AMERICA

Indonesia audaciously tested the outer limits of Covid-era easing. Now, it sounds downright hawkish.

If Congress wants to pass legislation in response to omicron, it should focus on the next pandemic, not the current one.

In seven decades of activism, and especially during his work in the 1960s on behalf of racial equality, Rabbi Dresner became, in his words, the most arrested rabbi in America.

The speech came at a time when there is a renewed spotlight on racial issues and grievances across the country.

These are some of the stories and videos that made us smile this week.

Departing from "America First" policies, the president improved relations with allies, presenting a stronger front against adversaries.

The US work wear maker says it is sticking to its Covid jab policy, sparking a conservative outcry.

5G Airlines FILE - An Emirates Airlines Boeing 777 lands at Logan International Airport in Boston, March 10, 2014. Long-haul carrier Emirates said Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022, it would resume its Boeing 777 flights to the U.S. amid an ongoing dispute over the rollout of new 5G services there. The FAA gave approval late Wednesday for more types of planes to land in low visibility near 5G signals, including the Boeing 777. Emirates said its Boeing 777 service to Chicago, Dallas Fort Worth, Miami, Newark, Orlando and Seattle would resume Friday. Flights to Boston, Houston and San Francisco, which saw Emirates deploy its Airbus A380 jumbo jet, will resume Boeing 777 flights on Saturday.

Long-haul carrier Emirates says it will resume its Boeing 777 flights to the U.S. after halting its use of the aircraft there over concerns new 5G services in America could interfere with airplane technology that measures altitude.

The recently signed bipartisan infrastructure law provides $15 billion for airport-related projects.

The Pulitzer Prize-winner said she used Martin Luther King Jr.'s words to show the "miseducated" that his legacy has been diluted.

On Wednesday, President Biden held a press conference, defending the track record of the White House during his first year in office. He said that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has been clear about doing anything to prevent Biden from being a success. But Biden questioned what Mitch stands for himself.

December marked the third straight month of growth for U.S. builders, but new home prices are still much higher than many can afford.

December marked the third straight month of growth for U.S. builders, but new home prices are still much higher than many can afford.

The plan marks the largest municipal debt restructuring in U.S. history and was approved following grueling bargaining efforts, heated hearings and multiple delays.

For four generations, Tomlinson's family has been cultivating 'forced rhubarb' in winter at their farm in Pudsey, northern England, and is profiting from a resurgence in the plant's popularity.

Puerto Rico’s nearly five-year bankruptcy battle is ending after a federal judge signed a plan that slashes the U.S. territory’s public debt load as part of the largest municipal debt restructuring in U.S. history and allows the government to start repaying creditors.

Puerto Rico’s nearly five-year bankruptcy battle is ending after a federal judge on Tuesday signed a plan that slashes the U.S. territory’s public debt load as part of a restructuring and allows the government to start repaying creditors. The plan marks the largest municipal debt restructuring in U.S. history and was approved following grueling bargaining efforts, heated hearings and multiple delays as the island struggles to recover from deadly hurricanes, earthquakes and a pandemic that deepened its economic crisis. “There has never been a public restructuring like this anywhere in America or in the world,” said David Skeel, chairman of a federal control board appointed to oversee Puerto Rico’s finances that has worked with the judge on the plan.

WASHINGTON — (AP) — U.S. competition regulators have mounted an effort to tighten enforcement against illegal mergers, in line with President Joe Biden’s mandate for greater scrutiny to big business combinations. The agencies are stressing the importance of robust competition to the economy, workers, consumers and small businesses. The trend toward concentration began with a merger boom in the 1980s in corporate America that fattened profits for the dominant companies. Decisions by both Democratic and Republican administrations over the past 15 years have allowed most big mergers to sail through. The regulators noted Tuesday that the ongoing merger surge was reflected in companies’ applications to regulators for approval, which more than doubled from 2020 to 2021.

U.S. competition regulators have mounted an effort to tighten enforcement against illegal mergers, in line with President Joe Biden’s mandate for greater scrutiny to big business combinations.

This week, after lengthy legal and technical negotiations, the floodgates of foreign relief aid began to open.

