USA

12 May 2020; MEMO: In a joint press statement sent to MEMO on Sunday, senior UN officials have called on Israel to release Palestinian children from prison in the light of the spread of Covid-19.

12 May 2020; MEMO: The United States yesterday urged Tehran to send a charter plane to take home 11 Iranian nationals whom Washington wants to deport and accused the Islamic Republic of stalling the repatriation process, Reuters reported.

Washington, May 12 (PTI) President Donald Trump has said he is "not interested" in reopening negotiations on the trade deal with China, days after the US warned Beijing of very significant consequences for not honouring the bilateral agreement early this year to end their bruising trade war.

Trump's remarks came in response to a question on a report in Hong Kong's South China Morning Post which said that China would like to reopen negotiations on the trade deal to make the terms more favourable to Beijing. Is this something you'd be interested in doing? he was asked.

Silver Spring (US), May 12 (AP) American Jews were targets of more anti-Semitic incidents in 2019 than any other year over the past four decades, a surge marked by deadly attacks on a California synagogue, a Jewish grocery store in New Jersey and a rabbi's New York home, the Anti-Defamation League reported Tuesday.

The Jewish civil rights group counted 2,107 anti-Semitic incidents in 2019, finding 61 physical assault cases, 1,127 instances of harassment and 919 acts of vandalism.

12 May 2020; AFP: The US Supreme Court takes up Tuesday the most politically charged case of the year -- President Donald Trump's refusal to turn over his tax returns and financial records to Congress and a New York prosecutor, a case that may define the limits of presidential immunity.

The high court's nine justices, confined at home by the novel coronavirus pandemic, will question lawyers for both sides at 10:00 am (1400 GMT) by telephone in a highly anticipated session to be broadcast live.

HOUSTON, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. state of Louisiana will start to reopen on Friday, governor John Bel Edwards announced Monday.

During a press briefing, Edwards said the state will move to Phase One of reopening on May 15. Phase One is expected to last 21 days until June 5, when the state could move into Phase Two.

During Phase One, all non-essential businesses will be allowed to open to the public at 25 percent of capacity, same as restaurants, barber shops, gyms and movie theaters. Children's museums will remain closed, said the governor.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A new type of coronavirus test offers a cheaper, quicker way to screen for infections, moving the U.S. toward the kind of mass screening that experts say is essential to returning millions of Americans to school and work.

But the first so-called antigen test — announced Saturday by the Food and Drug Administration — is not quite the kind sought by top government health officials. It is less accurate than the current gold standard for testing and can only be run on specialized equipment.

FREMONT, Calif. (AP) — Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed Monday that the company has restarted its California factory, a move that defied local government orders involving measures to contain the coronavirus.

In a tweet, Musk practically dared authorities to arrest him, writing that he would be on the assembly line and if anyone is taken into custody, it should be him.

State law allows a fine of up to $1,000 a day or up to 90 days in jail for operating in violation of health orders.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The World Health Organization chief said Monday there are around seven or eight “top” candidates for a vaccine to combat the novel coronavirus and work on them is being accelerated.

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is poised to unveil the next coronavirus aid package, encouraging Congress to “go big” on aid to help cash-strapped states and struggling Americans. Voting is possible as soon as Friday.

But the bill is heading straight into a Senate roadblock. Senate Republicans said Monday they are not planning to vote on any new relief until June. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says there is no “urgency” to act.

“Let’s get on with it,” Pelosi said Monday night on MSNBC.