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Here are the likely contenders on Biden's vice president shortlist

While Joe Biden has committed to selecting a female running mate, few further details are confirmed. Here's a look at five women in the picture.

One of Trump's favorite pollsters shows his approval plummeting

President Trump’s approval rating has plummeted since late February, according to the Rasmussen daily tracking poll, which the president frequently cited during his first three years in office.

Iran Guards warn US after receiving new combat vessels

Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Thursday warned the United States against its naval presence in the Gulf as they received 110 new combat vessels. "We announce today that wherever the Americans are, we are right next to them, and they will feel our presence even more in the near future," the Guards' navy chief Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri said during a ceremony in southern Iran. Iran and the United States have appeared to be on the brink of an all-out confrontation twice in the past year.

Mexican drug lord pleads poverty in bid to escape arrest

Drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, a notorious underworld figure who is on the FBI’s most wanted list for the murder of a federal agent over three decades ago, said in a legal appeal that he has no money, is too old to work and has no pension. The odd plea was filed Tuesday by Caro Quintero's lawyer seeking an injunction against his arrest or extradition to the United States for the kidnapping and murder of DEA Special Agent Enrique Camarena in Mexico in 1985. The U.S. government says Caro Quintero and his family remain in the drug trade.

George Floyd protests: Man calls police on black entrepreneurs for using same gym in Minneapolis in viral video

A white man in Minneapolis asked whether black men were entitled to use the same gym and threatened to call the police on them, amid protests at George Floyd’s death.The exchange between black gym users and a white man was posted online in an Instagram video on Tuesday before spreading on social media.

Justice Department clears 3 senators in stock sales investigation, but Burr's case appears ongoing

Investigations into Sens. Feinstein, Loeffler and Inhofe have been dropped. Sen. Richard Burr appears to still be under investigation.

China plans to extend curbs on international flights until June 30: U.S. embassy

Chinese civil aviation authorities plan to extend until June 30 their curbs on international flights to contain the spread of the coronavirus, the U.S. embassy in Beijing said in a travel advisory on Friday. China has drastically cut such flights since March to allay concerns over infections brought by arriving passengers. A so-called "Five One" policy allows mainland carriers to fly just one flight a week on one route to any country and foreign airlines to operate just one flight a week to China.

British mercenaries 'involved in botched operation' backing rebel leader in Libya, according to secret UN report

Six British citizens including two former Royal Marine commandos have been accused of taking part in a botched mercenary mission to Libya to fight on behalf of renegade general Khalifa Haftar. The five men and one woman are named in a confidential report by the United Nations panel of experts on Libya into a botched mission that ended with the mercenaries making a remarkable sea-borne escape after falling out with their hosts. The men, including former Royal Marines Sean Callaghan Louw and Andrew Scott Ritchie, were among around 20 mercenaries who travelled to Benghazi in eastern Libya in June 2019 in a contract organised by a UAE based company called Opus, according to the report seen by the Daily Telegraph. Amanda Perry, a United Arab Emirate based businesswoman, is identified and is alleged to have been a "facilitator" of the project. She is the managing director of Opus Capital Asset FZE, the company that hired two boats used by the group. She is also company secretary of Lancaster 6, a business owned by Christiaan Durrant, a former Australian fighter pilot and Malta resident who is also named - and accused of being a facilitator in the report.

The UK now has the highest coronavirus death rate in the world

The UK has recorded the highest coronavirus death rate in the world, according to new analysis.

As Trump rails against mail-in voting, his campaign tries to make it easier for Pennsylvania supporters

"We have an obligation to our voters to inform them of what the law is in their state and what their options are," the campaign said.

So-called honor killing of teen girl sparks outcry in Iran

The so-called honor killing of a 14-year-old Iranian girl by her dad, who reportedly beheaded her as she slept, has sparked a nationwide outcry.

Sen. Cortez Masto withdraws name from Biden VP consideration

Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada said Thursday that she’s not interested in serving as running mate to presumptive presidential nominee Joe Biden. Cortez Masto, who in 2016 became the first Latina elected to the U.S. Senate, said in a statement that she supports the former vice president but does not want to join the Democratic presidential ticket.

Rwanda court sentences ex-mayor to life for role in genocide

Rwanda's High Court on Thursday sentenced a former mayor to life in prison for his role in the country's 1994 genocide, which included leading attacks that resulted in the deaths of around 25,000 ethnic Tutsis in his town. Ladislas Ntaganzwa was one of the top fugitive suspects, accused of playing a key role in the massacre of some 800,000 mostly Tutsi but also moderate Hutus, when he was arrested in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2015. A statement from Rwanda's prosecution authority said the court "convicted him for genocide, extermination as crime against humanity and rape as crime against humanity and sentenced him to life imprisonment."

