New York

NEW YORK (AP) — The federal government will, for the first time, dictate staffing levels at nursing homes, the Biden administration said Friday, responding to systemic problems bared by mass COVID-19 deaths.

While such regulation has been sought for decades by allies of older adults and those with disabilities, the proposed threshold is far lower than many advocates had hoped. It also immediately drew ire from the nursing home industry, which said it amounted to a mandate that couldn’t be met.

30 August 2023; MEMO: The spokesperson for the United Nations’ Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) yesterday criticised France’s decision to ban girls from wearing the abaya (black loose fitting dress) in schools.

On Sunday, French Education Minister Gabriel Attal told the local TF1 TV channel that wearing the abaya will no longer be allowed in schools.

31 August 2023; MEMO: The UN Security Council overwhelmingly voted, Thursday, to renew a peacekeeping mission in Lebanon for another year after a one-day delay in the vote.

The vote was initially to take place Wednesday but was pulled back to allow the French and US missions to negotiate language about peacekeepers’ freedom of movement. The Council voted 13-0 to reauthorise the mission, with permanent members Russia and China abstaining.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 31 (APP): Some of the world’s most iconic natural and cultural sites are also a haven for thousands of endangered species, the UN Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the world body’s Paris-based agency, said Thursday.

Although properties protected under the World Heritage Convention make up less than one per cent of the Earth’s surface, they harbour more than 20 per cent of the planet’s biodiversity, new research by UNESCO and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has revealed.

UNITED NATIONS, August 31. /TASS/: There is no sign of the Ukrainian conflict ending currently in sight, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said.

"Hope never ends, but I would of course be lying if I would say that I believe we are seeing in the immediate horizon a possibility of peace in Ukraine," he noted.

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump defended his real estate empire and his presidency in a face-to-face clash with the New York attorney general suing him for fraud, testifying at a closed-door grilling in April that his company is flush with cash — and claiming he saved “millions of lives” by deterring nuclear war when he was president.

NEW YORK, Aug 30 (APP): Muslim leaders Wednesday warmly welcomed as a “historic moment” New York City Mayor Eric Adams announcement that mosques in the city will be able to amplify the Azaan at Jumma prayers and at iftar time during the holy month of Ramadan.

“We are eliminating bureaucracy and we are saying clearly that if you are at any service or place of worship, you do not need to apply for a permit to announce the Friday prayer call to prayer louder,” Adams said at a press conference in the presence of leaders of Muslim leaders.

NEW YORK, August 30. /TASS/: Western countries can no longer afford to integrate Ukraine into NATO, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in an interview with Tucker Carlson.

Aug 30 (Reuters) - Pediatricians and parents are calling for the U.S. to treat new high-caffeine energy drinks like alcohol and cigarettes and ban their sale to minors as a single serving can contain as much caffeine as six Coca-Colas.

NEW YORK (AP) — The Biden administration will propose a new rule Wednesday that would make 3.6 million more U.S. workers eligible for overtime pay, reviving an Obama-era policy effort that was ultimately scuttled in court.