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UNITED NATIONS, Aug 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Britain will raise a deadly tanker attack off the coast of Oman during a closed-door United Nations Security Council meeting on Friday (Aug 6), diplomats said, but the 15-member body is not expected to take any action.

Britain told the Security Council on Tuesday it was “highly likely” that Iran used one or more drones to carry out the tanker attack last week, which killed two crew members – a Briton and a Romanian.

NEW YORK, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- Across the United States, state governments and businesses are starting to shift from the carrot to the stick to boost coronavirus vaccinations, as daily new cases remain above 100,000 for days and deaths over 400, reported The Washington Post on Friday.

"Cities and states -- many of which have previously focused on incentives for shots ranging from free beer to scholarships and multimillion-dollar lotteries -- are now boosting requirements or threatening consequences," said the report.

05 Aug 2021; MEMO: Britain will discuss a deadly tanker attack off the coast of Oman during a closed-door United Nations Security Council meeting on Friday, diplomats said, but the 15-member body is not expected to take any action, reports Reuters.

Britain told the Security Council on Tuesday it was "highly likely" that Iran used one or more drones to carry out the tanker attack last week, which killed two crew members – a Briton and a Romanian.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 05 (APP): The United Nations is ‘deeply concerned’ about the safety and protection of tens of thousands of people in Lashkar Gah, capital of Afghanistan’s Helmand province, who could be trapped by fighting between government forces and the Taliban, according to a U.N. spokesman.

Taliban fighters have moved in on three provincial capitals in the last few days and seized territory nationwide since U.S. said it planned a complete withdrawal of troops by September.

NEW YORK, Aug 05 (APP): Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Munir Akram, said on Thursday that a settlement of the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions was a “pre-requisite” to establish sustainable peace between India and Pakistan, and to avoid another conflict in South Asia.

NEW YORK, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- Global COVID-19 cases surpassed 200 million on Wednesday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The global case count amounted to 200,014,602, with 4,252,873 deaths worldwide, as of 3:21 p.m. local time (1921 GMT), showed the data.

The United States reported 35,292,721 cases and 614,666 deaths, both the highest counts around the world, accounting for nearly 18 percent of the global cases and nearly 15 percent of the global deaths.

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. nursing home industry’s resistance to forcing workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19 for fear that too many of them might quit began to crack this week when its biggest player announced its employees must get the shot to keep their jobs.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A majority of state Assembly members support beginning impeachment proceedings against Gov. Andrew Cuomo if he doesn’t resign over investigative findings that he sexually harassed at least 11 women, according to an Associated Press count Wednesday.

At least 86 of the body’s 150 members have said publicly or told The AP that they favored initiating the process of ousting the third-term Democratic governor if he doesn’t quit. It takes a simple majority to authorize an impeachment trial.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 04 (APP): As the coronavirus crisis continues to exacerbate restrictions on government spending throughout the world, the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, has welcomed the decision by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to approve a $650 billion allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) to “boost liquidity”.

The UN chief issued a statement Tuesday on the policy change towards SDRs, a type of foreign reserve asset that are IMF defined and maintained, as additional funding that could help to pay down debts.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says in a new report that the threat to international peace and security from the Islamic State extremist group is rising, pointing to an “alarming” expansion of its affiliates in Africa and its focus on a comeback in its former self-declared “caliphate” in Syria and Iraq.

The report to the U.N. Security Council, which was circulated Tuesday, said IS and other terrorist groups have taken advantage of “the disruption, grievances and development setbacks” caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, both on the ground and online.