USA

WASHINGTON, May 9. /TASS/: The misinformation campaign unleashed in a number of countries in order to belittle the role of the Soviet Union in the victory over Nazism is unacceptable, and the Russian side should not be silent in response, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov told reporters on Saturday.

WASHINGTON, May 9. /TASS/: The focus of the presidents of Russia and the United States, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, on the development of bilateral cooperation does not match statements of some officials in Washington, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov told reporters on Saturday.

9 May 2020; AFP: The United States on Friday stunned other members of the UN Security Council by preventing a vote on a resolution for a ceasefire in various conflicts around the world to help troubled nations better fight the coronavirus pandemic, diplomats said.

Washington's reversal came a day after it agreed to the text, negotiators said under cover of anonymity.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The leaders of U.S. congressional foreign affairs committees wrote to nearly 60 countries on Friday asking them to support Taiwan’s participation in the World Health Organization, citing the need for the broadest effort possible to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

Taiwan, which is not a member of the United Nations, has been excluded from the WHO, which is a U.N. agency, due to objections from China.

WASHINGTON, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Germany's federal intelligence agency doubts U.S. allegations that COVID-19 "originated in a Chinese laboratory", saying the allegations were aimed at diverting attention from U.S. failure to contain the disease, U.S. television network CNBC said, citing a German magazine report on Friday.

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.