APTOPIX Texas Synagogue Standoff Shortly after 5 p.m., local time, authorities escort a hostage out of the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022. (Elias Valverde/The Dallas Morning News via AP) (Elias Valverde)COLLEYVILLE, Texas — (AP) — The rabbi of a Texas synagogue says he threw a chair at the gunman and then escaped with two other hostages after 10-hour standoff. Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker told "CBS Mornings" on Monday that he let the gunman in Saturday because he appeared to need shelter. COLLEYVILLE, Texas (AP) — U.S. and British authorities Monday continued an investigation into the weekend standoff at a Texas synagogue that ended with an armed British national dead and a rabbi crediting past security training for getting him and three members of his congregation out safely. It wasn’t clear why Akram chose the synagogue, though the prison where Siddiqui is serving her sentence is in nearby Fort Worth.

APTOPIX Texas Synagogue Standoff Shortly after 5 p.m., local time, authorities escort a hostage out of the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022. Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker said security training at his suburban Fort Worth congregation over the years is what allowed him and the other three hostages to make it through the 10-hour ordeal, which he described as traumatic. “In the last hour of our hostage crisis, the gunman became increasingly belligerent and threatening,” Cytron-Walker said in a statement. FBI Special Agent in Charge Matt DeSarno had said Saturday night that the hostage-taker was specifically focused on an issue not directly connected to the Jewish community. Michael Masters, the CEO of the organization, said the congregation had provided security training in August and had not been previously aware of Akram.

The financial reports will show how major companies are navigating issues of inflation, COVID-19 and supply chain snarls.

The financial reports will show how major companies are navigating issues of inflation, COVID-19 and supply chain snarls.

Mitch McConnell says Mr Biden's likening of Republicans to civil rights-era racists is "beneath his office".

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped about 38 points and the S&P 500 added 0.3% on Wednesday.

The only other Republican on the board is Sean Morrison of Palos Park, who has not formally announced whether he will run for reelection this year.

New documents show that one of ex-President Donald Trump's most trusted and senior advisors was secretly pushing for the White House to lean into crypto.

Due to a spike in COVID-19 cases, the audience for the event will be completely remote and a Zoom link will be sent to anyone who registers.

Colorado-based High Country News created an Indigenous affairs desk in 2017 that has published dozens of stories from journalists, authors and experts across Indian Country. Historically, he said, major news outlets have tended to rely on tropes like poverty and addiction when covering Indian Country. Most tribal media organizations are funded by their tribes’ governments — very few of which have rules providing press protections. A 2019 American Society of News Editors survey showed less half of 1% of workers at U.S. newsrooms were Native American. However, the Native American Journalists Association said its membership has expanded significantly since then.

Native American communities have seen more robust news coverage in recent years, in part because of an increase in Indigenous affairs reporting positions at U.S. newsrooms and support from foundations.

As many as 800,000 people are newly eligible to vote in New York City elections thanks to a new law extending voting rights to certain non-U.S. citizens. If all goes according to plan, these newly enfranchised voters can start participating in elections in 2023. Their voting rights would apply only to New York City elections, not federal or state ones. At a time when some states are applying new restrictions on voting, New York City becomes the largest U.S. city to allow noncitizens to vote in c

Women’s rights, press freedom discussed in first talks between Taliban and exiled uprising leaders.

Team Rising debates whether America is headed towards a second Civil War. About Rising: Rising is a weekday morning show with bipartisan hosts that breaks the mold of morning TV by taking viewers inside the halls of Washington power like never before. The show leans into the day's political cycle with cutting edge analysis from DC insiders who can predict what is going to happen. It also sets the day's political agenda by breaking exclusive news with a team of scoop-driven reporters and demanding answers during interviews with the country's most important political newsmakers. Follow Rising on social media: Website: Hill.TV Facebook: facebook.com/HillTVLive/ Instagram: @HillTVLive Twitter: @HillTVLive

The president needs to be clear with teachers unions that in-person learning is a national priority.

Though the primary variant in play, Omicron, is distinct, the pain points are the same.

In the governor's compound of Afghanistan's Ghazni province, a new historical exhibit stands: sections of blast walls from a former US military base. One concrete slab is inscribed with the names and regiments of US troops who served in the province during America's longest war. Like soldiers in countless wars throughout history, US troops regularly daubed their names on the walls of bases and fixed positions they occupied. But now the towering block is on public display as a testament to the Taliban's stunning rout of American forces after 20 years of fighting.

