Five national stories of the week

Members of Community Justice Initiative and their supporters, foreground, demonstrate, Monday, Feb. 1, 2021, in front of the Rochester Police Department's Clinton Section at N. Clinton Avenue and Upper Falls Boulevard to protest the police handcuffing and using pepper spray on a 9-year-old girl last Friday, in Rochester, N.Y. (Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat & Chronicle via AP)
Members of Community Justice Initiative and their supporters, foreground, demonstrate, Monday, Feb. 1, 2021, in front of the Rochester Police Department's Clinton Section at N. Clinton Avenue and Upper Falls Boulevard to protest the police handcuffing and using pepper spray on a 9-year-old girl last Friday, in Rochester, N.Y. (Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat & Chronicle via AP)

Editor’s Note: This listicle is part of a weekly series by The Ball State Daily News summarizing five stories from around the world. All summaries are based on stories published by The Associated Press.

The U.S. sees decreasing COVID-19 cases, the Biden administration deports hundreds of immigrants, Rochester officers are suspended after pepper-spraying a 9-year-old, Donald Trump names lawyers to his impeachment team and President Joe Biden meets with Republicans about a coronavirus aid package make up this week's five national stories.

FILE - In this Jan. 31, 2021, file photo, registered Nurse Rita Alba gives a patient the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine at a pop-up COVID-19 vaccination site at the Bronx River Community Center in the Bronx borough of New York. The deadliest month of the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. drew to a close with certain signs of progress: COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are trending downward, while vaccinations are picking up speed. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

Pandemic's deadliest month in US ends with signs of progress

The deadliest month yet of the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. drew to a close with certain signs of progress: COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are plummeting, while vaccinations are picking up speed. The question is whether the nation can stay ahead of the fast-spreading mutations of the virus. The U.S. death toll has climbed past 440,000, with over 95,000 lives lost in January alone. Deaths are running at about 3,150 per day on average, down slightly by about 200 from their peak in mid-January. Cases are trending downward in all 50 states.

Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden talks with a protester objecting to his stance on deportations during a town hall at Lander University in Greenwood, S.C., on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2019. President Joe Biden's administration has deported hundreds of people in its first days in office despite the president's campaign pledge to halt most deportations at the beginning of his term. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard, file)

Hundreds deported under Biden

President Joe Biden’s administration has deported hundreds of immigrants in its early days despite his campaign pledge to stop removing most people in the U.S. illegally at the beginning of his term. A federal judge last week ordered the Biden administration not to enforce a 100-day moratorium on deportations, but the ruling did not require the government to schedule them. In recent days, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has deported immigrants to at least three countries: 15 people to Jamaica on Thursday and 269 people to Guatemala and Honduras on Friday. More deportation flights were scheduled Feb. 1.

Niya Shabazz, one of the organizers of Community Justice Initiative, speaks Monday, Feb. 1, 2021, during a protest about her outrage and how a child was treated by the police the previous Friday, in Rochester, N.Y. The city of Rochester has suspended police officers seen in body-camera videos spraying a chemical “irritant” in the face of the distraught and handcuffed 9-year-old girl, as police were responding to a report of “family trouble.” (Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat & Chronicle via AP)

Rochester officers who pepper-sprayed 9-year-old suspended

The city of Rochester has suspended police officers seen in body-camera videos spraying a chemical “irritant” in the face of a distraught and handcuffed 9-year-old girl, officials announced Monday. The city did not specify how many officers were suspended. The suspensions will last at least until an internal police investigation is completed. The action was announced as community outrage swelled following the release of footage Sunday showing officers restraining and scolding the girl, who was screaming for her father. Police said officers were responding to a report of “family trouble” Jan. 29.

FILE - In this Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021, file photo, President Donald Trump waves as he boards Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House, in Washington, en route to his Mar-a-Lago Florida Resort. Former President Trump has named two lawyers to his impeachment defense team, one day after it was revealed that the former president had parted ways with an earlier set of attorneys. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Trump names 2 lawyers to impeachment defense team

Former President Donald Trump announced a new impeachment legal defense team just one day after it was revealed that he had parted ways with an earlier set of attorneys with just over a week to go before his Senate trial. The two representing Trump will be defense lawyer David Schoen, a frequent television legal commentator, and Bruce Castor, a former district attorney in Pennsylvania who has faced criticism for his decision to not charge actor Bill Cosby in a sex crimes case. Both attorneys issued statements through Trump’s office on Sunday saying that they were honored to take the job.

President Joe Biden meets Republican lawmakers to discuss a coronavirus relief package, in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Feb. 1, 2021, in Washington. From left, Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, Vice President Kamala Harris, Biden, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Biden meets Republicans on virus aid, but no quick deal

President Joe Biden told Republican senators during a two-hour meeting he’s unwilling to settle on an insufficient coronavirus aid package after they pitched their slimmed down $618 billion proposal that’s a fraction of the $1.9 trillion he is seeking. No compromise was reached in the lengthy session Monday night, Biden’s first with lawmakers at the White House, and Democrats in Congress pushed ahead with groundwork for approving his COVID-19 relief plan with or without Republican votes. The president made it clear he won’t delay aid in hopes of winning GOP support.

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