National Politics

They were the first businesses to close and will be some of the last to reopen, yet owners of independent theaters and live music venues have been waiting nearly four months for a $16 billion federal emergency grant program to launch. The funding for what’s known as the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program was approved

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh will be laid to rest tomorrow at St George’s Chapel in Windsor, west of London. Only 30 people will attend the memorial, which will be pared down for pandemic safety. Here’s what you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day. (You can also get

The science: Scientists are coalescing around the idea that Covid-19 probably spread to people through an animal or animals. That was the conclusion of a preliminary World Health Organization review of the virus’s origins released in March. It laid out four possible origin theories and argued the most likely was some form of animal-to-human transmission

President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate nine diplomats for ambassadorships on Thursday, marking his first selection of overseas envoys since taking office. He also named his picks for senior State Department official roles based at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, DC. His selection of a slate of predominantly career officials for the top

The Defense Department has confirmed that leaked photos and video of “unidentified aerial phenomena” taken in 2019 are indeed legitimate images of unexplained objects. Photos and videos of triangle-shaped objects blinking and moving through the clouds were taken by Navy personnel, Pentagon spokeswoman Sue Gough said in a statement to CNN. She also confirmed that

Republican Rep. Jim Jordan and the nation’s top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci got into a heated exchange Thursday over the country’s Covid-19 mitigation measures, which ended with Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters telling Jordan to “shut your mouth.” During a House subcommittee hearing about federal government’s response to the pandemic, Jordan, an Ohio conservative,

President Joe Biden said Thursday that the newly announced sanctions against Russia are a proportionate response to cyberattacks against the US and interference in two presidential elections, but also emphasized that “now is the time to de-escalate” tensions with the country. Biden said during remarks at the White House that he told Russian President Vladimir

Sen. Ted Cruz is no longer wearing a face mask as he walks the halls of the Capitol complex or goes to the Senate floor for debates and votes. “At this point I’ve been vaccinated. Everybody working in the Senate has been vaccinated,” the Texas Republican told CNN, even though many staff members and reporters

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and her gubernatorial campaign have settled with a former staffer who accused the Democrat of sexually mistreating him during a meeting, paying out at least $62,500 as part of the agreement. A spokesman for Lujan Grisham said they “strenuously deny that there is any merit or truth” to the

After President Joe Biden declared Wednesday that the US must shift focus from a bloody and intractable war to more modern-day pursuits, it took less than 24 hours for him to put his words into practice. Unveiling a new package of sanctions on Russia while pressing its leader for a summertime summit in Europe, Biden

For the second time in as many days, FBI director Christopher Wray acknowledged he remains concerned about potential violence incited by QAnon but despite telling lawmakers that the conspiracy theory is something “we look at very seriously” when it is tied to a criminal act, he made clear the bureau is not investigating the online

The Biden administration is funneling $39 billion in relief funds to states to help child care providers stay in business or reopen, which it says is the single largest investment in child care in US history. The money, which comes from the $1.9 trillion relief package that President Joe Biden signed last month, also will

Active discussions are underway in Congress over a bipartisan bill to overhaul laws surrounding policing as the Biden administration made the decision earlier this week to let Congress tackle the issue, standing down on its campaign promise to create a White House commission to study the issue. The conversation took on new urgency in recent

More than 1 million callers dialed into the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s new funeral assistance program hotline on its first day, the agency said, signaling an increased need for funeral aid as the nation’s coronavirus death toll continues to climb. FEMA launched its funeral program on Monday for families who lost loved ones to Covid-19