TikTok asked a U.S. judge on Wednesday to block a Trump administration order that would require Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google to remove the short video-sharing app for new downloads starting Sunday. A federal judge in San Francisco on Saturday issued a preliminary injunction blocking a similar Commerce Department order from taking effect Sunday on Tencent Holdings’ WeChat app. U.S. officials have expressed serious concerns that the personal data of as many as 100 million Americans that use the app was being passed on to China’s Communist Party government. FILE – People walk past a WeChat Pay sign at the Tencent company headquarters, in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China, Aug. 7, 2020.On Saturday, the Commerce Department announced a one-week delay in the TikTok order, citing “recent positive developments” in talks over the fate of its U.S. operations. TikTok said the restrictions “were not motivated by a genuine national security concern, but rather by political considerations relating to the upcoming general election.” TikTok said if the order is not blocked, “hundreds of millions of Americans who have not yet downloaded TikTok will be shut out of this large and diverse online community — six weeks before a national election.” TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, said on Monday it will own 80% of TikTok Global, a newly created U.S. company that will own most of the app’s operations worldwide. ByteDance added that TikTok Global will become its subsidiary. Oracle Corp and Walmart Inc have agreed to take stakes in TikTok Global of 12.5% and 7.5%, respectively. On Monday, Oracle said ByteDance’s ownership of TikTok would be distributed to ByteDance’s investors, and that the Beijing-based firm would have no stake in TikTok Global. On Saturday, ByteDance, Walmart and Oracle said they reached an agreement that would to allow TikTok to continue to operate in the United States after President Donald Trump said he had blessed the deal. Trump signed an executive order on Aug. 14 giving ByteDance 90 days to relinquish ownership of TikTok. 
 
…

A grand jury in the U.S. city of Louisville, Kentucky on Wednesday charged a former police officer with wanton endangerment linked to the shooting death of Breonna Taylor in a bungled drug raid in March, but decided that two other officers were justified in firing their weapons and cleared them of wrongdoing.The lone officer charged in the case, Brett Hankison, had already been fired from the city police department after an investigation showed he fired 10 shots into Taylor’s apartment through a sliding glass door covered with blinds, violating police rules that they should have a clear line of sight before firing their weapons.The grand jury charged Hankison with three counts of wanton endangerment, concluding that the shots he fired went through into the apartment next door to Taylor’s and endangered three people living there. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison.
…

Germany’s health ministry Wednesday said its coronavirus smartphone app has been downloaded more than 18 million times and transmitted 1.2 million test results from labs to users during the first 100 days of use.Health Minister Jens Spahn told reporters in Berlin that while the “Corona Warn App” is far from perfect, it should be considered a success. He said almost 5,000 users have activated the app to warn their contacts and called it a key tool in the country’s effort to contain the spread of the virus, which causes the COVID-19 disease.He said, “This shows that the corona tracing app works, it is in demand…it helps to prevent infections and it is one of the most successful apps worldwide.”Spahn noted in particular the fact that most users can get their test results sent directly to their smartphones, without having to wait for their doctor to inform them.German Health Minister Jens Spahn attends a news conference to give an update on a smartphone app that allows users to evaluate their risk of being exposed to the coronavirus in Berlin, Germany, Sept. 23, 2020.Germany’s strict privacy rules mean that the app stores all data on phones and not on a central server. Observers, however, say there is no precise data on the number of people alerted about possible exposure.Should an app user get a positive test result, the app has a button the person can press to warn his or her contacts. Spahn says one problem is not everyone is doing that. “Only about half of the app users who get a positive result inform their contacts afterwards.”Spahn says the app is not a cure-all, but one of a number of important tools the government is using to control the spread of the virus.German tech company Deutsche Telekom, working with software company SAP, developed the app. Deutsche Telekom Chief Executive Tim Hoettges said more than 90% of labs in Germany are now connected to it.Hoettges said efforts are under way to establish a European “gateway” that will allow the German app to communicate with those in 10 other European countries, including Italy, Poland and Spain, that use the same decentralized, Bluetooth-based system.
…

Immigration authorities have stopped sending detained women to a rural Georgia gynecologist accused of performing surgeries without consent, a government spokesman said Tuesday.
Dr. Mahendra Amin faces allegations that he administered hysterectomies and other procedures that women held at the Irwin County Detention Center didn’t seek or fully understand. Amin has seen at least 60 detained women, said Andrew Free, a lawyer working with other attorneys to investigate medical care at Irwin County, on Tuesday.  
Bryan Cox, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, confirmed that Amin would no longer see patients from the detention center, but declined to comment further, citing an ongoing investigation by the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general.
 
