Religious issues

In this image from video, Vice President Kamala Harris swears in Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., and Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., on the floor of the Senate Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Senate Television via AP)
January 21, 2021 - 11:31 am

Senate Confirms Biden 1St Cabinet Pick As Democrats Control

WASHINGTON (AP) — Three new senators were sworn into office after President Joe Biden's inauguration, securing the majority for Democrats in the Senate and across a unified government to tackle the new president's agenda at a time of unprecedented national challenges. In a first vote, the Senate...
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Isaac Smith, of Boston, speaks to a reporter near the Massachusetts Statehouse in Boston about the new incoming administration, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. Smith, a 21-year-old Harvard University student, said he voted for Biden and was excited for what's to come. "No matter which way you look at it, it's historic. Things are going to change," he said. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
January 20, 2021 - 5:51 pm

Americans Who Live, Work Near Capitols See Peace, New Hope

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Normally quiet streets around U.S. state capitol buildings have looked more like battlegrounds recently, putting those who live and work there on edge. More than most people, these Americans will have front-row seats on whether the change of leadership Wednesday in the White...
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President Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden walk in a parade during the Presidential Escort, part of Inauguration Day ceremonies, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
January 20, 2021 - 3:06 pm

Biden Inaugural: Abrupt Pivot To Civility In Post-Trump Era

WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington couldn’t turn the page quickly enough from Donald Trump to President Joe Biden. Trump's voice faded from the capital he had animated and antagonized since 2017 as he flew to private life in Florida, with his last trip on Air Force One tuned in to Biden's inauguration on...
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President-elect Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden attend Mass at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle during Inauguration Day ceremonies Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
January 20, 2021 - 6:40 am

On Day One, Biden To Undo Trump Policies On Climate, Virus

WASHINGTON (AP) — In his first hours as president, Joe Biden will aim to strike at the heart of President Donald Trump’s policy legacy, signing a series of executive actions that reverse his predecessor’s orders on immigration, climate change and handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Biden on...
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President-elect Joe Biden tears up as he speaks at the Major Joseph R. "Beau" Biden III National Guard/Reserve Center, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021, in New Castle, Del. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Associated Press
January 20, 2021 - 4:38 am

Biden’s first act: orders on pandemic, climate, immigration

In his first official acts as president, Joe Biden is signing executives orders on a broad range of issues, from the coronavirus pandemic to climate change and immigration, to fulfill campaign promises. Highlights of actions Biden is taking Wednesday: THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC MASK REQUIREMENT:...
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FILE - In this file photo taken Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020, a protester from the Uighur community living in Turkey, holds an anti-China placard during a protest in Istanbul, , against what they allege is oppression by the Chinese government to Muslim Uighurs in far-western Xinjiang province. The accusation of genocide by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo against China touches on a hot-button human rights issue between China and the West. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel, File)
January 20, 2021 - 1:42 am

China Labels Pompeo 'doomsday Clown' Over Genocide Claims

BEIJING (AP) — China’s Foreign Ministry described outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday as a “doomsday clown” and said his designation of China as a perpetrator of genocide and crimes against humanity was merely “a piece of wastepaper.” The allegations of abuses against Muslim...
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President-elect Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden arrive at Andrews Air Force Base, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021, in Andrews Air Force Base, Md. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
January 19, 2021 - 9:34 pm

Biden Charts New Us Direction, Promises Many Trump Reversals

WASHINGTON (AP) — Stop. Stabilize. Then move — but in a vastly different direction. President-elect Joe Biden is pledging a new path for the nation after Donald Trump’s four years in office. That starts with confronting a pandemic that has killed 400,000 Americans and extends to sweeping plans on...
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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks at the National Press Club in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, Pool)
January 19, 2021 - 9:17 am

Pompeo Says China's Policies On Muslims Amount To 'genocide'

WASHINGTON (AP) — On his way out the door, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has hit China with new sanctions by declaring that China’s policies on Muslims and ethnic minorities in western Xinjiang Province constitute a “genocide.” Pompeo made the determination on Tuesday just 24 hours before...
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FILE - In this March 12, 2020, file photo, Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Rachel Levine provides an update on the coronavirus known as COVID-19 in Harrisburg, Pa. President-elect Joe Biden has tapped Levine to be his assistant secretary of health, leaving her poised to become the first openly transgender federal official to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. (Joe Hermitt/The Patriot-News via AP, File)
January 19, 2021 - 6:53 am

Biden Picks Transgender Woman As Assistant Health Secretary

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Joe Biden has tapped Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine to be his assistant secretary of health, leaving her poised to become the first openly transgender federal official to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. A pediatrician and former Pennsylvania physician...
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This Jan. 17, 2021 photo shows the independent Thaddeus Stevens School in Lyndon, Vt. Four families, including one whose children attend the school, are suing Vermont over a voucher program that allows students in communities that don't have schools or are not part of supervisory unions to attend schools of their choice, including approved private institutions, with the towns paying the tuition. (AP Photo/Lisa Rathke)
January 18, 2021 - 6:35 am

School Choice Lawsuit Surge Pushes Possible High Court Fight

Vermont is facing at least its second lawsuit in four months over a voucher program that allows students in communities that don't have schools or are not part of supervisory unions to attend schools of their choice, including approved private institutions. The Vermont system in which certain towns...
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