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NEW YORK (AP) — The United States on Wednesday dropped a high-profile drug trafficking and money laundering case against a former Mexican defense secretary, an extraordinary reversal that followed an intense pressure campaign from Mexico.

The full scope of Mexico’s pressure was not clear and officials were vague about what led them to drop charges in a case they celebrated as a major breakthrough just last month, when federal agents nabbed retired Gen. Salvador Cienfuegos in Los Angeles.

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 17 (APP): A UN-backed fund, launched on Tuesday, is set to take on the centuries-old crisis centered around sanitation, hygiene and menstrual health, which now impacts more than four billion people across the world.

Speaking, via a video message, at the launch of the Fund, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed described safe sanitation and hygiene as “critical to the response that we want to see, first, because it is about human dignity; second, it is a health issue.”

New York, Nov 18 (AP-PTI) Looking for toilet paper? Good luck. A surge of new coronavirus cases in the U.S. is sending people back to stores to stockpile again, leaving shelves bare and forcing retailers to put limits on purchases.

Walmart said Tuesday it's having trouble keeping up with demand for cleaning supplies in some stores. Supermarket chains Kroger and Publix are limiting how much toilet paper and paper towels shoppers can buy after demand spiked recently. And Amazon is sold out of most disinfectant wipes and paper towels.

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday called on the Group of 20 (G20) countries to fill the financing gap of 28 billion U.S. dollars needed to fund the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-Accelerator) and its COVAX facility.

In a letter to G20 leaders before they meet on Nov. 21, the UN secretary-general said that "as we tackle this unprecedented pandemic, the world needs unprecedented leadership that is united in its quest to respond to the crisis and recover better."

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday urged governments worldwide to increase digital connectivity in their COVID-19 pandemic response and recovery plans.

"I urge all governments to make sure that your response and recovery plans include increasing digital connectivity in a way that is affordable, safe and inclusive," the UN chief said in his video message to the closing of the 2020 Internet Governance Forum (IGF).

NEW YORK (AP) — Now at Amazon.com: insulin and inhalers.

The retail colossus opened an online pharmacy Tuesday that allows customers to order medication or prescription refills, and have them delivered to their front door in a couple of days.

The potential impact of Amazon’s arrival in the pharmaceutical space rippled through that sector immediately. The stocks of CVS Health Corp., Walgreens and Rite Aid all tumbled Tuesday.

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 17 (APP): Pakistan has reaffirmed its opposition to adding new permanent members in an enlarged UN Security Council, saying that one of the aspirants — India — does not even qualify for a seat on the 15-member body, citing New Delhi’s violations of its resolutions on Kashmir.

16 Nov 2020; MEMO: UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov, yesterday expressed his concerns about Israel accepting bids for building new settlement units between Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.

In a statement, Mladenov said: "I am very concerned by the decision of the Israeli authorities yesterday to open the bidding process for the construction of Givat Hamatos."

NEW YORK, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo on Sunday once again criticized the Donald Trump administration's vaccine distribution plan, saying its inequities will hurt the country and its people.

NEW YORK, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Saturday that COVID-19 vaccines are created by drug companies, not by U.S. president and the government, targeting President Donald Trump's latest tweet saying that "the Trump Administration has produced a great and safe VACCINE far ahead of schedule."

"The president made some comments yesterday and was tweeting today. The president says he created the vaccine -- that is not a fact. There is still something called reality and truth," the governor was quoted as saying in an official press release.