Today's Top Political and Coronavirus News Compilation - Saturday, August 7, 2021 (1 Viewer)

President Joe Biden is praising the Senate for edging the bipartisan infrastructure plan closer to passage.

A New Jersey gym owner and a Washington state man have become the first people charged in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S.

The Biden administration has announced it is extending pandemic relief for student loan repayments, interest and collections.

The select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection is weighing whether to pursue call logs from the Trump White House on the day of the riot, a move that could present a potentially thorny dilemma for President Joe Biden who would ultimately have to determine whether the records...

DHS said it has no specific evidence of an imminent plot.

Senate Democrats from across the party's political spectrum seem near the unanimity they’ll need for the crucial first step toward their $3.5 trillion infrastructure vision.

An executive order threatens to withhold funds from districts requiring masks.

For months, President Biden prioritized a bipartisan infrastructure bill. Its initial success shows that both parties recognize the political upside.

Addressing fears that the Delta-driven surge in COVID-19 cases could prompt another lockdown, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the country is “not turning back the clock.”

An Arkansas judge has temporarily blocked the state from enforcing a law that prevents schools and other governmental agencies from requiring masks.

His attorney accused investigators of failing to conduct an "open-minded" investigation and said they "acted as prosecutors, judge and jury."

More than 1,600 people affected by the September 11 attacks are asking President Joe Biden to refrain from coming to Ground Zero to mark the 20th anniversary of the event unless he releases documents and information related to the attacks, according to a letter released by the group.

A little over a year after she was fired as the manager of Florida’s coronavirus dashboard, Rebekah Jones is returning to the state to run for Congress against Rep. Matt Gaetz, one of former President Donald Trump’s closest allies in Washington.

"We all love our Second Amendment rights," she said, adding, "They might not like the welcome they get.”

Progressives lost a House primary in Ohio, but they won when President Biden decided to extend a housing eviction moratorium.

President Biden delivered remarks praising the economic growth shown in the Labor Department's July jobs report, emphasizing the 943,000 jobs added to the economy and a dip in the unemployment rate.

The Supreme Court is being asked to block a plan by Indiana University to require students and employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

The U.S. Postal Service will pay $120 million over the next five years to a major logistics contractor that Postmaster General Louis DeJoy previously helped lead and with which his family maintains financial ties, according to DeJoy's financial disclosure statements. The new contract will deepen...

A House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol has hired former Republican Rep.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday paid tribute to the police officers who died after protecting the U.S. Capitol from violent insurrectionists on Jan. 6, calling them “heroes” and “martyrs of democracy.”

North Carolina Congressman Madison Cawthorn joined a group of parents Thursday as they pushed back against the Buncombe County school board’s new mask mandate for children and what he called “swampy backdoor tactics.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, facing a Sept. 14 recall election, believes embattled New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo should resign from office.

The California wildfire is now the largest wildfire in the U.S., growing to more than 432,800 acres overnight.

Jeffrey Clark, a Donald Trump-appointed environment law chief at the Justice Department at the center of the former President’s efforts to overturn the election, received a high-level intelligence briefing around New Year’s 2021 that did little to stop his efforts to prove foreign interference...

The Biden administration has started flying migrants removed under Title 42 health protections deep into the Mexican interior amid fears over not just rising border numbers, but also an increase in COVID-19 cases related to the delta variant.

"Hope springs eternal," a leading House Democrat on voting rights told Insider about garnering bipartisan support to restore the Voting Rights Act.

Lamb, an ally of President Joe Biden, joins a race that is shaping up as another clash between the establishment and progressive left.

A sole Republican senator blocked efforts to speed up the package of Biden's landmark infrastructure bill.

President Joe Biden is nominating two major Democratic donors to serve as ambassadors to Argentina and Switzerland.

The DOJ is arguing that the property owners' challenge should be rejected because the Supreme Court ruling they cite is not in their favor.

Tehran denies being behind drone attack against Israel-linked tanker, but G7 says ‘evidence clearly points to Iran’.

A top Israeli official said his country is ready to strike Iran in retaliation for a recent attack on an oil tanker belonging to an Israeli firm.Defense Minister Benny Gantz replied, "Yes," when asked by the Israeli news site Ynet News on Thursday whether the Israeli Defense Forces was ready to...

