Kim Jong Un: 'Deranged' Trump Will 'Pay Dearly' For Threat

Distributed on Sept. 4, 2017, by the North Korean government, North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un holds a meeting of the ruling party's presidium. Kim is calling President Donald Trump "deranged" and says in a statement carried by the state news agency that he will "pay dearly" for his threats. The statement, carried by North's official Korean Central News Agency, responds to Trump's combative speech at the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, Sept. 19. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (AP, SEPTEMBER 22, 2017) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, in an extraordinary and direct rebuke, called President Donald Trump "deranged" and said he will "pay dearly" for his threats, a possible indication of more powerful weapons tests on the horizon.

Hours later, North Korea's foreign minister reportedly said that his country may be planning to test a hydrogen bomb in the Pacific Ocean to fulfill Kim's vow to take the "highest-level" action against the United States.

Kim, in his statement, said Trump is "unfit to hold the prerogative of supreme command of a country." He also described the U.S. president as "a rogue and a gangster fond of playing with fire." The dispatch was unusual in that it was written in the first person, albeit filtered through the North's state media, which are part of propaganda efforts meant to glorify Kim. South Korea's government said it was the first such direct address to the world by any North Korean leader.

Some analysts saw a clear sign that North Korea would ramp up its already brisk pace of weapons testing, which has included missiles meant to target U.S. forces throughout Asia and the U.S. mainland. "I will make the man holding the prerogative of the supreme command in the U.S. pay dearly for his speech calling for totally destroying the DPRK," said the statement carried by North's official Korean Central News Agency on Friday morning.

DPRK is the abbreviation of the country's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho told reporters on the sidelines of a United Nations gathering that his country's response "could be the most powerful detonation of an H-bomb in the Pacific," according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency.

Ri reportedly added that "We have no idea about what actions could be taken as it will be ordered by leader Kim Jong Un." Such a test would be considered a major provocation by Washington and its allies.

The statement by Kim Jong Un responded to Trump's combative speech at the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday where he mocked Kim as a "Rocket Man" on a "suicide mission," and said that if "forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea."

Kim characterized Trump's speech to the world body as "unprecedented rude nonsense." He said Trump's remarks "have convinced me, rather than frightening or stopping me, that the path I chose is correct and that it is the one I have to follow to the last."

Kim said he is "thinking hard" about his response and that he would "tame the mentally deranged U. S. dotard with fire." Kim Dong-yub, a former South Korean military official who is now an analyst at Seoul's Institute for Far Eastern Studies, said Kim Jong Un's statement indicated that North Korea will respond to Trump with its most aggressive missile test yet. That might include firing a Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile over Japan to a range of around 7,000 kilometers (4,349 miles) to display a capability to reach Hawaii or Alaska.

The statement will further escalate the war of words between the adversaries as the North moves closer to perfecting a nuclear-tipped missile that could strike America. In recent months, the North has launched a pair of still-developmental ICBMs it said were capable of striking the continental United States and a pair of intermediate-range missiles that soared over Japanese territory. Earlier this month, North Korea conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test to date drawing stiffer U.N. sanctions.

South Korea called Kim Jong Un's rebuke a "reckless provocation" that would deepen his country's international isolation and lead to its demise. South Korea's Unification Ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun told reporters Friday that North Korea must immediately stop such provocations and return to talks on nuclear disarmament.

Mat Pennington reported from the United Nations. AP writers Kim Tong-hyung and Hyung-jin Kim contributed from Seoul.

International Students Discuss American Media Influence

BY SUMMER SCMIER

THE POST, ATHENS

Warm orange sunsets pouring over mountains into valleys where miners are bowed over, sifting through bits of earth and picking out the diamonds that queens wear around their necks — these are things Maria Arnolta Koroma remembers about her home in Sierra Leone, Africa.

But when Koroma talks about her home country with others, there is a misconception on what life in Africa is like.

“Because of the media, Americans think Africa is a poor, third world country,” Koroma, a sophomore studying pre-med, said.


Some international students at Ohio University said they are shocked when American students ask questions about their home countries. The questions often reveal perceptions that are ill-informed and adopted from media or movies.

“When people ask me about Africa, they imagine it as elephants and mud huts,” Koroma said. “It’s funny because America gets so much stuff from Sierra Leone like oil and diamonds, and they don’t even know what the modern culture (there) is like.”

Koroma talked about a recent devastating mudslide in Sierra Leone and how there wasn’t nearly as much coverage like the relief programs for Hurricane Harvey. The mudslide claimed nearly 500 lives, according to CNN.

“So many people died in the mudslide,” she said. “(But) you don’t hear about any relief for them.”

Koroma said there are some differences between American and African culture, but none so extreme.

“Daily life is not so different. We go to the beach, we go to school. We have good school programs,” she said. “In American schools they need to teach more about African history. It helps kids to know there are other places besides America.”

Teacups filled with chai clinking in the morning, one refreshment among many at a beautiful wedding that will last almost a month, jubilant with feasting and dancing — these are things Sundus Zahra remembers about her home in Islamabad, Pakistan.

“I did my undergraduate thesis on “Pakistan through a Hollywood Lense: A Textual Analysis.” The American media have a big influence on Pakistani culture,” Zahra, a graduate student studying journalism, said.

Zarah said American media play a huge role in deciding the narrative and image of other countries portrayed to the world and often times, the media focus only on the bad.

“I want Americans to focus on selective news, it's even worse than fake news because when you select only the bad parts to show, you believe that place is bad,” Zarah said.

Hollywood movies would also sometimes portray major cities as underdeveloped, Zarah said.

