The Senate parliamentarian has ruled against including the increase in the minimum wage in the Covid relief bill. While Democrats had pushed for the increase to be included — and leadership expressed its disappointment in the ruling Thursday evening — its removal may actually make it easier to pass the bill, senior Democratic sources believe,…… MORE
The US military on Thursday struck a site in Syria used by two Iranian-backed militia groups in response to rocket attacks on American forces in the region in the past two weeks. “Up to a handful” of militants were killed in the strikes, a US official told CNN. The strikes, which mark the US military’s…… MORE
Drugs typically used to treat rheumatoid arthritis can help critically ill Covid-19 patients in intensive care units, one new study finds. But experts warn that more research is needed before doctors start using the drugs more widely, because another new study found that another, similar drug did not help patients hospitalized with Covid-19 pneumonia getting…… MORE
At the helm of the most significant criminal investigation facing Donald Trump, his family and his business, Manhattan’s top prosecutor faces a daunting task heading into his final months in office while sifting through millions of newly obtained pages of financial records related to the former President. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance is not expected…… MORE
AT&T on Thursday sold a minority stake in its video business to private equity firm TPG. The deal values DirecTV, AT&T TV and U-Verse at roughly $16 billion combined — less than a third of the $49 billion AT&T spent to buy DirecTV in 2015. The ill-timed deal was doomed from the start. AT&T bought…… MORE
Laid-off workers will be allowed to turn down jobs they think are too risky because of Covid and continue to collect unemployment benefits, under guidance issued by the US Department of Labor Thursday. The new rules, which stem from a directive signed by President Joe Biden last month, expand the conditions under which workers may…… MORE
There is no evidence that race played a role in the US Capitol Police’s failure to bolster security before the January 6 insurrection, the department’s top official told Congress on Thursday, as lawmakers sound the alarm over the threat posed by White supremacy and domestic terrorism. Appearing before a House appropriations subcommittee, acting US Capitol…… MORE
Throughout Watkins Memorial High School there is a hum — of teachers teaching, of students learning. Between lessons, the noise increases as teenagers switch classrooms — voices raised, laughter and hundreds of pairs of sneakers in hallways. For millions of families in the United States, this is a reminder of how things were a year…… MORE
A longstanding dispute over who can be considered a citizen of the Cherokee Nation finally came to a conclusion this week. The Cherokee Nation Supreme Court ruled on Monday that the tribal nation remove the phrase “by blood” from its constitution and other tribal laws. That change formally acknowledges that the descendants of Black people…… MORE
President Joe Biden on Thursday commemorated 50 million Covid-19 vaccine doses administered since he took office, using it as a measuring stick against his promise to put 100 million shots in people’s arms in his first 100 days. But he also warned there’s “a long way to go” before life will return to normal. “The…… MORE
