North America

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 19 (APP): UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has named Swiss humanitarian relief expert Philippe Lazzarini as the next commissioner-general of UNRWA, the UN agency entrusted to care for Palestinian refugees, which has been in a financial crisis financial crisis following the cutoff of U.S. funding.

Guterres had recommended Lazzarini to lead the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) earlier this month.

The agency’s headquarters are divided between the Gaza Strip and Amman.

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 19 (APP): The economic and labour crisis created by the coronavirus pandemic could destroy up to 25 million jobs around the world if governments do not act fast to shield workers from the impact, the International Labour Organization (ILO), a UN agency, said in a new assessment.

“However, if we see an internationally coordinated policy response, as happened in the global financial crisis of 2008-9, then the impact on global unemployment could be significantly lower,” ILO, which is based in Geneva, said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Describing himself as a “wartime president” fighting an invisible enemy, President Donald Trump invoked rarely used emergency powers to marshal critical medical supplies against the coronavirus pandemic. Trump also signed an aid package — which the Senate approved earlier Wednesday — that will guarantee sick leave to workers who fall ill.

WASHINGTON, March 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Two US lawmakers including a Florida representative on Wednesday became the first members of Congress to announce they have tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart’s office said in a statement that “just a short while ago, he was notified that he has tested positive for COVID-19.”

The Republican who represents part of Miami follows that city’s Mayor Francis Suarez, who announced that he had tested positive for coronavirus last week.

LOS ANGELES, March 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A shallow 5.7 magnitude earthquake struck near Salt Lake City on Wednesday, rattling residents and causing power outages in the western US state of Utah, the US Geological Survey reported.

The USGS said the quake hit at 1309 GMT four kilometres north of Magna, a township in Salt Lake County, at a depth of 9.6 kilometres.

The quake was felt throughout the area, a map on the monitoring agency website showed, although there were no immediate reports of serious damage.

Washington (AP) — The Federal Reserve announced late Wednesday that it will establish an emergency lending facility to help unclog a short-term credit market that has been disrupted by the viral outbreak.

The Fed said it will lend money to banks that purchase financial assets from money market mutual funds, including short-term IOUs known as commercial paper.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Bernie Sanders isn’t leaving the presidential race. Instead, the Vermont senator and democratic socialist is back in a familiar place: on the outside looking in.

After being routed in Democratic primary contests for the third consecutive week by former Vice President Joe Biden, Sanders faced the grim calculation on Wednesday that he has virtually no chance of clinching the Democratic nomination. He would need to win a whopping 63% of the remaining delegates to do so.

WASHINGTON (AP) — By a sweeping bipartisan tally, the Senate on Wednesday approved a $100 billion-plus bill to boost testing for the coronavirus and guarantee paid sick leave for millions of workers hit by it — and President Donald Trump quickly signed it. But lawmakers and the White House had already turned their focus to the administration’s far bigger $1 trillion plan to stabilize the economy as the pandemic threatens financial ruin for individuals and businesses.

NEW YORK (AP) — Harvey Weinstein was transferred to a state prison in New York on Wednesday as he begins to serve a 23-year sentence for rape and sexual assault in his landmark #MeToo case.

The disgraced film mogul, who will turn 68 on Thursday, is locked up at the maximum security Wende Correctional Facility near Buffalo, according to state prison officials. He is known behind bars as inmate No. 20B0584.

THE EDGE OF THE GILA WILDERNESS, N.M. (AP) — A voice interrupted the crackle of the radio at basecamp: “Starting pursuit.”

The rest of the team on the ground was anxious to hear those words after the low-flying helicopter crew had been working all morning to get close to one of the Mexican gray wolves that had been targeted as part of an annual survey of the endangered predators.