Reuters US Domestic News Summary

U.S. returns indictment against Oath Keeper members over plot to storm U.S. Capitol The United States has secured an indictment against three members of the far-right "Oath Keepers" militia, charging they conspired to storm the U.S. Capitol in a bid to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden's electoral victory.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. U.S. returns indictment against Oath Keeper members over plot to storm U.S. Capitol

The United States has secured an indictment against three members of the far-right "Oath Keepers" militia, charging they conspired to storm the U.S. Capitol in a bid to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden's electoral victory. The indictment alleges that Jessica Marie Watkins, 38, Donovan Ray Crowl, 50, and Thomas Caldwell, 65, conspired as far back as November to obstruct Congress - a charge that can carry a maximum prison sentence of 20 years. Americas COVID-19 death toll hits 1 million, hospitals brimming, warns PAHO

Over 1 million people have died from COVID-19 in North and South America, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said on Wednesday. In the last week alone, 2 million more cases were reported in the Americas, with the United States the main driver of the outbreak, the WHO regional branch said. Globally, there have been over 100 million cases and 2.1 million deaths with 44 million cases in North and South America, according to a Reuters tally. Crocheted doll of Bernie Sanders meme raises $40,000 for charity

Tobey King used a little yarn, a crochet needle and some inspiration from Bernie Sanders to create a crocheted doll version of the Vermont senator and raise $40,000 for charity. After photographs began circulating on social media of Sanders wearing a parka and a pair of mittens at U.S. President Joe Biden's inauguration, King sprang into action. Analysis: A 'transitory way to govern' - Biden reverses Trump's orders with the stroke of a pen

In his first week in office, U.S. President Joe Biden has rolled out a wave of executive orders to fulfill a roster of campaign promises, underscoring just how easy it is to reverse some of the policies of his predecessor, Donald Trump. As of Wednesday morning, Biden had cranked out some 40 executive orders, nearly half of them overturning Trump mandates. With one stroke of the pen, the United States rejoined the Paris climate accord and with another, Biden blocked funds for a border wall with Mexico. Hopeful signs on pandemic lead some U.S. states to ease coronavirus restrictions

Severe COVID-19 infections are beginning to abate in many parts of the United States even as the death toll mounts, signaling an end to the pandemic's post-holiday surge and prompting some states to ease public health restrictions. A slow but steady reduction in the number of Americans entering hospitals with the disease has paralleled a choppy rollout of vaccines that also are expected to reduce spread of the coronavirus that causes it. On his first day, Secretary of State Blinken commits to rebuilding U.S. diplomacy worldwide

Antony Blinken began his first full day as U.S. secretary of state on Wednesday promising to repair ties with global partners and show the world that America can lead, while tackling climate change, the erosion of democracies and other complex issues. Greeted in the lobby and outside by a crowd of State Department employees limited by coronavirus measures, Blinken, who served as No. 2 at the State Department under former Democratic President Barack Obama, was greeted with applause. U.S. faces higher risk of domestic extremist violence after Capitol assault, says government

The United States could face a heightened threat of domestic extremist violence for weeks from people angry at Donald Trump's election defeat and inspired by the deadly storming of the U.S. Capitol, the Department of Homeland Security warned on Wednesday. The advisory - which said there was no specific and credible threat at this time - comes as Washington remains on high alert after hundreds of Trump supporters charged into the Capitol on Jan. 6 as Congress was formally certifying President Joe Biden's election victory. Five died in the violence. Exclusive: Family of Black man killed by Cincinnati store owner seeks federal civil rights probe

The family of an unarmed Black man who was shot dead by a white store owner in Cincinnati asked the U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday to open a civil rights investigation into the case after the local prosecutor declined to bring any charges. Da'Shawn Tye, 19, was shot at the Mages Grocery in the Ohio city's Price Hill neighborhood on Nov. 19. On Dec. 9, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joseph Deters announced no charges would be filed, saying Tye was attempting to rob the store for the third time. Exclusive: Proud Boys leader was 'prolific' informer for law enforcement

Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the Proud Boys extremist group, has a past as an informer for federal and local law enforcement, repeatedly working undercover for investigators after he was arrested in 2012, according to a former prosecutor and a transcript of a 2014 federal court proceeding obtained by Reuters. In the Miami hearing, a federal prosecutor, a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent and Tarrio's own lawyer described his undercover work and said he had helped authorities prosecute more than a dozen people in various cases involving drugs, gambling and human smuggling. Chicago teachers threaten to stop working over district's reopening plan

Chicago teachers threatened to stop working altogether if the district retaliates against any of them who failed to report to school buildings on Wednesday to prepare to resume in-person learning for tens of thousands of students next week. Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), which represents 25,000 public school educators, has been locked in negotiations with Chicago Public Schools (CPS) for months over a plan to gradually reopen schools for the system's 355,000 students. Teachers are demanding stronger safety protocols to prevent the spread of the coronavirus inside the classroom.

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