USA

NEW YORK (AP) — Federal agents raided Rudy Giuliani’s Manhattan home and office Wednesday, seizing computers and cellphones in a major escalation of the Justice Department’s investigation into the business dealings of former President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer.

Giuliani, the 76-year-old former New York City mayor once celebrated for his leadership after 9/11, has been under federal scrutiny for several years over his ties to Ukraine. The dual searches sent the strongest signal yet that he could eventually face federal charges.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department brought federal hate crimes charges Wednesday in the death of Ahmaud Arbery, charging a father and son who armed themselves, chased and fatally shot the 25-year-old Black man after spotting him running in their Georgia neighborhood.

Travis McMichael and his father, Gregory, were charged along with a third man, William “Roddie” Bryan, with one count of interference with civil rights and attempted kidnapping. The McMichaels are also charged with using, carrying and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Tim Scott accused Democrats on Wednesday of dividing the country and suggested they’re wielding race as “a political weapon,” using the official Republican response to President Joe Biden’s maiden speech to Congress to credit the GOP for leading the country out of its pandemic struggles and toward a hopeful future.

Scott, R-S.C., in his nationally televised rebuttal of Biden’s address, belittled the new president’s initial priorities — aimed at combating the deadly virus and spurring the economy — as wasteful expansions of big government.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden declared that “America is rising anew” as he called for an expansion of federal programs to drive the economy past the pandemic and broadly extend the social safety net on a scale not seen in decades.

NEW YORK, April 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A New York City man was arrested and charged on Tuesday with attempted murder in what police have classified as a hate crime against a Chinese immigrant, authorities said.

The victim, identified by police as 61-year-old Yao Pan Ma, was attacked in the East Harlem neighbourhood of Manhattan on Apr 23. The assault is the latest in a spate of attacks targeting Asian Americans in US.Advertisement

UNITED NATIONS, April 27 (Xinhua) -- The president of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly, Volkan Bozkir, on Tuesday called for international aid to India in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, said his spokesman.

Bozkir was worried about the COVID-19 situation in India, a country that has done so much to ensure the distribution of vaccines to vulnerable countries, said Brenden Varma, the spokesman.

Now it is time for the world to extend aid and support to India. No one is safe until everyone is safe, said Bozkir.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department on Tuesday ordered a significant number of its remaining staff at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul to leave Afghanistan as the military steps up the pullout of American troops from the country.

The order came as the U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan told lawmakers that it no longer made sense to continue the 20-year deployment of American troops there. At the same time, Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said he shared lawmakers’ concerns that the rights of women and minorities could be jeopardized after the withdrawal is complete.

NEW YORK (AP) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eased its guidelines Tuesday on the wearing of masks outdoors, saying fully vaccinated Americans don’t need to cover their faces anymore unless they are in a big crowd of strangers.

And those who are unvaccinated can go outside without masks in some situations, too.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Immigration arrests at courthouses will be more limited than they were under President Donald Trump in a change of policy announced Tuesday by the Biden administration.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents would no longer be authorized to carry out routine arrests at courthouses, a practice that Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said discouraged people from attending court hearings and cooperating with law enforcement.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden signed an executive order Tuesday to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour for federal contractors, providing a pay bump to hundreds of thousands of workers.

Biden administration officials said that the higher wages would lead to greater worker productivity, offsetting any additional costs to taxpayers.