The Irwin County Hospital issued a statement defending Amin, saying he “is a long-time member of the Irwin County Hospital medical staff and has been in good standing for the entirety of his service to the Irwin County community.”
The statement did not address Amin’s role as chief executive of MGA Health Management, a company that began managing the Irwin County Hospital in 1996, according to the hospital’s website.
According to the statement, Amin operated on two detained women who were referred to the hospital for hysterectomies. Heath Clark, the hospital’s general counsel, did not respond to questions about whether Amin performed hysterectomies in cases where the women had a different initial referral. Clark also did not say how many other procedures he had performed that could jeopardize a woman’s ability to have children, including the removal of fallopian tubes or ovaries.  
Scott Grubman, a lawyer for Amin, did not respond to a request for comment.
The allegations against the doctor were first revealed in a complaint filed last week by a nurse at Irwin County Detention Center. The nurse, Dawn Wooten, alleged that many detained women were taken to an unnamed gynecologist whom she labeled the “uterus collector” because of how many hysterectomies he performed.
The Associated Press on Friday reported that at least eight women since 2017 had been taken to see Amin for gynecological treatment, though it did not find evidence of mass hysterectomies as alleged in the complaint. Free said Tuesday that a team of lawyers had heard from dozens of more women raising concerns about the doctor.
“It’s long past time to stop sending women to this physician and to companies that provide services on his behalf,” he said, adding that he was concerned women detained at the facility could potentially face retaliation for coming forward about the doctor.  
Scott Sutterfield, an executive at LaSalle Corrections, which operates the detention center, said the company would not “take or threaten any action” against detainees who report information “in good faith.”
…

Volunteers planted 20,000 miniature U.S. flags on the grounds of the Washington Monument in the nation’s capital Tuesday, the day the nation reached 200,000 COVID-19 deaths. Each flag represented 10 victims who have perished since the virus first arrived in the U.S. earlier this year.   During an interfaith religious service held at the Monument to mark the grim occasion, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the high death toll was “preventable” and urged the nation to embrace science to prevent any future losses.   In April, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said the death toll would be “more like 60,000,” while U.S. President Donald Trump, who early on minimized the coronavirus as something akin to seasonal flus, in May said the toll could be anywhere from 75,000 to 100,000.     Now, health analysts at the University of Washington say the death toll could reach 410,000 by the end of the year.  The United States has the highest death toll among all nations, but some countries in Europe and Latin America have recorded more deaths per capita.A “promotora” (health promoter) from CASA, a Hispanic advocacy group, tries to enroll Latinos as volunteers to test a potential COVID-19 vaccine, at a farmers market in Takoma Park, Md., on Sept. 9, 2020.In late April, more than 2,000 deaths a day were being recorded in the U.S. Now the figure is close to 800 deaths daily. Medical researchers are trying to develop a coronavirus vaccine and could have approval for a preventative in the coming months. Without one yet, though, and with seasonal colder weather arriving, experts say the daily death toll could increase again.   News outlets say the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is considering a set of stricter new guidelines for the emergency authorization of a potential COVID-19 vaccine.  The proposed new rules would require drug makers to observe participants in late-stage clinical trials for at least two months after they receive a second and final dose of an experimental vaccine.  The guidelines would also look for at least five severe cases of COVID-19 in volunteers who received a neutral version of the vaccine, known as a placebo.   Two pharmaceutical companies that are developing a coronavirus vaccine, Moderna and Pfizer, have only begun administering second doses to their volunteers. If the new rules are adopted, an authorization for a new vaccine would come well after the November 3 presidential election. President Donald Trump has been saying for several weeks that a coronavirus vaccine would be available either in October or right before Election Day.   The FDA and other federal scientific and regulatory agencies have seen their credibility diminished by constant administration efforts to revise their reports and guidelines to maintain Trump’s views about the nature of the pandemic. The United States is experiencing a surge of new coronavirus cases across more than 20 states, with many outbreaks reported at colleges and universities due to returning students failing to observe social distancing guidelines.  The outbreak has also caused chaos for local school districts across the country, with administrators and teachers struggling with either online learning or a combination of online and in-person instruction.  Members of the school board in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the fourth-largest school district in the United States, voted Tuesday to bring back students to the classroom in mid-October. The decision was reached after a non-stop 29-hour meeting that included 18 hours of public testimony from more than 750 people.   Under the plan laid out by Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, students in pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and first grade, plus those with special needs, would return to school on October 14, with the rest of the district’s students coming back on October 21. Miami-Dade’s online-only instruction has been plagued with problems since it began in August, including network outages, software glitches and a cyberattack carried out by a high school student. 
…

