WASHINGTON (AP) — GlaxoSmithKline’s IV drug for COVID-19 should no longer be used because it is likely ineffective against the omicron subvariant that now <a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#variant-proportions">accounts for most U.S. cases, </a>federal health regulators said Tuesday.

The Food and Drug <a href="https://www.fda.gov/media/149534/download">Administration announced</a> that the company’s <a href="https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/fda-updates-sotrovimab-emergency-use-authorization">antibody drug sotrovimab </a>is no longer authorized to treat patients in any U.S. state or territory. The decision was expected, because the FDA had repeatedly restricted the drug’s use in the Northeast and other regions as the BA.2 version of omicron became dominant.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday that BA.2 accounts for 72% of the COVID-19 cases sequenced by health authorities. Some experts have warned of a BA.2-driven surge similar to those that have hit European countries, though U.S. case counts have yet to rise.

The drug from Glaxo and codeveloper Vir Biotechnology is the latest antibody medication to be sideline by the mutating coronavirus, which previously rendered drugs from Eli Lilly and Regeneron obsolete. The FDA&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-science-business-health-f8cbfdb48f6c78aea16930b45af4e024">pulled their authorization</a>&nbsp;in January after concluding they were ineffective against the original version of omicron.

The decision leaves doctors and hospitals with only one antibody still authorized for use against routine COVID-19 cases: a different Eli Lilly drug that regulators say&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-science-business-health-a091b5b03b939798539a19c6b94346d2">appears effective</a>&nbsp;against BA.2.

Doctors can also prescribe&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-science-business-health-medication-f3578e19f2840ce167f081ec9e236c3c">antiviral pills</a>&nbsp;that haven’t been impacted by omicron’s mutations, which mainly affect the virus’ signature spike protein. The pills from Pfizer and Merck mostly have been shipped to pharmacy chains and medical clinics in hopes of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-covid-science-business-health-eebb8cbe3b0e7ae16eafefb5abc85d2d">getting them to patients</a>&nbsp;early enough to work.

The federal government purchased nearly $2 billion worth of Glaxo’s drug, shipping more than 900,000 doses to U.S. states since last fall.

London-based Glaxo said last month it is studying a higher dose of the antibody against BA.2. But the FDA would need to review and authorize the company’s request before giving the OK to resume use in the U.S.

The antibody drugs are laboratory-made versions of virus-blocking proteins found in the human body. Each antibody is formulated to attack a specific invader — such as a virus or bacteria — but the medications need to be reformulated as the coronavirus repeatedly mutates.

The drugs are prescribed for early use in people with a recent COVID-19 infection who face increased risk of severe disease or death, including seniors or people with diabetes, heart disease and other common health problems.

