Unrest sweeps US over George Floyd’s death

Protesters clash with police during a march against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in New York City, the United States, on Saturday. The police killing of Floyd, an unarmed 46-year-old black man, in the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota last week has sparked waves of outrage across the United States. SD-Agencies

SpaceX launches astronauts on historic mission

In a historic first for the U.S. space program, a spacecraft designed, built, owned and operated by a private company — SpaceX — blasted off on Saturday with two NASA astronauts aboard — the first purely private sector launch to orbit in space history.

It was also the first launch of a crew from U.S. soil since the space shuttle program ended nearly nine years ago.

Cheered on by a nation in the grip of a devastating pandemic, the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the company’s first piloted Crew Dragon ferry ship, vaulted away from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center.

14 dead in flooding as storm hits El Salvador

At least 14 people have died and hundreds have been evacuated in El Salvador as the first tropical storm of the Eastern Pacific season drenched parts of Central America, officials said.

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele decreed a 15-day state of emergency to deal with the rains that began pounding the country Friday ahead of Tropical Storm Amanda’s landfall on Sunday. Interior Minister Mario Duran said the country was “facing a critical situation.”

The storm had maximum sustained winds of 65 kilometers per hour when it hit on Sunday morning, but soon dissipated as it moved overland.

US hits 100,000 deaths from coronavirus

The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus pandemic has surpassed 100,000, according to the Johns Hopkins University data dashboard last week. Yet about half of Americans are unsure they would get vaccinated if one becomes available, a new poll shows.

As of the end of March, the U.S. had registered about 4,000 deaths. But the figure took a drastic upward turn in April, when the disease killed nearly 60,000 Americans, and has continued at a slower but still devastating pace.

States continue to cautiously reopen their economies while attempting to control the number of new infections, hospitalizations and fatalities. In New York state, where almost 30,000 people have died, Long Island has reopened, leaving New York City as the only area remaining essentially locked down.

Belgian prince tests positive after attending party

A Belgian prince has tested positive for coronavirus after attending a party in Spain, which local media have reported as breaking lockdown rules.

Prince Joachim, 28, attended the gathering in the city of Cordoba on May 26, a spokesperson for the Belgian Royal Palace said.

The prince, who is the nephew of Belgium’s King Phillipe and 10th in line to the throne, is now in quarantine with reportedly mild symptoms .

Italy gears up for travel ban lift

The COVID-19 hospitalizations decreased in Italy on Saturday, the Civil Protection Department said, continuing a positive trend for the hard-hit Mediterranean nation as it geared up for the end of domestic travel restrictions next week.

Total active infections stood at 43,691, down from 46,175 on Friday, according to the Civil Protection Department.

Of these infections, 450 are in intensive care unit (ICU), 25 fewer compared to Friday, and 6,680 are hospitalized with symptoms, down by 414 from the day before. The remaining 36,561, or about 84, are isolated at home with no symptoms or only mild symptoms.(SD-Agencies)