Національний банк України погодив кандидатуру Сергія Наумова на посаду голови правління державного «Ощадбанку» за результатами розгляду пакета документів та співбесіди, проведеної правлінням НБУ, повідомила про рішення, ухвалене напередодні, пресслужба регулятора.

«Голова правління державного банку призначається та звільняється з посади наглядовою радою банку після проходження конкурсного відбору. Строк повноважень голови правління становить п’ять років. Голова правління вступає на посаду після надання письмової згоди на це Національним банком», – розтлумачили в НБУ.

Читайте також: «Ощадбанк» повідомив про нову перемогу над «Сбербанком» у спорі за торговельну марку

У червні Сергій Наумов переміг у конкурсі на посаду голови правління «Ощадбанку». Із вересня 2014 року він обіймає аналогічну посаду у «Піреус банку МКБ».

«Ощадбанк» після «Приватбанку» є другим за розмірами активів державним банком України.
…

A vehicle likely large enough to carry an intercontinental ballistic missile has been spotted at a North Korean parade training site, according to a U.S. research organization, the latest evidence Pyongyang may use an upcoming political anniversary to showcase missile technology. 38 North, a website specializing in North Korea, says commercial satellite imagery from Tuesday revealed a “probable missile-related vehicle” at the Mirim Parade Training Ground on the outskirts of Pyongyang, where the North rehearses its major military parades.  “While imagery resolution is insufficient to determine exactly what the vehicle is, relative size and shape suggests that it may be a transporter-erector-launcher (TEL) for a large missile,” the website said late Tuesday. The vehicle appears to be around 20 meters long and 3 meters wide, “which would be of sufficient size to carry a Hwasong intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM),” the post said. “Alternatively, it could be a towed mobile-erector-launcher (MEL) with its truck-tractor attached,” it added.  Satellite images suggest North Korea has been preparing for weeks to hold the parade, expected October 10. That is the 75th anniversary of the founding of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party of Korea. Such anniversaries are major events in the single-party, quasi-Stalinist dictatorship.Airplanes forming the number 70 fly in formation and fire flares during a parade for the 70th anniversary of North Korea’s founding day in Pyongyang, North Korea, Sept. 9, 2018.Some analysts predict North Korea may unveil a new solid-fuel ICBM at the parade. Others say Pyongyang could soon showcase a submarine-launched ballistic missile, or SLBM, possibly via a test launch.  Either technology adds an unpredictable new component to North Korea’s arsenal. Solid-fuel missiles are easier to transport and take less time to prepare for launch. SLBMs are also mobile and easier to hide.   A major display of military power could be seen as a provocation just weeks ahead of the U.S. presidential election. U.S. President Donald Trump says he has “no problem” with North Korea’s short-range launches, but he may object to a bigger move. At the beginning of the year, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he would soon show off a “new strategic weapon.” But since then, North Korea has had to deal with devastating floods, international sanctions that continue to hold back its economy, and the worldwide coronavirus pandemic.   North Korea for months insisted it had no coronavirus infections. But it has quietly backed away from that assertion. Parade preparations appear to be smaller than in past years, possibly because of coronavirus concerns. 
…