Pakistani villager urges India to return 'spy' pigeon

The owner of a pigeon "arrested" by India for spying says his bird was freed for Eid and is innocent.

CDC changes its 'confusing' guidelines on coronavirus and surfaces. Here's what we know.

This new CDC update may quell some major concerns about how COVID-19 is transmitted, but plenty of questions still remain. Here's what to know.

Venezuela's Maduro vows to raise gasoline price as Iranian tanker nears

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Wednesday pledged to begin charging citizens for gasoline, as the fourth cargo of a five-tanker flotilla bringing fuel from Iran approached the South American nation's exclusive economic zone. Iran is providing the country with up to 1.53 million barrels of gasoline and components to help it ease an acute scarcity that has forced Venezuelans to wait in hours-long lines at service stations or pay steep prices on the black market. With the arrival of the gasoline, Maduro said he would end the policy of providing fuel effectively for free after more than two decades of frozen pump prices.

Iran outraged by 'honour killing' of 14-year-old girl Romina Ashrafi

The killing of an Iranian teen by her father after she eloped with an older man sparked outrage on Wednesday, with local media denouncing "institutionalised violence" in "patriarchal" Iran. Iranian media covered the apparent "honour" crime extensively, with Ebtekar newspaper leading its front page with the headline "Unsafe father's house". According to local media, Romina Ashrafi was killed in her sleep on May 21 by her father, who decapitated her in the family home in Talesh in northern Gilan province. The reports said her father had refused her permission to marry a man fifteen years her senior, spurring her to run away, but she was returned home after her father reported her. The legal marriage age in Iran is 13 for women. Iranian media reported that after authorities detained the teenager, she told a judge she feared for her life if she was returned to home. But what most outraged public opinion was the lenient punishment the father is likely to face, Ebtekar wrote. The newspaper notes that Iran's normal "eye for an eye" retributive justice does not apply to fathers who kill their children. Accordingly, he is likely to face three to 10 years in prison, a sentence that could be reduced further, the newspaper wrote, denouncing the "institutionalised violence" of Iran's "patriarchal culture". With the farsi hashtag Romina_Ashrafi focusing outrage on Twitter, President Hassan Rouhani "expressed his regrets" in a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, pleading for the speedy passing of several anti-violence bills, his office said. On Twitter, Vice President for Women and Family Affairs, Masoumeh Ebtekar, said a bill on the protection of young people was in the "final phase" of validation by Iran's Guardian Council. The council, which vets legislation to ensure compliance with Iran's constitution and Islamic sharia law, has thrice previously called for changes to the law after it was passed by lawmakers, Ebtekar newspaper wrote. The publication fears that if the council sends back the bill, it will be buried by Iran's new parliament, which held its first session Wednesday and is dominated by conservatives and hardliners opposed to Rouhani.

As politicians in DC condemn China for crackdowns on Hong Kong protests, US police use tear gas on demonstrators in Minneapolis

Tear gas — also known as CS gas — is considered a chemical weapon and is banned in warfare by most countries, including the US.

Senate Democrats take on GOP court-packing in blistering new report

The senators pointed to conservative activist Leonard Leo as the driving force behind the many of the president's appointments.

Cockpit voice recorder of crashed Pakistani plane recovered

The cockpit voice recorder of the Pakistani airliner that crashed last week was found on Thursday, six days after the passenger plane went down in a crowded neighborhood near the airport in the city of Karachi, killing 97 people on board. The other part of the black box, a flight data recorder, was recovered within hours of the crash. There were only two survivors of the Airbus A320 crash, which was carrying 91 passengers and eight crew members.

The man who filmed his encounter with a woman in Central Park says her actions were 'definitely racist,' but he's asking people to stop making death threats against her

Christian Cooper told CNN that he thinks Amy Cooper's apology is sincere, and has asked people to stop making death threats toward her.

Judge fired after telling alleged rape victim to "close your legs"

Superior Court Judge John Russo Jr. will never be allowed to work in New Jersey again.

Britain pushing US to form 5G club to cut out Huawei: report

Britain wants the United States to form a club of 10 nations that could develop its own 5G technology and reduce dependence on China's Huawei, The Times newspaper reported Friday. The reported proposal comes ahead of a planned G7 summit that US President Donald Trump hopes to host next month. Britain has allowed the Chinese global leader in 5G technology to build up to 35 percent of the infrastructure necessary to roll out its new speedy data network.

