New York

NEW YORK, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The number of COVID-19 cases in the United States reached 401,166 as of 12:20 local time on Wednesday (1620 GMT), according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

A total of 12,936 deaths were reported in the nation, according to the CSSE.

The state of New York recorded 140,386 cases and 5,489 fatalities. In New York City alone, 76,879 cases and 4,009 deaths have been reported, the CSSE data showed.

NEW YORK (AP) — First, it was the media that was at fault. Then, Democratic governors came under fire. China, President Barack Obama and federal watchdogs have all had a turn in the crosshairs. And now it’s the World Health Organization that’s to blame.

President Donald Trump is falling back on a familiar political strategy as he grapples with the coronavirus pandemic: deflect, deny and direct blame elsewhere.

NEW YORK (AP) — Even as coronavirus deaths mount across Europe and New York, the U.S. and other countries are starting to contemplate an exit strategy and thinking about a staggered and carefully calibrated easing of restrictions designed to curb the scourge.

“To end the confinement, we’re not going to go from black to white; we’re going to go from black to gray,” top French epidemiologist Jean-François Delfraissy said in a radio interview.

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 8 (APP): A spokesman of the Chinese Mission to the UN has rejected Indian media reports that China, during its presidency of the Security Council in March, had ignored Pakistan’s call for urgent consideration of the situation in Indian occupied Kashmir at the 15-member body, saying Beijing’s position on the decades-old dispute remains unchanged.

“The question of Kashmir remains high on the Council’s agenda,” the spokesman said in a statement on Tuesday.

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 08 (APP): UN human rights experts have appealed to States to boost child protection measures for safeguarding the welfare of millions of children worldwide who may be more exposed to violence, sale, trafficking, sexual abuse and exploitation during the coronavirus pandemic.

UNITED NATIONS, April 7 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has suspended until June 30 the rotation and deployments of uniformed personnel, including individual officers and already-formed, police and military peacekeeping units, because of the novel coronavirus, his spokesman Stephane Dujarric, said on Tuesday.

NEW YORK (AP) — New York state reported 731 new COVID-19 deaths Tuesday, its biggest jump since the start of the outbreak, dampening some of the cautious optimism officials have expressed about efforts to stop the spread of the virus.

The state’s death toll grew to 5,489.

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City’s death toll from the coronavirus rose past 4,000 on Tuesday, eclipsing the number killed at the World Trade Center on 9/11. In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson lay in intensive care, believed to be the first major world leader hospitalized with the virus.

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 7 (APP): UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Monday called for a “very close look” at the continued incarceration of Kashmiris prisoners in Indian occupied Kashmir amid growing cases of the deadly coronavirus, as six leading international human rights organizations jointly demanded their immediate release.

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 07 (APP): The World Health Organization (WHO) and Global Citizen, a prominent advocacy group, have announced ‘One World: Together At Home’, a concert designed to celebrate medical workers around the world who are fighting the deadly coronavirus pandemic.