Bannon found guilty of contempt in case related to Capitol riot

Steve Bannon, a former adviser to President Donald Trump, was convicted Friday of two counts of contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena issued by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Judge Carl Nichols set a sentencing date in late October. David Schoen, a lawyer for Bannon, said they would appeal the guilty verdict. Bannon’s conviction was the first of a close aide to Trump to result from one of the chief investigations into the Capitol attack. Each count is punishable by a fine and a maximum of 12 months in prison.

Biden’s COVID symptoms improve; WH says he’s staying busy

COVID-19 symptoms left President Joe Biden with a deep, raspy voice and persistent cough as he met Friday via videoconference with his top economic team, but he tried to strike a reassuring tone, declaring, “I feel much better than I sound.” White House officials say Biden is working more than eight hours a day. His appetite hasn’t diminished, and he signed bills into law and took part in his daily intelligence briefings, albeit via phone. The president’s doctors say his mild symptoms are improving and he has responded well to treatment. He tested positive for COVID-19 Thursday.

Combined virus swabs would better detect omicron, 2 papers suggest

People with coronavirus infections of the omicron variant often have significantly different viral levels in their noses, throats and saliva, and testing just a single type of sample is likely to miss a large share of infections, according to two new papers, which analyzed omicron infections over time in a small number of people. The papers, which have not yet been published in scientific journals, suggest that coronavirus tests that analyze nasal and throat swabs would pick up more omicron infections than those that rely on just a nasal swab. Although these combined tests are common in other countries, including Britain, none are yet authorized in the United States.

Uvalde postpones decision to fire school police chief

School district officials in Uvalde, Texas, said Friday that they were postponing a meeting that had been scheduled to consider terminating their school police chief, Pete Arredondo, for his role in the delayed police response to a mass shooting that left 21 people dead at an elementary school. The district said a meeting that had been scheduled for Saturday to consider the chief’s continued employment had been indefinitely postponed. The district had initially said that the school board would meet in closed session to consider a recommendation from the superintendent, Hal Harrell, that the police chief be fired. Nineteen students and two teachers were killed in the attack.

California OKs ‘baby bonds’ to help combat child poverty

California has approved trust funds for some children from low-income families who lost a parent or caregiver to COVID-19. The Legislature set aside $100 million in the state budget to put into trust funds. The money would accrue interest until the child becomes an adult. Children in the state’s foster care system or from low-income families who lost a parent to the coronavirus would be eligible. The Washington D.C. City Council and state lawmakers in Connecticut have approved similar programs known as “baby bonds.” It’s part of a surge of new spending in California aimed at combating child poverty.

Two children diagnosed with monkeypox in U.S., officials say

Health officials say two children have been diagnosed with monkeypox in the U.S. They are a toddler in California and an infant who is not a U.S. resident. That’s according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday. The children are described as being in good health and receiving treatment. Officials think they might have gotten the virus through household transmission. Monkeypox is endemic in parts of Africa, but this year more than 15,000 cases have been reported in countries that historically don’t see the disease. In the U.S. and Europe, the vast majority of infections have happened in men who have sex with men, though health officials have stressed that anyone can catch the virus.

US takes emergency action to save sequoias from wildfires

The U.S. Forest Service says it will take emergency action soon to save giant sequoias by speeding up projects to clear underbrush to protect the world’s largest trees from the increasing threat of wildfires. The action planned for this summer was announced Friday and bypasses some environmental reviews typically needed to cut smaller trees in national forests and use intentionally lit low-intensity fires to reduce dense brush. Raging wildfires have killed up to 20% of all large sequoias over the past two years. The effort is one of several under consideration to save the species native only in California. Some environmentalists criticized the plan.

Attack on base in Mali brings conflict to doorstep of capital

Insurgents mounted a raid on a military camp close to the capital of Mali on Friday morning, its armed forces said, bringing a decadelong conflict that has progressively destabilized the country’s north and center to the doorstep of its leaders. Gunfire rang out before dawn at the military camp, in Kati, northwest of the capital, Bamako. Two assailants were killed, the armed forces said in a statement released on Twitter about the attack, which it said involved two booby-trapped vehicles full of explosives. The statement said that the situation was “under control” and that a search was underway “to flush out the perpetrators and their accomplices.”

Sri Lankan forces raid protest camp at center of uprising

Security forces Friday raided the protest camp at the heart of the uprising that toppled Sri Lanka’s president, breaking down tents and cordoning off large stretches of the area before dawn, in a move that could set off further unrest as the bankrupt nation seeks stability. The protesters, many of whom were sleeping, were caught by surprise. Hundreds of police and army personnel closed off the roads leading to the protest site outside the presidential offices in Colombo, and then began clearing a wide radius around it. Police said in a statement that they had detained nine protesters, two of whom were taken to a hospital “after sustaining minor injuries.”

By wire sources