North America

GARDINER, Mont. (AP) — Most of Yellowstone National Park should re-open within the next two weeks — much faster than originally expected after record floods pounded the Yellowstone region last week and knocked out major roads, federal officials said Sunday.

Yellowstone Superintendent Cam Sholly said the world-renowned park will be able to accommodate fewer visitors for the time being, and it will take more time to restore road connections with some southern Montana communities.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Members of the House committee investigating the Capitol riot said Sunday they may subpoena former Vice President Mike Pence and are waiting to hear from Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, about her role in the illegal plot to overturn the 2020 election.

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 19 (APP): In a blatant misuse of Its UN Security Council’s membership, India has blocked a proposal to proscribe an Indian national, Gobinda Patnaik Duggivalasa, by a 15-member body’s panel, known as the 1267 Sanctions Committee, according to the informed sources.

The Committee procedures require consent of all Council members to accept a listing request.

WASHINGTON, June 18 (Xinhua) -- U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday.

Sullivan, 45, is "asymptomatic" and has not been in close contact with U.S. President Joe Biden, according to Adrienne Watson, a spokesperson for the National Security Council.

He is the latest member of the Biden administration to have been infected with the coronavirus.

According to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University, the United States has reported nearly 86 million COVID-19 cases and over 1 million related deaths in total. 

WASHINGTON, June 18 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of Americans from across the nation gathered Saturday in downtown Washington D.C. for a rally to call attention to the living conditions of the low-income people, urging policymakers to do more to support those in the bottom.

(AP) --- The day after Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg met with airline leaders to quiz them about widespread flight disruptions, his own flight was canceled and he wound up driving from Washington to New York.

“That is happening to a lot of people, and that is exactly why we are paying close attention here to what can be done and how to make sure that the airlines are delivering,” Buttigieg told The Associated Press in an interview Saturday.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Tensions between Russia and the West are aggravating talks about the future of one of the United Nations’ biggest and most perilous peacekeeping operations, the force sent to help Mali resist a decade-long Islamic extremist insurgency.

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Yellowstone National Park will partially reopen at 8 a.m. Wednesday, after catastrophic flooding destroyed bridges and roads and drove out thousands of tourists.

The Park Service announced Saturday that visitors will once again be allowed on the park’s southern loop under a temporary license plate system designed to manage the crowds: Those with even-numbered plates and motorcycle groups will be allowed on even-numbered days, and those with odd-numbered or vanity plates on odd-numbered days.

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. on Saturday opened COVID-19 vaccines to infants, toddlers and preschoolers.

The shots will become available this week, expanding the nation’s vaccination campaign to children as young as 6 months.

Advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended the vaccines for the littlest children, and the final signoff came hours later from Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the agency’s director.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mayor Muriel Bowser cruised to reelection in the nation’s capital four years ago without serious opposition, and as the city enjoyed prosperous times, the main criticism of her policies was that Washington was growing too quickly, driving up housing costs and pricing out Black residents in an uncontrolled gentrification wave.