GENEVA -- The grievances at the heart of the protests that have erupted in hundreds of U.S. cities need to be heard and addressed, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said on Wednesday.

"The voices calling for an end to the killings of unarmed African Americans need to be heard. The voices calling for an end to police violence need to be heard. And the voices calling for an end to the endemic and structural racism that blights U.S. society need to be heard," Bachelet said in a press statement. (UN-Rights-US)

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PYONGYANG -- A senior official of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has threatened to scrap the military agreement with South Korea unless Seoul stops sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the demilitarized zone, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Thursday.

Kim Yo Jong, sister of top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un and the first vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, on Thursday issued a statement warning against the senseless act of scattering anti-DPRK leaflets in the frontline areas by "defectors from the north," said the report. (DPRK-S.Korea-Ties)

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CHICAGO -- Hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug, was not statistically effective in preventing infection for people exposed to the novel coronavirus, a clinical trial showed on Wednesday.

The experiment, led by a team at the University of Minnesota, the United States, in March, was the first randomized clinical trial testing hydroxychloroquine for the post-exposure prevention of COVID-19, according to the university. (US-Hydroxychloroquine-Trial)

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RIO DE JANEIRO -- Brazil reported 28,633 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, bringing the national tally to 584,016, the health ministry said late Wednesday.

Meanwhile, 1,349 coronavirus deaths were registered over the past 24 hours, taking the total number of deaths from COVID-19 in the country to 32,548, the ministry said. (Brazil-Coronavirus)