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UNITED NATIONS, Mar 19 (APP): UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has named Swiss humanitarian relief expert Philippe Lazzarini as the next commissioner-general of UNRWA, the UN agency entrusted to care for Palestinian refugees, which has been in a financial crisis financial crisis following the cutoff of U.S. funding.

Guterres had recommended Lazzarini to lead the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) earlier this month.

The agency’s headquarters are divided between the Gaza Strip and Amman.

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 19 (APP): The economic and labour crisis created by the coronavirus pandemic could destroy up to 25 million jobs around the world if governments do not act fast to shield workers from the impact, the International Labour Organization (ILO), a UN agency, said in a new assessment.

“However, if we see an internationally coordinated policy response, as happened in the global financial crisis of 2008-9, then the impact on global unemployment could be significantly lower,” ILO, which is based in Geneva, said.

NEW YORK (AP) — Harvey Weinstein was transferred to a state prison in New York on Wednesday as he begins to serve a 23-year sentence for rape and sexual assault in his landmark #MeToo case.

The disgraced film mogul, who will turn 68 on Thursday, is locked up at the maximum security Wende Correctional Facility near Buffalo, according to state prison officials. He is known behind bars as inmate No. 20B0584.

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 18 (APP): With attention focused on efforts to combat the deadly coronavirus pandemic, a senior United Nations humanitarian official has reminded the international community that millions of vulnerable people are still relying on U.N.’s life-saving assistance to survive.

Jens Laerke, Deputy Spokesperson at the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Wednesday said in Geneva that some of the countries affected by the coronavirus pandemic are already in humanitarian crisis — due to conflicts, natural disasters and climate change.

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 16 (APP): China’s experience in containing the spread of the new coronavirus could serve as a lesson for other countries now facing the pandemic, a senior official with the World Health Organization (WHO) has said.

While more than 153,00 cases of the respiratory illness have been recorded globally as of Sunday, it is on the decline in China, demonstrating that the course of the outbreak there has been altered, WHO Representative in China, Dr. Gauden Galea, told UN’s news service.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Rates to store oil at one of the world’s biggest trading hubs are surging, as traders globally scramble to secure space in tanks to cope with slumping demand from the coronavirus outbreak and a flood of supply from the Saudi-Russia price war.

The need for a place to park all that surplus crude is breathing new life into the market at Cushing, Oklahoma, the nation’s hub for trading of billions of dollars of crude a day and the town that bills itself “the pipeline crossroads of the world.”

NEW YORK, March 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US airports have been thrown into chaos as new coronavirus health screening measures for people returning from Europe come into force.

Long queues formed as travellers waited for hours for the screenings before passing through customs.

The US is banning the entry of people travelling from the UK and Ireland from midnight on Monday (04:00 GMT Tuesday).

As a result, the UK Foreign Office is now advising against all but essential travel to the whole of the US.

New York, Mar 16 (PTI) New York officials have announced the closure of city's public schools, the largest public school system in the nation, beginning Monday till at least April 20 and ordered all restaurants to limit to food takeaway only, as the city responded with "wartime mentality" to combat the fast-spreading deadly coronavirus.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Sunday announced that he has made the "painful decision" to suspend classes in all NYC public schools, beginning March 16. There are now 329 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in New York City and 5 fatalities.

UNITED NATIONS, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Some 4.8 million children have been born in Syria since the conflict began nine years ago. An additional 1 million have been born as refugees in neighboring countries. They continue to face the devastating consequences of a brutal war, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said Sunday.

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 13 (APP): UN agencies have underscored their commitment to continue supporting civilians hit by the war in Syria, which this month enters its tenth year.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a statement Thursday evening, declaring that “we cannot allow the tenth year to result in the same carnage, the same flouting of human rights and international humanitarian law.”

The UN chief highlighted the need for a peaceful solution to the crisis in a message posted on his Twitter account.