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BEIJING/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Chinese leader Xi Jinping greeted U.S. President Joe Biden as "old friend" at the start of their first video meeting, using an expression that Biden has pushed back on. In China, the expression "lao peng you" connotes fondness and shows a level of familiarity and trust, and when said by Xi, 68, reflects a shared history that dates to August 2011, when the two held hours of conversations and travelled in Sichuan province - before either had reached the highest office.

LEESBURG, Va. — Long before the father was tackled by sheriff’s deputies at the school board meeting, before there was shouting to reopen classrooms and before “Parents matter” became the central slogan of the most closely watched campaign in the post-Trump era, Loudoun County was just another American suburbia taking a hard look at its schools. The county, at the edge of the Virginia sprawl outside Washington, had grown much more diverse. White students were no longer in the majority, and educators were trying to be more aware of how racism could affect their students’ education.

Olivia Troye lost an argument, and she was angry. The former homeland security, counterterrorism and coronavirus adviser to then-Vice President Mike Pence vehemently disagreed with a colleague during a meeting at the start of the pandemic and decided to take refuge in her office and let off some steam. She queued up Taylor Swift and played the pop star's music on top volume. Then, a colleague knocked on her door. "He said, 'Are you trying to get fired?'" Troye told MSNBC's Chris Hayes last week, adding that she was confused by the question.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former President Donald Trump has endorsed challengers to six congressional Republicans, part of his effort to assert dominance over the party after losing his re-election bid last year to Democrat Joe Biden. Trump's fire has been focused on the handful of Republican lawmakers who voted to impeach him on a charge of inciting the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot, or to convict him on that charge in a Senate trial that ultimately ended in his acquittal. Below are notable Republicans whom Trump has targeted through his endorsements.

WASHINGTON — “It’s a big effin’ deal.” That was the verdict Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer delivered on the South Lawn of the White House on Monday, as the Biden administration and congressional Democrats celebrated the president’s signing of a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill. Schumer was alluding, of course, to Biden’s famous remark to his then boss, President Barack Obama, in 2010, upon the signing of the Affordable Care Act.

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden signed an executive order Monday directing the federal government to address the "epidemic" of missing or murdered Indigenous people, including coordinating investigations into unsolved cases. Under the order, the Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security also will have 240 days to create a strategy to improve public safety for Native Americans. The Department of Health and Human Services will be tasked with creating a plan for prevention and survivor support initiatives.

Biden has the power to lower your price at the gas pump, and he's facing increasing pressure to do so Biden could cool gasoline prices, one of the biggest drivers of today's historic inflation. The White House is reportedly eyeing options as lawmakers and Americans call for a fix. Possible actions range from an oil export ban to tapping the goverment's underground oil stockpile. While Biden can't do much about overall inflation, he has a few options when it comes to rising gasoline prices. And he's being urged to choose one.

The judge presiding over Kyle Rittenhouse’s murder trial in Kenosha, Wis., on Monday dismissed one count of possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18. The misdemeanor charge, which carries a penalty of up to nine months in jail, was considered among the counts for which Rittenhouse was most likely to be convicted. Rittenhouse was 17 years old when he carried an AR-style semiautomatic rifle on the streets of Kenosha during a turbulent protest against racial injustice in the summer of 2020, and used it to kill two people and injure another.

The National Institutes of Health said Monday it has engaged Moderna in "good faith discussions" to resolve a monthslong dispute over the company's patent application that advocates say could impact global production of the shots. Moderna is offering to share ownership of its COVID-19 vaccine patent with the U.S. government to resolve the dispute, the vaccine maker said, and would allow the Biden administration to "license the patents as they see fit."

This spring, he was auditioning to be the host of “Jeopardy!” Nearly every day, he pops up on television ads for national brands like State Farm insurance. And on Sundays this fall, he has led the Green Bay Packers to a division-best 7-2 record. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers is not just the NFL’s reigning MVP, he’s a celebrity who transcends the nation’s most popular sport, a household name on par with Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes. So when news broke that he tested positive for the coronavirus last week and was unvaccinated, Rodgers justified his decision to not get vaccinated by speaking out against the highly effective vaccines and spewing a stream of misinformation and junk science.

When thinking about next year’s elections, a mere 3 percent of Americans — including just 2 percent of Republicans and 5 percent of parents with kids under 18 — say schools are the most important issue to them, according to a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll. Those meager numbers suggest that while some sliver of the electorate may continue to fixate on COVID restrictions, critical race theory (CRT) and other so-called violations of “parents’ rights” — the issues that supposedly drove Democrats to defeat last week in otherwise blue Virginia — widespread school backlash would appear unlikely to define or decide the 2022 midterms.

New poll shows Americans who trust conservative media outlets more likely to believe COVID

In the days since Democrats were battered in elections across the country last week, criticism of the party’s policies and electoral strategies has rained down, alongside dire forecasts of its prospects in the 2022 midterms. The flagellation has come not just from gleeful Republicans, but from many in the Democratic ranks. Reasons put forward for the party’s losses included President Joe Biden’s slipping approval in polls, impressions of a party that is incompetent at governing after months of infighting in Congress, rising inflation and crime in big cities, and tin-eared Democratic campaigns.

The footage showed Rosenbaum following Rittenhouse before Rittenhouse suddenly spins around and fires his rifle at him KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — The jury at Kyle Rittenhouse’s murder trial Tuesday watched drone video that showed Rittenhouse wheeling around and shooting Joseph Rosenbaum at close range during a night of turbulent protests on the streets of Kenosha. The video, zoomed in and slowed down by a forensic imaging specialist, was played as the prosecution’s case appeared to be winding down after a week of testimony in which some of its own witnesses often bolstered Rittenhouse’s claim of self-defense.

