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UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. General Assembly on Friday approved the nomination of Costa Rican economist Rebecca Grynspan to head the U.N. agency promoting trade and development, the first woman and Central American to lead the Geneva-based organization.

She was nominated by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as secretary-general of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, known as UNCTAD. It supports developing countries in their efforts to benefit from the globalized economy and to deal with potential drawbacks from economic integration.

11 June 2021; MEMO: US prosecutors yesterday unveiled criminal charges in Manhattan accusing two Israeli traders of illegal trading in several biotechnology and healthcare companies in connection with a sprawling international insider trading scheme, Reuters reported.

Tomer Feingold and Dov Malnik were accused in a 15-count indictment of securities fraud, wire fraud, tender offer fraud, concealment of a money laundering scheme and conspiracy.

NEW YORK, Jun 10 (APP): The US military is mulling whether to authorize airstrikes in Afghanistan if Kabul or other cities are in danger of falling to the Taliban, The New York Times reported Thursday, citing senior American officials.

The officials told the newspaper that military officials are actively discussing how to respond to potential consequences following the withdrawal of US troops, slated to be completed by September.

(Reuters) --- The wife of Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, Emma Coronel Aispuro, is due to plead guilty on Thursday in Washington, where she has been accused of helping her husband run the Sinaloa cartel of smugglers, court records show.

It was not immediately clear what charges Coronel would plead guilty to in a virtual hearing at 10 a.m. ET (1400 GMT) before U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — A high-level U.N.-led committee that focuses on rapid responses to humanitarian crises estimates that some 350,000 people in Ethiopia’s embattled Tigray region are facing famine conditions, a U.N. official said late Wednesday.

The estimate was presented at a meeting on Monday of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, comprising 18 U.N. and non-U.N. organizations that is chaired by U.N. humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also attended, the official said.

NEW YORK (AP) — The Associated Press’ recent firing of a young reporter for what she said on Twitter has somewhat unexpectedly turned company and industry attention to the flip side of social media engagement — the online abuse that many journalists face routinely.

During internal meetings after the Arizona-based reporter, Emily Wilder, was let go, several journalists expressed concern over whether the AP would have the backs of employees under attack from the outside.

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 08 (APP): Pakistan has called for a global transition to clean energy, saying it is a lynchpin for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) designed to combat poverty, hunger, disease and illiteracy.

“Although we have made progress towards the achievement of SDG-7 in some areas, the overall effort still falls short of what is needed to meet the goals of the 2030 agenda and the Paris agreement on climate change,” Ambassador Munir Akram said at the launch of Global Tracking SDG-7: The Energy Progress Report.

UNITED NATIONS, June 7 (Xinhua) -- The foreign minister of the Maldives, Abdulla Shahid, was on Monday elected the president of the upcoming 76th session of the UN General Assembly.

He was elected by secret ballot in which he defeated his challenger, former Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul. Shahid won the support of 143 of the 191 UN member states present and voting. Rassoul won 48 votes. A candidate needs at least 96 votes to get elected.

UNITED NATIONS, June 6 (APP): The first-ever United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) special session against corruption has concluded after having adopted a sweeping Political Declaration with blueprints to help countries tackle bribery, money-laundering, abuse of power and a raft of related crimes

The landmark Political Declaration, titled “Our common commitment to effectively addressing challenges and implementing measures to prevent and combat corruption and strengthen international cooperation”, was passed unanimously.

UNITED NATIONS, June 5 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday strongly condemned the heinous attack by unidentified assailants on a village in the province of Yagha in the Sahel Region of Burkina Faso, which resulted in the killing of over 100 civilians, including seven children.