USA

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — In his telling, President Joe Biden’s political philosophy is rooted in Pennsylvania, where the son of Scranton grew up watching families struggle to make ends meet.

But as Democrats in the president’s home state choose a nominee on Tuesday for a critical U.S. Senate seat, the moderate candidate long viewed as an heir to the Biden wing of the party is at risk of being trounced by a progressive once backed by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

WASHINGTON, May 14 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden has been briefed on "the horrific shooting" in Buffalo, state of New York, that took place on Saturday afternoon, according to the White House.

Biden "will continue to receive updates throughout the evening and tomorrow as further information develops," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

"The President and the First Lady are praying for those who have been lost and for their loved ones," the statement read.

WASHINGTON, May 15 (Xinhua) -- The International Monetary Fund announced Saturday an increase in the weighting of the Chinese renminbi and U.S. dollar in the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) currency basket after completing a quinquennial review.

It marks the first SDR review since the renminbi formally became the fifth currency in the SDR basket in 2016. The review occurred about one year later than originally scheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and a delegation of GOP senators met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv during an unannounced visit Saturday, delivering the latest show of American solidarity with the country at war with Russia.

“Our delegation reaffirmed to President Zelenskyy that the United States stands squarely behind Ukraine and will sustain our support until Ukraine wins this war,” McConnell said in a statement released after the delegation had left Ukraine.

ATLANTA (AP) — The great vote-by-mail wave appears to be receding just as quickly as it arrived.

After tens of millions of people in the United States opted for mail ballots during the pandemic election of 2020, voters in early primary states are returning in droves to in-person voting this year.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Shoppers out on a weekend afternoon and a retired police officer working as a security guard were among the 10 shot and killed at a Buffalo supermarket by a white teenager who authorities say was motivated by racial hatred.

Police said Payton Gendron shot, in total, 11 Black people and two white people Saturday in a rampage at the Tops Friendly Market that the 18-year-old broadcast live before surrendering to authorities.

Buffalo (US), May 15 (AP) A white 18-year-old wearing military gear and livestreaming with a helmet camera opened fire with a rifle at a supermarket in Buffalo, killing 10 people and wounding three others Saturday in what authorities described as "racially-motivated violent extremism".

14 May 2022; MEMO: The United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had intended to use Israel's infamous Pegasus spyware for its ongoing operations, a report by The New York Times has revealed.

UNITED NATIONS, May 14 (APP): Renewed talks to come up with some common rules to promote greater security in space have taken place in Geneva this week, amid growing tensions between Russia and western countries.

UJN officials said that the move received wide-ranging support and participation from civil society and member states – including all five permanent members of the Security Council –

UNITED NATIONS, May 13. /TASS/: Russia intends to submit materials to the UN Security Council for conducting an investigation into military biological activities in Ukraine as part of international agreements, Russia's Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said on Friday at a UNSC meeting that Russia called to discuss US biolaboratories in Ukraine.

"We have already built up a significant amount of material directly pointing to a violation by the US of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention, he said. "We continue to collect and analyze these materials."