GLASGOW, Scotland — Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg told Yahoo News that systemic racism in the design and location of highways in American cities and suburbs continues to adversely affect low-income neighborhoods and communities of color. Responding to criticism from conservatives, including Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, regarding comments he made on Monday, Buttigieg said in a Tuesday interview that racism and segregation in road building are not ancient history or a figment of liberals’ imagination, as some on the right contend. “There are many well-documented examples of this happening, from the ’20s and ’30s, ’40s, ’50s, ’60s, ’70s, and sometimes we have to be on the lookout for issues that are happening in our time,” he said.

(CNN)Anti-police candidates and a policing overhaul referendum were rejected on Election Day in Seattle, Minneapolis and Buffalo, continuing a trend of voters and public officials choosing moderate and measured approaches to policing over sweeping or radical changes. The debate over every issue related to law enforcement has played out in city councils and state legislatures across the country since George Floyd died under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer last spring, setting off the largest protest movement in American history. Protests and unrest in response to Floyd's death have shaped local and national politics since. A policy favored by protesters was cutting spending on law enforcement, with proposals that ranged from gradual shift of law enforcement funding to social services to outright abolition of police departments and the role police play in America.

This is what we know about the jurors who will decide if three men are guilty of AhmaudArbery's murder. BRUNSWICK, Ga. — Just one person of color will sit on the jury to determine whether three white men are guilty of murdering a Black 25-year-old who was jogging through this small, predominantly white coastal neighborhood last year. The final panel selected in the trial over AhmaudArbery's death consists of 12 jurors and three alternates: 11 white women, three white men and one Black man – a demographic makeup that has drawn scrutiny in a case several public figures have called a "lynching."

(CNN)As the season changed from summer to fall, first lady Jill Biden has found a spot to sit outside at the White House to grade her students' essays. "On these cool afternoons, I like to go to the Jackie Kennedy garden," Biden said Thursday night at a gala to honor the 60th anniversary of the White House Historical Association. Her nod to one of the most iconic first ladies was a fitting tribute to the association's founder, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, in whose namesake patch of green the current first lady enjoys taking in "the burgundy oaks and maples blazing over the grounds," she said. The dinner was held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, a location that is also an homage to Kennedy, the White House Historical Association President Stewart McLaurin told CNN.

(CNN)First lady Jill Biden plans to embark on a "nationwide effort" to encourage Covid-19 vaccinations for children 5 to 11 years old next week, her office announced Friday. On Monday, her office said in a statement, Biden "will kick off a nationwide effort urging parents and guardians to vaccinate kids ages 5-11. The First Lady will visit a pediatric Covid-19 vaccination clinic at Franklin Sherman Elementary School in McLean, Virginia, the first school to administer the polio vaccine in 1954." The first lady, who is also a community college professor, has previously traveled the country to encourage vaccinations and has also visited schools, highlighting the enormous deficit Covid-19 has caused for many families and teachers and school systems. Biden's new efforts will target the nation's youngest, most newly eligible vaccine candidates. Friday's announcement comes days after US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky endorsed a recommendation to vaccinate children ages 5-11 against Covid-19 with Pfizer's two-dose course.

WASHINGTON — Infrastructure funding has traditionally been a broadly bipartisan issue on Capitol Hill, but President Joe Biden’s sweeping infrastructure bill passed Friday night mostly along party lines. Only 19 members of Congress broke with their parties on the bill, which passed 228-206 with Democrats largely supporting the legislation and Republicans mostly opposed. So who were those 19 lawmakers — 13 Republicans and six Democrats — who bucked their parties? They can be broken down roughly into three camps: Republicans who consulted with negotiators on the bill; Republicans who maintain the party’s traditional view that funding infrastructure is more important than fighting a president of a different party; and members of the liberal group known as the Squad.

WASHINGTON - A federal appeals court suspended the Biden administration's new vaccine requirement for private companies, delivering a major blow for one of the White House's signature attempts to increase the number of vaccinations to corral the pandemic. The decision was issued by a panel of three judges appointed by Republican presidents in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The judges wrote that there was "cause to believe there are grave statutory and constitutional issues with the mandate," staying the order while the court assesses it in more depth.

A year before the 2022 midterm elections, Republicans hold a clear lead on the congressional ballot as President Joe Biden's approval rating sinks to a new low of 38%. A USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll, taken Wednesday through Friday, found that Biden's support cratered among the independent voters who delivered his margin of victory over President Donald Trump one year ago.

NEW YORK (AP) — Federal agents searched the New York homes of people tied to the conservative group Project Veritas months after the group received a diary that a tipster claimed belonged to President Joe Biden’s youngest daughter, its leader said Friday. In a video posted on YouTube, James O’Keefe said his organization had received a grand jury subpoena and said current and former Project Veritas employees had their homes searched by federal agents.

(CNN)Americans should expect to pay higher costs to heat their homes this winter, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said Sunday, a result of high gas prices caused by the coronavirus pandemic. "This is going to happen. It will be -- it will be more expensive this year than last year," Granholm told CNN's Dana Bash on "State of the Union." "We are in a slightly beneficial position, well certainly relative to Europe, because their choke hold of natural gas is very significant. ... But we have the same problem in fuels that the supply chains have, which is that the oil and gas companies are not flipping the switch as quickly as the demand requires." Granholm's comments come one day after President Joe Biden was noncommittal on using the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to address rising gas prices, but Granholm said the administration feels all options are on the table.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The capital of the United Arab Emirates has issued new rules governing divorce, inheritance and child custody for non-Muslims in Abu Dhabi, the country's state-run news agency reported. The report Sunday by the WAM news agency said Abu Dhabi would create a new court to handle these cases, which will be held in both Arabic and English to be better understood by the emirate's vast foreign worker population.