USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump Justice Department secretly seized the phone records of three Washington Post reporters who covered the federal investigation into ties between Russia and Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, the newspaper said Friday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lurking beneath Facebook’s decision on whether to continue Donald Trump’s suspension from its platform is a far more complex and consequential question: Do the protections carved out for companies when the internet was in its infancy 25 years ago make sense when some of them have become global powerhouses with almost unlimited reach?

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A federal grand jury has indicted the four former Minneapolis police officers involved in George Floyd’s arrest and death, accusing them of willfully violating the Black man’s constitutional rights as he was restrained face-down on the pavement and gasping for air.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden insists an unexpected slowdown in companies’ hiring is clear new proof the U.S. needs the multitrillion-dollar federal boost he’s pushing. But his sales effort is challenged by critics who say Friday’s jobless figures show his earlier aid legislation — successfully rushed through Congress — is actually doing more harm than good.

WASHINGTON, May 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The US military has no plans to shoot down an out -of-control Chinese rocket now hurtling towards Earth, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said.

“We have the capability to do a lot of things, but we don’t have a plan to shoot it down as we speak,” Austin told journalists.

Pentagon experts expect the body of the Long March 5B rocket, which fell out of orbit after separating from Beijing’s space station, to fall to the surface some time around Saturday or Sunday.

But exactly when and where it will land is still difficult to predict.

UNITED NATIONS, May 7 (NNN-Xinhua) — The United Nations paused on Thursday to honor 336 personnel who lost their lives in the line of duty in 2020, the highest number ever in a single year.

The memorial ceremony, held online, paid tribute to civilian and uniformed staff who died because of malicious acts, natural disasters and other incidents.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its wider impacts, including on healthcare access, the number also included colleagues who passed from the disease or other illness.

WASHINGTON, May 6 (Xinhua) -- The Afghan Taliban had not launched any attack against U.S. and coalition forces since the drawdown began, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley said on Thursday.

"There have been no attacks against U.S. and coalition forces since the retrograde began on or about May 1, and that is also consistent for the past year," Milley said during a joint press conference with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

Meanwhile, he noted that the Taliban continued its attacks against the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF).

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is signaling that Iran shouldn’t expect major new concessions from the United States as a new round of indirect nuclear talks is set to resume.

A senior administration official told reporters Thursday that the U.S. has laid out the concessions it’s prepared to make in order to rejoin the landmark 2015 nuclear deal that former President Donald Trump withdrew from in 2018. The official said success or failure now depends on Iran making the political decision to accept those concessions and to return to compliance with the accord.

ATLANTA (AP) — Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced Thursday she will not seek a second term, an election-year surprise that marks a sharp turnabout for the city’s second Black woman executive who months ago was among those President Joe Biden considered for his running mate.

Bottoms, 51, disclosed her decision publicly in a lengthy open letter and accompanying video Thursday night after having told family and a close circle of associates and supporters.

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A sixth-grade girl brought a gun to her Idaho middle school, shot and wounded two students and a custodian and then was disarmed by a teacher Thursday, authorities said.

The three victims were shot in their limbs and expected to survive, officials said at a news conference. Jefferson County Sheriff Steve Anderson says the girl pulled a handgun from her backpack and fired multiple rounds inside and outside Rigby Middle School in the small city of Rigby, about 95 miles (145 kilometers) southwest of Yellowstone National Park.