As local authorities in northeastern Syria announce the discovery of new mass graves belonging to the victims of Islamic State in Raqqa, families whose loved ones disappeared during the group’s control over the region hope they might finally get some answers.  The First Responders, a rescue and recovery team in northeastern Syria, earlier this month announced finding a mass grave in the western outskirt of Raqqa’s Farusiya, raising the number of discovered sites to five this year. Raqqa SyriaFollowing the announcement and the recovery of 16 bodies from the grave, the families of the victims are calling on authorities to prioritize a speedy identification process of the remains.   “The coalition and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) must support The First Responders team with technical support so they would be able to verify the identities of the bodies found in mass graves and under the rubble of buildings that were destroyed during the battle to defeat IS in the city of Raqqa,” said Ensaf Nasser who has been looking for her husband since IS kidnapped him in 2014.  Nasser’s husband, Foad Ahmed el-Mohamed, was a local journalist taking pictures of wounded civilians at Aisha Hospital in Deir el-Zour city when IS militants broke in and took him away. She has since relentlessly perused threads leading to the whereabouts of her husband, without much luck.Foad Ahmed el-Mohamed, was a local journalist in Deir el-Zour. Here holding a twin born in the hospital he used to work at in 2014. (Photo courtesy Ensaf Nasser)Nasser told VOA she has learned that the extremist group accused her husband of infidelity because he advocated for a secular and democratic state instead of a caliphate. He was also accused of breaking their strict Sunni codes by marrying Nasser, who was a follower of Syria’s Druze sect, and naming his son after the Argentinian Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara.  “I have knocked at every door and followed every lead through official channels or personal connections, but I still have no evidence of what happened to him,” Nasser said. While still hoping to find him alive, she added that if he is found dead, she can at least find closure and honor his memory.  Islamic State kidnapped thousands of civilians, mainly activists, to hush any opposing voice as it prepared to impose its control in 2013, Human Rights Watch said in a report earlier this year. The watchdog said that many victims have vanished during IS expansion in 2014.   The Syrian Network for Human Rights has registered 8,648 cases of kidnapped people, including 319 children and 225 women. Local authorities suspect that many of the missing have likely been killed by IS and buried in graves across the mostly desert terrain of eastern Syria.   Raqqa Civil Council said it has found 28 mass graves since defeating IS’s physical caliphate in 2019. The sites allegedly contain about 6,300 bodies and belong mostly to people executed by IS. A member of The First Responders team in Raqqa seals a bag containing a body recovered from a mass graves. The exhuming operation use primitive means, as the team lacks technology to analyze the remains. (Photo: Osama al-Khalaf)Location and recoveryThe First Responders told VOA they have found some of the graves after receiving information from local residents about human remains. The team will begin exhuming the remains following an investigation and verification process.The First Responders was established in September 2018 by Raqqa Civil Council to exhume the mass graves and as an emergency response team. In 2020 alone, the team found five mass graves and exhumed about 300 bodies.   “Once a body is found, the team will record the basic information on the date and location of the recovery, sex, apparent cause of death and any personal belongings. The recovered human body will be assigned an ID number and preserved in another location,” said Osama al-Khalaf, a spokesperson for Raqqa Civil Council.  Al-Khalaf said that if a body is identified, it will be handed over to its family for a proper burial. For those not identified, local authorities have dedicated two graveyards outside Raqqa, he added.    “The work to exhume and identify the human remains is done by primitive tools like shovels, and they lack equipment to analyze the bodies’ DNA,” he said.  Local authorities say they need international support and technical assistance to properly identify victims and preserve the bodies as evidence of IS crimes. Families’ pleasActivists supporting relatives of the victims say the families are growing weary over officials’ reluctance to share with them any information on the fate of the discovered graves. They say families deserve to know if IS prisoners have been interrogated about the fate of the disappeared, especially as some of the detained foreign jihadists are repatriated to their countries while others flee northeast Syria.  Laila Kiki, executive director of the Syria Campaign and an advocate of the families, told VOA that local authorities are yet to establish a formal system to communicate with the victims’ families. She said the authorities needed to make information-sharing a priority.  “One of the main demands of our campaign is to create a mechanism of communication between the families and the authorities on the ground. Currently, there is no two-way communication between the families and local authorities in northeastern Syria,” said Kiki, adding that the international community also needed to step in to help in the process.    “It is important for the families to get the answers they need. And it is important for the international community and the U.S.-led coalition to take the demands of the families seriously and to interrogate IS fighters. IS has impacted every Syrian family, and we need answers from those involved,” she said.
…