When police officers, with guns drawn, surrounded the home Eric Brown was showing to his friend, he thought there was a fugitive outside. But "they were here for us," he said he came to realize.

Tigray forces in recent weeks crossed into Amhara and Afar regions, opening a new front in the months-long conflict.

Former U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi was remembered Friday as an honorable statesman and family man who was focused on leadership, tradition and faith. The Wyoming Republican died July 26 after he was hospitalized with a broken neck and ribs for three days following a bicycle accident near Gillette...

The pair set the scheme in motion last month with the help of an arms dealer based in Thailand, prosecutors say.

Former Rep. Denver Riggleman is joining the staff of the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, the third Republican that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has added to the panel that GOP leadership has attacked as a partisan endeavor.

Republicans say they're ready for political game of chicken with Democrats over the looming debt ceiling deadline, but not all party members appear to be on the same page for how to fight that battle.

The comments came after a report the administration is considering using federal powers and the threat of withholding funds to encourage vaccinations.

The economic boost from an expected $1 trillion infrastructure bill working its way through the U.S. Senate has helped push Wall Street stocks near record levels, but some investors are concerned that the next two months in Washington could be rocky. At issue is not only the bipartisan...

Two U.S. officials say the Biden administration has begun flying some Central American families deep into Mexico as authorities encounter more families and unaccompanied children at the U.S.

Olympics governing body cancels accreditation of two Belarusian coaches after failed bid to force sprinter home.

A battle to win a path to citizenship for "Dreamer" immigrants, following two decades of defeat, is underway in the U.S. Senate as Democrats face tough challenges on several fronts, including within their own ranks. For the millions of immigrants who were brought to the United States as...

Billions of dollars are available to help struggling Americans pay their rent. Tenants have until October 3 to apply.

Weapons such as the M82 are part of a “torrent” of illegal arms flowing south that Mexico says shouldn't be in the hands of civilians.

Attorneys for Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo criticized investigators with the New York attorney general's office on Friday, claiming they ran a shoddy process and failed to interview key witnesses whose testimony could have challenged that Cuomo sexually harassed and intimidated nearly a dozen...

Country’s electoral council says president and legal representative of CXL holds dual US-Nicaraguan citizenship.

The Biden administration has announced that federal student loan payments will remain suspended through January 2022, extending a pause that was scheduled to expire next month.

Even in a July jobs report that was nearly universally hailed as a good one, pockets of weakness and concern are still clouding the celebration.

Pair charged by US prosecutors over conspiracy to ‘seriously injure or kill’ Myanmar’s anti-coup UN envoy Kyaw Moe Tun.

In the past two days, 133 people were stopped at the Belarusian border with Poland, compared to 122 last year.

The case of a homeless Black Muslim man who died while being restrained by officers after he tried to carry his tiny service dog into a public bathroom may have helped prompt the U.S. Justice Department this week to launch a widespread civil rights probe into the Phoenix police force, his family...

Two women who were recorded on video stealing a 7-year-old boy's "Make America Great Again" hat and accosting his Trump-supporting family pleaded guilty to multiple misdemeanor charges on Monday, including hate crimes. Prosecutors said Tuesday that their plea agreements with Olivia Winslow and...

The Department of Homeland Security warned state and local authorities Friday about an increase in calls for violence online tied to election-related conspiracy theories, according to a law enforcement source.

China warned the United States could face "countermeasures" following President Joe Biden's approval of a $750 million arms sale for Taiwan as Beijing ramps up its commitment to a "one-China" policy.In response to the administration's announcement of the arms deal this week, the Chinese Embassy...

The White House has not made a decision on whether the expanded unemployment benefits launched during the pandemic should expire in September, press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday.President Joe Biden previously stated in June that it "makes sense" to let the benefits expire on the current...

The Justice Department argued the court should uphold the ban after landlord groups tried to block it.

Google co-founder Larry Page has gained New Zealand residency, officials confirmed, stoking debate over whether extremely wealthy people can essentially buy access to the South Pacific country.

The Georgia Democrat is among more than two dozen other members of Congress who have shelled out campaign funds for security this year.

A New Jersey gym owner and former MMA fighter pleaded guilty on Friday to assaulting a police officer during the January 6 insurrection, marking the first time a Capitol rioter has been convicted of violence against police.

