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Fight against COVID-19 hits wall of defiance, suspicion in rural California
RED BLUFF, Calif. — Jeremiah Fears sat beneath an elk head mounted on the wall of the volunteer fire department in his little city and rolled up his sleeve for what he hopes is a step toward normality: his first dose of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine.
“If we can get vaccinated and do our thing to protect one another and ourselves, we can ...Read more

Massive Equifax settlement got the nod one year ago. Where 2019s the money for victims?
It's been one year since the settlement involving tens of millions of victims of the colossal Equifax data breach received final approval and the deadline passed for filing initial claims.
There's still been no payout. Where's the money?
Several parties that initially opposed the court settlement are waiting to have their appeals heard before ...Read more

Boris Johnson triggers G-7 fears of rival alliance to counter China
LONDON — Boris Johnson’s plan to host an expanded Group of Seven summit in June is worrying some other members who fear the U.K. may be trying to reshape the forum of wealthy nations via the back door.
The British prime minister has invited South Korea, India and Australia as guests to this year’s meeting as he tries to establish a so-...Read more

Biden team asks Trump-picked Russia ambassador to stay in post
WASHINGTON — President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team has asked the U.S. ambassador to Russia, John Sullivan, and a very small number of other Trump political appointees, to temporarily remain in their diplomatic posts, according to people familiar with the matter.
Sullivan, who has been the American envoy in Moscow for little more than ...Read more

Qatar says it's time Gulf Arabs start talks with Iran
DOHA, Qatar — Qatar has urged Gulf Arab nations to enter a dialog with Iran, saying the time was right for Doha to broker negotiations now that the neighbors have begun to patch up their own differences.
Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who’s long called for a summit between leaders of the six-member Gulf ...Read more

Trump ends historically unpopular presidency with 34% approval rating
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s approval rating has dropped to 34% in a Gallup poll released Monday, the low point of a presidency that already had the weakest average approval rating of any of his predecessors since the survey began in the 1940s.
The new Gallup numbers, based on a poll that began just before the assault on the ...Read more

Tense Virginia gun rally draws everyone from Proud Boys to Black Panthers — many armed
RICHMOND, Va. — Despite fears of violence and a country on edge ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, gun rights activists rallied outside the Virginia Capitol on Monday, drawing in right-wing groups increasingly hostile toward the government and openly armed in defiance of the law.
They came to Richmond flying flags and ...Read more

Hundred-car caravan through Baltimore celebrates King's legacy, Black lives
BALTIMORE — The cars started lining up before 10 o’clock on a blustery morning — just a handful at first, then a few dozen more. Soon nearly 100 vehicles filled the parking lot of St. Matthew Catholic Church.
Passengers popped out, exchanged markers, and scrawled messages in bold colors on their vehicles: "Black Lives Matter," "I Have a ...Read more
News briefs
US hits 24 million COVID-19 cases
The United States surpassed 24 million COVID-19 cases Monday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
At least 398,307 people have died from related complications since the pandemic began, as well. On Sunday, incoming U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention head Dr. Rochelle Walensky ...Read more
Tense Virginia gun rally draws everyone from Proud Boys to Black Panthers — many armed
RICHMOND, Va. — Despite fears of violence and a country on edge ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, gun rights activists rallied outside the Virginia Capitol on Monday, drawing in right-wing groups increasingly hostile toward the government and openly armed in defiance of the law.
They came to Richmond flying flags and ...Read more

Sen. Josh Hawley finds a new publisher for book
U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley's planned book, "The Tyranny of Big Tech," canceled by Simon & Schuster after his involvement in the recent Capitol insurrection, has found a new publisher.
The book, which Simon & Schuster originally described as Hawley's case that the likes of Google, Amazon and Apple represent the "gravest threat to American liberty ...Read more

Kamala Harris tells Florida teens to ‘lead with conviction' at MLK Jr. event
MIAMI — The COVID-19 pandemic’s wrath in Florida has put a strain on families, had an outsized effect on Florida’s Black communities and forced schools to go virtual. Marked by interruption and uncertainty, young people had a particularly challenging 2020.
During a breakfast honoring the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., the focus shifted...Read more

3 National Guard members describe rush to duty after Capitol riot
WASHINGTON — Brandie Santana’s phone rang in the evening after she finished her shift as a hospice nurse at Cavalry Hospital in the Bronx. Television news was still showing images of rioting that day at the U.S. Capitol, some 225 miles away, and she realized what was coming.
“I pretty much knew we were going to get the call,” the 40-...Read more
Trump reportedly set to pardon more than 100 people in his final hours as president
With just hours left in office, President Donald Trump is expected to dish out pardons and sentence commutations to a varied group of more than 100 criminals, pardons that could include himself and his family members, according to several reports Monday.
Trump, whose term ends at noon Wednesday, spent his last weekend at the White House ...Read more

Florida reports 137 new COVID-19 deaths, highest number this year
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Florida reported 8,002 new coronavirus cases on Monday and another 137 new resident deaths linked to COVID-19. The state has now reported 1,579,281 cases since the pandemic began.
The new figures mark the lowest number of new cases this year but the highest number of deaths.
SOUTH FLORIDA
Palm Beach County: 525 ...Read more

Vaccines should be available ‘immediately' to people 65 and older, LA supervisors urge
LOS ANGELES — Amid widespread confusion over when and how senior citizens can get the coronavirus vaccine, two Los Angeles County supervisors are urging that people 65 and older be inoculated immediately.
“Gov. Gavin Newsom has encouraged all counties to start vaccinating residents 65 and older so that we can protect our residents who are ...Read more
US hits 24 million COVID-19 cases
The United States surpassed 24 million COVID-19 cases Monday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
At least 398,307 people have died from related complications since the pandemic began, as well. On Sunday, incoming U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention head Dr. Rochelle Walensky said the U.S. would likely pass 500,...Read more
Woody Guthrie — who despised Trump's dad — gets statue in his presidential sculpture garden of ‘heroes’
Woody Guthrie is on a list of American icons who will have statues built in their honor on President Donald Trump’s orders — even though the late folk music legend wrote a seething song decades ago about the Trump family’s allegedly racist business practices in New York City.
The Guthrie statue will be among more than 100 sculptures ...Read more

Ohio officials report 4,312 additional COVID-19 cases; state total to date tops 831,000
COLUMBUS, Ohio — State health officials reported another 4,312 coronavirus cases Monday, bringing the total statewide during the ongoing pandemic to 831,066.
The new daily total was well below the 21-day average of 7,430, though the latest numbers were posted by the Ohio Department of Health on the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday, when...Read more

Nearly 3,000 new COVID-19 cases, 8 more deaths reported across SC
COLUMBIA, S.C. —Though numbers eased in comparison to recent eye-popping highs, South Carolina's health department on Monday still announced nearly 3,000 more cases of COVID-19 statewide.
The state Department of Health and Environmental Control announced on Monday 2,946 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus. The agency reported 12,806 ...Read more
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