New York

NEW YORK, Jan 20 (APP): The outgoing US President, Donald Trump, is considering the possibility of launching a new political party as his White House tenure draws to a close, according to a media report.

Trump discussed the possibility with associates in recent days, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing “people familiar with the matter.”

The party would be named the Patriot Party.

UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- UN humanitarian access to Ethiopia's conflict-stricken Tigray region still faces obstacles, said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Tuesday.

Although movements of humanitarian cargo inside Tigray are improving substantially, critical staff deployment and surge requests submitted to the federal government of Ethiopia have been pending clearance for several weeks, said OCHA.

NEW YORK (AP) — A U.S. Army soldier was arrested Tuesday in Georgia on terrorism charges after he spoke online about plots to blow up New York City’s 9/11 Memorial and other landmarks and attack U.S. soldiers in the Middle East, authorities said.

Cole James Bridges of Stow, Ohio, was in custody on charges of attempted material support of a terrorist organization — the Islamic State group — and attempted murder of a military member, said Nicholas Biase, a spokesperson for Manhattan federal prosecutors.

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 19 (NNN-WAFA) – UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, yesterday expressed his deep concern, over Israel’s decision to advance plans for some 800 settlement units, most of which are located deep inside the occupied West Bank.

Guterres reiterated that Israel’s establishment of settlements in the Palestinian territory, occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation of international law, said Guterres’ spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric.

NEW YORK, Jan 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Representatives of fuel suppliers to Venezuela, importers of Venezuelan oil and advocacy groups said this month they plan to press the incoming administration of US President-elect Joe Biden to reverse a ban on crude-for-diesel swaps.

That has prompted concerns about the humanitarian impact of a possible deficit of diesel, widely used in Venezuelan public transportation, agriculture, and as fuel for generators used as a backstop for frequent blackouts. Farmers are already warning that shortages are impeding sugar harvesting and rice planting.

NEW YORK (AP) — Coronavirus deaths are rising in nearly two-thirds of American states as a winter surge pushes the overall toll toward 400,000 amid warnings that a new, highly contagious variant is taking hold.

As Americans observed a national holiday Monday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo pleaded with federal authorities to curtail travel from countries where new variants are spreading.

18 Jan 2021; MEMO: Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) Antonio Guterres has welcomed a presidential decree issued by Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas to hold the Palestinian elections.

NEW YORK, Jan 18 (APP): A prominent Kashmiri leader has urged UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to use his influence with the Indian government to release, on humanitarian grounds, Muhammad Yasin Malik, chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), who is currently languishing in New Delhi’s Tihar jail.

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration notified Huawei suppliers, including chipmaker Intel, that it is revoking certain licenses to sell to the Chinese company and intends to reject dozens of other applications to supply the telecommunications firm, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The action - likely the last against Huawei Technologies under Republican President Donald Trump - is the latest in a long-running effort to weaken the world’s largest telecommunications equipment maker, which Washington sees as a national security threat.

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 17 (APP): A new report from the UN’s air transportation agency says international air travel has dramatically fallen due to the coronavirus pandemic by around 60 per cent over the course of last year, to levels last seen in 2003.

The Montreal–based International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) said on Friday, that as seating capacity fell by around 50 per cent last year, that left just 1.8 billion passengers taking flights through 2020, compared with around 4.5 billion in 2019.