NEW YORK — The total number of COVID-19 cases in the United States surpassed 6 million on Monday, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

U.S. COVID-19 case count rose to 6,002,615, with the national death toll reaching 183,203, as of 11:28 a.m. local time (1528 GMT), according to the CSSE. (U.S.-COVID-19 cases)

– – – –

BRUSSELS — The European Commission on Monday called on member states of the European Union to help affected costal member states rapidly disembark any migrants rescued in the Mediterranean Sea, to ensure their safety and the safety of the vessels’ crew.

Commission spokesman Adalbert Jahnz appealed to member states to “urgently cooperate in the spirit of solidarity and collective responsibility for the management of migration in Europe.” (EU-Migrants)

– – – –

UNITED NATIONS — United Nations Security Council, in a videoconference meeting, on Monday announced its decision to renew sanctions in Mali for one year, unanimously adopting a resolution that also extends the work of the expert panel established to focus on the matter.

In adopting Resolution 2541 (2020), the Council decided to renew until Aug. 31, 2021 the measures as set out in paragraphs 1 to 7 of Resolution 2374 (2017), which includes imposing a travel ban and asset freeze on those who are hobbling progress on implementing the Agreement of Peace and Reconciliation in Mali. By the resolution’s terms, it reaffirmed that these measures shall apply to individuals and entities as designated by the Sanctions Committee established pursuant to Resolution 2374 (2017). (UN-Security Council-Resolution-Mali)

– – – –

RAMALLAH — The Palestinians had largely condemned on Monday the first direct flight between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which is part of a U.S.-sponsored agreement to normalize ties between the two countries.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye told the weekly cabinet meeting in Ramallah that seeing an Israeli plane land in the UAE “is so painful,” which is “a clear and blatant violation” of the Arab position regarding the Arab-Israeli conflict. (Palestine-UAE-Israel-Flight)

– – – –

UNITED NATIONS — United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called for a major push to prevent “years, even generations” worth of progress on women’s empowerment from being lost to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In an address to a virtual townhall with young women from civil society organizations, the UN chief said that the global pandemic has already “reversed decades of limited and fragile progress” on gender equality and women’s rights. (UN-Guterres-Townhall-Women)

– – – –

DAMASCUS — Israeli missile attack targeted sites south of the Syrian capital Damascus on Monday evening, state news agency SANA reported.

The Syrian air defenses intercepted a number of missiles south of Damascus, the report said, citing a military source. (Syria-Israel)