Five UK mercenaries offered $150,000 each to fly helicopters for Gen Haftar in Libya, say UN

Five British mercenaries involved in an operation to fly assault helicopters for Libya’s renegade General Khalifa Haftar were offered bounties of up to $150,000 each for their role in the daring plot which went awry. The men, comprised of former Royal Marines and RAF personnel, were among 20 foreign mercenaries who traveled to Libya last June in an operation to pilot assault helicopters and speed boats to intercept Turkish ships ferrying weapons to Haftar’s opponents – the UN-backed government in Tripoli. A source with knowledge of the secret UN report which revealed the plot told The Daily Telegraph that the men involved were believed on sums of “$30,000 to $50,000 a month, or $20,000 to $40,000 per month depending on whether you were pilot or aircrewman”. “It was a three-month contract”. The Telegraph can reveal that the UN investigation concluded that the operation was led by Steven Lodge, a former South African Air Force officer who also served in the British military. Mr. Lodge, who now resides in Scotland, is a director of Umbra Aviation, a South-Africa based company that has recently supplied helicopters to the Government of Mozambique, where the country is battling a jihadist insurgency in its restive north. Speaking to The Telegraph over the phone, Mr. Lodge flatly denied the chronicle of events detailed in the UN report. “All the info is incorrect - the whole facts behind the whole thing,” he said.

The Chinese CDC now says the coronavirus didn't jump to people at the Wuhan wet market — instead, it was the site of a super-spreader event

The origin of the new coronavirus still isn't known. But according to the Chinese CDC, it isn't the wet market in Wuhan.

Fact check: Ex-officer involved in George Floyd’s death not pictured at Trump rally

The ex-Minneapolis police officer involved in George Floyd's death was misidentified as a man who appeared with the president at an October rally.

Brazil police raid presidential allies in fake news probe

Brazil's federal police searched the homes and offices of allies of President Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday in an investigation into alleged fake news attacks on social media against the country's Supreme Court. A police statement said the searches in six cities were authorized by the Supreme Court. Criticism of the top court on social media last year led Chief Justice Jose Antonio Dias Toffoli to authorize the probe into an alleged fake news network.

WH press secretary: Trump says he’s feeling ‘absolutely great’ after taking hydroxychloroquine

At a press briefing on Thursday, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters President Trump said he’s feeling “absolutely great” after completing his treatment with the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a preventive measure against the coronavirus. In April, the FDA cautioned against using the drug to treat COVID-19 outside of a hospital setting or clinical trial.

Failed Maduro coup leader flew on pro-govt magnate's plane

It was mid-January and Jordan Goudreau was itching to get going on a secret plan to raid Venezuela and arrest President Nicolás Maduro when the former special forces commando flew to the city of Barranquilla in Colombia to meet with his would-be partner in arms. To get there, Goudreau and two former Green Beret buddies relied on some unusual help: a chartered flight out of Miami’s Opa Locka executive airport on a plane owned by a Venezuelan businessman so close to the government of Hugo Chávez that he spent almost 4 years in a U.S. prison for trying to cover up clandestine cash payments to its allies. The owner of the Venezuela-registered Cessna Citation II with yellow and blue lines, identified with the tail number YV-3231, was Franklin Durán, according to three people familiar with the businessman’s movements who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.

Police arrested a Bay Area woman who they say posted racist notes on the homes of Asian Americans

The notes suggested that those not native to the US leave the country immediately.

Russia slams 'dangerous' US foreign policy moves

Russia said on Thursday the United States was acting in a dngerous and unpredictable way, after Washington withdrew from a key military treaty and moved to ramp up pressure on Iran. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova made the comments after Washington announced it would end sanctions waivers for nations that remain in a nuclear accord signed with Iran.

Rohingya refugee crisis: 'The bodies were thrown out of the boat'

Khadiza Begum, a Rohingya refugee, left Myanmar to escape violence but found more horror at sea.

Outrage in Iran over gruesome 'honour killing' of teenage girl

Iran’s president has called for so-called honour killings to be outlawed following the gruesome murder of a teenage girl, allegedly by her father, for running away from home with an older man. Romina Ashrafi, 14, was allegedly beheaded by her father as punishment for fleeing her home in Talesh, near Tehran, with a 29-year-old man. The couple were detained and Romina was handed back to her family as her father appeared to have forgiven her, according to the state news agency IRNA. But on May 21, the girl’s father attacked her while she was sleeping and cut off her head with a sickle, according to a local news website called Gilkhabar. The father has since been arrested, as well as the man Romina eloped with according to local media reports. Under Iranian law, young girls can marry from 13 although most women get married in their early 20s according to the Associated Press. If convicted, the girl’s father would face a prison sentence of ten years. Iran’s penal code currently reduces the penalties for fathers, or other family members, who carry out honour killings on their relatives. Romina’s death has shocked Iran and prompted Hassan Rouhani, the president, to order his Cabinet to speed up legislation against so-called honour killings.