WASHINGTON (AP) — GlaxoSmithKline’s IV drug for COVID-19 should no longer be used because it is likely ineffective against the omicron subvariant that now <a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#variant-proportions">accounts for most U.S. cases, </a>federal health regulators said Tuesday.The Food and Drug <a href="https://www.fda.gov/media/149534/download">Administration announced</a> that the company’s <a href="https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/fda-updates-sotrovimab-emergency-use-authorization">antibody drug sotrovimab </a>is no longer authorized to treat patients in any U.S. state or territory. The decision was expected, because the FDA had repeatedly restricted the drug’s use in the Northeast and other regions as the BA.2 version of omicron became dominant.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday that BA.2 accounts for 72% of the COVID-19 cases sequenced by health authorities. Some experts have warned of a BA.2-driven surge similar to those that have hit European countries, though U.S. case counts have yet to rise.The drug from Glaxo and codeveloper Vir Biotechnology is the latest antibody medication to be sideline by the mutating coronavirus, which previously rendered drugs from Eli Lilly and Regeneron obsolete. The FDA&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-science-business-health-f8cbfdb48f6c78aea16930b45af4e024">pulled their authorization</a>&nbsp;in January after concluding they were ineffective against the original version of omicron.The decision leaves doctors and hospitals with only one antibody still authorized for use against routine COVID-19 cases: a different Eli Lilly drug that regulators say&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-science-business-health-a091b5b03b939798539a19c6b94346d2">appears effective</a>&nbsp;against BA.2.Doctors can also prescribe&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-science-business-health-medication-f3578e19f2840ce167f081ec9e236c3c">antiviral pills</a>&nbsp;that haven’t been impacted by omicron’s mutations, which mainly affect the virus’ signature spike protein. The pills from Pfizer and Merck mostly have been shipped to pharmacy chains and medical clinics in hopes of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-covid-science-business-health-eebb8cbe3b0e7ae16eafefb5abc85d2d">getting them to patients</a>&nbsp;early enough to work.The federal government purchased nearly $2 billion worth of Glaxo’s drug, shipping more than 900,000 doses to U.S. states since last fall.London-based Glaxo said last month it is studying a higher dose of the antibody against BA.2. But the FDA would need to review and authorize the company’s request before giving the OK to resume use in the U.S.The antibody drugs are laboratory-made versions of virus-blocking proteins found in the human body. Each antibody is formulated to attack a specific invader — such as a virus or bacteria — but the medications need to be reformulated as the coronavirus repeatedly mutates.The drugs are prescribed for early use in people with a recent COVID-19 infection who face increased risk of severe disease or death, including seniors or people with diabetes, heart disease and other common health problems.___

FDA pulls another COVID drug as omicron BA.2  dominates cases

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans blocked a Democratic attempt to begin Senate debate on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-covid-health-congress-nancy-pelosi-f13a5a08f62524b05ed77b98673148f0">a $10 billion COVID-19 compromise,</a>&nbsp;pressing to entangle the bipartisan package with an election-year showdown over&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/immigration-biden-covid-health-mexico-941e55cb2133fbd52ed76a80a20e3cd6">immigration restrictions&nbsp;</a>that poses a politically uncomfortable fight for Democrats.

A day after Democratic and GOP bargainers reached agreement on providing the money for treatments, vaccines and testing, a Democratic move to push the measure past a procedural hurdle failed 52-47 Tuesday. All 50 Republicans opposed the move, leaving Democrats 13 votes short of the 60 they needed to prevail.

Hours earlier, Republicans said they’d withhold crucial support for the measure unless Democrats agreed to votes on an amendment preventing President Joe Biden from lifting Trump-era curbs on migrants entering the U.S. With Biden polling poorly on his handling of immigration and Democrats divided on the issue, Republicans see a focus on migrants as a fertile line of attack.

“I think there will have to be” an amendment preserving the immigration restrictions “in order to move the bill” bolstering federal pandemic efforts, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters.

At least 10 GOP votes will be needed in the 50-50 Senate for the measure to reach the 60 votes it must have for approval. Republicans could withhold that support until Democrats permit a vote on an immigration amendment.

Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., want Congress to approve the pandemic bill before lawmakers leave in days for a two-week recess. Tuesday’s vote suggested that could be hard.

”This is a potentially devastating vote for every single American who was worried about the possibility of a new variant rearing its nasty head within a few months,” Schumer said after the vote.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, “Today’s Senate vote is a step backward for our ability to respond to this virus.”

The new omicron variant, BA.2, is expected to spark a fresh increase in U.S. COVID-19 cases. Around 980,000 Americans and over 6 million people worldwide have died from the disease.

The $10 billion pandemic package is far less than the $22.5 billion Biden initially sought. It also lacks $5 billion Biden wanted to battle the pandemic overseas after the two sides couldn’t agree on budget savings to pay for it, as Republicans demanded.

At least half the bill would finance research and production of therapeutics to treat COVID-19. Money would also be used to buy vaccines and tests and to research new variants.

The measure is paid for by pulling back unspent pandemic funds provided earlier for protecting aviation manufacturing jobs, closed entertainment venues and other programs.

