US Domestic News Roundup: Biden moves to reverse Trump opening of Alaska forest to logging; Biden to route U.S. border wall funds to military and construction site clean up and more

The Star Tribune won the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news reporting for what the board called its "urgent, authoritative and nuanced" coverage of the murder of George Floyd at the hands of the police last May, while Reuters and the Atlantic shared the award for explanatory reporting. Pulitzers honor Darnella Frazier for cellphone video of George Floyd murder A teenager who recorded the murder of George Floyd in a clear and unrelenting single shot with her cellphone was recognized on Friday by the arbiters of the highest honors in U.S. journalism.


Reuters | Updated: 12-06-2021 20:00 IST | Created: 12-06-2021 18:29 IST
 US Domestic News Roundup: Biden moves to reverse Trump opening of Alaska forest to logging; Biden to route U.S. border wall funds to military and construction site clean up and more
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Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

'Like magic': small emergence of cicadas thought to be extinct found in New York

Dr. Elias Bonaros, a cardiologist and cicada expert, thought the noise-making insects - which emerge from the ground every 17 years - might not return to his neck of the woods, New York state's Long Island, after very few showed up in 2004. But this week they came back.

Biden moves to reverse Trump opening of Alaska forest to logging

The Biden administration on Friday began a process to reverse a Trump-era policy that opened vast swaths of the largest U.S. national forest, the Tongass in Alaska, to logging and mining. The move is the latest effort to roll back a land use decision made under then-President Donald Trump, reflecting a growing emphasis on conservation over commercial development.

Biden to route U.S. border wall funds to military and construction site clean up

President Joe Biden's administration will return more than $2 billion in funds allotted under his predecessor Donald Trump to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border to the military and devote other remaining money to construction site clean up, the White House budget office said on Friday. The move will return funds to 66 military projects spanning 11 states, three U.S. territories and 16 countries, the White House said in a related fact sheet. The projects include $79 million to renovate a U.S. military school in Germany and $9 million for a firing range in Indiana.

Justice Dept watchdog to probe seizure of Democrats' communications data

The U.S. Justice Department's internal watchdog will probe efforts by the department during former President Donald Trump's administration to seize the communications data of Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives, the watchdog confirmed. Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz said his office was beginning a review of the department's "use of subpoenas and other legal authorities to obtain communication records of Members of Congress and affiliated persons, and the news media in connection with recent investigations of alleged unauthorized disclosures of information to the media by government officials."

U.S. attorney general vows to aggressively defend voting rights

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said on Friday his Justice Department will aggressively enforce voting rights at a time when many Republican-led states are tightening election laws and supporters of former President Donald Trump continue to baselessly question his 2020 defeat. Garland said the Justice Department will prosecute threats against election officials, double the number of prosecutors devoted to voting rights and closely examine how states conduct their elections.

At least 13 people wounded in Austin, Texas shooting

At least 13 people were wounded in a shooting in downtown Austin, Texas early on Saturday, police said, adding the suspected shooter was still at large. Two of the injured are reported to be in a critical condition, Austin Police Department Interim Chief Joseph Chacon said in a statement.

U.S. Supreme Court urged by 22 states to maintain eviction ban

The attorneys general of 22 states on Friday urged the U.S. Supreme Court not to end the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's pandemic-related residential eviction moratorium that has been challenged by landlord groups. The landlords asked the Supreme Court last week to issue an order stopping the national ban on evictions, which was first implemented last September and is due to expire on June 30. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky declined to say this week if the agency will again extend the moratorium, saying discussions are ongoing.

U.S. screens 2.02 million airport passengers Friday - highest since March 2020

The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said it screened 2.02 million passengers on Friday at U.S. airports, the highest number since March 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic slashed travel demand. It was the first time daily U.S. airport passengers screened had topped 2 million since March 7, 2020, the TSA said.

Reuters, New York Times win Pulitzers for coverage of racial injustice, COVID-19

Reuters and the Minneapolis Star Tribune each won a Pulitzer Prize on Friday for journalism about racial inequities in U.S. policing, while the New York Times and the Atlantic were honored for chronicling the COVID-19 pandemic, the two topics that dominated last year's headlines. The Star Tribune won the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news reporting for what the board called its "urgent, authoritative and nuanced" coverage of the murder of George Floyd at the hands of the police last May, while Reuters and the Atlantic shared the award for explanatory reporting.

Pulitzers honor Darnella Frazier for cellphone video of George Floyd murder

A teenager who recorded the murder of George Floyd in a clear and unrelenting single shot with her cellphone was recognized on Friday by the arbiters of the highest honors in U.S. journalism. The Pulitzer Board awarded Darnella Frazier a special citation for a video she said has haunted her ever since, showing Floyd's death beneath the knee of Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis policeman. Chauvin was convicted of murdering Floyd in a trial during which Frazier's video was played repeatedly.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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