“We used to make fun of Hollywood all the time because they don’t do basic research,” she said. “They’ll mix up Middle Eastern culture with Pakistan. Then Americans think this is what it’s really like, when in reality Pakistan is more similar to India.”

Gazing from the bow of a yacht across the turquoise Red Sea at the beach, where people play among the waves that melt onto the shore — these are things Omar Halawani remembers about his home in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

“I think a lot of Americans live in their own world,” Halawani, a senior studying aviation, said.

Halawani describes the people of Athens as friendly and said he enjoys attending school here.

However, he said he believes Americans in general could benefit from researching further into the many diverse cultures of the world. He grew up in Jeddah, a city by the ocean and “because of media, Americans often think of Saudi Arabia as some oil-rich desert.”

“But we have strong culture and beautiful cities,” Halawani said.

In the reverse, Koroma, Zarah, and Omar all mentioned their countries have experienced some sort of Americanization through the influence of the media.

Zarah said it’s natural for anybody moving to a foreign country to have generalized ideas of the place they’re migrating to, but it’s better to wait and form your own opinion than believe what the media portrays.

“It’s best to have an open mind,” Zarah said.

@summerschmier

ss858913@ohio.edu

Diplomats Meet On Iran Deal As Trump Stays Mum On Decision

From clockwise left, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, British Director General Political, Foreign & Commonwealth Office Karen Pierce, second seated, British Minister of State for the Department for International Development Alistair Burt, third seated, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, fifth seated, European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, seventh seated, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, eighth seated, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, ninth seated, China's U.N. Ambassador Liu Jieyi, eleventh seated and others attend a European Union-hosted meeting about the Iran nuclear deal at United Nations headquarters Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2017.



NEW YORK (AP, SEPTEMBER 21, 2017) — President Donald Trump has determined how he wants to approach the Iran nuclear deal — which he has called the worst agreement ever negotiated by the United States — but has not told even his top national security advisers what his decision is.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Wednesday that Trump had not informed him or others in the administration about his decision and had refused to share it with British Prime Minister Theresa May when she asked him about it.

Tillerson said he had been surprised when Trump publicly announced he had reached a decision. The secretary told reporters it would now take some time to prepare to implement the decisions. He gave no hint as to the direction Trump would take, but repeated the president's long-standing position that the deal does not address troubling non-nuclear behavior despite the hopes of those who negotiated it.

Tillerson spoke to reporters after a meeting of the parties to the nuclear deal, including Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. The meeting marked the highest-level U.S.-Iranian encounter since Trump became president.

European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, who hosted the meeting, said all parties to the accord — including Tillerson — agreed it "is working and is delivering for its purpose." Tillerson did not dispute Mogherini's characterization but said that while Iran might be meeting its obligations to the letter of the deal, it is violating its spirit.

"Perhaps the technical aspects have (been met), but in the broader context the aspiration has not," Tillerson said. He later conceded that reports from the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, "continue to confirm that Iran is in technical compliance with the agreement."

However, he said the Trump administration was determined to address the flaws in the deal, the most serious of which are so-called "sunset provisions" that allow Iran to resume some aspects of its nuclear program after certain periods of time. Those provisions relate to enriching uranium to levels near those needed to produce the fuel for a nuclear weapon, as well as other activities that limit Iran's atomic capabilities at various sites.

"One can almost set the countdown clock to Iran resuming its nuclear activities," Tillerson said. He added that the world was made less safe by the Iran agreement as it stands, particularly at a time when the U.S. and its allies are being threatened directly by a nuclear-armed North Korea.

In her comments, Mogherini also alluded to North Korea, but made the opposite argument, saying "the international community cannot afford to dismantle an agreement that is working." Mogherini declined to say whether Tillerson had pledged to remain committed to the deal, but said the European Union is committed to preserving it. She suggested that U.S. complaints about Iran's troublesome non-nuclear activities should be discussed in a different forum.

The meeting in the U.N. Security Council chambers followed two days of increasingly hostile rhetoric between Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, as well as Trump's surprise announcement about a decision on the nuclear deal.

"I have decided," he declared to reporters earlier Wednesday, a day after launching a scathing attack on Iran and its government in his address to the U.N. General Assembly. Trump's withering critique Tuesday included an accusation that Iran's government "masks a corrupt dictatorship behind the false guise of a democracy," while ruthlessly repressing its people and exploiting the limits of the nuclear deal.

"We cannot let a murderous regime continue these destabilizing activities while building dangerous missiles," Trump said. "And we cannot abide by an agreement if it provides cover for the eventual construction of a nuclear program."

In response, Rouhani lashed out at "ignorant, absurd and hateful rhetoric" in Trump's U.N. speech. Addressing the General Assembly on Wednesday, Rouhani said his country won't be the first to violate the nuclear agreement, "but it will respond decisively to its violation by any party." In a dismissive jab at Trump he said, "It will be a great pity if this agreement were to be destroyed by rogue newcomers to the world of politics."

"By violating its international commitments, the new U.S. administration only destroys its own credibility and undermines international confidence in negotiating with it or accepting its word or promise," Rouhani said. That echoes criticism even some of America's allies have leveled at a time when the United States hopes to draw North Korea into a negotiation over its rapidly expanding nuclear arsenal.

Rouhani then told reporters at a news conference that the Iranian people are waiting for an apology from Trump for his "extremely offensive" rhetoric and baseless allegations. He said Trump is seeking "an excuse" to pull out of the nuclear deal and it would be a "waste of time" for him to meet the president.

Trump has sent strong signals that he could walk away from the seven-nation agreement, which would potentially lead to new U.S. sanctions on Iran and its international trading partners. The Iranians, in turn, have threatened to respond to any U.S. pullout by restarting nuclear activities that could take them closer to bomb-making capability.

