New York

(AP) --- Take the New York metropolitan area’s progress against the coronavirus out of the equation and the numbers show the rest of the U.S. is moving in the wrong direction, with the known infection rate rising even as states move to lift their lockdowns, an Associated Press analysis found Tuesday.

UNITED NATIONS, May 05 (APP): An estimated 19 million children more than ever before were living in displacement within their own countries due to conflict and violence in 2019 some of them for years, UNICEF said in a new report.

The report, ‘Lost at Home’, looks at the risks and challenges internally displaced children face, and the urgent actions needed to protect them. As coronavirus continues to spread around the world, these children are among the most vulnerable to its direct and indirect impacts, the UN children agency said.

5 May 2020; AFP: The global death toll from the coronavirus pandemic topped a quarter of a million on Tuesday, with the US government predicting a further surge in fatalities as an international vaccine drive garnered $8 billion in pledges.

The dire forecast from the United States came as much of the Western world emerged from weeks of lockdown, with hopes that the disease may have peaked in Europe, where deaths in the worst affected countries have dropped after nearly two months of confinement.

UNITED NATIONS, May 4 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council on Monday expressed concerns over recent incidents on the Israel-Lebanon border, which is being monitored by the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

In "press elements" released after closed consultations, the members of the council expressed their deep concern following the recent incidents, which occurred across the Blue Line and in UNIFIL's area of operations, as well as all the violations of Security Council Resolution 1701, including by land and air.

NEW YORK, May 3 (Xinhua) -- Global confirmed COVID-19 cases topped 3.5 million on Sunday, reaching 3,502,126 as of 7 p.m. (2300 GMT), according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

A total of 247,107 people worldwide have died of the disease, according to the CSSE.

The United States, which remains the hardest-hit, reported 1,156,924 cases and 67,498 deaths. Spain and Italy followed with 217,466 cases and 210,717 cases, respectively. Other countries with over 150,000 cases included the United Kingdom, France and Germany. 

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — When financial markets collapsed and the world faced its last great crisis in 2008, major powers worked together to restore the global economy, but the COVID-19 pandemic has been striking for the opposite response: no leader, no united action to stop the spread of the new coronavirus, which has killed over 200,000 people.

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City police officer who was caught on video Saturday pointing a stun gun at a man and violently taking him to the ground over an alleged social distancing violation has been stripped of his gun and badge and placed on desk duty pending an internal investigation.

Bystander video showed the plainclothes officer, who was not wearing a protective face mask, slapping 33-year-old Donni Wright in the face, punching him in the shoulder and dragging him to a sidewalk after leveling him in a crosswalk in Manhattan’s East Village.

NEW YORK (AP) — Faced with 20,000 coronavirus deaths and counting, the nation’s nursing homes are pushing back against a potential flood of lawsuits with a sweeping lobbying effort to get states to grant them emergency protection from claims of inadequate care.

NEW YORK, May 3 (NNN-XINHUA) – A more aggressive stand adopted by some top U.S. administration officials against China on economic, diplomatic and scientific issues, at the heart of the relationship between the world’s first and second largest economies may backfire, reported The New York Times on Saturday.

UNITED NATIONS, May 02 (APP): UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for greater protection of journalists who are providing the “antidote” to what he has characterized as a pandemic of misinformation surrounding the coronavirus crisis.

The UN chief made the appeal in a video message for World Press Freedom Day, which will be observed on Sunday, in which he underscored the crucial role media has in helping people make informed decisions.

He added that under the current circumstances, those decisions can make the difference between life and death.