USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington, D.C.’s bid for statehood finally got a congressional hearing Monday, but Mayor Muriel Bowser’s clashes with Republicans on the panel made clear that the issue is far from settled.

Republicans accused Democrats of a cynical power play, claimed statehood was never the intention of the country’s Founding Fathers, and insisted that Congress doesn’t even have the right to grant statehood to D.C.

Bowser argued that Washingtonians’ lack of representation in Congress was “one of the remaining glaring civil rights issues of our time.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fresh off passage of the COVID-19 relief bill, President Joe Biden is assembling the next big White House priority, a sweeping $3 trillion package of investments on infrastructure and domestic needs.

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — A shooting at a Colorado supermarket killed 10 people Monday, including a police officer who was the first to respond to the scene, authorities said.

Police arrested a suspect, but didn’t reveal his name or any details about the shooting at an evening news conference where Boulder police Chief Maris Herold fought back tears.

(Reuters) - Investigators in a criminal probe of former U.S. President Donald Trump’s real-estate business are combing through millions of pages of newly acquired records with an eye toward identifying witnesses who can bring the documents to life for a jury, say two people familiar with the probe.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - California’s two U.S. senators are urging President Joe Biden to set a firm date to phase-out gas-powered passenger vehicles as the White House grapples with how to rewrite vehicle emissions rules slashed under President Donald Trump.

In an unreported letter going to Biden Monday, Democratic Senators Alex Padilla and Dianne Feinstein called on Biden “to follow California’s lead and set a date by which all new cars and passenger trucks sold be zero-emission vehicles.” They also urged Biden to restore California’s authority to set clean car standards.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of U.S. air passengers screened topped 1.5 million Sunday for the first time since March 2020, as air travel continues to rebound from a pandemic-related drop, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said Monday.

Washington, Mar 22 (AP-PTI) Shortly after his mother was killed in the Atlanta-area shootings, Randy Park launched a GoFundMe page asking for USD 20,000 to pay for funeral expenses. By Sunday, the donations were approaching USD 3 million.

With many people seeking a way to support the families of the dead, Park's page and others have offered an outlet for tens of thousands of donors, and the accounts have surpassed their goals only days after they were opened.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Jury selection enters a third week Monday for a former Minneapolis police officer charged in George Floyd’s death.

Thirteen jurors have been seated for Derek Chauvin’s trial on murder and manslaughter charges, with the judge saying two more will be seated ahead of opening statements expected March 29. Only 12 will deliberate. The others will be alternates, needed only if some jurors are unable to to serve for any reason.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A North Korean citizen was taken into U.S. custody on Saturday after being extradited from Malaysia to face money laundering charges, making him the first North Korean extradited to the U.S. to face trial.

Mun Chol Myong was in the custody of the FBI in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. His extradition came after a Malaysian court rejected his assertion that the charges were politically motivated.

The Justice Department declined comment on Sunday.

MIAMI (AP) — The cyberattack crested just as finance officials from across Latin America were descending on Washington to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Inter-American Development Bank.

On Sept. 24, 2019, requests from more than 15,000 internet addresses throughout China flooded the bank’s website, knocking part of it intermittently offline. To unclog the network, the bank took the drastic step of blocking all traffic from China.