USA

31 March 2020; AFP: A federal judge in New York on Monday granted the release from prison on humanitarian grounds of an 87-year-old former senior Brazilian football official tarnished by the FIFA corruption scandal.

Judge Pamela Chen authorized the release of Jose Maria Marin, a former Brazilian Football Confederation president, who was serving a four-year prison sentence for accepting millions of dollars in bribes as part of the global FIFA corruption scandal.

UNITED NATIONS, March 30 (Xinhua) -- UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov on Monday said he regretted the lack of progress on the ground, expressing concern over Israeli settlements and its plans to annex Palestinian land.

The expansion of Israeli settlements continues to pose a significant obstacle to achieving a viable two-state solution, Mladenov told the Security Council via video teleconference.

UNITED NATIONS, March 30 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council on Monday expressed concern over the humanitarian situation in Syria and the potential impact of COVID-19 on the war-torn country.

The council held a briefing via video teleconference on the situation in Syria and was briefed on by UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock and UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen.

WASHINGTON, March 30 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday discussed efforts to combat COVID-19 and other global issues during a phone conversation, the White House said.

"President Trump and President Putin discussed the latest developments and efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic. The two leaders agreed to work closely together through the G20 to drive the international campaign to defeat the virus and reinvigorate the global economy," the White House said in a statement.

NEW YORK, March 30 (Xinhua) -- The United States has tested 1 million people in its stepped-up effort to tackle the novel coronavirus, with a capacity to test 100,000 samples daily.

"Today we reached a historic milestone in our war against the coronavirus. Over 1 million Americans have been tested," President Donald Trump announced Monday at a White House briefing.

Alex Azar, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, said the United States is now testing 100,000 samples a day in their effort to combat the outbreak.

PHILADELPHA (AP) — Gunfire killed at least five people and wounded others in recent days in Philadelphia, including a man found shot to death on a transit train, authorities said.

A 33-year-old man died minutes after he was shot in the face and neck while sitting in his vehicle in north Philadelphia late Friday afternoon, police said.

A 22-year-old man was shot in the back, torso and leg late Sunday afternoon in southwest Philadelphia and died minutes later, officials said. About two hours later, another man was shot to death in north Philadelphia.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Monday renewed several waivers on U.S. sanctions against Iran, allowing Russian, European and Chinese companies to continue to work on Iran’s civilian nuclear facilities without drawing American penalties.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The World Bank is estimating that the coronavirus outbreak will cause economic growth to slow significantly this year in China and other East Asian-Pacific countries, throwing millions into poverty.

Under a worst-case scenario, the region could suffer its sharpest downturn since a devastating currency crisis more than two decades ago, the bank said in an updated forecast released Monday.

DETROIT (AP) — Twelve days ago, General Motors put hundreds of workers on an urgent project to build breathing machines as hospitals and governors pleaded for more in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

But President Donald Trump, claiming the company wasn’t moving fast enough, on Friday invoked the Defense Production Act, which gives the government broad authority to direct companies to meet national defense needs.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI has reached out to Sen. Richard Burr about his sale of stocks before the coronavirus caused markets to plummet, a person familiar with the matter said Monday.

The outreach suggests federal law enforcement officials may be looking to determine whether the North Carolina Republican exploited advance information when he dumped as much as $1.7 million in stocks in the days before the coronavirus wreaked havoc on the economy.

Burr has denied wrongdoing but has also requested an ethics review of the stock sales.