UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- The Latest on the U.N. General Assembly (all times local):
8:15 p.m.
The
subjects have been varied, but what's been the main theme at the U.N.
General Assembly this year? It's multilateralism - whether to work
closely together or go it alone as nations. In speech after speech
pretty much everyone has been talking about it.
Behind that, though, is an important question: What should cooperation look like in a 21st-century world?
Speaker
after speaker has talked about how they must work together to fight
global warming, improve the lot of refugees, eliminate gender bias,
stimulate the economy.
But
a smaller contingent led by the United States and President Donald
Trump says that too much multilateralism gets in the way of sovereignty
and should be avoided.
The
notion of where a nation's sovereignty ends and its allegiance to a
global group of nations that doesn't govern, but that makes a lot of
rules, begins is the basic question delegates are asking. For the most
part, particularly with smaller nations, the attitude is that
cooperation and following international rules make things better for
everyone.
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7:55 p.m.
Eritrea's
foreign minister is touting his country's historic peace agreement with
Ethiopia and calling for U.N. sanctions to be lifted immediately,
calling them "unwarranted" and "a miscarriage of justice."
Osman
Saleh Mohammed told the U.N. General Assembly's ministerial meeting on
Saturday that "with positive winds of peace flowing in our region" some
Security Council members are calling for sanctions to be lifted while
others are looking for pretexts "to move the goalpost" and maintain the
illegal sanctions.
The
Security Council imposed an arms embargo on Eritrea and sanctions on
its political and military leaders in December 2009 after U.N. experts
said the Horn of Africa nation was supporting al-Shabab extremists in
Somalia and had failed to withdraw its forces following clashes with
Djibouti in June 2008.
Mohammed
said the previous U.S. administrations were mainly responsible for the
"fabricated charges" which created serious economic damage and hurt the
country's reputation and prospects for investment.
As
a result, Mohammed said Eritrea is not only calling for the immediate
rescinding of sanctions but "amends for the damages incurred and
opportunities forfeited."
Eritrea recently restored diplomatic relations with Somalia and Djibouti.
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7:40 p.m.
Somalia's
foreign minister is telling the U.N. General Assembly that his young
government has made significant strides in fighting violent al-Shabab
militants, and called on the world body to lift its long-standing arms
embargo.
Ahmed Awad Isse says young people are no longer joining al-Shabab as they used to because "that ideology is no longer popular."
In
his address on Saturday, Isse said the Somali government has been
engaging with religious leaders, young people, the elderly and women to
"turn the tide against the twisted ideology of hate and religious
intolerance."
Isse
also notes that many, including some of the militant group's senior
commanders, have taken the government's amnesty offer and surrendered
peacefully.
He
said lifting the arms embargo would level the field in Somalia's battle
with extremist groups. He noted that "stronger fighting capacity would
enable us to have the upper hand."
Al-Shabab
is trying to establish an Islamic state in Somalia, and is the
deadliest Islamic extremist group in sub-Saharan Africa.
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7 p.m.
A
year after Dominica's prime minister made an impassioned plea at the
U.N. for help for his and other island nations battered by hurricanes,
Foreign Minister Francine Baron says the experience and response made
her country "stronger and more motivated."
Baron
spoke Saturday at the General Assembly, where Prime Minister Roosevelt
Skerrit urged world leaders last year to "let these extraordinary events
elicit extraordinary efforts to rebuild nations sustainably." His
country had been ravaged weeks earlier by powerful Hurricane Maria.
In the year since, Dominica has been rebuilding while also forming a billion-dollar "climate resilience" plan.
Baron noted that the cost of such improvements is beyond what small countries like Dominica can handle without help.
She thanked the international community and individual people for their assistance so far.
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6 p.m.
Canadian
Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland has postponed her U.N.
General Assembly speech as trade talks between the U.S. and Canada
intensify.
Freeland
had been scheduled to speak Saturday but exchanged the slot with
another country. Freeland may or may not give the speech on Monday.
Canada
is the United States' No. 2 trading partner. It was left out when the
U.S. and Mexico reached an agreement last month to revamp the North
American Free Trade Agreement.
The
U.S. and Canada are under pressure to reach a deal by Sunday, when the
U.S. must make public the full text of the agreement with Mexico.
The trade talks have been deadlocked over issues such as Canada's high dairy tariffs.
— By Associated Press writer Rob Gillies in Toronto.
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4:40 p.m.
The deadly Indonesian tsunami is on the minds of several other countries' envoys as they address the U.N. General Assembly.
Indian
foreign minister Sushma Swaraj, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood
Qureshi, Belize's foreign minister, Wilfred Elrington, and Sao Tome's
foreign minister, Urbino Botelho, were among those expressing sympathy
and condolences to Indonesians Saturday at the assembly. Swaraj promised
that "India will cooperate in helping during this tragic time."
A
powerful earthquake triggered a tsunami Friday evening that unleashed
waves as high as 6 meters (20 feet), killing hundreds on the Indonesian
island of Sulawesi. At least 384 people were killed in the city of Palu,
and the number was expected to rise as rescuers reached surrounding
coastal areas.
Indonesian Vice President Muhammad Jusuf Kalla spoke at the General Assembly on Thursday.
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3:00 p.m.
Pakistan's
top diplomat is blaming India for a recent breakdown in their relations
as he addresses a U.N. gathering of world leaders. He says Pakistan
"prefers politics over peace."
Pakistani
foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi's comments came a few hours after
India accused his country of harboring terrorists.
Qureshi
and his Indian counterpart, Sushma Swaraj, were supposed to meet at the
U.N. this week. But the day after the meeting was announced, India
called it off after an Indian border guard was killed in the disputed
region of Kashmir.
