Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. Oath Keeper claims she met with Secret Service before Capitol riot

A leader of the far-right "Oath Keepers" group charged in the deadly U.S. Capitol riots said she was in Washington on Jan. 6 to provide security for legislators and meet with Secret Service agents, according to a court filing. Jessica Watkins, 38, is one of nine associates of the far-right anti-government group charged for conspiring to storm the Capitol to prevent Congress from certifying President Joe Biden's election victory. White House says U.S. communicating with Iran over detained Americans

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday the United States had begun to communicate with Iran over the country's detention of American citizens, calling the matter a "complete and utter outrage". Iran has arrested dozens of dual nationals, including several Americans, in recent years, mostly on espionage charges. Rights activists accuse the country of trying to use the detentions to win concessions from other countries, though Tehran dismisses the charge. Texans stuck with $5,000 electric bills after winter storm need help, officials says

The mayors of two of the largest cities in Texas said the state should help pay some of the eye-watering electricity bills sent to residents after the devastating and deadly winter storm that caused widespread blackouts. Texas has a highly unusual deregulated energy market that allows consumers to choose between scores of competing electricity providers. Malcolm X's family releases letter alleging FBI, police role in his death

Members of Malcolm X's family have made public what they described as a letter written by a deceased police officer stating that the New York Police Department and FBI were behind the 1965 killing of the famed Black activist and civil rights advocate. Malcolm X was a powerful orator who rose to prominence as the national spokesman of the Nation of Islam, an African-American Muslim group that espoused Black separatism. He spent more than a decade with the group before becoming disillusioned and publicly breaking with it in 1964. He moderated some of his earlier views on the benefits of racial separation. Biden's first month was a 'honeymoon,' but bigger challenges loom ahead

One month into the job, President Joe Biden is on the cusp of securing a bigger economic rescue package than during the 2009 financial crisis. He has wiped out his predecessor Donald Trump's policies from climate change to travel bans, while the U.S. daily COVID-19 vaccine distribution rate grew 55%. That may have been the easy part. Why a predictable cold snap crippled the Texas power grid

As Texans cranked up their heaters early Monday to combat plunging temperatures, a record surge of electricity demand set off a disastrous chain reaction in the state’s power grid. Wind turbines in the state’s northern Panhandle locked up. Natural gas plants shut down when frozen pipes and components shut off fuel flow. A South Texas nuclear reactor went dark after a five-foot section of uninsulated pipe seized up. Power outages quickly spread statewide - leaving millions shivering in their homes for days, with deadly consequences. U.S. administers 63.1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines: CDC

The United States has administered 63,090,634 doses of COVID-19 vaccines as of Sunday morning and delivered 75,204,965 doses, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. The tally of vaccine doses are for both Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines as of 6:00 a.m. ET on Sunday, the agency said. Trump seeks return to spotlight with address to conservative meeting

Former U.S. President Donald Trump will seek to return to the political spotlight in an address to a major meeting of conservatives, a source familiar with his plans said on Saturday, as the Republican plots his post-White House moves. Trump plans to speak to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Florida, on Feb. 28, the last day of their meeting, the source told Reuters on condition of anonymity. U.S. not 'out of the woods' as nation nears 500,000 COVID-19 deaths

The United States faces a dark milestone despite a recent decline in COVID-19 cases as it prepares to mark a staggering half million deaths this week, nearly a year after the novel coronavirus pandemic upended the country with dueling public health and economic crises. While the number of COVID-19 cases fell for the fifth straight week and officials scrambled to inoculate the population, the nation prepared to soon reach 500,000 deaths from the highly infectious respiratory disease. (Graphic: https://tmsnrt.rs/2WTOZDR) Texas freeze led to release of tons of air pollutants as refineries shut

The largest U.S. oil refiners released tons of air pollutants into the skies over Texas this week, according to figures provided to the state, as one environmental crisis triggered another. Refiners and petrochemical plants along the U.S. Gulf Coast scrambled to shut production as an arctic air mass spread into a region unused to frigid temperatures.

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