USA

Washington, Jul 24 (PTI) The US has said it is against the use of spying technology on civil society, regime critics and journalists through "extrajudicial means", even as it maintained that it has no particular insight into the Pegasus snooping case in India.

The alleged use of the Pegasus software to spy on politicians, journalists, human rights defenders and others in many countries, including India, has triggered concerns over issues relating to privacy.

Washington, Jul 24 (PTI) Secretary of State Antony Blinken will raise issues of human rights and democracy with Indian officials during his first visit to New Delhi as the two nations have more values in common on those fronts than otherwise, according to a senior US official.

Blinken is scheduled to arrive in New Delhi late on July 27.

WASHINGTON, July 23 (Xinhua) -- The United States and Russia will hold a Strategic Stability Dialogue on July 28 in Geneva, the State Department said on Friday.

Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman will lead the U.S. delegation's participation in the dialogue, joined by Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Bonnie Jenkins, according to a State Department statement.

WASHINGTON, July 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday reaffirmed his country's support for Afghanistan in a call with Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani as fighting escalated along with the U.S. withdrawal from the Asian country.

Biden told Ghani the United States will continue to provide assistance for Afghan people and its military, according to a White House readout of their conversation.

LOS ANGELES, July 23 (Xinhua) -- Los Angeles reported 3,058 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, the highest single-day increase since Feb. 13.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said in a release that it was the third day in a row with more than 2,500 daily cases reported. Over the last four days, more than 10,000 cases were reported in the most populous county in the United States, home to over 10 million residents.

UNITED NATIONS, July 23 (Xinhua) -- Botswana's UN ambassador, Collen Vixen Kelapile, who became the new president of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) on Friday, saw a more important role of the council in the challenging times.

"In my view, as we continue our concerted efforts to deal with the challenges we face, ECOSOC's role has become even more critical, and is no less important than the other peer principal organs of the United Nations, including the Security Council and the General Assembly," he said in his capacity as ECOSOC president for the first time.

WASHINGTON, July 23 (Xinhua) -- COVID-19 cases, deaths and hospitalizations continue to surge among the unvaccinated across the United States, fueled by the rapid spread of the highly transmissible Delta variant.

More than 91 million people live in a county considered to have high COVID-19 transmission, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). And 48 states have a seven-day average of new cases at least 10 percent higher than the week before, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The chair of former President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee was ordered freed Friday on $250 million bail to face charges he secretly worked as an agent for the the United Arab Emirates to influence Trump’s foreign policy.

Tom Barrack, 74, will be subject to electronic monitoring and largely confined to his residence after he is arraigned Monday in a New York courtroom. He was arrested Tuesday in Los Angeles near his home.

MIAMI (AP) — Pandemic restrictions on Florida-based cruise ships are no longer in place under a ruling Friday by a federal appeals court, while the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention seek to fight a Florida lawsuit challenging the regulations.

A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had temporarily blocked a previous ruling last Saturday that sided with Florida officials, but the court reversed that decision on Friday, explaining that the CDC failed to demonstrate an entitlement to a stay pending appeal.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. General Assembly approved its first-ever resolution on vision Friday, calling on its 193 member nations to ensure access to eye care for everyone in their countries which would contribute to a global effort to help at least 1.1 billion people with vision impairment who currently lack eye services by 2030.

The “Vision for Everyone” resolution, sponsored by Bangladesh, Antigua and Ireland, and co-sponsored by over 100 countries, was adopted by consensus by the world body.