Qureshi
said India's current administration has called off dialogue between the
two countries three times already, "each time on flimsy grounds." India
earlier rejected the notion it was sabotaging peace talks,
The
two South Asian nations and nuclear powers are uneasy neighbors. They
have fought two of their three wars since independence in 1947 over the
disputed region of Kashmir.
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2:50 p.m.
Austria's
foreign minister raised a range of world issues in her U.N. General
Assembly speech — in four of the world's languages.
Karin
Kneissl started her remarks Saturday in Arabic, saying that humanity
has a voice in the General Assembly hall and needs to use it "to express
the voice of those outside this hall" who dwell amid wars and conflict.
Kneissl later switched to French, Spanish and English, thanking interpreters for their "patience and indulgence."
Along the way, she quoted a Latin phrase and a Hebrew one.
In
the various languages, she touched on issues including global warming,
gender equality, the future of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and how to
move from a "military situation to a diplomatic transition" in wartorn
Syria.
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11:40 a.m.
India's foreign minister is using her address on the world stage to accuse neighboring Pakistan of harboring terrorists.
Indian
foreign minister Sushma Swaraj also rejected the notion that India is
sabotaging peace talks with Pakistan, calling it "a complete lie."
She
accused Pakistan of "verbal duplicity," noting that Osama bin Laden was
found living there, and said the mastermind of the 2008 attack in
Mumbai "still roams the streets of Pakistan with impunity."
Swaraj
and her Pakistani counterpart were supposed to meet on the sidelines of
the U.N. General Assembly this week, but India called it off only one
day after it was announced, following the killing of an Indian border
guard in the disputed region of Kashmir.
The
announcement of the planned meeting had been considered an encouraging
sign for restarting stalled talks between the nuclear-armed South Asian
neighbors.
Pakistan
and India have fought two of their three wars since independence in
1947 over Kashmir, divided between the two countries but sought by each
in its entirety.
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11:20 a.m.
North
Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho says his nation will never disarm
its nuclear weapons first if it can't trust Washington.
Ri
was speaking Saturday at the United Nations General Assembly. He called
on the United States to follow through on promises made during a summit
in Singapore between the rivals' leaders.
His
comments come as US. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo seems to be on the
verge of restarting deadlocked nuclear diplomacy more than three months
after the Singapore with North Korea's Kim Jong Un.
Ri
says it's a "pipe dream" that continued sanctions and U.S. objection to
a declaration ending the Korean War will ever bring the North to its
knees.
Washington is wary of agreeing to the declaration without Pyongyang first making significant disarmament moves.
Both
Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump want a second summit. But there is
widespread skepticism that Pyongyang is serious about renouncing an
arsenal that the country likely sees as the only way to guarantee its
safety.
Pompeo is planning to visit Pyongyang next month to prepare for a second Kim-Trump summit.
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11:00 a.m.
Syria's
foreign minister is demanding the immediate withdrawal of all foreign
troops from Syria who are there in the country "illegally."
Walid al-Moallem cites U.S., French and Turkish troops who are in Syria without invitation from the Syrian government.
He says the Syrian government considers them "occupation forces and will be dealt with accordingly."
The
United States has around 2,000 troops in northern Syria, working with
local forces against Islamic State militants in the country.
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10:55 a.m.
Syrian
foreign minister Walid al-Moallem says a committee tasked with drafting
a new constitution will not accept outside dictates.
He says anything seen as intervention in Syria's internal affairs is rejected.
He
spoke on Saturday, a few days after the United States and six other
nations called for the United Nations to convene a committee to begin
drafting a new constitution for Syria and promote a political transition
in the war-ravaged country.
"Any conditions or pre-conclusions on the work of the committee will not be accepted," Muallem says.
The
U.N.-led effort to bring Syria's warring factions together to draft a
new constitution under which elections would be held has been stalled
for years.
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10:40 a.m.
Syria's foreign minister is telling world leaders that his country's "battle against terrorism is almost over."
Walid
al-Moallem also vowed Saturday at the U.N. General Assembly that the
Syrian government will free the country from all "illegitimate" foreign
troops. And he called on all refugees to return home, saying that is a
priority for Damascus.
Syrian
government forces, backed by Russia and Iran, have retaken most of the
territory rebels seized during the war that has killed over 400,000
people and driven millions from their homes.
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10:30 a.m.
The
deadly Indonesian tsunami is on the minds of some world leaders as they
address the U.N. General Assembly less than a day later.
Indian
foreign minister Sushma Swaraj expressed condolences to Indonesia
during her speech Saturday. She promised that "India will cooperate in
helping during this tragic time."
The
tsunami swept away buildings and killed at least several hundred people
on the central Indonesian island of Sulawesi. Disaster agency spokesman
Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said 384 people were killed in the hard-hit city
of Palu alone.
The
nearby city of Donggala and the town of Mamuju were also ravaged by the
magnitude 7.5 earthquake and tsunami. But aid had not reached those
communities, due to damaged roads and disrupted telecommunications.
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9:00 a.m.
Two of the planet's most troubled hot spots are sending envoys to have their say before the world.
North
Korea and Syria are places of international concern that spill trouble
beyond national borders, and are to appear before the U.N. General
Assembly on Saturday, at a time when both countries could be on the cusp
of significant developments.
U.S.
President Donald Trump and his secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, are
trying to regain momentum more than three months after the Singapore
summit with North Korea's Kim Jong Un. They are pushing for a second
meeting in their quest to get Pyongyang to renounce its nuclear
ambitions.
Syria could be on the verge of emerging from seven years of bloody conflict that included the use of chemical weapons.
Syria's
foreign minister will take the podium with his government firmly in
control of most of the territory the opposition held for many of the
seven years of the conflict.