It wasn't clear if Trump had made a final decision to leave or stick with the Iran deal. On several other issues over his presidency, he has teased reporters with the idea that a major verdict might be imminent, only to delay announcements for weeks or months. Trump must next certify by Oct. 15 if Iran is complying with the deal, and officials have said Trump may use that occasion to declare Iran in violation.

In any event, the U.S.-Iranian exchanges augured poorly for the diplomatic meeting, although Tillerson maintained that the atmosphere had been "very open and candid." "There was no yelling and we didn't throw shoes at one another," he said. "It was not an angry tone at all, it was a very, very matter-of-fact exchange about how we see this deal very differently."

A year ago, such a get-together would have been considered routine as nations strove to implement an agreement that curtailed Iran's nuclear activity in exchange for an end to various oil, trade and financial restrictions on the country. In the current environment, it is anything but ordinary.

Trump has said repeatedly that he is inclined not to certify Iranian compliance after having twice found the country compliant at earlier deadlines. Denying certification could lead the U.S. to reintroduce sanctions, which in turn could lead Iran to walk away from the deal or restart some nuclear activities it curtailed two years ago.

The rhetorical threats have worried the other countries who are part of the agreement: Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia. The Europeans, in particular, have expressed their disapproval of Trump's threats and talked about trying to lobby the U.S. to abide by the accord. If the U.S. tries to activate globally enforceable sanctions on Iran again, European countries could balk, another potential repercussion Trump must weigh.

The Latest: Senators Press Administration On Iran deal

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani listens at a news conference during his visit for the United Nations General Assembly, Wednesday Sept. 20, 2017, in New York. President Donald Trump said he has made a decision on whether to walk away from the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with Iran but refused to say what it is, setting the stage for a particularly contentious meeting of the parties to the agreement.

NEW YORK (AP) — The Latest on the United States and Iran (all times local): 3 p.m. A group of Democratic senators is pressing the Trump administration to comply with a law that requires the administration to tell Congress of potential breaches by Iran of the landmark nuclear deal.

The senators say the executive branch must share with Congress any Iranian violations within 10 days of receiving that information. The lawmakers say they've received no such notifications so far. In fact, the lawmakers say in a letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and other national security officials that they've been told the opposite. They say Gen. Paul Selva, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified in July that Iran is abiding by its commitments.

The letter is being sent amid signs that President Donald Trump may walk away from the nuclear accord.

11 a.m.

President Donald Trump says he's reached a decision on whether to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal — but he won't say what it is.

Trump was asked several times on Wednesday whether he'd reached a decision. His answer: "I've decided."

And he answered, "I'll let you know," when he was asked for details.

The president made the comments during a meeting in New York with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Trump — in his U.N. speech on Tuesday — called the 2015 nuclear deal an "embarrassment" to the United States.

The president has until Oct. 15 to certify that Iran is complying with the deal. Under the agreement, Iran has halted nuclear development in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

3:45 a.m.

The United States and Iran are planning for their highest-level interaction of Donald Trump's presidency. It'll come just a day after Trump delivered a blistering attack on Iran and the landmark 2015 nuclear deal — and sent strong signals he could walk away from that accord.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif are expected to attend a European Union-hosted meeting about the agreement at the United Nations later Wednesday.

The closed-door gathering is expected to be contentious, and its lead-up has been marked by Washington and Tehran trading increasingly harsh barbs.

Trump Says Decision Made On Iran Deal, Won't Say What It Is

President Donald Trump meets with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the Palace Hotel during the United Nations General Assembly, Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2017, in New York. From left, Abbas, Trump, an unidentified interpreter, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, and White House senior adviser Jared Kushner.

NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday he has made a decision on whether to walk away from the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with Iran but refused to say what it is, setting the stage for a particularly contentious meeting of the parties to the agreement. The meeting will be the highest-level U.S.-Iranian interaction of Trump's presidency and comes a day after he delivered a blistering attack on Iran and the accord at the U.N. General Assembly.

Compounding the animosity ahead of the meeting, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani responded to Trump by calling his Wednesday speech "ignorant" and "unfit" to be heard at the United Nations. Trump, when asked by reporters about the nuclear accord, said, "I have decided." Pressed for details, he replied coyly: "I'll let you know."

His comment and Rouhani's, came just hours before Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif were to attend a European Union-hosted meeting about the agreement at the U.N.

A year ago, such a get-together would have been considered routine as nations strove to implement an agreement that curtailed Iran's nuclear activity in exchange for an end to various oil, trade and financial restrictions on the country. In the current environment, however, it is anything but ordinary.

Addressing the General Assembly, Rouhani said his country won't be the first to violate the nuclear agreement "but it will respond decisively to its violation by any party." In a direct jab at Trump he said, "It will be a great pity if this agreement were to be destroyed by rogue newcomers to the world of politics."

"By violating its international commitments, the new U.S. administration only destroys its own credibility and undermines international confidence in negotiating with it or accepting its word or promise," Rouhani said before taking aim at Trump's scathing Tuesday criticism of Iran.

"The ignorant, absurd and hateful rhetoric filled with ridiculously baseless allegations that was uttered before this august body yesterday was not only unfit to be heard at the United Nations, which was established to promote peace and respect," Rouhani said.

Trump had used his U.N. General Assembly speech to launch a withering critique of Iran, saying its government "masks a corrupt dictatorship behind the false guise of a democracy" and ruthlessly represses its people.

