Stories by Associated Press

The mural of George Floyd projected above his golden coffin, where mourners knelt and cried, paused and prayed at his memorial service Thursday had a simple message: “I can breathe now.”

Three days after George Floyd died with a Minneapolis police officer choking off his air, another black man writhed on the tarmac of a street in Paris as a police officer pressed a knee to his neck during an arrest. 

In Baltimore, protesters shouted the name of Freddie Gray. In Topeka, Kansas, T-shirts were emblazoned with the name of Dominique White. Protesters used their names to drive home the point that Floyd is part of a larger story about the dangers of being black in the U.S.

U.S. officials sought to determine Sunday whether extremist groups had infiltrated police brutality protests across the country and deliberately tipped largely peaceful demonstrations toward violence.

Nations around the world have watched in horror at the five days of civil unrest in the United States following the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a white police officer pressed his knee on his neck until he stopped breathing. 

The massive protests sweeping across U.S. cities following the police killing of a black man in Minnesota have  elevated fears that the huge crowds will lead to a new surge in cases of the coronavirus.

A divided Supreme Court on Friday rejected an emergency appeal by a California church; an appeal from two churches in the Chicago area was also rejected.

President Donald Trump announced Friday he would withdraw funding from the World Health Organization, end Hong Kong’s special trade status and suspend visas of Chinese graduate students suspected of conducting research on behalf of their government.

U.S. consumer spending plunged by a record-shattering 13.6% in April as the viral pandemic shuttered businesses, forced millions of layoffs and sent the economy into a deep recession.

There are roughly 175,000 immigrants in U.S. meatpacking jobs. The industry has historically relied on foreign-born workers, but now that reliance and uncertainty about a virus that's killed at least 20 workers and temporarily shuttered several plants fuels concerns about possible labor shortages to meet demand for beef, pork and chicken.

Americans marked a Memorial Day like no other Monday as the coronavirus pandemic upended traditional commemorations. In Chicago, a neighborhood group that’s been holding a parade for more than a half century moved its event online.