Politics and Government

Half of all adults in the U.S. have received at least one COVID-19 shot, the government announced Sunday, marking another milestone in the nation’s largest-ever vaccination campaign but leaving more work to do to convince skeptical Americans to roll up their sleeves.

All eyes will be on jury deliberations in the Derek Chauvin murder trial next week. State leaders expect a verdict to prompt renewed debate over the state’s approach to law enforcement and protests that can escalate into chaos.

Two dozen U.S. senators sent a letter to the White House outlining steps to shutter the crumbling military prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, where many men have been held uncharged for nearly 20 years.

The White House is walking back its earlier announcement that it will keep the refugee ceiling of 15,000 set by the Trump administration, saying its widely panned announcement earlier Friday was meant only to ease restrictions from countries from which refugees are banned and that President Joe Biden would raise the cap by May 15.

Russia's top diplomat says Moscow will expel 10 U.S. diplomats in response to U.S. sanctions. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also said Moscow will add eight U.S. officials to its sanctions list and move to shut down the work of U.S. nongovernmental organizations to end what he called interfering in Russia’s politics. 

Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday rescinded a Trump-era memo that curtailed the use of consent decrees that federal prosecutors have used in sweeping investigations of police departments.

Jon Schaffer pleaded guilty to two charges — obstructing an official proceeding and entering restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon. He has agreed to fully cooperate with investigators.

With a more contagious variant now dominant in the U.S., the country's genomic surveillance capacity is getting a major boost.

Members of the two parties are split on how transgender students should participate in sports, according to an NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll. But opposition to legislating the issue is roughly uniform.

Competing public safety bills are advancing at the Capitol. The push for greater police accountability is a big fault line.