"It has turned a wealthy country with a rich history and culture into an economically depleted rogue state whose chief exports are violence, bloodshed and chaos," he said, repeating a litany of oft-spoken U.S. complaints about Iran. These include its antipathy to Israel, support for terrorism and Syrian President Bashar Assad, ballistic missile testing and its nuclear program.

"We cannot let a murderous regime continue these destabilizing activities while building dangerous missiles," Trump said. "And we cannot abide by an agreement if it provides cover for the eventual construction of a nuclear program. The Iran deal was one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into. Frankly, that deal is an embarrassment to the United States."

Zarif, who had a friendly, collegial relationship with former Secretary of State John Kerry while they negotiated the nuclear deal, was quick to denounce Trump's speech. He took to Twitter to offer a glimpse of what may be in store for future exchanges with U.S. officials, including perhaps with Tillerson on Wednesday.

"Trump's ignorant hate speech belongs in medieval times — not the 21st Century UN — unworthy of a reply," Zarif said on Twitter. "Fake empathy for Iranians fools no one." Trump has said repeatedly that he is inclined to not certify Iranian compliance after having twice found the country compliant at earlier deadlines. That could mean a return of U.S. sanctions on Iran that were suspended under the agreement. Such action could lead Iran to then walk away from the deal or restart some nuclear activities it curtailed two years ago.

The rhetorical threats have worried the other countries in the agreement: Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia. The Europeans, in particular, have expressed their disapproval of Trump's threats and talked about trying to lobby the U.S. to abide by the accord.

Iran rejects that it has broken the agreement, and a U.N. report this month pointed to no Iranian violations. Under U.S. law, the president must certify to Congress every 90 days whether Iran is adhering to the agreement. If the president doesn't certify compliance, Congress has 60 days to decide whether to re-impose sanctions.

The next certification deadline is Oct. 15, and several officials and people close to the matter have described Trump as determined to "decertify" Iranian compliance with the nuclear deal at that point.

President Buhari’s Speech At The 72nd Session Of UN General Assembly

Buhari's Speech At The United Nations General Assembly Tuesday, September 19, 2017. Image Via The News

STATEMENT DELIVERED BY HIS EXCELLENCY MUHAMMADU BUHARI, PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA AT THE GENERAL DEBATE OF THE 72ND SESSION OF UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY, IN NEW YORK, ON TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2017

 Mr. President,

 Fellow Heads of State and Government,

 Mr. Secretary-General,

 Distinguished Delegates,

 Ladies and Gentlemen,

On behalf of my country, Nigeria, I congratulate you Mr. President on your election and Mr. Gutteres on his first General Assembly outing as our Secretary-General. I assure you both of my country’s solidarity and cooperation. You will indeed need the cooperation of all member States as we are meeting during extra-ordinarily troubled and dangerous times. Let me also thank former Secretary-General Mr. Ban ki Moon for his service to the United Nations and wish him peaceful retirement.

Mr. President,

The previous year has witnessed many far-reaching developments. Some of the most significant events include the Iran Nuclear Deal, the Paris Climate Change Agreement and, of grave concern, the North Korean nuclear crisis.

l

Mr. President,

I must also commend the UN’s role in helping to settle thousands of innocent civilians caught in the conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. In particular, we must collectively thank the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany under the commendable leadership of Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Governments of Italy, Greece and Turkey for assisting hundreds of thousands of refugees.

In an exemplary show of solidarity, the international community came together within my own region to assist the countries and communities in the Sahel and the Lake Chad regions to contain the threats posed by Al Qaida and Boko Haram.

We thank the Security Council for visiting the countries of the Lake Chad Basin to assess the security situation and humanitarian needs, and for pledging assistance to rebuild lives and livelihoods. Indeed, in Nigeria we are providing relief and humanitarian assistance to millions in camps and those afflicted by terrorism, drought, floods and other natural disasters.

In the last year, the international community came together to focus on the need for gender equality, youth empowerment, social inclusion, and the promotion of education, creativity and innovation. The frontiers of good governance, democracy including holding free and fair elections, and enthronement of the rule of law are expanding everywhere, especially in Africa.

Our faith in democracy remains firm and unshaken. Our regional organisation ECOWAS came together to uphold democratic principles in The Gambia – as we had done previously in Cote D’Ivoire.

Through our individual national efforts, state institutions are being strengthened to promote accountability, and to combat corruption and asset recovery. These can only be achieved through the international community cooperating and providing critical assistance and material support. We shall also cooperate in addressing the growing transnational crimes such as forced labour, modern day slavery, human trafficking and cybercrime.

Mr. President,
These cooperative efforts should be sustained. We must collectively devise strategies and mobilise the required responses to stop fleeing ISIS fighters from mutating and infiltrating into the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin, where there are insufficient resources and response capacity is weak.

This will require strong UN cooperation with regional organisations, such as the African Union, in conflict prevention and management. The UN should continue to take primary leadership of the maintenance of international peace and security by providing, in a predictable and sustainable manner, adequate funding and other enablers to regional initiatives and peacekeeping operations authorized by the Security Council.

Mr. President,

New conflicts should not make us lose focus on ongoing unresolved old conflicts. For example, several UN Security Council Resolutions from 1967 on the Middle East crisis remain unimplemented. Meanwhile, the suffering of the Palestinian people and the blockade of Gaza continue.

Additionally, we are now confronted by the desperate human rights and humanitarian situations in Yemen and most tragically in the Rakhine State of Myanmar. The Myanmar crisis is very reminiscent of what happened in Bosnia in 1995 and in Rwanda in 1994.

