Tom Howell Jr.

States close mass-testing sites for virus despite fear of new wave

States are starting to shutter mass COVID-19 testing sites due to a drop in demand and an uptick in at-home testing even as the U.S. warily eyes a version of the omicron variant that spreads quickly and has sparked a wave in Europe.

March 21, 2022

Rep. Liz Cheney says Jan. 6 panel will reveal new info, recommend legislation and penalties

Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming said the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol plans to reveal new details about that day and recommend legislation and criminal penalties for officials who failed to carry out their duties.

March 21, 2022

China battles coronavirus surge in Shanghai, forcing Disney park to close

Disneyland in Shanghai closed Monday as the populous Chinese city faced a flareup of the coronavirus as part of a broader surge that is taxing the central communist government's zero-COVID policy.

March 21, 2022

Russian forces try to encircle Kyiv, shell shopping mall; Ukraine refuses to surrender Mariupol

Heavy fighting is unfolding north of Kyiv, but advancing Russian forces have stalled or been repulsed by Ukrainian resistance, according to an intelligence update Monday.

March 21, 2022

HHS chief says turning the page on COVID-19 depends on Congress

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra marked his first year in office Friday by highlighting progress in the COVID-19 effort and demanding money from Congress to keep up the work, signaling an effort to raise his profile in Year Two after a quiet start in which he ceded the pandemic spotlight to a White House task force and focused on topics like Obamacare instead.

March 18, 2022

French prosecutors open war crimes probe into Fox News cameraman’s death

French prosecutors have opened a war crimes investigation into the death of Fox News cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski, who was killed this week alongside a Ukrainian journalist when their vehicle near Kyiv came under fire from Russian troops.

March 18, 2022

Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson has met with 44 senators ahead of confirmation hearings

Former Sen. Doug Jones said President Biden's nominee to the Supreme Court, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, has completed 44 meetings with senators in both parties, including every member of the Senate Judiciary Committee who will review her credentials in confirmation hearings that begin Monday.

March 18, 2022

Russian forces made ‘minimal’ progress this week: Intelligence

Russian forces have made "minimal" progress in their invasion this week, and Ukrainian forces have frustrated attempts by Russian President Vladimir Putin's troops to encircle Kyiv and the city of Mykolaiv to the south, intelligence officials said Friday.

March 18, 2022

Russian strikes hit outskirts of Ukrainian capital and Lviv, near Polish border

A Russian missile on Friday struck the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, a critical corridor to the West that had been largely spared during Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion, and his forces shelled Kyiv in fresh attacks.

March 18, 2022

White House says no change in Biden’s COVID-19 testing regimen after close calls

The White House said Thursday it doesn't plan to change President Biden's testing regimen for COVID-19 despite two close calls with the virus this week.

March 17, 2022

Russia starts to seize leased planes that are foreign-owned

Russia has begun seizing foreign-owned commercial planes to bolster its airline industry in the face of crippling sanctions from the West over its invasion of Ukraine.

March 17, 2022

COVID numbers are falling, but not for those in Biden’s circle

Americans are ditching masks and trying to move on from COVID-19, but the virus is piercing the inner circle of the White House and its line of succession with alarming frequency.

March 17, 2022

Biden to discuss Ukraine war, economic competition with China’s Xi Jinping

President Biden plans to hold a high-stakes call with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday as the U.S. pressures Beijing to leverage its ties with Russia in a way that gets Vladimir Putin to end his brutal assault on Ukraine.

March 17, 2022

Americans split on whether military spending is too high, too little or just right: Gallup

Americans are divided on whether the government is spending too little, too much or the right amount on the military, Gallup said Thursday, highlighting a major drop in the share who feel spending is inadequate even before Russia invaded Ukraine.

March 17, 2022

Biden replaces COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients with high-profile Dr. Ashish K. Jha

President Biden said Thursday that Jeff Zients, who coordinated the White House COVID-19 response since Inauguration Day, will depart and be replaced by Dr. Ashish K. Jha as the pandemic effort pivots from a logistical battle to one in which the virus is managed as another health threat.

March 17, 2022

Irish PM tests positive for COVID-19 ahead of Biden meeting

The prime minister of Ireland, Micheal Martin, tested positive for COVID-19 during his trip to Washington, turning his St. Patrick's Day visit with President Biden into a virtual one.

March 17, 2022

Lawmakers press Biden to help send MiG fighter jets after Zelenskyy’s address to Congress

Lawmakers stepped up pressure on President Biden to help get fighter jets to Ukraine after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's powerful appeal to Congress on Wednesday for more U.S. military support.

March 16, 2022

Fox News reporter Benjamin Hall in good spirits, being treated outside of Ukraine

Fox News correspondent Benjamin Hall is safe and being treated outside of Ukraine after a Russian attack on Kyiv that killed his cameraman and a Ukrainian woman who was working alongside them.

March 16, 2022

N.Y. audit finds Cuomo team undercounted COVID-19 nursing home deaths by over 4,000

The state of New York undercounted the number of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes by more than 4,000 during former Gov. Andrew Cuomo's tenure, according to a new audit that says incorrect data led to an inflated perception of New York's performance against other states.

March 16, 2022

White House says historical Black colleges targeted by bomb threats will be eligible for grants

The White House said Wednesday it will make grant funding available to historically Black colleges and universities that have received bomb threats this year so they can upgrade security systems and provide mental health services on campus.

March 16, 2022