New York

USA: Kerry leads second-day slate at global energy conference

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. climate envoy John Kerry will headline the second day of the world’s largest oil and gas conference, along with Big Oil executives trying to make the case for their importance even as panelists at CERAWeek focus on how the industry will aim to reduce carbon emissions.

The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the transition to renewable fuels and electrification of key elements of energy use. Global majors have been playing catch-up, responding to demands from investors to reduce production of fuels that contribute to global warming.

USA: Calls for Cuomo’s resignation mount as 3rd accuser emerges

NEW YORK (AP) — Calls for New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s resignation intensified late Monday after a third woman accused him of offensive behavior, saying he’d touched her face and back and asked to kiss her moments after they met at a wedding reception.

Anna Ruch told The New York Times late Monday that she removed the Democratic governor’s hand from her back, but he said she seemed “aggressive,” promptly put his hands on her face and asked if he could kiss her.

USA: Cuomo sorry for remarks aide ‘misinterpreted’ as harassment

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo acknowledged for the first time Sunday that some of his behavior with women “may have been insensitive or too personal,” and said he would cooperate with a sexual harassment investigation led by the state’s attorney general.

In a statement released amid mounting criticism from within his own party, the Democrat maintained he had never inappropriately touched or propositioned anyone. But he said he had teased people about their personal lives in an attempt to be “playful.”

Myanmar's U.N. ambassador vows to fight after junta fired him

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Myanmar’s United Nations envoy in New York vowed to fight on Saturday after the junta fired him for urging countries to use “any means necessary” to reverse a Feb. 1 coup that ousted the nation’s elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

“I decided to fight back as long as I can,” Kyaw Moe Tun told Reuters on Saturday.

Myanmar state television announced on Saturday that Kyaw Moe Tun had been fired for betraying the country.

USA: Republicans test history in vote against pandemic relief

NEW YORK (AP) — With the nation’s financial system on the brink of collapse, all but three Republicans voted against the massive stimulus package designed to protect millions of Americans from financial ruin.

It was early 2009, just weeks after Joe Biden was sworn in as vice president, and the vote marked the beginning of a new era of partisan gridlock in Congress. And for beleaguered Republicans coming off a disastrous election, it was their first step back to political power.

UNSC calls for cease-fires to speed up coronavirus vaccinations

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 27 (APP): The UN Security Council has unanimously adopted a resolution calling on all member states to support a “sustained humanitarian pause” to local conflicts, in order to allow for coronavirus vaccinations.

Resolution 2656, adopted unanimously on Friday by the 15-member council, will enable the vaccines, which COVAX began distributing on February 24, to reach those living in conflict areas.

Briefing journalists afterwards, World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus argued that more could be done.

Myanmar’s UN envoy dramatically opposes coup in his country

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Myanmar’s U.N. ambassador strongly opposed the military coup in his country and appealed for the “strongest possible action from the international community” to immediately restore democracy in a dramatic speech to the U.N. General Assembly Friday that drew loud applause from many diplomats in the 193-nation global body.

Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun began his statement saying he represented Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy “civilian government elected by the people” in November, and supported their fight for the end of military rule.

4 men convicted in 1993 WTC bombing have had sentences cut

NEW YORK (AP) — Decades after going to prison, some of the men responsible for the World Trade Center bombing that killed six people 28 years ago Friday are still trying to whittle down their onetime life sentences on the remote chance that they could someday be freed.

And they are having some success.

In the last year, four men implicated in the 1993 bombing have won reductions to their sentences after one part of their convictions was dropped to be consistent with a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

UN, US welcome India-Pakistan decision to ceasefire at LoC in disputed Kashmir

UNITED NATIONS/WASHINGTON, Feb 26 (APP): The United Nations and the United States welcomed Thursday’s joint statement of India and Pakistan to strictly observe all agreements on ceasefire along the Line of Control in the disputed Kashmir region, saying it was a “positive step” towards peace and stability in South Asia.

Soon after India and Pakistan announced their decision to stop cross-border firing, the United Nations General Assembly President, Volkan Bozkir of Turkey, said he welcomes the agreement that demonstrates the values of UNGA.

USA: Manhattan prosecutor gets Trump tax records after long fight

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York prosecutor has obtained copies of Donald Trump’s tax records after the Supreme Court this week rejected the former president’s last-ditch effort to prevent them from being handed over.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office enforced a subpoena on Trump’s accounting firm within hours of the Supreme Court’s ruling on Monday and now has the documents in hand, a spokesperson for the office, Danny Frost, said Thursday.

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