Administration officials have said the government has run out of money to finance COVID-19 testing and treatments for people without insurance, and is running low on money for boosters, free monoclonal antibody treatments and care for people with immune system weaknesses.

At the 2020 height of the pandemic, President Donald Trump imposed immigration curbs letting authorities immediately expel asylum seekers and migrants for public health reasons. The ban is set to expire May 23, triggering what by all accounts will be a massive increase in people trying to cross the Mexican border into the U.S.

That confronts Democrats with messy choices ahead of fall elections when they’re expected to struggle to retain their hair-breadth House and Senate majorities.

Many of the party’s lawmakers and their liberal supporters want the U.S. to open its doors to more immigrants. But moderates and some Democrats confronting tight November reelections worry about lifting the restrictions and alienating centrist voters.

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., who faces a competitive reelection this fall, declined to say whether she would support retaining the Trump-era ban but said more needs to be done.

“I need a plan, we need a plan,” she said in a brief interview. “There’s going to be a surge at the border. There should be a plan and I’ve been calling for it all along.”

Shortly before Tuesday’s vote, Schumer showed no taste for exposing his party to a divisive immigration vote.

“This is a bipartisan agreement that does a whole lot of important good for the American people. Vaccines, testing, therapeutics,” he said. “It should not be held hostage for an extraneous issue.”

Jeff Zients, head of White House COVID-19 task force, expressed the same view.

“This should not be included on any funding bill,” he said of immigration. “The decision should be made by the CDC. That’s where it has been, and that’s where it belongs.”

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which initiated the move two years ago, said earlier this month that it would lift the ban next month. The restrictions, known as Title 42, have been harder to justify as pandemic restrictions have eased.

Trump administration officials cast the curb as a way to keep COVID-19 from spreading further in the U.S. Democrats considered that an excuse for Trump, whose anti-immigrant rhetoric was a hallmark of his presidency, to keep migrants from entering the country.

Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., said she supported terminating Trump’s curb and questioned GOP motives for seeking to reinstate it.

“I find it very ironic for those who haven’t wanted to have a vaccination mandate, for those who did not want to have masks in the classroom, for them to suddenly be very interested in protecting the public,” she said.

But Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said he would support a Senate COVID-19 aid bill if it included the GOP effort to retain the Trump immigration restrictions.

