New York

USA: UN Security Council members call for Houthis to stop attacks on shipping

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Members of the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday called on Yemen's Houthis to halt their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, saying they are illegal and threaten regional stability, freedom of navigation and global food supplies.

Addressing the council's first formal meeting of 2024, members also demanded that the Houthis release the Galaxy Leader, a Japanese-operated cargo ship linked to an Israeli company, and its crew, which the group seized on Nov. 19.

USA: Police are seeking a motive in a fiery fatal crash in New York. No link to terrorism has been found

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — A man who died after crashing an SUV loaded with gas cans outside an upstate New York concert venue appeared to have been aiming at a pedestrian crossing, but investigators have found no evidence that the crash that killed two ride-hail passengers early on New Year’s Day was terror-related, police said Tuesday.

Russia requests UNSC meeting on attack on Belgorod later on Saturday

UNITED NATIONS, December 30. /TASS/: Russia has requested an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council later on Saturday following Ukraine’s shelling attack on Belgorod, Russian First Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Dmitry Polyansky said.

"We have requested an UNSC meeting on Belgorod at 3:00 p.m. New York time (8:00 p.m. GMT) today, December 30. We also demanded that the Czech permanent representative be present to explain his country’s supplies of weapons, which are used to kill civilians," he wrote on his Telegram channel.

USA: Prosecutors say there’s no need for a second trial of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried

NEW YORK (AP) — A second trial of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried on charges not in the cryptocurrency fraud case presented to a jury that convicted him in November is not necessary, prosecutors told a judge Friday.

Prosecutors told U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan in a letter that evidence at a second trial would duplicate evidence already shown to a jury. They also said it would ignore the “strong public interest in a prompt resolution” of the case, particularly because victims would not benefit from forfeiture or restitution orders if sentencing is delayed.

USA: Judge rejects Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez’s request to delay his May bribery trial for two months

NEW YORK (AP) — The New York federal judge scheduled to preside over the bribery trial of U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez rejected on Thursday a defense request to delay the start of jury selection from May to July.

Judge Sidney H. Stein’s order leaves in place a May 5 trial date in Manhattan for the New Jersey Democrat, who faces trial along with his wife and three New Jersey businessmen.

UN chief appoints Sigrid Kaag as senior humanitarian coordinator for Gaza

UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday appointed Sigrid Kaag of the Netherlands as the senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza.

Kaag will facilitate, coordinate, monitor and verify aid consignments to the embattled enclave, in line with a recent UN Security Council resolution. She will also establish a UN mechanism to accelerate humanitarian relief shipments through states that are not party to the conflict.

Kaag is expected to take up the assignment on Jan. 8.

USA: As social media guardrails fade and AI deepfakes go mainstream, experts warn of impact on elections

NEW YORK (AP) — Nearly three years after rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol, the false election conspiracy theories that drove the violent attack remain prevalent on social media and cable news: suitcases filled with ballots, late-night ballot dumps, dead people voting.

Experts warn it will likely be worse in the coming presidential election contest. The safeguards that attempted to counter the bogus claims the last time are eroding, while the tools and systems that create and spread them are only getting stronger.

USA: Trump says he’s eager to debate Biden in 2024, even if controversial commission plans events

NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump says he is eager to debate President Joe Biden, even if the debates are sponsored by the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates. And he says he is open to debating a single Republican rival if a serious challenger emerges after the New Hampshire primary.

Trump, who has skipped all of the primary debates so far citing his commanding lead in the polls, was asked if he will debate Biden if named his party’s nominee during an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt Friday.

UN Security Council acts to boost aid to Gaza after US abstains

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 22 (Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council on Friday approved a toned-down bid to boost humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and called for urgent steps "to create the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities" after a week of vote delays and intense negotiations to avoid a veto by the United States.

UN again delays vote on watered-down Gaza aid resolution. The US backs it, others want stronger text

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council on Thursday again delayed a vote on a watered-down resolution to deliver desperately needed aid to Gaza — a revision backed by the United States, while other countries support a stronger text that would include the now eliminated call for the urgent suspension of hostilities between Israel and Hamas.

Subscribe to New York