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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.

Coronavirus infections are rising as states reopen, potentially signaling a second wave

Twenty states reported an increase in new infections during the week ending May 24, up from 13 states the week before.

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.

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.

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 U.S. Might Revoke Hong Kong's 'Special Status.' Here's What That Means For Business in the Global Financial Hub

Hong Kong risks becoming a casualty in the emerging cold war between Washington and Beijing

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.

UConn student wanted in connection to 2 deaths is captured

"Peter Manfredonia has been found & is in custody" after a nearly weeklong manhunt, officials said Wednesday.

NSA: Russian agents have been hacking major email program

The U.S. National Security Agency says the same Russian military hacking group that interfered in the 2016 presidential election and unleashed a devastating malware attack the following year has been exploiting a major email server program since last August or earlier. The timing of the agency’s advisory Thursday was unusual considering that the critical vulnerability in the Exim Mail Transfer Agent — which mostly runs on Unix-type operating systems — was identified 11 months ago, when a patch was issued. Exim is so widely used — though far less known than such commercial alternatives as Microsoft’s proprietary Exchange — that some companies and government agencies that run it may still not have patched the vulnerability, said Jake Williams, president of Rendition Infosec and a former U.S. government hacker.

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.

Amy Cooper: Woman sacked after calling police on black man

The woman, identified as Amy Cooper, called police saying an African-American man was threatening her life.

Sri Lanka to reimpose selective lockdown after virus cases spike

Sri Lanka will reimpose selective lockdown restrictions from Sunday to restrict large gatherings after recording its biggest daily surge in coronavirus infections -- most found in citizens repatriated last week from Kuwait. The island nation on Tuesday lifted a shutdown on the capital and a neighbouring district, two weeks after easing it in other parts of the nation. The health ministry said that out of 460 Sri Lankans who returned from Kuwait this week, some 252 had tested positive for coronavirus.

China and U.S. should respect each other's core interests - Premier Li

China and United States should respect each other's core interests and manage their differences, Premier Li Keqiang said on Thursday, adding that a decoupling of their economies is not good for the world. "I believe both countries should respect each other and develop a relationship on the basis of equality, respect each other's core interests and major concerns and embrace cooperation," Li said in his annual news conference after the close of the annual meeting of parliament.

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.

One chart shows a noticeable correlation between how late a country started its coronavirus lockdown and the number of excess deaths

Analysis from the Financial Times has shown that the number of excess deaths correlates to when a country decided to lock down.

People are accidentally throwing out their stimulus payments — because they look like junk mail

The latest round of stimulus checks was issued in the form of prepaid debit cards — in plain white envelopes that don't bear any federal markings.

20 Republican lawmakers file lawsuit against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over new proxy voting system

A group of Republican lawmakers filed a lawsuit against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over the chamber's new proxy voting system, which allows lawmakers to designate another member to vote on their behalf during the coronavirus.

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.

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.

Canadian court rules against Huawei exec fighting extradition

Chinese Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou was dealt a legal setback Wednesday when a Canadian judge ruled that proceedings to extradite her to the United States will go ahead. The decision on so-called double criminality, a key test for extradition, found that bank fraud accusations against Meng would stand up in Canada. The interim ruling denying Meng's attempt to gain her freedom means she will continue to live in Vancouver under strict bail conditions while her case plays out.

'It's a Sad Result.' Mixed Feelings in Hong Kong Over U.S. Announcement on City's Autonomy

One leading pro-democracy figure thanked Washington, others said the move was bad news for Hong Kong people

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.

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.

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.

U.S. unit to arrive in Colombia to help fight drug trafficking

A U.S. army unit will arrive in Colombia in the coming days to help the Andean country's armed forces fight against drug trafficking for a four-month period, the U.S. embassy in Bogota said on Wednesday. The U.S. Security Force Assistance Brigade (SFAB) will arrive in Colombia in early June, the embassy said, without specifying the size of the unit. "SFAB's mission in Colombia is an opportunity to demonstrate our mutual commitment against drug trafficking and support for regional peace, respect for sovereignty and the lasting promise to defend shared ideals and values," said U.S. Southern Commander Admiral Craig Faller in a statement.

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.

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.

Migrant worker train deaths shock India amid lockdown fallout

Nine Indian migrant workers travelling amid the coronavirus pandemic died on trains in recent days, including a mother whose toddler could be seen trying to wake her in a viral video, officials and media reported Wednesday. The shocking deaths highlight the plight of Indian migrants in the pandemic, during which millions lost their jobs and are struggling to return home under the country's lockdown. Local media aired footage of a two-year-old boy pulling at a cloth covering his dead mother, 35-year-old Arbina Khatoon, at Muzaffarpur railway station in the northeastern state of Bihar.

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.

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.

