will be left unemployed. The debt-laden company had said Friday it was seeking 200 million pounds ($250 million) to avoid going bust, was in talks with shareholders and creditors to stave off failure. The 178-year-old firm also operated around 600 UK stores. CAA said it had arranged an aircraft fleet for the British repatriation effort lasting two weeks beginning Monday. “Due to the significant scale of the situation, some disruption is inevitable, but the Civil Aviation Authority will endeavor to get people home as close as possible to their planned dates,” it said in a statement. Most of Thomas Cook’s British customers are protected by the government-run travel insurance program, which makes sure vacationers can get home if a British-based tour operator goes under …