USA

WASHINGTON/PARIS (Reuters) - G7 finance ministers on Friday backed an extension of a G20 bilateral debt relief initiative for the world’s poorest countries, but said it must be revised to improve its implementation.

In a lengthy joint statement, the ministers from the Group of Seven advanced economies said they “strongly regret” moves by some countries to skip participation by classifying their state-owned institutions as commercial lenders.

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- U.S. San Francisco Mayor London Breed on Thursday announced an expanded coronavirus-related support scheme for the city's Latino community, a group which has been disproportionately affected by the pandemic.

With a total fund of 28.5 million U.S. dollars, Breed has allocated an initial 22.5 million dollars toward supporting the Latino community with a focus on health, housing, food access, and small businesses.

NEW YORK, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Global COVID-19 cases surpassed 32 million on Thursday, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

The global case count reached 32,048,333, with a total of 979,454 deaths worldwide as of 3:23 p.m. local time (1923 GMT), the CSSE data showed.

Washington, Sep 25 (PTI) The US will invest USD 150 million in training for middle-to-high-skilled H-1B occupations in key sectors, including in information technology which employs tens of thousands of Indian professionals.

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.

Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 24 (PTI) Kerala bagged a United Nations award on Thursday for its "outstanding contribution" towards the non-communicable diseases-related sustainable development goals.

The UN Interagency Task Force (UNIATF) award this year on prevention and control of non-communicable diseases was announced by World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday asked the UN Security Council to create strong, formalized links and regular communications with the Peace and Security Council of the African Union (AU) to advance peace in the African continent.

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- China's permanent representative to the United Nations, Zhang Jun, on Thursday fought back at U.S. accusations against China over the handling of COVID-19.

At a summit-level debate on "global governance after COVID-19," the U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations, Kelly Craft, repeated President Donald Trump's demand to hold China accountable for the spread of the virus.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Capping days of commemorations of her extraordinary life, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg becomes the first woman in American history to lie in state in the U.S. Capitol.

Ginsburg, who died last week at age 87, also will be the first Jewish-American to lie in state and just the second Supreme Court justice. The first, Chief Justice William Howard Taft, also had been president.

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — The final stretch of a presidential campaign is typically a nonstop mix of travel, caffeine and adrenaline. But as the worst pandemic in a century bears down on the United States, Joe Biden is taking a lower key approach.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — More than three-and-a-half years into his presidency and 40 days from an election, President Donald Trump on Thursday launched what aides termed a “vision” for health care heavy on unfulfilled aspirations.

“This is affirmed, signed, and done, so we can put that to rest,” Trump said. He signed an executive order on a range of issues, including protecting people with preexisting medical conditions from insurance discrimination.

But that right is already guaranteed in the Obama-era health law his administration is asking the Supreme Court to overturn.