New York

22 Dec 2021; MEMO: Israel must immediately halt its settlement activities, the United Nations Special Coordinator for the peace process in the Middle East said yesterday.

Tor Wennesland called on Israel "to cease the advancement of all settlement activities immediately," describing the move as a "flagrant violation of UN resolutions."

NEW YORK (AP) — Omicron has raced ahead of other variants and is now the dominant version of the coronavirus in the U.S., accounting for 73% of new infections last week, federal health officials said Monday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention numbers showed nearly a six-fold increase in omicron’s share of infections in only one week.

NEW YORK (AP) — Ghislaine Maxwell was a dangerous and sophisticated predator who caused “deep and lasting harm” to young girls by recruiting and grooming them to be sexually abused by financier Jeffrey Epstein, a prosecutor told jurors Monday during closing arguments.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Alison Moe told the jury that Epstein could not have preyed on teenage girls for more than a decade without the help of the British socialite, who she described as the “lady of the house” as Epstein abused girls at a New York mansion, a Florida estate and a ranch in New Mexico.

NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump sued New York Attorney General Letitia James on Monday, seeking to end her civil investigation into his business practices.

In the lawsuit, filed two weeks weeks after James requested that Trump sit for a Jan. 7 deposition, Trump alleges the investigation has violated his constitutional rights in a “thinly-veiled effort to publicly malign Trump and his associates.”

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 17 (APP): The UN General Assembly Friday stamped its approval on a Pakistan-sponsored resolution that reaffirms the right to self-determination for peoples who are subjected to colonial, foreign and alien occupation such as those in Jammu and Kashmir.

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Afghan ambassador appointed by the country’s overthrown government has left his post at the United Nations, the UN said.

Ghulam Isaczai “relinquished his position as of Dec 15”, according to a letter received Thursday, assistant UN spokesman Farhan Haq said.

With Afghanistan in economic crisis following the Taliban takeover in August, the country’s mission to the UN has struggled to keep operating, diplomats said.

The Afghan mission to the UN could not be reached for comment on Thursday night.

NEW YORK, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- More than 55 percent of respondents feel the country is headed "off on the wrong track," citing economic conditions, COVID-19 and the increase in crime, according to a recent survey commissioned by NewsNation, an American subscription television network.

Some 34 percent of respondents in the poll said the country is on the "right track," according to the survey's results. The survey was held on Dec. 9.

(AP) --- Lines again stretch around blocks at some COVID-19 testing sites. Refrigerated mobile morgues are on order, and parts of Europe are re-tightening borders amid a winter spike in coronavirus infections.

This year’s holiday season was supposed to be a do-over for last year’s subdued celebrations. Instead it’s turning into a redux of restrictions, cancellations and rising angst over the never-ending pandemic.

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Cross-border humanitarian aid to Syria remains vital, the United Nations Secretary-General said in an internal report, as a UN authorization allowing aid into rebel-held areas in the country’s northwest without approval from Damascus is up for renewal.

   A rare moment of cooperation between the United States and Russia in July allowed for a six-month extension of activity at Bab al-Hawa, the only border crossing through which aid reaches the rebel stronghold of Idlib province.
That authorization, renewable once, runs until Jan 10.

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City jury has heard four women detail accusations that they were teens when they became victims of a sex-abuse scheme devised by Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein. Starting Thursday, the British socialite’s attorneys are expected to make their case that Maxwell isn’t the one to blame.