'No mask — no entry': New York Gov. Cuomo says he'll sign an executive order allowing businesses to refuse service to people who won't wear masks

"No mask — no entry," said New York's governor. The executive order will give businesses the power to keep people without masks from entering.

'Justice will be served!': Trump weighs in on George Floyd case

Floyd, 46, died Monday night after a Minneapolis police officer pinned him by the neck with his knee for more than eight minutes. The president called his death "very sad and tragic."

Turkey's Erdogan says many facilities to reopen on June 1

Turkey will lift restrictions on intercity travel and allow restaurants, cafes, parks and sports facilities to reopen from June 1 as it eases restrictions imposed to curb the coronavirus outbreak, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday. Restrictions will remain in place on the movements of those aged over 65 and under 18. The virus has killed nearly 4,500 people in Turkey, with more than 160,000 infections.

Tesla slashes prices to boost demand

Tesla Inc. has cut prices of its electric vehicles by as much as 6% in North America following a decline in auto demand in the region during weeks of lockdown that have now started to ease.

Spanish workers, officials decry Nissan move to close plant

Angry workers burned tires at the gates of the Nissan carmaking plant in northeastern Spain and prepared for more protests after the Japanese company said it would shut all its manufacturing in the region as it reshuffles its global business. The decision will lead to 3,000 direct job cuts, which unions say will cause economic ripple effects and impact some 20,000 families in the Catalonia region. Although Nissan had been mulling for months to scale down its production in Europe and other parts of the world, the company is suffering like many other automakers from a plunge in demand for vehicles.

Double murder suspect arrested after multistate manhunt

The manhunt for the 23-year-old college senior had spanned Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland.

US revokes Hong Kong's special status as anger grows over China law

The United States has revoked Hong Kong's special status under US law, opening the way for the city to be stripped of trading privileges, as Washington accused China of trampling on the territory's autonomy. The decision came as China's rubber-stamp parliament was set to vote Thursday on a new Hong Kong security law, a move that has triggered renewed protests. Under legislation passed last year to support Hong Kong's pro-democracy protesters, the US administration must certify that the city still enjoys the freedoms promised by Beijing when it negotiated with Britain to take back the colony.

A pharmacist known as 'the Mask Man' has been charged with hoarding $200,000 worth of N95 masks and price-gouging customers

The DOJ said the pharmacist, 66-year-old Richard Schirripa, sold $2,690 of masks to an undercover officer and said he felt "like a drug dealer."

This casino owner is giving away 1,000 free flights to Las Vegas

The flights to Las Vegas are available on a first-come, first-served basis online. Travelers must pay for return flights, hotels and other trip costs.

More than 100,000 people have died of COVID-19 in the US, which is comparable to the number of residents in a city like Edison, New Jersey

By May 18, around 14% of Americans said they know someone who died from coronavirus, a study from Ipsos found.

New video appears to show George Floyd on the ground with three officers

The 18-second clip shows three officers on the ground with him while another officer stands next to a police vehicle.

Biden on 100,000 coronavirus deaths: 'To those hurting, the nation grieves with you.'

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden released a video message on Wednesday marking the grim milestone of 100,000 American lives lost to the coronavirus pandemic, telling the bereaved: "The nation grieves with you." Biden spoke after various tallies of COVID-19 deaths, including one compiled by Reuters, showed that the novel coronavirus has killed over 100,000 people in the United States, even as the slowdown in deaths encouraged businesses to reopen and Americans to emerge from more than two months of lockdowns. Biden, speaking from his home in Delaware, drew on his own family loss when making his remarks.

Trump shares video of cowboy activist saying ‘the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat’

Donald Trump has approvingly promoted a video of a right-wing activist claiming that “the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat”.The US president shared the footage on Thursday morning after Cowboys For Trump posted it on Twitter.

Court: Mental provider not liable in Florida school shooting

A mental health provider cannot be held liable for the actions of a man accused of a 2018 Florida high school massacre, an appeals court ruled Wednesday. Cruz had multiple mental issues, including a fascination with violence, weapons and death, but was eventually mainstreamed into Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The 4th District Court of Appeal agreed Wednesday with a lower court that Henderson could not be held negligent for failing to prevent Cruz from being mainstreamed into school and not adequately warning school officials about his “dangerous propensities.”