New York

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 9 (NNN-XINHUA) – Funding and timely action are critical, to prevent a major oil spill from a decaying tanker, anchored near Yemen’s coastline, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, David Gressly said, in New York yesterday.

Gressly described the FSO Safer, off Yemen’s Red Sea coast, as “a time bomb,” posing a threat.

The 45-year-old floating storage and offloading facility, holds 1.1 million barrels of oil, or four times the amount of the Exxon Valdez – the tanker that caused one of the greatest environmental disasters in U.S. history.

NEW YORK, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices rose on Friday, but suffered a fall for the week.

The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for May delivery added 2.23 U.S. dollars, or 2.3 percent, to settle at 98.26 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for June delivery increased 2.2 dollars, or 2.2 percent, to close at 102.78 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

For the week, the WTI and Brent drop 1 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively, based on the front-month contracts.

April 8 (Reuters) - Moderna Inc (MRNA.O) said on Friday it was recalling 764,900 doses of its COVID-19 vaccine made by its contract manufacturer Rovi (ROVI.MC) after a vial was found contaminated by a foreign body.

No safety issues have been identified, Moderna said about the lots that were distributed in Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden in January.

The drugmaker said the contamination was found in just one vial, and it was recalling the whole lot out of "an abundance of caution". It did not disclose what was found in the vial.

NEW YORK, April 8(Reuters) - Former Goldman Sachs (GS.N) banker Roger Ng was convicted by a U.S. jury on Friday of corruption charges related to his role in helping loot hundreds of millions of dollars from Malaysia's 1MDB development fund.

The charges stemmed from one of the biggest financial scandals in history. Prosecutors charged Ng, Goldman's former top investment banker for Malaysia, for conspiring to violate an anti-corruption law and launder money.

UNITED NATIONS, April 7 (Xinhua) -- The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on Thursday that allows the assembly to suspend the Russian Federation's membership in the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council.

The draft resolution, "Suspension of the rights of membership of the Russian Federation in the Human Rights Council," obtained 93 "yes" votes and 24 "no" votes from the 193-member General Assembly. A total of 58 countries abstained. Eighteen countries did not participate in the voting.

China voted against the move pushed by the United States.

NEW YORK (AP) — Rejecting suggestions he has lost interest in going after Donald Trump, the Manhattan district attorney said Thursday a criminal investigation into the former president and his business practices is continuing “without fear or favor” despite a recent shakeup in the probe’s leadership.

In a rare public statement, Alvin Bragg denied the three-year-old investigation was winding down or that a grand jury term expiring this month would impede his office’s ability to bring charges.

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 07 (APP): On the eve of United Nations General Assembly’s scheduled vote Thursday to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council, Moscow has warned member states that a yes vote or abstention on a US-backed resolution to that effect will be viewed as an “unfriendly gesture”, according to a note sent by the Russian mission to some missions.

UNITED NATIONS, April 6 (Xinhua) -- Fresh fighting between forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the M23 armed group on Wednesday blocked aid distribution in Rutshuru, UN humanitarians said.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said UN agencies and partners reached the town of Rutshuru, in eastern DRC, on Tuesday to deliver food, non-food items and medicine, only to have distribution of the relief blocked by fighting.

NEW YORK (AP) — CBS News reporter Debora Patta has covered conflicts in Africa and the Middle East, and the aftermath of terrorist attacks in Europe. She has seen violence and death at close range before. But the atrocities she witnessed in Bucha, Ukraine this week stood out, and overwhelmed her.

“We need to be disturbed by these pictures,” Patta said on “CBS Mornings,” after describing what she and other journalists witnessed in the outskirts of Kyiv.

The war changed this week from a media perspective, which is how most people outside of Ukraine experience it.

NEW YORK (AP) — A judge on New York’s highest court has been referred to a disciplinary commission and could be kicked off the bench for failing to comply with a rule requiring proof of vaccination against COVID-19.

Judge Jenny Rivera, one of seven jurists on the state’s Court of Appeals, is barred from court facilities and has been working remotely since October, court officials said. She is one of four judges statewide who have been referred to the state’s Commission on Judicial Conduct for being out of compliance with the mandate that applies to all court personnel.