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UNITED NATIONS (AP) — After a resounding defeat in the U.N. Security Council, the United States is poised to call for the United Nations to reimpose sanctions on Iran under a rarely used diplomatic maneuver — a move that is likely to further isolate the Trump administration and may set off a credibility crisis for the United Nations.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations (UN) has been going all out to help the government-led response to the oil spill in the Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius, a UN spokesman said Monday.

The UN is "providing technical support on the impact assessment and environment protection, also focusing on affected communities," said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, at a regular noon briefing.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- The continuing heavy rains and floods have impacted nearly 220,000 people in 17 of Sudan's 18 states, a United Nations spokesman said Monday.

"More than 20,000 houses have been completely destroyed and an additional 20,000 more have been damaged," said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, at a regular noon briefing.

Some 2,000 water sources have now been contaminated or are non-functional, compromising access to clean water in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, he added.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- The damage toll in Lebanon following the Beirut blast is rising as the United Nations and partners continue their assessment, now reporting more than 290,000 people who have been left jobless, a UN spokesman said on Monday.

NEW YORK (AP) — Michelle Obama delivered a passionate broadside against President Donald Trump during Monday’s opening night of the Democratic National Convention, assailing the Republican president as unfit for the job and warning that the nation’s mounting crises would only get worse if he’s reelected.

The former first lady issued an emotional call to the coalition that sent her husband to the White House, declaring that strong feelings must be translated into votes.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 15 (APP): UN human rights experts Friday called on Afghanistan to take early decisive action to prevent killings of human rights defenders, while calling attention to a recent spate of such deaths.

“The killing of one human rights defender is a tragedy for society; the death of nine defenders since the beginning of this year shows the emergence of a truly alarming trend,” Mary Lawlor, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, said in a statement. “Already by August, Afghanistan has far exceeded last year’s figures.”

NEW YORK, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks posted modest gains in the week, as investors digested a slew of newly-released economic data while grappling with the uncertain fate of the further coronavirus stimulus in the country.

For the week ending Friday, the Dow gained 1.8 percent, the S&P 500 rose 0.6 percent and the Nasdaq was up 0.1 percent.

The S&P U.S. Listed China 50 index, which is designed to track the performance of the 50 largest Chinese companies listed on U.S. exchanges by total market cap, logged a weekly decline of 2.3 percent.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 15 (APP): UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that time was running out to prevent a decaying tanker stranded off the coast of Yemen from dumping its load of 1.1 million barrels of oil into the Red Sea.

UNITED NATIONS, August 15. /TASS/: Russia urges its partners in the UN Security Council to avoid further escalation of confrontation over the Iranian issue, Russia’s UN envoy Vasily Nebenzya said in a statement.

15 Aug 2020; MEMO: Time is running out to prevent a decaying tanker stranded off the coast of Yemen from dumping its load of 1.1 million barrels of oil into the Red Sea, the UN warned Friday, Anadolu Agency reported.