USA

UNITED NATIONS, May 09 (APP): UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Friday called for concerted global action to quash the “tsunami” of hate speech that has risen alongside the coronavirus pandemic.

“COVID-19 does not care who we are, where we live, what we believe or about any other distinction. We need every ounce of solidarity to tackle it together. Yet the pandemic continues to unleash a tsunami of hate and xenophobia, scapegoating and scare-mongering”, he said.

NEW YORK, May 09 (APP): The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) Friday welcomed the establishment by the Pakistani government of a National Commission for Minorities, calling it a step in the right direction.

“We are encouraged by the formation of the National Commission for Minorities as a governmental body promoting the rights of religious minorities within Pakistan; it’s an important step in Pakistan’s continuing journey towards the protection of religious freedom,” Anurima Bhargava, one of USCIRF’s eight commissioners, said in a statement.

WASHINGTON, May 10. /TASS/: Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, and other Russian embassy staffers on Saturday took part in a video conference of the international grass-roots movement Immortal Regiment in the United States.

10 May 2020; AFP: Can Donald Trump refuse to turn over his tax returns and financial records to Congress and New York prosecutors? The Supreme Court takes up this politically charged question on Tuesday, and it may use the occasion to better 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 by telephone in a highly anticipated session to be broadcast live.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Saturday said the United States will next week begin purchasing $3 billion worth of dairy, meat and produce from farmers as unemployment soars and people are forced to food lines.

“Starting early next week, at my order, the USA will be purchasing, from our Farmers, Ranchers & Specialty Crop Growers, 3 Billion Dollars worth of Dairy, Meat & Produce for Food Lines & Kitchens,” Trump wrote in a post on Twitter.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A major U.S. airline trade group on Saturday said it backed the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checking the temperatures of passengers and customer-facing employees during the coronavirus pandemic.

NEW YORK, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The number of COVID-19 cases in the United States reached 1,300,079 as of 3:32 p.m. (1932 GMT) Saturday, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

Meanwhile, the death toll from the disease in the country hit 78,320.

New York remains the hardest-hit state, with 333,122 cases and 26,563 deaths, followed by New Jersey with 137,397 cases and 9,116 deaths. Other states with over 50,000 cases include Massachusetts, Illinois, California, and Pennsylvania, according to the CSSE.

NEW YORK, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Global confirmed COVID-19 cases topped 4 million on Saturday, reaching 4,004,224 as of 4:32 p.m. (2032 GMT), according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

According to the CSSE, a total of 277,860 people worldwide have died of the disease.

The United States suffered the most from the pandemic, with 1,305,199 cases and a death toll of 78,469. Countries with over 150,000 cases included Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom, Russia, France and Germany, according to the CSSE data.

UNITED NATIONS, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The United States is responsible for an impasse in the Security Council over the adoption of a resolution on COVID-19, a Chinese diplomat said on Saturday.

Security Council members had agreed on the text of a draft resolution thanks to the great efforts by France and Tunisia, the co-penholders. China supports the text. The United States also expressed its support.

NEW YORK (AP) — The record unemployment rate reported on Friday captured the pain of a nation where tens of millions of jobs suddenly vanished, devastating the economy and forcing President Donald Trump to overcome historic headwinds to win a second term.

Just a few short months ago, Trump planned to campaign for reelection on the back of a robust economy. That’s a distant memory after more than 20 million jobs were lost in April, leading to an unemployment rate of 14.7%, the highest since the Great Depression.