In a sweeping bipartisan vote that takes a government shutdown off the table, the House passed a temporary governmentwide funding bill Tuesday night, shortly after President Donald Trump prevailed in a behind-the-scenes fight over his farm bailout. The stopgap measure will keep federal agencies fully up and running into December, giving lawmakers in the post-election congressional session time to digest the election and decide whether to pass the annual government funding bills by then or kick them to the next administration. The budget year ends Sept. 30. The 359-57 vote came after considerable behind-the-scenes battling over proposed add-ons. The final agreement gives the administration continued immediate authority to dole out Agriculture Department subsidies in the run-up to Election Day. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., retreated from an initial draft that sparked a furor with Republicans and farm-state Democrats. FILE – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill, Sept. 18, 2020.Instead, in talks Tuesday, Pelosi restored a farm aid funding patch sought by the administration, which has sparked the ire of Democrats who said it plays political favorites as it gives out bailout money to farmers and ranchers. In return, Pelosi won coronavirus-related food aid for the poor, including a higher food benefit for families whose children are unable to receive free or reduced-price lunches because schools are closed over the coronavirus. Another add-on would permit states to remove hurdles to food stamps and nutrition aid to low-income mothers that are more difficult to clear during the pandemic. The deal permitted the measure to speed through the House after a swift debate that should ensure smooth sailing in the GOP-held Senate before next Wednesday’s deadline. There’s no appetite on either side for a government shutdown. On Monday, Democrats released a version of the stopgap measure that did not contain the farm bailout provision, enraging Republicans and putting passage of the measure in doubt. It became apparent that Pelosi did not have the votes to pass it — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., dismissed it as a “rough draft” — and negotiations continued. FILE – Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., speaks at the Capitol in Washington, Sept. 21, 2020.Democrats complain that the Trump administration has favored Southern states such as Georgia — a key swing state and home of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue — and larger producers in distributing bailout funds. Farmers are suffering from low commodity prices and the effects of higher tariffs imposed by Trump. Trump announced a new $13 billion allotment of bailout funding at a political rally in Wisconsin last week. The legislation — called a continuing resolution, or CR, in Washington-speak — would keep every federal agency running at current funding levels through Dec. 11, which will keep the government afloat past an election that could reshuffle Washington’s balance of power. The measure also extends many programs whose funding or authorizations lapse on Sept. 30, including the federal flood insurance program, highway and transit programs, and a long set of extensions of various health programs, such as a provision to prevent Medicaid cuts to hospitals that serve many poor people.   It also finances the possible transition to a new administration if Joe Biden wins the White House and would stave off an unwelcome COVID-19-caused increase in Medicare Part B premiums for outpatient doctor visits. 
 
…

Local officials say so far, they have exhumed 16 bodies of women and men executed by Islamic State during the terror group’s rule of large swaths of Syria and Iraq between 2014 and 2019
…

