USA

NEW YORK, April 13 (NNN-Xinhua) — Global COVID-19 cases topped 500 million on Tuesday, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

The global case count amounted to 500,074,490, with 6,183,035 deaths worldwide showed the data.

The United States reported 80,456,912 cases and 986,019 deaths, both the highest counts around the world, accounting for more than 16 percent of the global cases and more than 16 percent of the global deaths.

UNITED NATIONS, April 13 (Reuters) - Poor countries face economic ruin from simultaneous crises of food, energy and finance due to supply disruptions caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday.

Russia is the world's top exporter of combined oil and gas, and Russia and Ukraine are both major producers of grain, together accounting for around a third of global exports. World commodity prices have hit records, hurting countries that rely on imports.

WASHINGTON, April 13 (Reuters) - The World Bank, International Monetary Fund, UN World Food Program and World Trade Organization on Wednesday called for urgent, coordinated action on food security, and appealed to countries to avoid banning food or fertilizer exports.

In a joint statement, the leaders of the four institutions warned that the war in Ukraine was adding to existing pressures from the COVID-19 crisis, climate change and increased fragility and conflict, threatening millions of people worldwide.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mentions of Donald Trump have been rare at the first few trials for people charged with storming the U.S. Capitol, but that has changed: The latest Capitol riot defendant to go on trial is blaming his actions on the former president and his false claims about a stolen election.

Dustin Byron Thompson, an Ohio man charged with stealing a coat rack from the Capitol, doesn’t deny that he joined the mob on Jan. 6, 2021. But his lawyer vowed Tuesday to show that Trump abused his power to “authorize” the attack.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California’s first-in-the-nation reparations task force meets in person Wednesday, the first time members have gathered face-to-face since their inaugural meeting nearly a year ago and mere weeks after the group voted to limit restitution to descendants of enslaved Black people.

SALADO, Texas (AP) — Nearly two dozen people were injured when tornadoes swept through central Texas as part of a storm system that was expected to spawn more twisters and damaging winds Wednesday.

The storms caused widespread damage Tuesday in Salado, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Austin. Bell County Judge David Blackburn said 23 people were injured, one of them critically. Twelve of the injured were taken to hospitals, Blackburn said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it is extending the nationwide mask requirement for public transit for 15 days as it monitors an uptick in COVID-19 cases.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it was extending the order, which was set to expire on April 18, until May 3 to allow more time to study the BA.2 omicron subvariant that is now responsible for the vast majority of cases in the U.S.

NEW YORK (AP) — A man sought in connection with an attack on a subway train in Brooklyn that left 10 people shot — and once again interrupted New York City’s long journey to post-pandemic normalcy — is now considered a suspect, Mayor Eric Adams said Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is warning that countries that undermine the sanctions the United States and its allies have imposed on Russia will face consequences for their actions.

“The unified coalition of sanctioning countries will not be indifferent to actions that undermine the sanctions we’ve put in place,” Yellen says in prepared remarks to be delivered at the Atlantic Council on Wednesday.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — One of the busiest trade ports on the U.S.-Mexico border remained effectively closed Wednesday as frustration and traffic snarls mounted over new orders by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott requiring extra inspections of commercial trucks as part of the Republican’s sprawling border security operation.