USA

WASHINGTON, Jan 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court, which has restricted its own operations during the COVID-19 pandemic, is preparing to decide whether to block President Joe Biden's vaccine mandates for large businesses and healthcare workers in a test of presidential powers to address an unyielding public health crisis.

WASHINGTON, Jan 5 (Reuters) - U.S. Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Jeffrey Feltman will step down from his post this month after more than nine months in the job, and David Satterfield, the outgoing U.S. ambassador to Turkey, will take up the role, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.

UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- Albania, Brazil, Gabon, Ghana and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Tuesday began to assume responsibilities as non-permanent members of the Security Council.

Their two-year term officially started on Jan. 1. But Tuesday is the first working day of the council for 2022 after the Christmas and New Year break.

A flag installation ceremony was held to mark the start of their responsibilities.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- A year after the Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, the U.S. democracy remains perilously fragile, American newspaper The Hill commented on Monday.

In 2020, the integrity of a U.S. presidential election was seriously questioned for the first time since 1876, said the commentary.

"If an election result can be invalidated, either by legal chicanery or force of arms, the United States will no longer be a democracy," it said.

NEW YORK, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- As the United States sees new records of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations with the surge of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, large parts of the country are increasingly intimidated by the virus and schools are caught in a predicament.

ALARMING FIGURES

More than 103,000 Americans were hospitalized with COVID-19 on Monday, according to official data, the highest number since late summer when the Delta variant of the coronavirus triggered a nationwide surge in cases.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a display of unity, the Biden administration and its European allies are beginning a series of meetings aimed at showing Russia that an invasion of Ukraine would be met with a forceful response.

Using virtually identical language, the U.S. and its European allies have several times in the past month issued joint and individual messages advising Russian President Vladimir Putin that his country will face “massive consequences” and “severe costs” if he goes ahead with further military intervention in Ukraine.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Long after most other lawmakers had been rushed to safety, they were on the hard marble floor, ducking for cover.

Trapped in the gallery of the House, occupying balcony seats off-limits to the public because of COVID-19, roughly three dozen House Democrats were the last ones to leave the chamber on Jan. 6, bearing witness as the certification of a presidential election gave way to a violent insurrection.

Jan 3 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Monday barred the U.S. Department of Defense from punishing a group of Navy SEALs and other special forces members who refused COVID-19 vaccines on religious grounds.

U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor, acting in response to a lawsuit filed on behalf of 35 special forces service members, issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Navy and Defense Department from enforcing the mandate.

NEW YORK, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- One year after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, over 60 percent of Americans are deeply pessimistic about the future of democracy, according to a new NPR/Ipsos poll published on Monday.

The poll found that 64 percent of Americans believe U.S. democracy is "in crisis and at risk of failing."

WASHINGTON, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- The United States shattered a single-day record with over 1 million COVID-19 cases on Monday amid the rapid spread of Omicron variant and government decisions to ease prevention and control measures in the country.

As of 0500 GMT Tuesday, the country registered about 1.07 million confirmed cases in the past 24 hours, according to Johns Hopkins University.