New York

NEW YORK, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- The total number of COVID-19 cases in the United States topped 60 million on Sunday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

U.S. COVID-19 case count rose to 60,062,077, with a total of 837,504 deaths, as of 4:21 p.m. local time (2121 GMT), showed the data.

The United States remains the nation worst hit by the pandemic, with the world's most cases and deaths, making up about 20 percent of the global caseload and more than 15 percent of the global deaths.

NEW YORK (AP) — A malfunctioning space heater sparked a fire that filled a high-rise Bronx apartment building with thick smoke Sunday morning, killing 19 people including nine children in New York City’s deadliest blaze in three decades.

Trapped residents broke windows for air and stuffed wet towels under doors as smoke rose from a lower-floor apartment where the fire started. Survivors told of fleeing in panic down darkened hallways and stairs, barely able to breathe.

NEW YORK (AP) — More than 800,000 noncitizens and so-called “Dreamers” in New York City will have access to the ballot box — and could vote in municipal elections as early as next year — after Mayor Eric Adams allowed legislation approved by the City Council a month ago to automatically become law on Sunday.

Opponents have vowed to challenge the new law. Unless a judge halts its implementation, New York City is now the most populous city in the United States to grant voting rights to noncitizens.

NEW YORK, Jan 7 (Reuters) - COVID-19 hospitalizations in the United States are poised to hit a new high as early as Friday, according to a Reuters tally, surpassing the record set in January of last year as the highly contagious Omicron variant fuels a surge in infections.

Hospitalizations have increased steadily since late December as Omicron quickly overtook Delta as the dominant coronavirus variant in the United States, although experts say Omicron will likely prove less deadly than prior iterations.

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 07 (APP): Pakistani peacekeepers serving the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) have earned widespread praise for dedicatedly fighting some the worst floods in the country’s Unity State and bringing relief to the affected people, according to a report received in New York.

On January 4, they marked their 100th day of continuous effort to help hundreds of thousands of people whose lives have been disrupted by floods, the report said.

Jan 6 (Reuters) - The more infectious Omicron variant of COVID-19 appears to produce less severe disease than the globally dominant Delta strain, but should not be categorised as "mild", World Health Organization (WHO) officials said on Thursday.

Janet Diaz, WHO lead on clinical management, said early studies showed there was a reduced risk of hospitalisation from the variant first identified in southern Africa and Hong Kong in November compared with Delta.

05 Jan 2022; MEMO: The UAE along with four other countries – Albania, Brazil, Gabon and Ghana – have assumed responsibilities as non-permanent members of the UN Security Council. Although the two-year term commenced on 1 January, the first working day started after the New Year holidays.

UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- Albania, Brazil, Gabon, Ghana and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Tuesday began to assume responsibilities as non-permanent members of the Security Council.

Their two-year term officially started on Jan. 1. But Tuesday is the first working day of the council for 2022 after the Christmas and New Year break.

A flag installation ceremony was held to mark the start of their responsibilities.

NEW YORK, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- As the United States sees new records of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations with the surge of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, large parts of the country are increasingly intimidated by the virus and schools are caught in a predicament.

ALARMING FIGURES

More than 103,000 Americans were hospitalized with COVID-19 on Monday, according to official data, the highest number since late summer when the Delta variant of the coronavirus triggered a nationwide surge in cases.

NEW YORK, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- One year after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, over 60 percent of Americans are deeply pessimistic about the future of democracy, according to a new NPR/Ipsos poll published on Monday.

The poll found that 64 percent of Americans believe U.S. democracy is "in crisis and at risk of failing."