USA

NEW YORK, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- In the first 11 months of 2020, shootings in New York City surged to levels unseen in years, according to the latest figures provided by the New York Police Department (NYPD).

From January to November, the number of shootings in New York City rose by 95 percent over the same period last year, or 1,412 vs. 721, said NYPD.

In November alone, the number of shootings in the city increased 112 percent over the same period last year, or 115 vs. 51, it added.

NEW YORK, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- Of the 215,401 COVID-19 tests made on Friday in New York State, 10,761 were positive, or 4.99 percent of the total, down from 5.41 percent one day earlier, tweeted Governor Andrew Cuomo on Saturday.

The rate announced on Friday surpassed 5 percent for the first time in months. It topped 4 percent on Nov. 28 for the first time since May and has remained above the level so far.

United Nations/London, Dec 5 (PTI) The spokesperson for UN chief Antonio Guterres and a group of 36 cross-party UK parliamentarians have come out in support of the agitating Indian farmers, saying people have a right to demonstrate peacefully and authorities should let them do so.

These reactions came even as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reiterated his support for the protesting farmers despite India's strong reaction to his earlier remarks that Canada will always be there to defend the rights of peaceful protests.

Washington, Dec 6 (AP-PTI) President Donald Trump kicked off his Saturday night rally in Georgia for Republican Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue by recycling the falsehood that he won the state.

You know we won Georgia, just so you understand, Trump told the large crowd gathered for the first post-election rally for the president.

In fact, President-elect Joe Biden won the state of Georgia by about 12,500 votes out of 5 million cast.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A new report by a National Academy of Sciences committee has found that “directed” microwave radiation is the likely cause of illnesses among American diplomats in Cuba and China.

The study commissioned by the State Department and released Saturday is the latest attempt to find a cause for the mysterious illnesses that started to emerge in late 2016 among U.S. personnel in Havana.

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — As days turned into years, Brett Woolley came to accept that his father’s murderer would never be found — and that his family’s private tragedy had become a Wild West legend, the kind of thing folks shared when they were a few too many drinks deep into the night.

Nearly 40 years ago, Dan Woolley was shot in the parking lot of a small-town bar. The shooter crossed the street to the town’s other tavern, ordered a drink and declared, “I just killed a man.”

And then he disappeared, leaving no trace.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The vast region of Southern California, much of the San Francisco Bay area and a large swath of the Central Valley are about to be placed under a sweeping new lockdown in an urgent attempt to slow the rapid rise of coronavirus cases.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Conservative evangelical Christians have proven some of Donald Trump’s staunchest allies during his presidency. As his administration draws to a close, some of those backers are approaching President-elect Joe Biden with skepticism, but not antagonism.

VALDOSTA, Georgia (AP) — President Donald Trump is pressing his grievances over losing the presidential election, using a weekend rally to spread baseless allegations of misconduct in last month’s voting in Georgia and beyond even as he pushed supporters to turn out for a pair of Republican Senate candidates in a runoff election in January.

“Let them steal Georgia again, you’ll never be able to look yourself in the mirror,” Trump told rallygoers.

WASHINGTON, December 5. /TASS/: US President Donald Trump signed into law on Friday the so-called Rodchenkov Act, a bill that envisages criminal responsibility for doping violations during events with the participation of US athletes, the White House press service said.

"The Act imposes criminal sanctions on certain persons involved in international doping fraud conspiracies and provides restitution for victims of such conspiracies," the White House press service said in a statement.