USA

NEW YORK, March 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A man linked to the violent riots at the US Capitol was on Monday arraigned at a federal court in New York after being deported from Kenya over the weekend, according to media reports.

Isaac Sturgeon was seized by FBI officials on arrival at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.

He had been staying in Kenya since Jan 24 and was planning to return to the US in April, according to court documents.

Sturgeon is accused of shoving a metal police barricade into police officers during the January riots.

WASHINGTON, March 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — President Joe Biden has suspended drone strikes outside of war zones where US forces are operating, reversing the policy of his predecessor Donald Trump, who had given the military free rein in countries such as Somalia.

Any drone strikes planned against insurgent groups outside of Afghanistan, Syria or Iraq will have to be approved by the White House, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Monday.

08 Mar 2021; MEMO: US President Joe Biden on Monday called Pope Francis's visit to Iraq a symbol of hope for the entire world, Anadolu Agency reported a White House statement saying

"Pope Francis' visit was a historic and welcome first for the country. It sent an important message, as Pope Francis said himself, that 'fraternity is more durable than fratricide, that hope is more powerful than death, that peace more powerful than war'," Biden said.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE was able to neutralize a new variant of the coronavirus spreading rapidly in Brazil, according to a laboratory study published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Monday.

Blood taken from people who had been given the vaccine neutralized an engineered version of the virus that contained the same mutations carried on the spike portion of the highly contagious P.1 variant first identified in Brazil, the study conducted by scientists from the companies and the University of Texas Medical Branch found.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives will take up by Wednesday the Senate version of the sweeping $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package backed by President Joe Biden, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Monday.

Closing in on final approval of one of the biggest U.S. anti-poverty measures since the 1960s, Democrats aim to enact the massive legislation by Sunday, when enhanced federal unemployment benefits are set to expire.

WASHINGTON, March 8 (Xinhua) -- The number of unaccompanied migrant children in U.S. Border Patrol facilities has exceeded 3,200 and thus hit a new high, according to internal agency documents dated on Monday.

Among them, some 2,600 were awaiting placement in shelters suitable for minors, but there were just over 500 beds available to accommodate them, said a CNN report.

Furthermore, nearly 170 unaccompanied children stuck in Border Patrol custody are under the age of 13, according to the documents.

DENVER, the United States, March 8 (Xinhua) -- United Airlines, a historic leader in U.S. airline travel, was hit hard Monday in a class action lawsuit by passengers traumatized by an equipment failure just three weeks ago.

The suit describes the near-death experience on Feb. 20 felt by 231 passengers on a direct flight from Denver, Colorado's capital to Honolulu, Hawaii as the right engine of the Boeing 777 aircraft suddenly exploded at 10,000 feet and rained heavy metal debris on a heavily-populated Denver suburb below.

NEW YORK (AP) — Two men wanted in the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol were arrested over the weekend, including one who reportedly served as a bodyguard to former President Donald Trump’s longtime political confidant Roger Stone, federal authorities said Monday.

Roberto Minuta breached the Capitol grounds and “aggressively berated and taunted U.S. Capitol police officers” during the Jan. 6 insurrection, the FBI said in court papers.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican National Committee is defending its right to use former President Donald Trump’s name in fundraising appeals after he demanded they put an end to the practice.

In a Monday letter to Trump attorney Alex Cannon, RNC chief counsel J. Justin Riemer said the committee “has every right to refer to public figures as it engages in core, First Amendment-protected political speech” and said “it will continue to do so in pursuit of these common goals.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration said Monday it is offering temporary legal residency to several hundred thousand Venezuelans who fled their country’s economic collapse and will review U.S. sanctions intended to isolate the South American nation.

Both measures mark a shift from U.S. policy toward Venezuela under President Donald Trump.