North America

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress is at a crossroads in the coronavirus crisis, wrestling over whether to “go big,” as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants for the next relief bill, or hit “pause,” as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell insists.

HICAGO, May 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Nine people have been shot and killed in Chicago, over the Memorial Day weekend, the deadliest one since 2015, Chicago Tribune reported, Monday.

The dead are among at least 36 people shot from Friday afternoon to Monday morning, according to the newspaper.

With a day still to go in the long weekend, the number of shootings is approaching 2019’s total, despite a COVID-19 stay-at-home order, Saturday’s severe storms, and added police patrols, the paper said.

NEW CASTLE, Del. (AP) — Joe Biden made his first in-person appearance in more than two months on Monday as he marked Memorial Day by laying a wreath at a veterans park near his Delaware home.

Since abruptly canceling a March 10 rally in Cleveland at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee has waged much of his campaign from his home in Wilmington. When Biden emerged on Monday, he wore a face mask, in contrast to President Donald Trump, who has refused to cover his face in public as health officials suggest.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — It’s back to the future as NASA astronauts launch again from the U.S. — aboard a retro-style “Right Stuff” capsule.

Make no mistake: This is not your father’s — or grandfather’s — capsule.

SpaceX’s Dragon crew capsule outshines NASA’s old Apollo spacecraft in virtually every way. The Dragon’s clean lines and minimalist interior, with touchscreens instead of a mess of switches and knobs, make even the space shuttles seem yesteryear.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration’s new strategy for coronavirus testing puts much of the burden on states while promising to provide supplies such as swabs and material to transport specimens.

The plan, which was delivered Sunday to members of Congress, drew harsh criticism Monday from Democrats. In a joint letter, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, New Jersey Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. and Washington Sen. Patty Murray said the administration “still does not have a serious plan for increasing testing to stop the spread of the virus.”

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit failed Monday in its first test launch of a new rocket carried aloft by a Boeing 747 and released over the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Southern California.

The inaugural launch had appeared to be going well until moments after the rocket was dropped from beneath the left wing of the jumbo jet dubbed Cosmic Girl.

ATLANTA (AP) — A lawyer for the family of Ahmaud Arbery said Monday that a federal prosecutor told the slain man’s mother federal officials are investigating potential misconduct by local officials who handled the case.

Lawyer Lee Merritt said U.S. Attorney Bobby Christine, whose jurisdiction includes southern Georgia, met with him and Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, on Thursday.

“They wanted us to know they had already been involved in the investigation,” Merritt said.

BALTIMORE (AP) — President Donald Trump honored America’s war dead Monday in back-to-back Memorial Day appearances colored by an epic struggle off the battlefield, against the coronavirus.

Eager to demonstrate national revival from the pandemic, Trump doubled up on his public schedule, while threatening to pull the Republican National Convention out of Charlotte in August unless North Carolina’s Democratic governor gives a quick green light to the party’s plans to assemble en masse.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A slowdown in China’s economy this year should allow Mexico to attract more investment, lure companies and create jobs, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Monday.

Speaking at a regular government news conference, Lopez Obrador pointed to forecasters’ expectations that China’s economy will post its weakest growth in years in 2020 amid disruptions caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

NEW YORK, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The front page of Sunday's New York Times features the names of 1,000 people who have died of COVID-19 in the United States. Calling it "an incalculable loss," the newspaper clarified that "the 1,000 people here reflect just 1 percent of toll."

"They were not simply names on a list. They were us," the paper said. "Numbers alone cannot possibly measure the impact of the coronavirus in America, whether it is the number of patients treated, jobs interrupted or lives cut short."