The date is later than past addresses as Washington and Congress have imposed various restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Economists had expected about 400,000 hires. The jobless rate fell to 3.9%, the lowest since the start of the pandemic.

In his speech yesterday, the president both contrasted his view with his predecessor’s and recast the virtues of the Founders.

Along with a record-setting price, the property known as "The One," in the Bel Air section of Los Angeles, comes with a history of drama, lawsuits and debt.

Imaging scientist Xiang Haitao put a secret Monsanto algorithm onto a memory card and intended to pass it to the Chinese government, the DOJ said.

“It’s not just Washington, it’s nationally.”In Washington, Democrats and some Republicans also took time to reflect. See photos below:Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 5 January 6 vigil Orlando People gathered to commemorate the anniversary of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) said the attack “can’t be justified” and called on the people involved to be held accountable. However, he admonished Democrats for playing up the anniversary and comparing the attack to Pearl Harbor and 9/11. As of Jan. 6, 2022, more than 700 people faced an array of charges and prison sentences related to the attack.

In a fraught moment, those who've stewarded the nation now see dangers ahead.

The coronavirus is spreading like never before. So what now?

Capitol Riot Images of the Day Rioters try to enter the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) (John Minchillo)WASHINGTON — (AP) — The Jan. 6 riot was an insurrection with a 360-degree view. The riot was preceded by the “Stop the Steal” rally near the White House featuring President Donald Trump. Before Trump’s remarks, a flag was seen flying in the crowd with the message, “When Tyranny Becomes Law Rebellion Becomes DUTY!”“And we fight,” Trump told the crowd. Long before the riot Trump baselessly questioned the integrity of the 2020 U.S. election, which was certified as fair by the courts and by officials he appointed.

The Jan. 6 riot was an insurrection with a 360-degree view.

As the world watches a riven, fact-relative nation still at war with itself, U.S. allies are delivering their own verdict: That an erratic United States can no longer be seen as the model democracy or reliable partner that some once thought it to be.

The omicron variant now represents nearly every Covid cases sequenced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Sokhary Chau said his mother managed to keep her seven children alive for four years, surviving Cambodia's civil war to deliver them safely to the U.S.

A refugee who survived the Khmer Rouge’s brutal rule has become the first Cambodian American mayor in the United States. Located on the Merrimack River near the New Hampshire state line, Lowell was an early center of America’s textile industry, drawing waves of European and Latin American immigrants over generations.

COVID and policy changes could radically impact growth, inflation, and the midterm elections.

A winter storm is blanketing streets in and around the nation's capital, closing government offices and schools and grounding the president's helicopter. (Jan. 3)

The comedian's oldest child is almost a high school graduate – which means time is playing tricks on us.

Researchers studying the wreckage of the last U.S. slave ship on the Alabama coast have made a surprising discovery.

A trademark tiff between America’s oldest beer maker and its best-selling beer brand appears to be over before it really began.

Thousands of dogs across the country are in Central Florida competing for America’s top dog. It’s all part of the American Kennel Club National Championship

America’s casinos have won more money this year than ever before, according to figures released Thursday from a national gambling trade association.

Starbucks workers at a store in Buffalo, New York, voted to unionize on Thursday, the latest sign that the labor movement is stirring after decades of decline.

Several independent websites are joining forces to create a network for news about rural America, hoping to fill a void in areas hit hard by the shrinking media industry of the past two decades.

The Biden administration’s competition with China for influence hasn't gotten off to a great start in Africa.

Making an Olympic team is hard enough.

Pacific Rim leaders have agreed to do all they can to improve access to coronavirus vaccines and reduce carbon emissions, but failed to reach agreement on whether the U.S. should host talks in two years’ time.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has been absent from the Group of 20 summit in Rome and global climate talks in Scotland.

The U.S. will lift its ban on international travelers effective Friday, Nov. 8, and it appears folks from all over the world are itching to get back to America’s tourist destinations.

Leaders of the Group of 20 countries have expressed support for a deal that makes sweeping changes in how big global companies are taxed.