As the U.N. General Assembly annual debate got under way Tuesday, combating and eliminating the coronavirus pandemic was the foremost preoccupation of the world’s major powers.  Global leaders are meeting virtually this year due to COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide have surpassed 31 million, with more than 960,000 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, which tracks the data.   A reporter with the Xinhua Press Agency watches as President Xi Jinping is seen on a video screen remotely addressing the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Sept. 22, 2020, at U.N. headquarters.From China, the country where the virus is believed to have originated, President Xi Jinping promised it would be defeated. He announced that Beijing would provide an additional $50 million to the U.N.’s COVID-19 global humanitarian response plan and said his country is making progress on a vaccine.   “At the moment, several COVID-19 vaccines developed by China are in active Phase 3 clinical trials,” Xi said in his video message to the virtual gathering. “When their development is completed and they are ready for use, these vaccines will be made a global public good and will be provided to other developing countries on a priority basis.”  He also denounced efforts to politicize or stigmatize the virus.  Touting progress on vaccine In his UNGA address, U.S. President Donald Trump slammed China, referring to COVID-19 as the “China virus,” and saying Beijing must be held accountable for having “unleashed” it on the world. He said the United States is also making strides on a potential vaccine.  U.S. President Donald Trump is seen on a video screen remotely addressing the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters, Sept. 22, 2020.”We will distribute a vaccine. We will defeat the virus. We will end the pandemic, and we will enter a new era of unprecedented prosperity, cooperation and peace,” Trump pledged Tuesday in a brief video message.   Russia’s president also touted his nation’s progress on a vaccine.   “We are ready to share our experience and continue cooperating with all states and international entities, including supplying the Russian vaccine — which has proved reliable, safe and effective — to other countries,” Vladimir Putin said in his video address.   Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is seen during his video address to the United Nation’s General Assembly in Moscow, Russia, Sept. 22, 2020.In August, Russia became the first country to approve a COVID-19 vaccine, called Sputnik V. But international scientists have been skeptical of its safety and effectiveness, as it had not started Phase 3 trials when it was approved.   Putin also said Moscow is ready to provide its vaccine free to the United Nations so it could inoculate its staff.  Humanitarian pause  Since March, the U.N. secretary-general has been calling for a global humanitarian truce to help facilitate an effective coronavirus response. The initiative has received an outpouring of verbal support from nations and even some armed groups, but there has been little real implementation on the ground.    Speaking from the General Assembly podium to a limited audience of mostly U.N. ambassadors, Antonio Guterres urged conflict actors and those with influence to implement the pause by the end of this year.  United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during the 75th annual U.N. General Assembly, which is being held mostly virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic, in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, Sept. 22, 2020.”The world needs a global cease-fire to stop all ‘hot’ conflicts,” Guterres said Tuesday. Acknowledging escalating tensions between the U.S. and China, he added, “At the same time, we must do everything to avoid a new Cold War.” French President Emmanuel Macron expressed frustration that getting the U.N. Security Council to adopt a resolution supporting the COVID-19 cease-fire was so difficult.  “Imagine that, to have so much trouble in agreeing on so little,” Macron said in his UNGA address. “But our permanent members were not able to — even with the exceptional circumstances — come together as we would have liked to have seen them do, because several have chosen to showcase their rivalry over the importance of collective effectiveness.”  This U.N. handout photo shows French President Emmanuel Macron as he virtually addresses the general debate of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Sept. 22, 2020.The council finally adopted a resolution on July 1 — 100 days after the U.N. chief’s appeal — primarily because of the deterioration of relations between Washington and Beijing over the origin and spread of the virus.”This crisis no doubt, more than any other, demands that we cooperate. Demands that we invent new international solutions first,” Macron added.   Iran sanctions  Another issue that has sparked strong reactions in recent weeks from the world’s major powers has been Washington’s move to reimpose U.N. sanctions on Iran for its lack of compliance under the 2015 nuclear deal.  In May 2018, Trump announced his administration’s withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as the deal is formally known. The other members of the agreement — Britain, France, China and Russia, plus Germany and Iran — say the U.S. gave up its right to initiate what is known as a “snapback” of international sanctions when it pulled out of the deal. Washington disagreed, saying the U.N. Security Council resolution enshrining the 2015 nuclear agreement in international law still names the U.S. as a participant.   After notifying the U.N. in August that it planned to snap back sanctions, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared Sept. 19 that snapback had occurred. The U.N Security Council has said it will take no action on reinstating the sanctions regime. President of Islamic Republic of Iran Hassan Rouhani speaks virtually during the 75th annual U.N. General Assembly in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, Sept. 22, 2020. (United Nations/Handout)U.S. presidential elections are just over one month away, and Rouhani linked Washington’s effort to snap back sanctions to its domestic politics.  “We are not a bargaining chip in U.S. elections and domestic policy,” he said. “Any U.S. administration after the upcoming elections will have no choice but to surrender to the resilience of the Iranian nation.”  In his Tuesday address, Trump noted that his administration withdrew from “the terrible Iran” deal and “imposed crippling sanctions on the world’s leading state sponsor of terror.”  
 
…