New York

NEW YORK, Nov 23 (NNN-XINHUA) – While COVID-19 cases continue to rise nationwide in the United States, debates over the Joe Biden administration’s vaccination mandate continue, painting a bleak picture, as the Americans prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving this week.

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- The impact report of the Spotlight Initiative, the world's largest targeted effort to end all forms of violence against women and girls, was released Friday at the United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York.

Despite COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions, some 650,000 women and girls were provided with gender-based violence services through this joint UN and European Union (EU) program working to stamp out what is arguably one of the most prevalent human rights violations.

NEW YORK, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday endorsed booster doses of Pfizer/BioNTech's and Moderna's COVID-19 vaccines for all U.S. adults.

"CDC continues to encourage the 47 million adults who are not yet vaccinated to get vaccinated as soon as possible to protect themselves, their families, loved ones and communities," the CDC said in a statement.

19 Nov 2021; MEMO: The UN General Assembly yesterday adopted a resolution acknowledging that $856.4 million in damage was caused by an oil slick in 2006 and calling for Israel to assume responsibility by compensating its northern neighbour and Syria.

19 Nov 2021; MEMO: Some 157 UN member states yesterday voted in favor of a resolution affirming Palestinian sovereignty over their natural resources.

Seven countries – Canada, Israel, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and the United States – voted against the motion, with 14 abstentions.

NEW YORK, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- A growing number of U.S. governors from both political parties and other officials are circumventing a federal guidance to offer boosters to anyone over 18 in hopes of staving off a spike in cases over the holidays, while the Joe Biden administration is purchasing more vaccines and pills in preparation for future pandemics, especially a potential surge of the coronavirus this winter.

17 Nov 2021; MEMO: The US Ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, met Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz on Tuesday and urged him to stop settlement activities. Thomas-Greenfield also pledged to replenish the occupation state's Iron Dome missile defence system. "We will support Israel's ability to defend itself," the Times of Israel reported her as saying.

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Security Council on Monday extended the mandate of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) until Dec. 15, 2021.

Unanimously adopting Resolution 2606 and acting under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, the council reaffirmed all previous resolutions and presidential statements concerning the situation in Abyei and along the border between Sudan and South Sudan, underlining the importance of full compliance with and implementation of these.

NEW YORK, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- As the cold days set in, the United States is again seeing a surge of COVID-19 cases, though deaths and hospitalizations trend lower, while the federal government's vaccine mandate consistently faces legal challenges and sectoral resistence.

According to The New York Times, the seven-day average of confirmed cases of the pandemic stood at 80,885 nationwide on Sunday, with its 14-day change striking an 11-percent rise. COVID-19-related deaths were 1,133 on Sunday, with the 14-day change realizing a 16-percent fall.

NEW YORK, Nov 15 (APP): The US military covered up a series of airstrikes in 2019 that killed dozens of Syrian civilians during the campaign against supposed Da’esh targets, according to a report in The New York Times.

The strikes in Baghuz, in Syria’s east, targeted a group of women and children huddled by a river, that had been identified as such by Air Force personnel monitoring the area. The report said personnel were shocked by the bombings and it was not immediately clear who had ordered them.