This year's Orlando Film Festival will feature over 200 films, one of which was created by UCF graduate Aaron Hosé, exploring the world of craft beer breweries and the industry's lack of Black and Brown diversity and inclusivity.

The Biden administration says diplomatic efforts to get Iran back to nuclear negotiations are at a “critical place" and that international patience with Iranian delays in returning to the talks is “wearing thin."

Texas Republicans have approved redrawn U.S. House maps that favor incumbents and could decrease political representation for growing minority communities in the nation’s largest red state.

Texas lawmakers are on the brink of finishing redrawn U.S. House maps that would shore up their eroding dominance as voters peel away from the GOP in the state’s booming suburbs.

The lavish waxworks temple Madame Tussauds has opened its first Middle East location on a small artificial island off the coast of Dubai.

More than 130 countries have agreed on a tentative deal that would make sweeping changes to how big, multinational companies are taxed in order to deter them from stashing their profits in offshore tax havens where they pay little or no tax.

Reporters have been given a glimpse of life on a Wisconsin Army post for newly arrived Afghan refugees.

The price of the much-beloved cured pork product is higher than it's been in the last 40 years.

Episode 2 of “Solutionaries” tackles the lack of affordable housing across America and highlights the people and organizations who are working to solve the crisis.

The Biden administration is releasing nearly $200 million in military aid to Egypt but will hold back millions more over human rights concerns.

Stocks closed mostly lower on Wall Street Friday following a weak jobs report, but gains for a handful of Big Tech companies allowed the Nasdaq composite to sneak in another record high.

Afghanistan’s new Taliban rulers face tough economic and security challenges as they return to power in a country that is vastly different from the one they left 20 years ago.

The Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan is giving radical Islamic groups from Syria and the Gaza Strip to Pakistan and West Africa reason to celebrate.

The deadline to evacuate U.S. citizens and Afghanistan’s who helped the U.S. during the 20 years of conflict is closing in.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham wants to conserve more of the state's land and water.

As the Taliban negotiates with senior politicians and government leaders following its lighting-fast takeover of Afghanistan, U.S. social media companies are reckoning with how to deal with a violent extremist group that is poised to rule a country of 40 million people.

After nearly a year and a half without cruises, Port Canaveral is finally starting to look like one of America's busiest cruise ports again.

China says it's willing to hold talks with the U.S. to promote a “soft landing” in Afghanistan, while heavily criticizing Washington and again demanding that the Biden administration halt its attacks on China.

At least seven people are dead after the main airport in the Afghan capital descended into chaos.

U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton told a crowd of about 4,000 Nevada Republicans that Adam Laxalt plans to run for the U.S. Senate against incumbent Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto.

Senators have met privately with a former U.S. attorney in Atlanta who resigned in January as then-President Donald Trump pressured officials to overturn his election defeat.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved Nasdaq’s groundbreaking proposal to boost the number of women, racial minorities and LGBTQ people on U.S. corporate boards.

The firm managing an oil tanker attacked off Oman's coast says two of its crew were killed in the assault.

In Episode 1 of Graham Media Group’s new digital broadcast, “Solutionaries,” our team asks members of the community what they think are the problems, if any, with the current state of policing in America. The episode also highlights individuals, also known as “Solutionaries,” who are working to solve the issues.

China's foreign minister has met with a delegation of high-level Taliban officials as their ties warm ahead of the U.S. pullout from Afghanistan.

The Fourth of July is right around the corner, and there is nothing better to do (or more American) than grilling up some meat and veggies while sipping on a cool beer or cocktail.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem says she will use a donation from a Republican donor to fund a deployment of up to 50 South Dakota National Guard troops to the U.S. border with Mexico.

‘The Office’ cast to reunite at MegaCon Orlando

Now that News 6 has launched the pilot episode of the new Solutionaries digital newscast, we want to know what viewers thought about the premiere.

Iran likely conducted a failed launch of a satellite-carrying rocket in recent days and now appears to be preparing to try again.

Iranians have voted in a presidential election dominated by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s hard-line protege after the disqualification of his strongest competition.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is an NBA legend, but the man known for his trademark skyhook shot has also devoted his life advocating for equality and social justice.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has divulged some details on his emerging proposal to build more barriers along the U.S. border with Mexico in his ongoing political fight over immigration with the Democratic Biden administration.