USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — John Durham, the federal prosecutor tapped to investigate the origins of the Russia investigation, has been presenting evidence before a grand jury as part of his probe, a person familiar with the matter said Friday.

The development is a potential sign that Durham may be mulling additional criminal charges beyond the one he brought last year against a former FBI lawyer who admitted altering an email about a Trump campaign aide who’d been under FBI surveillance. Durham is also expected to complete a report at some point.

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi faced a fresh hurdle Friday to passing President Joe Biden’s multitrillion-dollar domestic policy aspirations, as nine moderate Democrats threatened to derail a budget blueprint crucial to opening the door to much of that spending.

In a letter to Pelosi, D-Calif., the nine said they “will not consider voting” for a budget resolution mapping Democrats’ ambitious fiscal plans until the House approves a separate, Senate-passed package of road, broadband and other infrastructure projects and sends it to Biden.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — The New York state Assembly will suspend its investigation of Gov. Andrew Cuomo once he steps down after its leader concluded the Legislature didn’t have the clear authority to impeach a departed official, the chamber’s top Democrat said Friday.

Cuomo announced Tuesday he planned to resign over sexual harassment allegations as it became clear he was almost certain to be impeached by the Legislature. He said his resignation was effective in 14 days, at which point he’ll be replaced by Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — It’s only a few days into the new school year, but New Mexico’s largest district is reeling from a shooting that left one student dead and landed another in custody.

The gunfire at Washington Middle School during the lunch hour Friday marked the second shooting in Albuquerque in less than 24 hours. With the city on pace to shatter its homicide record this year, top state officials said they were heartbroken by what they described as a scourge.

WASHINGTON (AP) — With the Obama health care law undergoing a revival under President Joe Biden, this Sunday is the deadline for consumers to take advantage of a special sign-up period for private coverage made more affordable by his COVID-19 relief law.

A strong close would bolster Biden’s case that Congress needs to make permanent the temporary boost in health insurance subsidies provided by the COVID legislation. His campaign promise to build on existing programs to move the U.S. toward coverage for all may also gain credence.

WESTWOOD, Calif. (AP) — A month-old wildfire burning through forestlands in Northern California lurched toward a small lumber town as blazes across the U.S. Western states strained resources and threatened thousands of homes with destruction.

Crews were cutting back brush and using bulldozers to build lines to keep the Dixie Fire from reaching Westwood east of Lake Almanor, not far from where the lightning-caused blaze destroyed much of the town of Greenville last week.

(AP) --- While suburban congressional districts are swelling with new residents, lawmakers in large swaths of rural America and some Rust Belt cities are in need of more people to represent.

In rural Illinois, Republican Rep. Mary Miller’s district is short 73,000 people. In northeastern Ohio, Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan needs an additional 88,000 people. And the Detroit-area district of Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib lacks over 100,000 people — one of the biggest shortfalls in the country.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The first forces of a Marine battalion arrived in Kabul at week’s end to stand guard as the U.S. speeds up evacuation flights for some American diplomats and thousands of Afghans, spurred by a lightning Taliban offensive that increasingly is isolating Afghanistan’s capital.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said “elements” of a battalion were now in Kabul, the vanguard of three Marine and Army battalions that the U.S. was sending to the city by the end of the weekend to help more Americans and their Afghan colleagues get out quickly.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 13 (APP): Young people are on the “frontlines of the struggle to build a better future”, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Thursday, while marking International Youth Day.

“They are tackling inequities in food security, biodiversity loss, threats to our environment and much more”, he said in his message for the day.

And noting that coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the “dire need for…transformational change”, he said that young people must be “full partners in that effort”.

WASHINGTON, Aug 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department said on Friday it was imposing sanctions on an alleged oil smuggler and companies it said provide support to the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), according to a statement.

Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control targeted Omani national Mahmood Rashid Amur Al Habsi and a network of businesses, two based in Oman, one based in Liberia and one based in Romania, it said.

The action freezes any U.S. assets of those blacklisted and generally bars Americans from dealing with them.