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UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Wednesday that he will take a COVID-19 vaccine publicly when such a vaccine becomes available to him.

Asked whether he will take a vaccine and whether he will do it publicly given wariness among people toward vaccination, Guterres said: "I, of course, intend to receive the vaccine when it becomes available for me in whatever situation that will be justified for that. And obviously, I would have no doubt in doing it publicly."

He encouraged everybody to be vaccinated.

10 Dec 2020; MEMO:  In a vote held on Monday, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) called on Israel to "renounce possession of nuclear weapons," news agencies reported.

A resolution entitled "The Risk of Nuclear Proliferation in the Middle East" had 153 supporting votes against only 6 who did not support it, with 25 abstentions. The US, Israel's ally, was among the six countries that did not vote for the resolution.

NEW YORK (AP) — More Americans have been getting flu shots this year, apparently heeding the advice of health officials fearful of a flu and coronavirus double pandemic, public health officials said Wednesday.

But the flu vaccination rate for Black children is down, fueling worries that Black Americans may be turning away from shots.

“It’s certainly a point of concern,” said Dr. Ram Koppaka of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which posted new flu vaccination data Wednesday. “We’ll monitor this over the coming weeks very closely.”

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 09 (APP): United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Tuesday called for working collectively to end corruption and bribery, warning that the coronavirus crisis had created additional opportunities for this scourge.

In a message marking International Anti-Corruption Day, which is observed annually on Dec. 9, he said the development of vaccines for the virus and treatments added to the risk of bribery and profiteering.

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 09 (APP): Pakistan Mission to the United Nations Tuesday marked the International Day of Victims of Genocide by highlighting India’s mass atrocities in occupied Kashmir, with a call on the world community to take steps to stop New Delhi’s state terrorism and war crimes in the disputed territory.

“We urge the international community to stop impending genocide and ethnic cleansing in Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) which is aimed at converting the Muslim majority in IIOJK into a minority,” the mission said on its twitter account.

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 08 (APP): Pakistan has joined a key group launched at the United Nations to coordinate actions aimed at the elimination of violence against women and girls that has intensified since the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic.

Seventy-seven UN Member States and observers have already joined what is called the “Group of Friends”, which will meet on quarterly basis, according to the organizers. Some international and regional organizations as well as civil society groups have also expressed their interest to partake in this initiative.

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 08 (APP): United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for quick restoration of the rule of law and respect for human rights in Ethiopia’s restive Tigray region as well as reconciliation efforts and unimpeded humanitarian access.

(AP) --- New York City reopened classrooms to many of its youngest students Monday in what has become a frustrating, stop-and-start process in many school systems around the U.S. because of the alarming surge in the coronavirus.

The nation’s largest school district, with 1 million students, had shut down in-person learning just two weeks ago but decided to bring back preschoolers and elementary school children after parents pushed for it and the mayor concluded it was safe to do so with beefed-up testing.

NEW YORK, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- Global COVID-19 cases surpassed 67 million on Sunday, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

As of 10:45 p.m. Sunday (0345 GMT Monday), the global case count reached 67,027,780, with a total of 1,535,492 deaths worldwide, the CSSE data showed.

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 06 (APP): Scientists developing coronavirus vaccines have expressed optimism that by the end of next year, all people everywhere will have access to safe and effective treatments against a disease which has disrupted the entire world.

Principals from BioNTech and Oxford University – both pioneers in the COVID vaccine rollout participated in an online dialogue on the concluding day of the special session of the UN General Assembly devoted to the pandemic.