North America

DETROIT (AP) — For years, Laela Bullock moved to her own rhythm when it came to schoolwork. The switch to remote learning, if anything, brought a welcome break from fights in the hallways of the 15-year-old’s Detroit school, but her grades still lagged.

Things started turning around with one-on-one tutoring this year — paid for with $1.3 billion the Detroit Public Schools Community District is receiving in federal COVID-19 relief aid.

At last, Laela is reading above her grade level, and on track to graduate on time, said her mother, Alicia Bullock.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. and Ukraine have knocked back Russian President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to falsely frame the narrative of his brutal war, but they are struggling to get a more accurate view of the Kremlin’s invasion in front of the Russian people.

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — A Colorado city is marking the one-year anniversary of a shooting at a busy supermarket that left 10 people dead, including employees, customers and a veteran police officer.

Events include a communitywide moment of silence at 2:30 p.m. MDT, about the time a gunman opened fire at the King Soopers grocery store in Boulder.

At 4:30 p.m., Gov. Jared Polis is scheduled to gather with residents for a public remembrance in a park downtown.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens, now a leading Republican Senate candidate, was physically abusive and demonstrated such “unstable and coercive behavior” that steps were taken to limit his access to firearms, according to new allegations from his ex-wife revealed in court records.

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) — City of Miami Beach officials declared a state of emergency on Monday and an upcoming curfew, bidding to curb violent incidents at spring break that saw five people wounded in two separate shootings.

Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber and City Manager Alina Hudak announced the emergency order at an afternoon news conference. It includes a curfew for the South Beach area that starts early Thursday after midnight and runs through the weekend.

DALLAS (AP) — A storm system that left widespread damage and some injuries in its wake in Texas drifted into Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama on Tuesday, possibly triggering “a regional severe weather outbreak,” the Storm Prediction Center said.

The affected areas, including the cities of Baton Rouge and Jackson, Mississippi, could see strong tornadoes, forecasters said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson will face senators’ questions for the first time Tuesday as Democrats push to quickly confirm the only Black female justice in the court’s 233-year history.

WASHINGTON, Mar 21 (APP): Khalid Payenda, who resigned as Afghanistan’s finance minister days before Kabul fell to the Taliban and now drives Uber taxi around Washington, has said that the country had 20 years and the whole world’s support to build a system that would work for the people, but “We miserably failed.”

According to a report in The Washington Post, Payenda, 40, who oversaw a $6 billion budget in his homeland but fled as the country teetered on the verge of collapse, also works as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University.

WASHINGTON, March 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The International Monetary Fund announced that its board of directors will discuss Argentina’s $45 billion agreement on Friday, the final step of approval after two years of negotiations.

If approved, it would be Argentina’s 22nd IMF program and the latest chapter in the country’s tumultuous relationship with the Washington-based lender. The pending agreement would refinance payments owed from a record IMF bailout given to the previous government in 2018 that failed to stabilize the economy.

WASHINGTON, March 21 (Reuters) - The United States cannot independently confirm or refute a Russian claim over the weekend that it fired hypersonic missiles at a Ukrainian target, but the use of such a weapon makes little sense from a military perspective, a senior U.S. defense official said on Monday.

"It could be that they're trying to send a message to the West," the official said on condition of anonymity. From a military perspective, the official added, "there's just not a lot of practicality about it."