U.N. to push for firm COVID vaccine commitments from richest nations at General Assembly
CBSN
United Nations — The U.N. General Assembly officially kicked off this week. COVID-19 forced the biggest gathering of world leaders on the calendar to go virtual in 2020, but this year more than 100 presidents, prime ministers and others are set to give in-person speeches at the two-week event.
More than a year and a half after the pandemic started, the coronavirus will still be front and center.
This year's General Assembly is being held in hybrid fashion, with some guests still attending virtually after the U.S. mission voiced concerns in August that it could become a super-spreader event in New York City.
Russia launched a barrage of missiles at Ukraine Thursday in its first major retaliation for Ukraine's attack earlier in the week on a military facility in the Russian region of Bryansk. That strike saw the Ukrainians use American-made and supplied long-range missiles known as ATACMS, which President Biden had given the Ukrainian forces permission to fire deeper into Russian territory only two days earlier.
Amersham, England — Family and friends of One Direction star Liam Payne, who died last month after falling from a Buenos Aires hotel room, gathered for his funeral in Britain on Wednesday. Payne's former bandmates Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson were among mourners at the private service at St Mary's Church in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, just outside London.