USA

NEW YORK, June 18 (Reuters) - The United Nations General Assembly on Friday called for a stop to the flow of arms to Myanmar and urged the military to respect November election results and release political detainees, including leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The General Assembly adopted a resolution with the support of 119 countries several months after the military overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government in a Feb. 1 coup. Belarus requested the text be put to a vote and was the only country to oppose it, while 36 abstained, including China and Russia.

WASHINGTON, June 18 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. Federal Reserve official said on Friday that he expects the central bank's first interest rate hike to come in late 2022 as inflation picks up faster than previous forecasts had anticipated.

"I put us starting in late 2022," St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard said in an interview with CNBC. "I think it's natural that we've tilted a little bit more hawkish here to contain inflationary pressures."

NEW YORK, June 18 (Xinhua) -- The lab leak theory about the current COVID-19 pandemic just doesn't hold up, reported U.S. news publication Foreign Policy recently.

"While the theory was reported, many media outlets also dismissed it as conspiracy mongering. The possibility of a routine lab accident became caught up in the theories about bio-weapons and germ warfare," the publication said in a report released on Tuesday.

NEW YORK, June 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese vaccines have helped some developing countries in Asia push forward their vaccination drives, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week.

Indonesia is heavily reliant on shots made by the Chinese company Sinovac Biotech Ltd., Cambodia has largely used two China-made vaccines to achieve one of the region's highest inoculation level, and the Philippines expects to increase vaccinations with more doses arriving this month, more than half of which will be Chinese, according to the report.

(AP) --- Videos released under court order provide a chilling new look at the chaos at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, including body camera footage that shows a man charging at a police officer with a flagpole and tackling him to the ground.

Federal judges ordered the release of the videos after media organizations, including The Associated Press, went to court to request that the Department of Justice provide access. The videos are being presented as evidence in prosecutors’ cases against three men charged with assaulting police.

PLANO, Texas (AP) — Brenda Martinez, a 19-year-old community college student, thinks the government should help immigrant students more. Donald Huffman is worried about turning 50 next week with no work available because the federal government is delaying the pipelines he usually helps build. Binod Neupane, who just moved to Texas to research alternative fuels, wants action on climate change.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden took a cautious victory lap Friday in his quest to bring the COVID-19 pandemic under control, announcing that 300 million vaccine shots have been administered in the 150 days since he took office.

Biden credited scientists, companies, the American people and his whole-of-government effort. The president noted that the widespread vaccination campaign had set the stage for most Americans to have a relatively normal summer as businesses reopen and employers hire.

UNITED NATIONS, June 18. /TASS/: Russia is calling on the UN Security Council to discuss Ukraine’s diversion in the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) last week, during which five LPR officers were killed, the Russian mission to the UN said in a statement published on its website on Thursday.

UNITED NATIONS, June 18. /TASS/: The UN General Assembly on Friday appointed Antonio Guterres UN Secretary-General for a second term. The decision was announced by the president of the 75th UN General Assembly session, Volkan Bozkir.

"I have the honor to announce that His Excellency Antonio Guterres has been appointed by acclamation Secretary-General of the United Nations for the second term of office beginning 1st of January 2022 and ending on 31 of December 2026," he said.

The resolution to appoint Guterres was passed on the basis of universal consent.

UNITED NATIONS, June 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United Nations is planning for a possible increase in violence in Afghanistan when US troops withdraw after two decades, the global body’s refugee chief said.

Filippo Grandi said in an interview that he understood that international military operations like the one in Afghanistan “cannot be sustained forever”.

But, he warned, “the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan and other troops as well is another indicator that violence may rise after that”, he said.

“We are making plans for it.”