North America

ATLANTA (AP) — A federal judge in Atlanta is set to hear arguments Monday on whether Mark Meadows should be allowed to fight the Georgia indictment accusing him of participating in an illegal scheme to overturn the 2020 election in federal court rather than in a state court.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden are visiting a District of Columbia public middle school on Monday to welcome students back for the new school year.

The Bidens are heading to Eliot-Hine Middle School, located east of the U.S. Capitol, to mark the District of Columbia’s first day of school for the 2023-24 year. The event kicks off several back-to-school activities for the first lady, who is traveling later in the week to the Midwest to celebrate teachers and to highlight the mental health needs of students.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawyers for Donald Trump are due back in court Monday as a federal judge considers radically conflicting proposals for a trial date in the case accusing him of working to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the run-up to the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Old. Confused. Corrupt. Dishonest.

Those are among the top terms Americans use when they’re asked to describe President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, the Republican best positioned to face him in next year’s election.

Unflattering portraits of both emerge clearly in a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, which asked an open-ended question about what comes to mind when people think of them.

MEXICO CITY, Aug 26 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge has canceled a hearing on a $10 billion lawsuit filed by Mexico seeking to hold U.S. gun manufacturers responsible for facilitating arms trafficking to drug cartels, Mexico's foreign ministry said on Saturday.

The ministry, which has been urging a U.S. appeals court to revive the case, said that the hearing, due to take place on Monday, had been canceled last Thursday.

TORONTO, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Canada's second-quarter GDP report, due on Friday, is likely to show a sharp slowdown in economic growth, a Reuters poll of economists showed, which could lead the Bank of Canada to pause its interest rate hikes despite recent hotter inflation data.

The GDP report will be the last major piece of domestic data before the Canadian central bank makes its next policy decision on Sept. 6. It is expected to show the economy growing at a 1.1% pace in the second quarter, down from 3.1% in the first three months of the year, and below the BoC's 1.5% estimate.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of Americans gathered Saturday on the National Mall to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington, a monumental event in the U.S. civil rights movement most remembered because of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.

LOUISVILLE, Ky (AP) — A shooting near a Louisville restaurant and bar early Sunday left one man dead and five others injured by gunshots, according to police.

Police arrived at the scene in downtown Louisville around 3 a.m. and found a man dead, Louisville Police Maj. Shannon Lauder told media near the scene. Another man wounded by gunfire was transported to a hospital and was in critical condition Sunday morning.

JACKSON HOLE, Wyoming (AP) — The continued strength of the U.S. economy could require further interest rate increases, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Friday in a closely watched speech that also highlighted the uncertain nature of the economic outlook.

Powell noted that the economy has been growing faster than expected and that consumers have kept spending briskly — trends that could keep inflation pressures high. He reiterated the Fed’s determination to keep its benchmark rate elevated until inflation is reduced to its 2% target.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Four astronauts from four countries rocketed toward the International Space Station on Saturday.

They should reach the orbiting lab in their SpaceX capsule Sunday, replacing four astronauts living up there since March.

A NASA astronaut was joined on the predawn liftoff from Kennedy Space Center by fliers from Denmark, Japan and Russia. They clasped one another’s gloved hands upon reaching orbit.