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UNITED NATIONS (AP) — North Korea has continued to develop its nuclear and ballistic missile programs including its capability to produce nuclear fissile materials in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions, U.N. experts said in a new report.

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) – UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, yesterday, announced the appointment of Maj. Gen. Aroldo Lazaro Saenz of Spain, as head of mission and force commander of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), said his press office.

Lazaro Saenz succeeds Maj. Gen. Stefano Del Col of Italy, who will shortly complete his assignment.

NEW YORK, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- The United States reached the grim milestone of 900,000 coronavirus deaths on Friday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

With the national case count topping 76.2 million, the death toll across the United States rose to 900,528 as of 5:22 p.m. local time (2222 GMT), according to the tally.

California led the country in COVID-19 deaths, with 80,798 fatalities. Texas reported the second-highest fatalities of 80,459, followed by Florida with 65,993 deaths and New York with 65,578 deaths, the data showed.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — China’s U.N. ambassador said Friday the U.S. should come up with “more attractive and more practical” policies and actions to reduce tensions with North Korea and avoid a return to a “vicious circle” of confrontation, condemnation and sanctions over its nuclear and ballistic missile program.

Zhang Jun said that the solution lies in direct dialogue and that if the Biden administration wants to see a breakthrough with Pyongyang “they should show more sincerity and flexibility.”

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — U.N. experts say rebel groups in Darfur that signed a peace agreement with the Sudanese government in 2020 continue to operate in Libya and profit from opportunities provided by the civil war and lack of government control in the oil-rich north African nation.

NEW YORK (AP) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday continued its endorsement of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine for adults, now that U.S. regulators have given the shots their full approval.

The decision has little practical effect. Tens of millions of Americans have already gotten Moderna shots, following its emergency authorization by the Food and Drug Administration more than a year ago.

Earlier this week, the FDA gave the product full licensure, following the kind of rigorous, time-consuming review given to other vaccines.

NEW YORK, Feb 04 (APP): Pakistan will not “rest or relent” until the Kashmiri people have realized their right to self-determination through a free and impartial plebiscite in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions, Ambassador Munir Akram said Friday.

Speaking in a webinar commemorating Kashmir Solidarity Day on Feb 5, the Pakistan envoy said that the Kashmir dispute was the unfinished agenda of self-determination in the South Asian sub-continent.

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 03 (APP): Underscoring the importance of South-South Cooperation, the Group of 77 and China has called for ensuring that developing countries have the necessary fiscal space for recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The UN Security Council called for an “immediate cessation of all forms of violence” in Myanmar and expressed hope that a special envoy would be allowed to travel there to mediate the crisis.

   The Association of Southeast Asian Nations wants to send its representative, Cambodia’s foreign minister Prak Sokhonn, to Myanmar, where last year’s coup triggered mass protests and a deadly crackdown on dissent.

NEW YORK, February 2. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin will decide on the advisability of further dialogue with the United States after its written response to Russian proposals on security guarantees, Russia’s Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov said in an interview with Newsweek published on Wednesday.

Antonov told Newsweek that due to the passion of US counterparts "for vague wordings and the aspiration to push the negotiations on security guarantees behind closed doors, the public has a wrong picture about what stage this process is at."