Zaranj, capital of southern Nimruz province, falls to the group in a significant setback for the Afghan government.

Once unable to compete with conventional autos, electric vehicles are now increasingly affordable.

Conservative talk radio host Larry Elder has fortified his ascendant status among Republicans who want to replace Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in a September recall election, raising $4.5 million for his campaign in just 19 days and rapidly eclipsing prominent rivals, government records showed...

Melvin Berry's case is one of three racial discrimination cases filed by former workers against the electric car maker.

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation’s collapse would have dire implications for our weather and life on Earth.

Some are calling for Human Rights Campaign President Alphonso David to step down over actions described in an investigative report about New York’s embattled governor.

White House officials are concerned about the lack of Senate-confirmed appointees under President Biden in comparison to previous administrations, reports said Friday.

For House Republicans, their path back to power could rest on the backs of GOP women.

The data comes as the delta variant threatens a return to normalcy.

Secretary Blinken said he's heard "growing concerns" from State Department employees about the "Havana Syndrome."

Taliban forces have taken a provincial capital near the border of Afghanistan and Iran, delivering the militants a milestone urban victory that brings control of an important link in regional trade routes."Residents of the city spent the night in fear and panic, and this morning, 40% of Zaranj's...

Olympic Games are expensive. The price tag for the Tokyo Olympics is $15.4 billion. That would pay for the construction of hundreds of hospitals in Japan, or more than 1,000 schools.

Tesla's Model S Plaid may be the fastest production car, but Biden is more interested in being first to drive the first union-made electric Corvette.

The officers are not accused of entering the Capitol building on Jan. 6, but they crossed police barriers and were in a prohibited area, police said.

According to aid agency Walking Across Borders, the dead likely included 30 women, eight children and four men.

The numbers set in motion the carving of states into congressional and legislative districts — and can boost or dilute Latino voter influence. “It’s not a simple math problem," the UCLA's Sonja Diaz says.

Here's what you missed from Day 14 of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Ethiopia’s spreading Tigray conflict faces a dangerous escalation as an Amhara regional official says Amhara forces will launch an offensive on Saturday against Tigray forces who have entered the region and taken control of a town hosting a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The video was released by the San Diego County Sheriff's Department to promote public safety.

Help wanted: NASA is looking for people to spend a year pretending they are isolated on Mars. The space agency began taking applications Friday for four people to live in a simulated Mars habitat at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Even people who have recovered from COVID-19 are urged to get vaccinated, and a new study shows survivors who ignored that advice had twice the risk of getting reinfected.

Public health experts warn ‘vaccines do not eliminate all risk’ amid early signs jabs may not stop Delta transmission.

The COVID-19 vaccines may provide greater protection against reinfection than natural immunity, according to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.“If you have had COVID-19 before, please still get vaccinated,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a statement...

In a statement, Davids, D-Kan., said she had only mild symptoms and is isolating at home, where she was already recovering from outpatient surgery.

Students can transfer schools to avoid 'harassment' like mask mandates, Florida's board of education says.

Top U.S. infectious disease physician Dr. Anthony Fauci told USA TODAY he doesn't see future lockdowns but expects vaccine mandates to be common.

Two different lawsuits have been filed against Gov. Ron DeSantis over his executive order on masks in schools.

"The delta variant has created a new and pressing risk to children and adolescents across this country," president of the leading pediatricians group wrote.

The administration of Gov. Greg Abbott insists campus transmission rates are low and following the path of infection is unnecessary.

Florida education officials on Friday are holding an emergency meeting to discuss freeing up private-school vouchers for families that want to transfer their children out of public schools that impose mask mandates.The last-minute meeting was scheduled after Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered...

United Airlines announced Friday that it will mandate its nearly 67,000 United States-based employees to be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, making it the first major American airline to do so. Executives acknowledged that some portion of the company's workforce will disagree with the...

Federal employees who need to certify their vaccination status under a new policy instituted by President Joe Biden intended to encourage COVID-19 shots will false disciplinary action and potentially criminal prosecution if they lie on the form.

The family of a Florida man who died of COVID-19 will turn his wake and funeral into a vaccination and testing event.

"He and I didn't see eye to eye on a lot of things. But this is not a time for a victory lap," the mayor of Dickinson said.