New York

(AP) --- The U.S. moved closer Thursday toward vaccinating 100 million Americans in a race against an uptick in COVID-19 cases that is fueling fears of another nationwide surge just as the major league baseball season starts and thousands of fans return to stadiums.

More than 99 million people have received at least one dose of the vaccine, and more than 56 million people — 17% of the nation’s population — have been fully vaccinated, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 01 (APP): Climate change and loss of biodiversity is seen as the most pressing challenge over the decade, according to the World in 2030 Survey report published by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

NEW YORK (AP) — A parolee convicted of killing his mother nearly two decades ago was arrested on assault and hate crime charges in an attack on an Asian American woman in New York City, police said Wednesday.

Police said Brandon Elliot, 38, is the man seen on surveillance video kicking and stomping the woman near Times Square on Monday. The woman was attacked in front of an apartment building.

NEW YORK, Mar 31 (APP): The Taliban are promoting a “bold message” that they have already won the war in Afghanistan, with little apparent interest in making concessions in negotiating a peace deal, The New York Times said in a report from Kabul.

30 Mar 2021; MEMO: The United Nations urged international donors to pledge up to $10 billion on Tuesday to help Syrians fleeing a decade of civil war in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, saying that the need for humanitarian support has never been so great, Reuters reported.

(Reuters) - Oil prices will stabilise above $60 a barrel level this year, as vaccine rollouts support a demand recovery and OPEC and its allies continue to rein in supply, a Reuters poll showed on Wednesday.

The survey of 48 participants forecast Brent would average $63.12 per barrel in 2021, up from last month’s consensus of $59.07 and the average price so far this year of $59.36.

The benchmark was trading close to $64 on Wednesday.

NEW YORK, March 30 (Xinhua) -- U.S. COVID-19 deaths surpassed 550,000 on Tuesday, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

With the national case count topping 30.3 million, the death toll across the United States rose to 550,073 as of 8:26 a.m. local time (1226 GMT), according to the CSSE data.

NEW YORK (AP) — A vicious attack on an Asian American woman as she walked to church near New York City’s Times Square is drawing widespread condemnation and raising alarms about the failure of bystanders to intervene amid a rash of anti-Asian violence across the U.S.

A lone assailant was seen on surveillance video late Monday morning, kicking the 65-year-old woman in the stomach, knocking her to the ground and stomping on her face, all as police say he shouted anti-Asian slurs and told her, “you don’t belong here.”

UNITED NATIONS, March 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for greater debt relief and new creative financing to help poorer nations deal with the pandemic and prevent their economic recoveries from falling behind.

A “new debt mechanism” to provide more options — including debt swaps, buy-backs and cancellations — is needed, he said, as many nations have been reluctant to add debt during the global health crisis, fearing a hit to their credit ratings.

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) – UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Executive Director, Henrietta Fore, yesterday, called for more humanitarian access to Syria and for the protection of children in the war-torn country.

UNICEF and its partners need regular access to north-west Syria, to provide life-saving humanitarian assistance, Fore told the Security Council in a briefing.

The Security Council’s 12-month renewal of authorisation for cross-border delivery, provided a necessary window to help people in desperate need. But the needs are multiplying, she said.