USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden has longed to win the White House for more than three decades. If he finally makes it thereafter November’s election, he’s already talking about leaving.

In an effort to ease concerns about his age, the 77-year-old presumptive Democratic nominee has said he wouldn’t seek reelection if his mental or physical health declined. He has also referred to himself as a “transition candidate,” acting as a bridge to a younger generation of leadership.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Police and fire investigators launched a criminal probe Sunday into the cause of an explosion at a hash oil manufacturer in downtown Los Angeles that sent firefighters running for their lives.

Detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department’s major crimes division were working with the city Fire Department’s arson investigators to determine what might have sparked the blast that shot a ball of flames out of the building Saturday night and scorched a fire truck across the street, police spokesman Josh Rubenstein said.

NEW YORK (AP) — Accusations of a “deep state” conspiracy. Allegations of personal and family corruption. Painting an opponent as a Washington insider not to be trusted.

It’s 2016 again. Or at least that’s President Donald Trump’s hope.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell expressed optimism Sunday that the U.S. economy can begin to recover from a devastating recession in the second half of the year, assuming the coronavirus doesn’t erupt in a second wave. But he suggested that a full recovery won’t likely be possible before the arrival of a vaccine.

ATLANTA (AP) — There was an abundance of evidence when officers arrived at the scene on a February afternoon in coastal Georgia: A man, apparently unarmed, lying on the street, soaked in blood. The suspected shooter, a shotgun, eyewitnesses. And video of the incident.

But no arrests were made in the death of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery for more than two months, not until after video of the shooting in Brunswick surfaced and stoked a national uproar over race relations.

NEW YORK (AP) — On a weekend when many pandemic-weary people emerged from weeks of lockdown, leaders in the U.S. and Europe weighed the risks and rewards of lifting COVID-19 restrictions knowing that a vaccine could take years to develop.

In separate stark warnings, two major European leaders bluntly told their citizens that the world needs to adapt to living with the coronavirus and cannot wait to be saved by a vaccine.

UNITED NATIONS, May 15 (APP): Past and present world leaders, including Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan, have urged that any eventual coronavirus vaccines and treatments should be made available to everyone free of charge.

The call was made in an open letter signed by more than 140 presidents, prime ministers and other prominent figures saying that the vaccine should not be patented while the science should be shared among nations, according to UNAIDS, the UN agency fighting against the deadly HIV/AIDS virus, which initiated the petition.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A month after sellers had to pay nearly $40 a barrel to get rid of U.S. oil futures, the next watershed moment looms with the expiry of the June contract on Tuesday - and so far there is little sign of a repeat of the historic plunge.

The extent of the damage that the coronavirus pandemic had inflicted on the oil industry came into focus on April 20, when the U.S. benchmark WTI CLc1 contract plunged to minus $38 a barrel.

WASHINGTON, May 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) – The U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, said, it launched an investigation into President Donald Trump’s firing of the State Department Inspector General, Steve Linick, on Friday.

The House panel said, the investigation was launched by its chairman, Eliot Engel, and senator Bob Menendez, ranking member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

The two Democratic lawmakers requested that administration officials preserve all records related to the firing and turn the information over to the committees by May 22.

UNITED NATIONS, May 16 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Saturday that international cooperation on digital technology is essential to help defeat COVID-19.

In a video message marking the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day, which falls on May 17 annually, the UN chief said that "World Telecommunication and Information Society Day reminds us that international cooperation on digital technology is essential to help defeat COVID-19 and achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development."