USA

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 16 (APP): United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on the international community to “unite against corruption” to stop precious resources from being drained by illicit financial flows.

“You meet at a critical moment”, Yury Fedotov, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said on behalf of the UN chief, while addressing a conference on the UN Convention Against Corruption in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) capital.

THE UNITED NATIONS, December 17. /TASS/: Russia has submitted to the UN Security Council its draft resolution on delivering humanitarian aid to Syria as an alternative to a document suggested by Germany, Belgium and Kuwait.

A source in the United Nations told TASS the Security Council was considering both documents, which were expected to be put up for vote this week.

NEW YORK, December 17. /TASS/: US officials claim that a Russian surveillance ship, the Viktor Leonov, is making an "unsafe maneuver" in international waters off the coast of South Carolina and Florida, CNN reports.

According to the report, the Russian vessel has been sailing off the coast of these two US states in the last few days. Anonymous US officials claim that the ship is not using running lights in low visibility weather and it is not responding to hails from other vessels seeking to avoid potential accidents.

17 December 2019; AFP: The Arab Spring gave way to bloodletting in Syria, a refugee exodus and surging jihadist violence. Obama gave way to Trump. The United Kingdom chose to Brexit. And for many around the world, while the 2010s began with hope for a more equitable world, they end with a slide towards nationalistic populism.

The following is a look at some of the people and events that shaped the past decade:

- America divided -

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - China and Russia on Monday proposed the U.N. Security Council lift a ban on North Korea exporting statues, seafood and textiles, according to a draft resolution seen by Reuters, in a move Russia said is aimed at encouraging talks between Washington and Pyongyang.

The draft also called for a ban to be lifted on North Koreans working abroad and the termination of a 2017 requirement for all such workers to be repatriated by next week. The draft would also exempt inter-Korean rail and road cooperation projects from U.N. sanctions.

SEATTLE/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Boeing Co said on Monday it would suspend production of its best-selling 737 MAX jetliner in January, its biggest assembly-line halt in more than 20 years, as fallout from two fatal crashes of the now-grounded aircraft drags into 2020.

Boeing, which builds the 737 south of Seattle, said it would not lay off any of the roughly 12,000 employees there during the production freeze, though the move could have repercussions across its global supply chain and the U.S. economy.

UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council on Monday adopted a resolution renewing the Afghanistan sanctions regime and the mandate of the monitoring team supporting the Afghanistan Sanctions Committee.

According to the Resolution 2501, all states shall continue to take the measures on Taliban, as well as "other individuals, groups, undertakings and entities associated with the Taliban in constituting a threat to the peace, stability and security of Afghanistan."

WASHINGTON, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday he would be disappointed if something is "in the works" in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

"I'd be disappointed if something would be in the works, and if it is we will take care of it," Trump told reporters in the White House when asked about latest developments in the DPRK.

"North Korea, we are watching very closely," he added, without providing details.

LOUISVILLE, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi man whose murder conviction was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court for racial bias was released from custody Monday for the first time in 22 years.

Curtis Flowers walked out of the regional jail in the central town of Louisville hours after a judge set his bond at $250,000. A person who wanted to remain anonymous posted $25,000, the 10% needed to secure Flowers’ release, said his attorney Rob McDuff.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Trump campaign official Rick Gates, who was charged in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, will learn how much his extensive cooperation with the Justice Department has paid off when he is sentenced in Washington’s federal court.