USA

SAN JUAN, Jan 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A statue of Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon was toppled early Monday in Puerto Rico’s capital San Juan, just hours before a visit to the Caribbean island by Spain’s King Felipe VI.

“Some individuals approached the statue,” located in a square in the historic center of San Juan, and “caused damage,” according to a police report quoted by local media.

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Afghanistan is "hanging by a thread," United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council on Wednesday, calling for countries to authorize all transactions needed to carry out humanitarian activities in the Taliban-ruled state.

WASHINGTON, Jan 26 (Reuters) - The United States on Wednesday issued a business advisory for Myanmar, warning of heightened risks associated with doing business in the country especially when the military is involved, nearly a year after a the army took power in a coup.

The advisory warned that businesses should be wary of illicit finance risks as well as reputational and legal risks of doing business and utlizing supply chains under Myanmar military control.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden reiterated Tuesday that there is no intention in his administration or within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to send troops into Ukraine, but that Russia will face serious economic consequences if it invades the former Soviet republic.

UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday that military coups are not acceptable in the 21st century while speaking briefly about the military coup that occurred in the West African country of Burkina Faso the day before.

"Democratic societies are a value that must be preserved. Military coups are unacceptable in the 21st century," the UN chief told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York.

NEW YORK (AP) — The COVID-19 booster drive in the U.S. is losing steam, worrying health experts who have pleaded with Americans to get an extra shot to shore up their protection against the highly contagious omicron variant.

Just 40% of fully vaccinated Americans have received a booster dose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And the average number of booster shots dispensed per day in the U.S. has plummeted from a peak of 1 million in early December to about 490,000 as of last week.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Tuesday she will seek reelection, ending speculation that she would retire as Democrats face the threat of losing control of Congress in the 2022 midterms.

“While we have made progress, much more needs to be done to improve people’s lives,” the 81-year-old Pelosi said in an online video.

“This election is crucial. Nothing less is at stake than our democracy,” she added.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has already narrowed the field for his first Supreme Court pick.

Biden said as a presidential candidate that if he were given the chance to nominate someone to the court, he would make history by choosing a Black woman. And word on Wednesday that Justice Stephen Breyer plans to retire should give Biden that opportunity.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A paramedic who treated George Floyd on the day he was killed testified Wednesday at the federal civil rights trial of three former Minneapolis police officers that he wasn’t told Floyd wasn’t breathing and had no pulse when officers upgraded the urgency of an ambulance call.

Derek Smith said that after he arrived on May 25, 2020, he could not find a pulse in Floyd’s neck and that the Black man’s pupils were large, indicating that “the patient was probably deceased.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve will signal Wednesday when and how fast it plans to raise interest rates to help tame inflation that is squeezing family budgets.

Stock prices have fallen since the start of the year, partly in anticipation of Fed rate hikes, which would make borrowing more expensive and potentially slow the economy and reduce corporate profits.