The international community cannot remain silent and not condemn the horrendous suffering caused by what, from all indications is a state-backed programme of brutal depopulation of the Rohingya inhabited areas in Myanmar on the bases of ethnicity and religion. We fully endorse the call by the Secretary-General on the Government of Myanmar to order a halt to the ongoing ethnic cleansing and ensure the safe return of the displaced Rohingya to their homes in safety and dignity.

In all these crises, the primary victims are the people, the most vulnerable being women and children. That is why the theme of this session: Focusing on People: Striving for Peace and Decent Life for All on a Sustainable Planet” is most apposite.

While the international community grapples to resolve these conflicts, we must be mindful and focus on the widening inequalities within societies, and the gap between the rich and the poor nations. These inequalities and gaps are part of the underlining root causes of competition for resources, frustration and anger leading to spiralling instability.

The most pressing threat to international peace and security today is the accelerated nuclear weapons development programme by North Korea. Since the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, we have never come so close to the threat of nuclear war as we have now.

All necessary pressure and diplomatic efforts must be brought to bear on North Korea to accept peaceful resolution of the crisis. As Hiroshima and Nagasaki painfully remind us, if we fail, the catastrophic and devastating human loss and environmental degradation cannot be imagined.

Mr. President,

Nigeria proposes a strong UN delegation to urgently engage the North Korean Leader. The delegation, led by the Security Council, should include members from all the regions.

The crisis in the Korean peninsula underscores the urgency for all member states, guided by the spirit of enthroning a safer and more peaceful world, to ratify without delay the Treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons, which will be open for signature here tomorrow.

Mr. President,

I end my remarks by reiterating Nigeria’s abiding commitment to the foundational principles and goals of the United Nations. Since our admission as a member state in 1960, we have always participated in all efforts to bring about global peace, security and development. Nigeria will continue to support the UN in all its efforts, including the attainment of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

I thank you.

At UN, Trump Threatens 'Total Destruction' Of North Korea

President Donald Trump speaks to the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2017, in New York.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — President Donald Trump, in a combative debut speech to the U.N. General Assembly, threatened the "total destruction'" of North Korea if it does not abandon its drive toward nuclear weapons.

Trump, who has ramped up his rhetoric throughout the escalating crisis with North Korea, told the murmuring crowd at the U.N. on Tuesday that "it is far past time for the nations of the world to confront" Kim Jong Un and said that Kim's "reckless pursuit of nuclear weapons" poses a threat to "the entire world with an unthinkable loss of human life.

"Rocket man is on a suicide mission for himself and his regime," Trump said about the North Korean leader. He said of the U.S.: "If it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea."

Elected on the nationalist slogan "America First," Trump argued that individual nations should act in their own self-interest, yet rally together when faced with a common threat. Using bellicose language rare for an U.S. president at the rostrum of the United Nations, Trump touched upon hot spots around the globe, declaring "The scourge of our planet is a group of rogue regimes."

He urged nations to join together to stop Iran's nuclear program — he declared the deal to restrain it an "embarrassment" for the United States — and defeat "loser terrorists" who have struck violence across the globe. He denounced "radical Islamic terrorism," the inflammatory label he has recently shied away from. He warned that some violence-plagued portions of the world "are going to hell." And he made little mention of Russia.

North Korea drew most of Trump's attention and anger. Trump, who has previously warned of "fire and fury" if Pyongyang does not back down, claimed that "no one has shown more contempt for other nations and for the well-being of their own people than the depraved regime in North Korea." And he scolded nations that it was "an outrage" to enabled and traded with North Korea, seeming to slight China, though he did not mention it by name.

Addressing the General Assembly is a milestone moment for any president, but one particularly significant for Trump, a relative newcomer to foreign policy who has at times rattled the international community with his unpredictability. He has pulled the Unites States out of multinational agreements, considered shrinking the U.S. military footprint in the world and deployed bombastic language on North Korea that has been criticized by other world leaders.

Trump frequently belittled the U.N. as a candidate and some within his White House believe the U.N acts as a global bureaucracy that infringes on the sovereignty of individual countries. He urged the world leaders to embrace their own "national sovereignty to do more to ensure the prosperity and security of their own countries.

But the president stood before world leaders and a global audience and declared that U.N. members, acting as a collection of self-interested nations, should unite to confront global dangers. "I will always put American first. Just like you, the leaders of your countries, should and always put your countries first," said Trump, who assured the U.N. that the United States would not abdicate its leadership position in the world but needed other countries to contribute more.

"The U.S. will forever be a great friend to the world and especially to its allies," the Republican president said. "But we can no longer be taken advantage of or enter into a one-sided deal in which the United States gets nothing in return."

World leaders, many of whom will be seeing Trump in person for the first time, were certain to take the measure of the man and parse his every word for clues on how he views the U.S. role in the world and within the U.N. Trump's remarks produced surprised chatter in the crowd and the North Korean delegation, assigned by a lottery to a seat near the front, departed as the president began speaking.

Trump also called the U.N.-backed Iran nuclear deal "an embarrassment" to the United States and suggested it was "one of the worst" international pacts ever struck. And he hinted that his administration, which has accused Tehran of aiding terrorism in the Middle East, could soon declare Iran out of compliance with the deal, which could unravel it.

"I don't think you've heard the end of it," Trump said. "Believe me." He vowed again to take the fight to terrorists but warned that parts of the region were so plagued by violence and poverty, they were "going to hell." He also decried the "disastrous rule" of Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro and urged the U.N. to step in.

"It is completely unacceptable and we cannot stand by and watch," Trump said. "To put it simply, we meet at a time of both immense promise and of great peril," he said. "It is entirely up to us whether we lift the world to new heights or let it fall into a valley of disrepair."