Spain holds minute's silence at start of 10-day mourning period

Spain on Wednesday began a 10-day mourning period with a minute’s silence to remember the dead from the country’s coronavirus crisis. Flags flew at half mast and black crepe bows were attached to the national banner at the beginning of the longest period of mourning since Spain returned to democracy in the 1970s. More than 27,000 people have died from the disease, according to official figures, but the true toll could be far higher. King Felipe, Queen Letizia and their two daughters wore black as they marked the minute’s silence outside their Zarzuela Palace residence. Spain’s Congress, the lower house of parliament, fell silent briefly before the resumption of a raucous session of political infighting and criticism of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s Left-wing government. Addressing the prime minister, opposition Popular Party (PP) leader Pablo Casado said: “Mr Sánchez, you’re wearing a black tie at last. Now if you could manage to count the dead correctly, you would reach a new moral highpoint.” Opposition parties claim Spain’s government is hiding the true extent of the epidemic by only counting cases confirmed by PCR laboratory tests. Spain’s National Epidemiological Centre says that 43,000 people more people have died in Spain in the past two months than would normally be expected at this time of year. Opposition figures also demanded the resignation of the interior minister for allegedly sacking the leader of the Guardia Civil in revenge for a police report critical of the state's decision to allow a march on March 8 to mark International Women's' Day, despite warnings of the spread of Covid-19. The Guardia Civil report, handed to a judge who is investigating the government’s delegate in the capital for abuse of office in permitting the march less than a week before Spain declared a state of emergency, includes serious errors, such as stating that the WHO declared Covid-19 as a pandemic in January, instead of on March 11. As tempers flared, PP spokeswoman Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo claimed that the father of Deputy Prime Minister Pablo Iglesias had been a terrorist, with the Podemos leader responding by saying he would seek to take legal action.

China passes landmark legislation to force national security laws in Hong Kong, effectively crushing the city's autonomy

China approved new national security legislation for Hong Kong on Thursday in a major blow to the city's autonomy.

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.

Study: Death Rates for Drivers Vary by Car Size

When it comes to vehicle crashes, size and weight matter a great deal. That’s the conclusion of a comprehensive, three-year study into how drivers fared in their vehicles over time by the Insuran...

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.

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."

ICC allows former I.Coast president Gbagbo to leave Belgium

The International Criminal Court on Thursday said former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo can leave Belgium under certain conditions following his acquittal last year over post-electoral violence that killed 3,000 people. Gbagbo and his deputy Charles Ble Goude were both cleared of crimes against humanity a year ago, eight years after the former West African strongman's arrest and transfer to the Hague-based court. Belgium agreed to host Gbagbo, 73, after he was released in February last year under strict conditions including that he would return to court for a prosecution appeal against his acquittal.

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.

Warrants describe nightmarish child abuse case in Tennessee

Arrest warrants in a Tennessee couple's abuse case describe a hellish existence for four children in their legal custody, a nightmare that finally ended after a little boy was spotted walking alone along a Roane County road. Michael Anthony Gray Sr., 63, and his wife, Shirley Ann Gray, 60, were arrested Monday on charges of aggravated child abuse, especially aggravated kidnapping, aggravated child neglect and abuse of a corpse, authorities said. The oldest had been locked in the partially flooded, unfinished basement for stealing food shortly after the family moved to the home in June 2016, authorities said, "and had no contact with anyone outside the basement, only given small amounts of food, being white bread and some water,” the warrants state.

Elon Musk told NASA astronauts' kids ahead of the SpaceX launch, 'We've done everything we can to make sure your dads come back OK'

NASA has estimated a 1-in-276 chance that the astronauts on the SpaceX rocket could die during the company's first crewed mission.

Ireland may decide next week to speed up reopening plan

Ireland may next week speed up the reopening of its economy if coronavirus infections remain low, Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on Wednesday, though its chief medical officer said he was likely to advise against any such move. Ireland partially eased stay-at-home restrictions last week, in the first of five stages that constitute one of Europe's most conservative plans for rolling back a lockdown imposed in late March. The government has said it is open to allowing parts of the economy to restart ahead of schedule if the virus remains under control but Varadkar said it would not be clear until next week if the first phase has proceeded smoothly.

Analysis: With a new law for Hong Kong, Beijing makes clear sovereignty is its bottom line

Beijing's bottom line is sovereignty. Hong Kong is a 'purely internal affair that allows no foreign interference,' Chinese government spokesman says.

Coronavirus: How the pandemic in US compares with rest of world

More than 100,000 people have died and the country is now slowly reopening amid fears of new spikes.

Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto withdraws name from Biden's VP list

Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D) on Thursday said she will not be former Vice President Joe Biden's running mate, as she wants to focus on helping her state get through the coronavirus pandemic.It was "an honor to be considered," said Cortez Masto, the first Latina elected to the Senate, "but I have decided to withdraw my name from consideration. Nevada's economy is one of the hardest hit by the current crisis and I will continue to focus on getting Nevadans the support they need to get back on their feet."Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, said a statement he has "admired Sen. Cortez Masto as long as I have known her because she's a leader with integrity." Biden has said he will choose a woman to be his vice president, and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) are believed to be on his list. On Wednesday, Biden told supporters he will announce his pick by Aug. 1.More stories from theweek.com Amy Klobuchar didn't prosecute officer at center of George Floyd's death Trump's social media executive order could force social media to censor Trump Melania Trump reportedly warned Trump to take COVID-19 seriously — and he 'totally blew her off'

Pennsylvania state lawmaker rips GOP members for silence after testing positive for coronavirus

PA state Rep. Brian Sims released a Facebook video calling out Republican members he said withheld information about positive coronavirus cases.

Pharma chiefs see coronavirus vaccine by year-end, but challenges 'daunting'

Pharmaceutical company executives said Thursday that one or several COVID-19 vaccines could begin rolling out before 2021, but warned the challenges would be "daunting" as it was estimated that 15 billion doses would be needed to halt the pandemic. Well over 100 labs around the world are scrambling to come up with a vaccine against the novel coronavirus, including 10 that have made it to the clinical trial stage. "The hope of many people is that we will have a vaccine, hopefully several, by the end of this year," Pascal Soriot, head of AstraZeneca, told a virtual briefing.