North America

UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Tuesday called for strategies and investment to ensure women's full and meaningful participation in peace processes.

Between 1992 and 2019, only 13 percent of negotiators, 6 percent of mediators and 6 percent of signatories in major peace processes worldwide were women, she said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose to the highest level in three months as the fast-spreading omicron variant continued to disrupt the job market.

Jobless claims rose for the third straight week — by 55,000 to 286,000, highest since mid-October, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The jump in claims marked the biggest one-week increase since mid-July.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The party of Barbados’ Prime Minister Mia Mottley appeared to swept every legislative seat in the first elections the island nation has held as a republic since casting off the British monarchy, according to preliminary results released Thursday.

Mottley’s Barbados Labor Party seemed to have secured all 30 seats in the House of Assembly, the lower house of the island’s Parliament, which would give the island’s first female leader a second term as prime minister. A majority of 16 seats was required for a win.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. General Assembly approved an Israeli-sponsored resolution Thursday condemning any denial of the Holocaust and urging all nations and social media companies “to take active measures to combat antisemitism and Holocaust denial or distortion.”

The 193-member world body approved the resolution by consensus -- without a vote -- and with a bang of a gavel by Assembly President Abdulla Shahid. Israel’s No. 1 enemy, Iran, “disassociated” itself from the resolution.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The CIA believes it is unlikely that Russia or another foreign adversary has used microwaves or other forms of directed energy to attack the hundreds of American officials who attribute symptoms associated with brain injuries to what’s come to be known as “Havana syndrome.”

The agency’s findings, according to one official familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the intelligence, drew immediate criticism from those who have reported cases and from advocates who accuse the government of long dismissing the array of ailments.

DALLAS (AP) — American Airlines lost $931 million in the fourth quarter and the incoming CEO said Thursday that the surge in COVID-19 will delay the airline’s recovery by two or three months.

First-quarter revenue is expected to be down about 20% to 22% compared with the first quarter of 2019, and it will fly slightly less than it did two years ago, the airline said.

That outlook roughly matches what other airlines are saying. The rise in virus cases fueled by the omicron variant is hurting bookings, but airlines remain upbeat about spring and summer travel.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department dropped its case Thursday against a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor charged last year with concealing research ties to the Chinese government, saying it could “no longer meet its burden of proof at trial.”

The department revealed its decision in the case against Gang Chen in a single-page filing in federal court in Boston.

NEW YORK (AP) — From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the top U.S. public health agency has been criticized as too slow to collect and act on new information.

Now, increasingly, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is also being criticized for moving too fast.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Jury selection is scheduled to begin Thursday in the federal trial for three former Minneapolis police officers who are charged with violating George Floyd’s constitutional rights while fellow Officer Derek Chauvin used his knee to pin the Black man to the street.

J. Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao are broadly charged with depriving Floyd of his civil rights while acting under government authority. Separately, they are charged in state court with aiding and abetting both murder and manslaughter.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a rebuff to former President Donald Trump, the Supreme Court is allowing the release of presidential documents sought by the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection.

The justices on Wednesday rejected a bid by Trump to withhold the documents from the committee until the issue is finally resolved by the courts. Trump’s lawyers had hoped to prolong the court fight and keep the documents on hold.