Outside of an oblique reference to a threat to Ukraine's sovereignty, Trump made no mention of Russia or its president Vladimir Putin. He again chastised the U.N. for what he said was its bloated budget and bureaucracy but did not threaten Washington's commitment to the world body. He pledged the United States would be "partners in your work" to make the organization a more effective force for world peace.

While running for office, Trump had labeled the U.N. weak and incompetent. He has suggested it was "not a friend" to the United States or democracy while deriding it as "a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time."

He spoke often during the presidential campaign about putting "America first," and has withdrawn from some multilateral agreements that he found unfavorable to the United States, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. He also announced his intention to withdraw from the Paris climate accord, which would leave the U.S. one of the few countries outside the pact. Aides have since suggested Trump would be willing to renegotiate terms of the deal but European leaders have dismissed that approach.

The administration has shied away from talk of nation-building or creating democracies through the use of the U.S. military. "We do not expect diverse countries to share the same cultures, traditions or same systems of government," Trump said at the U.N. He added that he does expect all nations to "respect the interest of their own people and the rights of every other sovereign nation."

Follow Lemire on Twitter at http://twitter.com/@JonLemire and Superville at http://twitter.com/@dsupervilleap

Senate GOP Musters Final Push To Erase Obama Health Care Law

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., left, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., right, talk while walking to a meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington. Senate Republicans are planning a final, uphill push to erase President Barack Obama's health care law. But Democrats and their allies are going all-out to stop the drive. The initial Republican effort crashed in July in the GOP-run Senate. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said after that defeat that he'd not revisit the issue without the votes to succeed. Graham and Cassidy are leading the new GOP charge and they'd transform much of Obama's law into block grants and let states decide how to spend the money.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans expressed growing hope Monday for a final push to scuttle President Barack Obama's health care law, an effort that still faces an uphill climb and just a two-week window to pass. Adding more risk, senators would be in the dark about the bill's impact on Americans, since the Congressional Budget Office says crucial estimates won't be ready in time for a vote.

Democrats backed by doctors, hospitals, and patients' groups mustered an all-out effort to finally smother the GOP drive, warning of millions losing coverage and others facing skimpier policies. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer went further, saying the partisan measure threatened the spirit of cooperation between President Donald Trump and Democratic leaders embodied in a recent budget deal and progress on immigration.

"After two weeks of thinking bipartisanship, that flickering candle, might gain some new light, this is the last thing we need," Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the Senate floor. Two months after one of the GOP's top priorities crashed on the Senate floor, the revived attempt to uproot Obama's law is being led by GOP Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Louisiana's Bill Cassidy.

Vice President Mike Pence was calling senators to seek support, White House officials said. And looking to add momentum, House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said the House would vote on the bill if it passes the Senate. Speaking in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, Ryan called it "our best, last chance to get repeal and replace done."

The 140-page bill would replace much of Obama's statute with block grants to states and give them wide leeway on spending the money. It would let states ease coverage requirements under that 2010 law, end Obama's mandates that most Americans buy insurance and that companies offer coverage to workers, and cut and reshape Medicaid.

A victory would let Trump and Republican leaders claim redemption on their "repeal and replace" effort. While the House approved its version of the bill in May, the drive collapsed when the GOP-led Senate defeated three proposals for scrapping Obama's 2010 overhaul in July.

"He's the grave robber," No. 3 Senate GOP leader John Thune of South Dakota said of Cassidy. "This thing was six feet under." Still, Thune cautioned that leaders needed votes from 50 of the 52 GOP senators to win.

Senate leaders have no desire to lose yet another health care vote. After July's embarrassing Senate setback, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he'd not revisit it unless he was assured he had the votes to succeed, and many Republicans began refocusing on another big GOP priority, a tax overhaul.

Now, Graham and Cassidy say they believe they are close to the votes they'd need, prompting GOP leaders to check if they can finally succeed. The sponsors say their proposal would let states decide what health care programs work best for their residents. Opponents say patients would suffer.

The GOP proposal "would weaken access to the care Americans need and deserve," said a statement from 16 patients groups including the American Heart Association and the March of Dimes. The American College of Physicians and the Children's Hospital Association also oppose it.

Looking to solidify GOP support, the bill would reduce spending gaps between states that expanded Medicaid under Obama's law and the mostly GOP states that did not. Details on the measure's exact state-by-state impact were murky.

In a tweet, the Congressional Budget Office said it would have preliminary estimates of the bill's fiscal impact next week. But it said it would be unable to provide projections of the measure's effect on coverage, premiums and overall federal deficits "for at least several weeks."

That timing is crucial because Republicans controlling the Senate 52-48 have only Sept. 30 to succeed with just 50 votes. Pence would cast the tie-breaking vote, and White House officials say Trump would sign it.

Special procedures preventing Democrats from using a filibuster to kill the measure expire after Sept. 30, after which Republicans would need 60 votes to win. They can't reach that number because Democrats unanimously oppose the GOP effort.

The budget agency's evaluations of past GOP repeal plans concluded they would have caused millions of Americans to lose insurance coverage. Some Republican senators are nervous about the measure's impact on their own states, and the lack of CBO projections won't help allay their concerns.

Conservative Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has said he'll oppose the measure because it doesn't do enough to erase Obama's law. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she was concerned the bill would make "fundamental changes" in Medicaid.

Other Republicans who've not yet lined up behind the bill include Alaska's Lisa Murkowski, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, John McCain of Arizona and Ohio's Rob Portman. Collins, Murkowski and McCain provided the decisive votes against the last measure Republicans tried pushing through the Senate in July, which failed 51-49.

