News Daypop Archives

Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh and husband of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II for more than 70 years, has died at age 99. Buckingham Palace confirmed his death in a statement Friday:  “It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen has announced the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle.”... [Read Full Story]

President Joe Biden unveiled several executive actions on Thursday aimed at curbing gun violence, including measures on unregistered firearms that can be assembled from parts, commonly referred to as “ghost guns.” Biden announced the measures in the White House Rose Garden, accompanied by Vice President Kamala Harris and Attorney General Merrick Garland, saying, “Gun violence in this country is an epidemic and an international embarrassment.” Biden called gun violence in the United States a “public health crisis,” and “epidemic” and an “international embarrassment.”... [Read Full Story]

Authorities in York County, South Carolina said on Thursday that former NFL player Phillip Adams shot six people, killing five, Wednesday before later taking his own life. Dr. Robert Lesslie, 70, his wife Barbara, 69, their two grandchildren, Adah and Noah, ages five and nine, and James Lewis, 38, who worked at the Lesslie home, were all killed in the shooting. An unidentified sixth person suffered “serious gunshot wounds” and has been hospitalized.... [Read Full Story]

As cases in the United States continue to climb, a top U.S. health official said on Wednesday that the highly contagious variant of COVID-19 first discovered in the United Kingdom has become the most common strain of the virus in the U.S.... [Read Full Story]

During his speech on the so-called ‘American Jobs Plan’ in the South Court Auditorium of the White House on Wednesday, President Joe Biden defended his plan to raise the corporate tax to help pay for his $2 trillion infrastructure package– but said he’s willing to compromise with Republicans on how high.... [Read Full Story]

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order banning state government entities from enforcing the so-called ‘vaccine passports.” According to the governor, this ban would apply to “any public or private entity that is receiving or will receive public funds through any means, including grants, contracts, loans, or other disbursement of taxpayer funds.”  The order reads: “Whereas, an individual’s COVID-19 vaccination status is private health information, and no governmental entity should compel disclosure of this information by mandating a so-called ‘vaccine passport’ for COVID-19 or by otherwise conditioning receipt of services on an individual’s COVID-19 status.” ... [Read Full Story]

Two people were injured after a shooting near Fort Detrick in Frederick, Maryland, on Tuesday. Police were called for an active shooter situation at 8:20 a.m. in the Riverside Tech Park area.... [Read Full Story]

Emergency crews in Manatee County, Fla., are scrambling to drain a leaking wastewater reservoir in an effort to prevent a catastrophic event that officials said could unleash a “20-foot wall of water.” The leak at Piney Point — a long-abandoned phosphate plant in the Tampa Bay area — was first discovered last month. ... [Read Full Story]

On Monday, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson vetoed a proposed state law banning access to gender-affirming care such as puberty blockers and hormones to transgender minors. Hutchinson said he had rejected the bill, which had been approved last month by the GOP-controlled state Legislature, calling it a “product of the cultural war in America” that would interfere with the doctor-patient relationship.” Hutchinson told reporters in Little Rock if the bill became law, it would set “new standards of legislative interference with physicians and parents as they deal with some of the most complex and sensitive matters involving young people.”... [Read Full Story]

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden delivered a message of hope on Easter Sunday, encouraging more Americans to get vaccinated. In a video posted to Biden’s Twitter account, the president said the White House echoes the sentiments of Pope Francis who described getting vaccinated as a ‘moral obligation’ and stressed the importance of widespread inoculations to resuming traditional Holy Week activities in the future.... [Read Full Story]

The U.S. military said Sunday that a once-secret unit within the Guantanamo Bay detention center has been closed and the prisoners moved to another facility on the American base in Cuba. The prisoners at Camp 7 were transferred to a facility adjacent to where the other detainees on the base are held as part of what U.S. Southern Command said in a statement was an effort to “increase operational efficiency and effectiveness.” Officials have previously said about 14 men were held in Camp 7. There are 40 prisoners at Guantanamo.... [Read Full Story]

The Washington Nationals scheduled game against the Atlanta Braves for Monday has been postponed, with a plan for the teams to face each other Tuesday, which would be Washington’s first game of the year as it deals with COVID-19 issues. The Nationals’ season-opening series against the New York Mets was postponed.... [Read Full Story]

The S&P 500 crossed the 4,000-point threshold for the first time on Thursday as the major U.S. indexes reported gains to start the month of April. Markets responded to President Joe Biden unveiling his $2 trillion infrastructure plan on Wednesday, which would include a provision to raise the corporate tax rate to 28% to fund it.... [Read Full Story]

On Thursday, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled that state law does not ban Charlottesville from removing Confederate statue. At issue was the Confederate statues of Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson, which white nationalists rallied to protect in an August 2017 rally in Charlottesville, Va. One White supremacist plowed his car into the crowd and killed counter-protester Heather Heyer, 32, as well as injuring 19 others.... [Read Full Story]

