USA

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (AP) — A Marine Corps battalion commander testified Friday that in retrospect he would have halted the exercise that killed nine of his Marines whose amphibious assault vehicle sank off the Southern California coast but at the time he did not have accurate information to make such a decision.

Lt. Col. Michael J. Regner said his decisions were based in part on what other commanders told him, including that all the Marines had completed their swim certifications and that the aging vehicles they were in had been fixed and were ready for the mission.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The life of former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who rose from childhood poverty and deprivation in Nevada to become one of the nation’s most powerful elected officials, will be celebrated by two American presidents and other Democratic leaders on Saturday, a testament to his impact on some of the most consequential legislation of the 21st Century.

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 07 (APP): Pakistani peacekeepers serving the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) have earned widespread praise for dedicatedly fighting some the worst floods in the country’s Unity State and bringing relief to the affected people, according to a report received in New York.

On January 4, they marked their 100th day of continuous effort to help hundreds of thousands of people whose lives have been disrupted by floods, the report said.

TAOS, N.M., Jan 6 (Reuters) - New Mexico authorities on Thursday said they were working with police in New York state to obtain material from actor Alec Baldwin's cellphone relating to a probe into the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of Western movie "Rust."

The Santa Fe Sheriff's Office and New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney's Office are "actively working" with the Suffolk County Sheriff's Department, New York, and Baldwin's lawyers to get any materials on the phone pertaining to their investigation, according to a press release.

WASHINGTON, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Former White House aide Stephanie Grisham, a one-time loyalist but now sharp critic of former President Donald Trump, said on Thursday she is planning talks next week with ex-Trump staffers to discuss working against him in the next round of elections.

Jan 6 (Reuters) - Former President Donald Trump's new media venture plans to launch its social media app Truth Social on Feb. 21, according to an Apple Inc (AAPL.O) App Store listing.

TRUTH Social, the Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) alternative to Twitter (TWTR.N), is available for pre-order before going live on the U.S. Presidents' Day holiday.

Similar to Twitter, the app offers features to follow other people and trending topics, according to demo photos. Its message equivalent of a tweet will be dubbed "truth".

WASHINGTON, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Conservative justices on Friday questioned the legality of President Joe Biden's vaccine-or-testing mandate for large businesses as the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in a request by Republican state officials and business groups to block the policy at a time of surging COVID-19 cases nationwide.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden said on Thursday that Americans must ensure such an attack like that on the U.S. Capitol a year ago "never happens again" as the country seems more divided than ever.

"One year ago today in this sacred place, democracy was attacked, simply attacked. The will of the people was under assault. The Constitution, our constitution faced the gravest of threats," Biden said in a speech from Statuary Hall just outside the House chamber to mark the anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The California surge in coronavirus cases has shut down schools and sidelined thousands of police, firefighters, teachers and health care workers but officials are hoping it will be short-lived.

“My hope is that, you know, by the time we get to February, we’re on the downside of seeing that massive amount of community transmission,” Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said Thursday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. regulators on Friday shortened the time that people who received Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine have to wait for a booster — to five months rather than six.

The two-dose Moderna vaccine is open to Americans 18 and older. The Food and Drug Administration’s decision Friday means Moderna recipients are eligible for a booster after at least five months have passed since their last shot. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention agreed.