"It's better but it's not what the Senate is supposed to be doing," McCain told reporters about the new package. Arizona GOP Gov. Doug Ducey said he backed the new bill, putting pressure on McCain. The revived drive comes as Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., work toward a bipartisan deal to continue federal subsidies to insurers easing some costs for lower-earning customers that Trump has threatened to block.

Murray spokeswoman Helen Hare said Murray is "hopeful and optimistic" a deal could come soon, a statement that came as Democrats tried peeling away GOP support from the Graham-Cassidy bill.

AP reporters Kevin Freking, Andrew Taylor and Richard Lardner in Washington and Scott Bauer in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, contributed.

US Immigrants Sue Over Trump's End Of Deportation Protection

A portrait of Jirayut New Latthivongskorn who is a fourth-year medical student at the University of California, San Francisco. Latthivongskorn was brought to the United States from Thailand when he was nine years old. He is one of six California plaintiffs suing the Trump administration over its decision to end a program that protects them from deportation. (Jirayut New Latthivongskorn via AP)



IRVINE, CALIF (AP) — Six immigrants brought to the United States as children who became teachers, graduate students and a lawyer sued the Trump administration on Monday over its decision to end a program shielding them from deportation.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in San Francisco alleged the move violated the constitutional rights of immigrants who lack legal status and provided information about themselves to the U.S. government so they could participate in the program.

"The consequences are potentially catastrophic," said Jesse Gabriel, a lawyer for the plaintiffs. "These people can very powerfully and very clearly communicate the extent to which they organized their lives around this program."

The lawsuit joins others filed over President Donald Trump's decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program which has allowed nearly 800,000 immigrants to obtain work permits and deportation protection since 2012.

More than a dozen states from Maine to California have sued over the administration's decision to phase out the program, alleging similar constitutional violations. So has the University of California system.

The impact of Trump's decision directly weighs on plaintiffs' personal lives and decisions they made to advance their careers in the U.S. Viridiana Chabolla, a 26-year-old law student at University of California Irvine, said she does not know how she would repay a loan she took out to cover living costs or how she would afford books or food if her protection from the program known as DACA is rescinded.

"I imagined in the years to come I'd be able to get a job and would be able to pay it back," said Chabolla, whose parents brought her illegally to the U.S. from Mexico when she was 2. "I imagined I'd at least have DACA."

The lawsuit claimed that the administration's decision violates the immigrants' rights to equal protection and due process. The plaintiffs — who are from Mexico and Thailand — include teachers, a medical student and 34-year-old lawyer Dulce Garcia, who recently signed a lease for an office and hired employees believing she could stay and work in the U.S. under the program, said Gabriel, an attorney for the law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.

Trump's announcement on Sept. 5 came after 10 Republican attorneys general threatened to sue in an attempt to halt the program. Under Trump's plan, those already enrolled remain covered until their two-year work permits expire, and some renewals are being allowed. But there will be no new applications.

Department of Justice spokesman Devin O'Malley blamed the Obama administration for starting the program and said the agency will defend Trump's decision. "It was the previous administration's arbitrary circumvention of Congress that got us to this point," he said. "The Department of Justice looks forward to defending this Administration's position and restoring respect for the rule of law."

Immigrant advocates praise the program for protecting immigrants who were raised and educated in the U.S. despite their lack of legal immigration papers. The program's opponents criticize it as too broad and said major changes to immigration laws need to go through Congress and cannot be enacted by the U.S. president alone.

This story has been corrected to show that one plaintiff is a lawyer.

Trump's Childhood Home Becomes Showcase For Refugees

Eiman Ali, of Somalia and born in Yemen, poses for a portrait during an interview in one of the bedrooms of President Donald Trump's boyhood home in the Jamaica Estates neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York. The house that Trump’s father built is now a rental available on Airbnb. The international anti-poverty organization Oxfam rented it Saturday and invited refugees to share their stories with journalists.

NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump's childhood home in New York had some new occupants over the weekend — refugees who shared their stories as a way to draw attention to the refugee crisis as the United Nations General Assembly convenes this week with Trump in attendance.

The three-story Tudor-style home in Queens that Trump's father, Fred, built in 1940 is now a rental available on Airbnb that anyone can stay in for $725 a night. It was auctioned off to an unidentified buyer in March for $2.14 million, its second time going up for auction.

The international anti-poverty organization Oxfam rented it Saturday and invited four refugees to talk with journalists. The Republican president's administration issued travel bans on people from six Muslim-majority countries and all refugees. After various court challenges, the Supreme Court last week allowed the restrictive policy on refugees to remain temporarily. The justices will hear arguments on the bans Oct. 10.

"We wanted to send a strong message to Trump and world leaders that they must do more to welcome refugees," said Shannon Scribner, acting director for the humanitarian department of Oxfam America. Trump lived in the house on a tree-lined street of single-family dwellings until he was about 4, when his family moved to another home his father had built nearby.

In an upstairs bedroom, Eiman Ali, 22, looked around at the dark wood floors and a copy of the book "Trump: The Art of the Deal" on a nearby table and wondered about the home's previous resident. "Knowing Donald Trump was here at the age of four makes me think about where I was at the age of four," said Ali, her smiling face framed by a dark gray hijab. "We're all kids who are raised to be productive citizens, who have all these dreams and hopes."


Ali was three when she arrived in the United States from Yemen, where her parents had fled when war broke out in their native Somalia. Ali said she remembered Trump as an entertaining character on "The Celebrity Apprentice," but has since changed her opinion.

