North America

NEW YORK, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Global COVID-19 deaths surpassed 270,000 on Friday, reaching 270,537 as of 11:32 a.m. (1532 GMT), according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

A total of 3,877,914 cases have been reported from over 180 countries and regions across the world, according to the CSSE.

The United States reported the most COVID-19 deaths at 75,852 among 1,259,777 cases. Other countries with over 20,000 fatalities included Spain, Italy, Britain and France, the CSSE data showed. 

UNITED NATIONS, May 8 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday remembered the millions of people who lost their lives in World War II and asked the world to learn the lessons of 1945.

"We must never forget the Holocaust and the other grave and horrendous crimes committed by the Nazis. The victory over fascism and tyranny in May 1945 marked the beginning of a new era," he said in a message on the 75th anniversary of V-E Day -- May 8, 1945, the day on which the surrender of Germany was announced, officially ending the European phase of World War II.

SAN FRANCISCO, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Leading health experts from China and the United States have agreed during a webinar to act together and follow scientific guidance in the fight against COVID-19, the event's organizer said Friday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will travel to Israel next week for a brief visit amid the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown, a trip that’s expected to focus on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans to annex portions of the West Bank, the State Department said Friday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump, who’s taken to calling the U.S. the “king” of ventilators, is making plans to ship 8,000 of the breathing machines to foreign countries by the end of July to help in their fight against the coronavirus.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom formally endorsed Joe Biden for president on Friday, praising the former vice president for his “deep compassion and empathy” during a virtual high-dollar fundraiser in partnership with the Democratic National Committee.

“I just couldn’t be more proud of you and the prospects of your presidency,” he told Biden.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal investigators have found “reasonable grounds” that a government whistleblower was punished for speaking out against widespread use of an unproven drug that President Donald Trump touted as a remedy for COVID-19, his lawyers said Friday.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — As coronavirus hotspots erupted at major U.S. meatpacking plants, experts criticized extremely tight working conditions that made the factories natural high risk contagion locations. But some Midwestern politicians have pointed the finger at the workers’ living conditions, suggesting crowded homes bear some blame.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Friday he’s in “no rush” to negotiate another financial rescue bill, even as the government reported that more than 20 million Americans lost their jobs last month due to economic upheaval caused by the coronavirus.

The president’s low-key approach came as the Labor Department reported the highest unemployment rate since the Great Depression and as Democrats prepared to unveil what Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer calls a “Rooseveltian-style” aid package to shore up the economy and address the health crisis.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he didn’t know the Justice Department was planning to drop its case against his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn.

But it didn’t really matter.

The extraordinary action underscored the extent to which Trump and Attorney General William Barr have been in sync in their views on the federal Trump-Russia investigation — with or without communicating about it. Barr himself has openly challenged the decisions of predecessors and his own prosecutors. He’s launched internal probes to investigate the investigators.