North America

Hillary Clinton says US President Donald Trump’s threat to pull out of the Iran nuclear accord is “dangerous”, and she suggests her former campaign opponent is undermining the validity of the United States’ promises to other nations. Clinton told CNN Trump’s insistence on decertifying the deal, even though evidence has pointed to Iranian compliance, “makes us look foolish and small and plays right into Iranian hands”. She said: “That is bad not just on the merits for this particular situation, but it sends a message across the globe that America’s word is not good. We have different Presidents, and this particular President is, I think, upending the kind of trust and credibility of the United States’ position and negotiation that is imperative to maintain.” The presidential nominee also said Trump’s bellicose language towards North Korea has rattled American allies. “We will now have an arms race — a nuclear arms race in East Asia. We will have the Japanese, who understandably are worried with missiles flying over them as the North Koreans have done, that they can’t count on America.”

Lawyers for President Donald Trump say a judge should reject a lawsuit challenging Trump’s ability to block his critics from following him on Twitter. The lawyers filed papers to try to put an end to a Manhattan federal court lawsuit that makes First Amendment claims. They say Trump’s Twitter feed, which has more than 40 million followers, is not state action.

Authorities in Puerto Rico raised the death toll from Hurricane Maria by three to 48. The medical examiner concluded that the hurricane was the deciding factor in the three newly disclosed deaths. Maria hit the US island territory on September 20 as a category 4 hurricane. The Government says about 85 per cent of the island remains without power.