"To have someone so outspoken against my community become the president of the United States was very eye-opening and hurtful because I have invested a lot in this country," she said. Down the hall, Ghassan al-Chahada, 41, a Syrian refugee who arrived in the United States with his wife and three children in 2012, sat in a room with bunk beds and a sign on the wall that said it likely was Trump's childhood bedroom.

"Before the conflict began in Syria we had dreams of coming to America," al-Chahada said. "For us, it was a dream come true." Al-Chahada said his life changed when Trump signed the ban that barred people from Syria and five other countries, from entering the United States.

"I had hopes I would get my green card and be able to visit my country," al-Chahada said. "But since Trump was elected I don't dare, I don't dare leave this country and not be able to come back." He looked out the window into the front yard and thought about what he would say to the president.

"I would advise him to remember, to think about how he felt when he slept in this bedroom," al-Chahada said. "If he can stay in tune with who he was as a child, the compassion children have and the mercy, I would say he's a great person."

World Leaders Face Crises In North Korea And Myanmar At UN

A Rohingya Muslim man Abdul Kareem walks towards a refugee camp carrying his mother Alima Khatoon after crossing over from Myanmar into Bangladesh, at Teknaf, Bangladesh, Saturday, Sept. 16, 2017. United Nations agencies say an estimated 409,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh since Aug. 25, when deadly attacks by a Rohingya insurgent group on police posts prompted Myanmar's military to launch "clearance operations" in Rakhine state. Those fleeing have described indiscriminate attacks by security forces and Buddhist mobs.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Facing an escalating nuclear threat from North Korea and the mass flight of minority Muslims from Myanmar, world leaders gather at the United Nations starting Monday to tackle these and other tough challenges — from the spread of terrorism to a warming planet.

The spotlight will be on U.S. President Donald Trump and France's new leader, Emmanuel Macron, who will both be making their first appearance at the General Assembly. They will be joined by more than 100 heads of state and government, including Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, one of Africa's longest-serving leaders who is said to be bringing a 70-member entourage.

While Trump's speeches and meetings will be closely followed, it will be North Korea, which Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calls "the most dangerous crisis that we face today," that will be most carefully watched. No official event addressing Pyongyang's relentless campaign to develop nuclear weapons capable of hitting the United States is on the U.N. agenda, but it is expected to be the No. 1 issue for most leaders.

Not far behind will be the plight of Myanmar's Rohingya Muslims, victims of what Guterres calls a campaign of ethnic cleansing that has driven nearly 400,000 to flee to Bangladesh in the past three weeks. The Security Council, in its first statement on Myanmar in nine years, condemned the violence and called for immediate steps to end it. British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is hosting a closed meeting on the crisis Monday, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation's contact group on the Rohingyas is scheduled to meet Tuesday.

Guterres said leaders would also be focusing on a third major threat — climate change. The number of natural disasters has nearly quadrupled and he pointed to unprecedented weather events in recent weeks from Texas, Florida and the Caribbean to Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Sierra Leone.

While Trump has announced that the United States will pull out of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, Macron will be hosting a meeting Tuesday to spur its implementation. And a late addition to the hundreds of official meetings and side events during the ministerial week is a high-level session Monday on the devastation caused by Hurricane Irma.

Several terrorism-related events are on the agenda. Macron is holding a meeting Monday with leaders of five African nations — Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Burkina Faso and Chad — that are putting together a 5,000-strong force to fight the growing threat from extremists in the vast Sahel region.

A side event Wednesday on "Preventing Terrorist Use of the Internet" will be attended by senior representatives of major social media companies. Co-hosts Britain, France and Italy said a global response is needed "to make the online space a hostile environment for terrorists."

Trump has accused Iran of supporting terrorists and is threatening to rip up the 2015 deal to rein in its nuclear program. With a U.S. decision due in October, ministers from the six parties to the agreement are expected to meet next week. The five others strongly support the deal.

Trump has also been critical of the United Nations and has promised to cut the U.S. contribution to its budget, which is the largest. So some diplomats were surprised that the United States would sponsor an event Monday on reforming the 193-member world body.

Trump and Guterres will speak, and the United States has asked all countries to sign a declaration on U.N. reforms. Over 100 have added their names, but Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said Friday that "we are not sure we will sign this declaration."

He said that while "lots of ideas contained in this document are important and look similar to what the secretary-general proposes," U.N. reforms should result from negotiations among all countries instead of from "a declaration of like-minded countries."

The Security Council is holding a high-level meeting Wednesday on U.N. peacekeeping operations, which cost nearly $8 billion a year. The United States, which pays over 28 percent of the peacekeeping budget, is reviewing all the missions in an effort to cut costs and make them more effective.

While there are many side events on other global hotspots from Central African Republic and South Sudan to Libya, Mail and Somalia, the ministerial meeting will also see sessions on achieving U.N. goals for 2030 to end extreme poverty and preserve the planet, women's economic empowerment, migration and conflict prevention — a top priority of the secretary-general.

Germany's U.N. Ambassador Christoph Heusgen said the most important thing about the General Assembly ministerial session, which officially begins Tuesday and ends Sept. 25, is the opportunity for leaders to talk one-on-one or get together in groups.

"I think this is indeed the Super Bowl," he said. "If it didn't exist, one had to create this opportunity so that can people can talk to each other." General Assembly President Miroslav Lajcak reminded member states that even representatives of countries "with profound disagreements on fundamental issues will sit side-by-side."

He suggested a simple rule: "Treat every speaker on this podium as if he or she is our own head of delegation." "As long as we can use these meeting rooms to talk and reach compromises in good will, then we all have the collective opportunity to use the U.N. to make the world a better, and more peaceful place," Lajcak said. "If we don't do this, the failure will lie with us — not the U.N."