North America

NEW YORK, Dec 16 (APP): United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has reaffirmed the full support and cooperation to Pakistan for its post-flood humanitarian relief work as well as for long-term recovery, rehabilitation, and reconstruction.

The UN Secretary-General in a meeting with Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said the success of the conference and Pakistan’s resilient reconstruction was his “top priority”.

The meeting took place in New York on the margins of the G-77 Ministerial Conference

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 16 (APP): Pakistan on Friday said that it would not tolerate cross-border terrorism by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) or other terrorist groups and that the country reserved the right to take direct action against them.

HAVANA, Dec 16 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) — Executives of the Felipe Angeles International Airport (AIFA) and the Viva Aerobus airline from Tijuana (Mexico) on Thursday reported the opening of its first regular international flight to Havana, according to a statement.    

Located in Tijuana (Southern California), the terminal and Viva Airbus celebrated the growth of the low-cost airline at the airport with the opening of this new flight, marking the beginning of flight operations available through Jan 10.

NEW ORLEANS, Dec 16 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) — At least three people have died and more than a dozen were left injured across Louisiana over the past 24 hours as severe weather system moved across the South carving a path of destruction.    

A 56-year-old woman “died after a tornado destroyed her home” in Killona, about 30 miles west of New Orleans, according to a tweet from the Louisiana Department of Health. The identity of the woman was not immediately released, officials in St. Charles Parish said.

NEW YORK, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- Wall Street had a painful day on Thursday as hawkish messages from the Federal Reserve stoked recession fears, and analysts warned of more market struggles ahead as macro environment remains unfavorable.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 764.13 points, or 2.25 percent, to end at 33,202.22, its worst day since September. The S&P 500 dipped 99.57 points, or 2.49 percent, to 3,895.75. The Nasdaq Composite Index tumbled 360.36 points, or 3.23 percent, to 10,810.53.

Starbucks workers around the U.S. are planning a three-day strike starting Friday as part of their effort to unionize the coffee chain’s stores.

More than 1,000 baristas at 100 stores are planning to walk out, according to Starbucks Workers United, the labor group organizing the effort. The strike will be the longest in the year-old unionization campaign.

AMARILLO, Texas (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked the Biden administration from ending a Trump-era policy requiring asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico for hearings in U.S. immigration court.

U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Texas stayed the termination until legal challenges by Texas and Missouri are settled but didn’t order the policy reinstated. The impact on the program wasn’t immediately clear.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden said Thursday he will visit sub-Saharan Africa next year, the first U.S. president to travel there in a decade. He announced the trip — still unscheduled — as he wrapped up a U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit by stressing he’s serious about increasing U.S. attention to the growing continent.

His promise of a personal visit came as Biden declared to the 49 leaders gathered for the summit that “Africa belongs at the table” in every conversation of global consequence.

FRISCO, Texas (AP) — With the ornate spires of the Karya Siddhi Hanuman Temple anchoring the skyline behind them, a cricket batsman and bowler eyed each other across a brown grass field. Amid gusty winds, players waiting to bat watched intently from nearby bleachers.

No, this is not a scene in India, where cricket became a national obsession after arriving on the wings of British colonialism. Try North Texas, where Friday Night Lights have made way for weekend afternoons on the pitch.

NEW YORK (AP) — At a gas station outside New York City, retired probation officer Karen Stowe was faced with a pump price she didn’t want to pay. She bought groceries from the convenience store instead, planning to buy cheaper gas elsewhere.

“The price is so high, people have to think very hard about where they’re driving to,” said Stowe, who had just been volunteering at a food pantry. “People are in trouble, and that’s the truth.”