USA

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The Biden administration on Monday reversed a policy imposed under former President Donald Trump that drastically weakened the government’s power to enforce a century-old law that protects most U.S. bird species.

Trump ended criminal prosecutions against companies responsible for bird deaths that could have been prevented.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Hundreds of people gathered Monday outside the fortified courthouse for the first day of the trial of a former police officer charged in George Floyd’s death, with chants of “No justice, no peace!” and speakers imploring the jurors to “do the right thing.”

Many in the crowd carried banners, some reading “Justice for George Floyd” and “Convict Killer Cops.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden wants America to know that he’s from the government and he’s here to help.

That sentiment became a well-worn punchline under Ronald Reagan and shaped the politics of both parties for four decades. Democrat Bill Clinton declared the era of big government over in the 1990s, Barack Obama largely kept his party in the same lane and Republican Donald Trump campaigned on the premise that Washington was full of morons, outplayed by the Chinese and others.

NEW YORK (AP) — Fully vaccinated Americans can gather with other vaccinated people indoors without wearing a mask or social distancing, according to long-awaited guidance from federal health officials.

The recommendations also say that vaccinated people can come together in the same way — in a single household — with people considered at low-risk for severe disease, such as in the case of vaccinated grandparents visiting healthy children and grandchildren.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the guidance Monday.

TASS, March 8: The United States plans to carry out a series of cyberattacks over the next three weeks on the internal systems of the Russian authorities in response to Russia’s alleged hacker attack on SolarWinds, The New York Times reported citing sources in the US administration.

"The first major move is expected over the next three weeks, officials said, with a series of clandestine actions across Russian networks that are intended to be evident to President Vladimir V. Putin and his intelligence services and military but not to the wider world," the newspaper claimed.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote on Wednesday on a pair of bills to expand background checks before gun purchases, two years after a similar House effort failed to make it through the Senate.

The House Rules Committee on Monday will take up the two bills that Democrats, who control the chamber, say are aimed at closing loopholes in the background check system.

The Rules Committee action is a procedural step before the full House votes. A congressional aide said the chamber was poised to vote on the bills on Wednesday.

(Reuters) - American Airlines Group Inc said on Monday it intends to privately offer notes worth about $5 billion to repay government debt.

The U.S. airline will use the proceeds to repay outstanding debt under the loan with the U.S. Department of the Treasury and for other purposes.

07 Mar 2021; MEMO: The United States will do what it sees as necessary to defend its interests after a rocket attack last week against Iraq's Ain al-Sada airbase, which hosts American, coalition and Iraqi forces, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Sunday, reported Reuters.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — In his first public address since the end of the Trump administration, former Vice President Mike Pence is traveling to South Carolina, set to speak to a conservative Christian nonprofit in the state that plays a crucial role in the presidential nominating process.

Next month, Pence will keynote a dinner hosted by the Palmetto Family Council, a Pence aide told The Associated Press on Sunday. The aide spoke on the condition of anonymity due to a lack of permission to discuss the plans publicly.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is set to sign an executive order on Monday directing the Department of Education to review policies implemented by Donald Trump’s administration, including changes to Title IX regulations that prohibit sex discrimination in federally funded institutions, according to administration officials.