On Wednesday, the Pentagon lifted restrictions on transgender troops imposed by the Trump administration, and unveiled a new policy to end discrimination and provide medical care for those service members. The Defense Department’s new policy will permit troops to serve openly under their self-identified gender and will offer access to medical treatments for gender transition.... [Read Full Story]

Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida is under investigation for sexual misconduct after a report revealed that the Department of Justice is looking into whether he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl. Gaetz claims the investigation is related to an effort to extort him.... [Read Full Story]

The U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday that Bravo’s “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” star Jen Shah has been arrested and charged with running a wide-ranging telemarketing fraud scheme. Shah faces charges alongside her assistant, Stuart Smith, who was also featured on the reality TV franchise. Shah and Smith have been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing and conspiracy to commit money laundering for allegedly selling “lead lists” for business opportunities that were nonexistent. The pair is accused of defrauding hundreds of victims, the Justice Department said. ... [Read Full Story]

For the first time on Tuesday, the Biden administration allowed journalists inside its main border detention facility for migrant children. U.S. Customs and Border Protection allowed two journalists from The Associated Press and a crew from CBS to tour the facility in Donna, Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley, the nation’s busiest corridor for illegal crossings.  Thousands of children and families have been arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border in recent weeks and packing facilities, and the White House has been under pressure to bring more transparency to the process. ... [Read Full Story]

The White House on Monday launched an ambitious program to greatly boost the development of offshore wind power in the United States, initially focusing on the Eastern Seaboard. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, national climate adviser Gina McCarthy, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and other administration officials said the plan calls for deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power across the country by 2030. The United States currently has only 28 megawatts of capacity and one functioning offshore wind farm.... [Read Full Story]

President Biden is calling on states to reinstate mask mandates following a warning from the CDC about the possibility of a new surge in COVID-19 cases. ... [Read Full Story]

Five people were killed and one was hospitalized following a helicopter crash in an Alaskan glacier, officials said. The Alaska Department Of Public Safety said Alaska State Troopers were alerted Saturday night of reports of an overdue helicopter and crash in the Knik Glacier, roughly 54 miles east of Anchorage. ... [Read Full Story]

Torrential rains across Tennessee flooded homes and left roads impassable, prompting over 100 people to be rescued in the Nashville area. Authorities said four were found dead on Sunday in the flood’s aftermath. Mayor John Cooper said at a news conference Sunday that Nashville received more than 7 inches of rain, the second-highest two-day rainfall total ever recorded.... [Read Full Story]

A tornado tore through a housing subdivision in Alabama on Thursday, causing severe destruction. Thousands were left without power across the Deep South as strong winds and heavy downpours swept across the region. The National Weather Service issued multiple tornado warnings in Alabama and surrounding states where forecasters said strong twisters that could stay on the ground for miles. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey issued an emergency declaration for 46 counties as the severe weather approached, and officials opened shelters in and around Birmingham. ... [Read Full Story]

President Joe Biden held his first formal news conference Thursday afternoon and was dominated by questions regarding the border crisis. The White House attempted to keep the news conference focused on the administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic with a string of vaccination logistical funding announcements in the hours before it began. The president began the conference by detailing a new vaccination target, after his initial goal of 100 million vaccines was reached last week.  However the President was questioned by reporters to detail actions he is taking to address a surge in undocumented migrant children arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border, and was not asked any direct questions about the pandemic.... [Read Full Story]

On Wednesday, President Joe Biden said he was assigning Vice President Kamala Harris to lead his administration’s effort to stem migration from Central America, calling her “the most qualified person to do it.”  Biden said Harris would “lead our efforts with Mexico and the Northern Triangle” — El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala — which he said, “are going to need help in stemming the movement of so many folks — stemming the migration to our southern border” as the United States deals with a surge of unaccompanied minors crossing its southern border.... [Read Full Story]

On Tuesday, President Biden announced that he would extend the special enrollment period for people to purchase Affordable Care Act health plans by three months, until Aug. 15, as part of his administration’s effort to address the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Thousands had signed up for Obamacare during the special enrollment period that Biden ordered from Feb. 15 to May 15. The second extension will help new and current enrollees take advantage of the enhanced subsidies in the Covid-19 relief package that was signed into law this month.... [Read Full Story]

On Tuesday, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy debuted his 10-year plan to cut costs at the U.S. Postal Service. The 58-page plan includes raising prices, slowing some first-class mail service, and reducing office hours. The plan lowers the service standard for first-class mail from three days or less to five days or less, shifting from air to surface transportation.... [Read Full Story]

Two North Carolina vacationing in South Florida during this year’s spring break season have been charged with drugging and raping a woman who later died.  Evoire Collier, 21, and Dorian Taylor, 24, both of Greensboro, N.C., were arrested Sunday after using the victim’s credit cards at a Miami Beach liquor store, authorities said. Charges against the men could be upgraded to manslaughter or murder if it is determined the woman died as a result of an overdose.... [Read Full Story]