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31 May 2020; AFP: For nearly a decade, the UN Security Council has been frequently paralyzed by Russia's obstinacy over the Syrian crisis. Today, however, it is the US-China rivalry that has infected a growing array of issues, according to officials and diplomats.

As recently as 2017, an understanding between Washington and Beijing allowed the United Nations on three occasions -- involving separate sets of economic sanctions -- to project international unity in the face of the North Korean nuclear threat.

NEW YORK, May 31 (NNN-XINHUA) – Protests over Minnesota black man, George Floyd’s death turned violent in New York City, with around 200 protesters arrested, local media said.

Tensions flared after a generally peaceful demonstration on Friday afternoon. In the borough of Brooklyn, people clashed with officers and a police van was set on fire with some other vans vandalised. In another location, protesters threw water bottles at police.

Some 200 arrests were made, mostly with minor charges. Some officers were injured, The New York Times reported.

UNITED NATIONS, May 29. /TASS/: The majority of states members of the UN Security Council (UNSC) did not support an attempt by the United States and the United Kingdom to discuss the Hong Kong national security bill, First Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN Dmitry Polyansky said.

UNITED NATIONS, May 30 (NNN-XINHUA) – Zhang Jun, China’s permanent representative to the United Nations, urged the United States and the United Kingdom (UK), to immediately stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs, immediately stop practices of hegemony and power politics, and mind their own business, rather than provoking tensions and making troubles everywhere.

Zhang refuted the fallacy on Hong Kong made by the United States, Britain, and some other countries, saying, China opposes and completely rejects the baseless remarks made by the U.S. and Britain.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. health officials removed some coronavirus reopening tips for religious organizations only hours after posting them late last week, deleting guidance that discouraged choir gatherings and the use of shared communion cups.

A federal health official on Friday said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted a version of the guidance on May 22 that had not been cleared by White House officials. It was replaced the next day, said the official, who was not authorized to discuss the matter and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

NEW YORK (AP) — Following the arrest of a CNN crew on live television by police on Friday, an apologetic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz promised that journalists would not be interfered with in reporting on violent protests following the death of George Floyd.

CNN correspondent Omar Jimenez and two colleagues were released within an hour after network chief executive Jeff Zucker called Walz to demand answers about why they were led away and held in a police van.

“We have got to ensure that there is a safe spot for journalism to tell this story,” Walz said.

UNITED NATIONS, May 29 (APP): The coronavirus pandemic has created a ‘lockdown generation’ by forcing more than one in six people under the age of 29 to stop working, the International Labour Organization (ILO), a Geneva-based UN agency, has warned.

The agency said the COVID-19 crisis has disproportionately affected young people and could impact upon their work opportunities and career options for decades to come.

NEW YORK, May 28 (Xinhua) -- The number of COVID-19 cases in the United States topped 1.7 million on Thursday, reaching 1,700,350 as of 9:32 a.m. (1332 GMT), according to a tally kept by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

Meanwhile, the total deaths nationwide, which passed 100,000 on Wednesday, reached 100,467, according to the tally.

New York remains the hardest-hit state with 364,965 cases and 29,484 fatalities. Other states with over 100,000 cases include New Jersey, Illinois, and California, the CSSE data showed.

UNITED NATIONS, May 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States and Britain have called for the UN Security Council to meet Friday to discuss a controversial security law that China plans to impose on Hong Kong, diplomatic sources said.

The subject will be considered in an informal, closed-door videoconference in a format that allows any member to raise various issues and which China cannot in principle oppose, according to the same sources.

On Wednesday, Beijing had refused to allow a formal Security Council meeting called by Washington on the same subject to proceed.

UNITED NATIONS, May 29 (NNN-UPI) — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday called for countries throughout the world to work to take action in six areas to limit the financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, reported United Press International (UPI).