USA

(AP) --- A federal appeals court panel on Friday allowed President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for larger private employers to move ahead, reversing a previous decision on a requirement that could affect some 84 million U.S workers.

The 2-1 decision by a panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati overrules a decision by a federal judge in a separate court that had paused the mandate nationwide.

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 17 (APP): The UN General Assembly Friday stamped its approval on a Pakistan-sponsored resolution that reaffirms the right to self-determination for peoples who are subjected to colonial, foreign and alien occupation such as those in Jammu and Kashmir.

WASHINGTON, December 17. /TASS/: The US won’t hold talks on European security without its European partners, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said aboard Air Force One.

She was commenting on the publication by the Russian Foreign Ministry of draft agreements between Russia, US and NATO on security guarantees in Europe.

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Afghan ambassador appointed by the country’s overthrown government has left his post at the United Nations, the UN said.

Ghulam Isaczai “relinquished his position as of Dec 15”, according to a letter received Thursday, assistant UN spokesman Farhan Haq said.

With Afghanistan in economic crisis following the Taliban takeover in August, the country’s mission to the UN has struggled to keep operating, diplomats said.

The Afghan mission to the UN could not be reached for comment on Thursday night.

WASHINGTON, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Longtime Donald Trump adviser Roger Stone appeared before a congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol on Friday but said he refused to answer questions.

Speaking to reporters after his closed-door appearance, Stone said he invoked his constitutional protection against self-incrimination in response to a subpoena from the House of Representatives Select Committee.

Dec 16 (Reuters) - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday it had received reports of eight cases of myocarditis, a type of heart inflammation, in children aged 5-11 years who received Pfizer (PFE.N) and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine.

The CDC had previously said that reporting rates of myocarditis for boys aged 16 to 17 could be more than 69 cases per million second doses administered and around 40 cases per million second doses in boys aged 12-15 years old.

Dec 16 (Reuters) - Americans face an uncertain and anxiety-filled holiday season for the second consecutive year, as the highly contagious Omicron variant threatens to intensify an already alarming surge of COVID-19 cases.

Public health officials have voiced deepening concerns about the rising number of infections, warning that hospitals - still fighting the effects of the Delta variant - could find themselves stretched beyond their limits if the two variants combine to create a fresh wave.

NEW YORK, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- More than 55 percent of respondents feel the country is headed "off on the wrong track," citing economic conditions, COVID-19 and the increase in crime, according to a recent survey commissioned by NewsNation, an American subscription television network.

Some 34 percent of respondents in the poll said the country is on the "right track," according to the survey's results. The survey was held on Dec. 9.

17 Dec 2021; MEMO: The United States has backtracked on its pledge to the Palestinian Authority (PA) to reopen its consulate in occupied East Jerusalem, the Times of Israel revealed yesterday.

The Israeli daily said that it has been seven months since the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken notified PA President Mahmoud Abbas of the Biden administration's plan to reopen the US Consulate in Jerusalem. No progress has since been made on the plan.

16 Dec 2021; MEMO: The US Senate passed a bill Thursday that bans goods from China's Muslim majority Xinjiang region produced with forced labour, Anadolu Agency reported.

The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act unanimously cleared the upper chamber of Congress. It cleared the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

The main sponsor of the bill, Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican from the state of Florida, hailed the passage on Twitter.