North America

WASHINGTON (AP) — Seeking to avoid the bitter feelings that marred the 2016 Democratic convention, Joe Biden’s campaign is angling to allow Bernie Sanders to keep some of the delegates he would otherwise forfeit by dropping out of the presidential race.

(AP) --- As a clearer picture emerges of COVID-19’s decidedly deadly toll on black Americans, leaders are demanding a reckoning of the systemic policies they say have made many African Americans far more vulnerable to the virus, including inequity in access to health care and economic opportunity.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States is struggling to test enough people to track and control the spread of the novel coronavirus, a crucial first step to reopening parts of the economy, which President Donald Trump is pushing to do by May 1.

Trump on Thursday released a plan to ease business restrictions that hinges on a downward trajectory of positive tests.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump urged supporters to “LIBERATE” three states led by Democratic governors Friday, apparently encouraging protests against stay-at-home mandates aimed at stopping the coronavirus. At least two states under Republican leadership took their first steps toward easing restrictions.

A day after laying out a road map to gradually reopen the crippled economy, Trump tweeted the kind of rhetoric some of his supporters have used to demand the lifting of the orders that have thrown millions of Americans out of work.

NEW YORK, Apr 17 (APP): A decision about the return transportation of some 750 Pakistanis, who are stranded in the United States because of the coronavirus-related suspension of flights, is expected “very soon”, Ambassador Asad Majeed Khan said Friday.

“The issue of stranded Pakistanis is one of the key priorities for the (Pakistan) government, for the embassy and our consulates across the United states,” the Pakistani envoy said in an interview with Pakistan Television, released by the embassy in Washington, DC.

17 April 2020; MEMO: Global ecommerce company Amazon has donated $300,000 to a non-profit US organisation which is supplying medical equipment to healthcare professionals and patients in Israel during the coronavirus pandemic.

WASHINGTON, April 16 (Xinhua) -- Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) countries have discussed efforts to combat COVID-19 and launch an economic recovery, the White House said on Thursday.

In a statement, the White House said that G7 leaders agreed to take essential measures to ensure a coordinated global response to the COVID-19 pandemic and to launch a robust recovery.

UNITED NATIONS, April 16 (Xinhua) -- UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths on Thursday asked the warring parties to seize the opportunity for peace.

An opportunity has emerged to bring peace to Yemen, said Griffiths, referring to the willingness of the Yemeni government and Houthi forces to forge a cease-fire.

NEW YORK, April 16 (Xinhua) -- The number of COVID-19 cases in the United States topped 650,000 by 4 p.m. local time on Thursday (2000 GMT), according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

The fresh figure reached 653,825 with 30,998 deaths, according to the CSSE.

CHICAGO (AP) — California Sen. Kamala Harris is raising money for presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden while speaking out about the disproportionate number of African Americans with COVID-19.

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar has been praising the former vice president on television and Twitter as she unveils a plan to fight the coronavirus in rural America.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer went on “The Daily Show” to plead for help addressing the pandemic while wearing a T-shirt with a jab at President Donald Trump.