“Why wouldn’t I?” he said in a brief interview.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/4/1649207753056.png" alt="“I think there will have to be” an amendment preserving the immigration restrictions “in order to move the bill” bolstering federal pandemic efforts, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters-photo courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>“I think there will have to be” an amendment preserving the immigration restrictions “in order to move the bill” bolstering federal pandemic efforts, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters-photo courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans blocked a Democratic attempt to begin Senate debate on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-covid-health-congress-nancy-pelosi-f13a5a08f62524b05ed77b98673148f0">a $10 billion COVID-19 compromise,</a>&nbsp;pressing to entangle the bipartisan package with an election-year showdown over&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/immigration-biden-covid-health-mexico-941e55cb2133fbd52ed76a80a20e3cd6">immigration restrictions&nbsp;</a>that poses a politically uncomfortable fight for Democrats.A day after Democratic and GOP bargainers reached agreement on providing the money for treatments, vaccines and testing, a Democratic move to push the measure past a procedural hurdle failed 52-47 Tuesday. All 50 Republicans opposed the move, leaving Democrats 13 votes short of the 60 they needed to prevail.Hours earlier, Republicans said they’d withhold crucial support for the measure unless Democrats agreed to votes on an amendment preventing President Joe Biden from lifting Trump-era curbs on migrants entering the U.S. With Biden polling poorly on his handling of immigration and Democrats divided on the issue, Republicans see a focus on migrants as a fertile line of attack.“I think there will have to be” an amendment preserving the immigration restrictions “in order to move the bill” bolstering federal pandemic efforts, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters.At least 10 GOP votes will be needed in the 50-50 Senate for the measure to reach the 60 votes it must have for approval. Republicans could withhold that support until Democrats permit a vote on an immigration amendment.Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., want Congress to approve the pandemic bill before lawmakers leave in days for a two-week recess. Tuesday’s vote suggested that could be hard.”This is a potentially devastating vote for every single American who was worried about the possibility of a new variant rearing its nasty head within a few months,” Schumer said after the vote.White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, “Today’s Senate vote is a step backward for our ability to respond to this virus.”The new omicron variant, BA.2, is expected to spark a fresh increase in U.S. COVID-19 cases. Around 980,000 Americans and over 6 million people worldwide have died from the disease.The $10 billion pandemic package is far less than the $22.5 billion Biden initially sought. It also lacks $5 billion Biden wanted to battle the pandemic overseas after the two sides couldn’t agree on budget savings to pay for it, as Republicans demanded.At least half the bill would finance research and production of therapeutics to treat COVID-19. Money would also be used to buy vaccines and tests and to research new variants.The measure is paid for by pulling back unspent pandemic funds provided earlier for protecting aviation manufacturing jobs, closed entertainment venues and other programs.Administration officials have said the government has run out of money to finance COVID-19 testing and treatments for people without insurance, and is running low on money for boosters, free monoclonal antibody treatments and care for people with immune system weaknesses.At the 2020 height of the pandemic, President Donald Trump imposed immigration curbs letting authorities immediately expel asylum seekers and migrants for public health reasons. The ban is set to expire May 23, triggering what by all accounts will be a massive increase in people trying to cross the Mexican border into the U.S.That confronts Democrats with messy choices ahead of fall elections when they’re expected to struggle to retain their hair-breadth House and Senate majorities.Many of the party’s lawmakers and their liberal supporters want the U.S. to open its doors to more immigrants. But moderates and some Democrats confronting tight November reelections worry about lifting the restrictions and alienating centrist voters.Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., who faces a competitive reelection this fall, declined to say whether she would support retaining the Trump-era ban but said more needs to be done.“I need a plan, we need a plan,” she said in a brief interview. “There’s going to be a surge at the border. There should be a plan and I’ve been calling for it all along.”Shortly before Tuesday’s vote, Schumer showed no taste for exposing his party to a divisive immigration vote.“This is a bipartisan agreement that does a whole lot of important good for the American people. Vaccines, testing, therapeutics,” he said. “It should not be held hostage for an extraneous issue.”Jeff Zients, head of White House COVID-19 task force, expressed the same view.“This should not be included on any funding bill,” he said of immigration. “The decision should be made by the CDC. That’s where it has been, and that’s where it belongs.”The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which initiated the move two years ago, said earlier this month that it would lift the ban next month. The restrictions, known as Title 42, have been harder to justify as pandemic restrictions have eased.Trump administration officials cast the curb as a way to keep COVID-19 from spreading further in the U.S. Democrats considered that an excuse for Trump, whose anti-immigrant rhetoric was a hallmark of his presidency, to keep migrants from entering the country.Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., said she supported terminating Trump’s curb and questioned GOP motives for seeking to reinstate it.“I find it very ironic for those who haven’t wanted to have a vaccination mandate, for those who did not want to have masks in the classroom, for them to suddenly be very interested in protecting the public,” she said.But Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said he would support a Senate COVID-19 aid bill if it included the GOP effort to retain the Trump immigration restrictions.“Why wouldn’t I?” he said in a brief interview.

$10 Billion COVID relief bill held up on fight over immigration

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Zoos across North America are moving their birds indoors and away from people and wildlife as they try to protect them from the highly contagious and potentially deadly avian influenza.

 Penguins may be the only birds visitors to many zoos can see right now, because they already are kept inside and usually protected behind glass in their exhibits. 

Nearly 23 million chickens and turkeys have already been killed across the United States to limit the spread of the virus.

 Zoos are working hard to prevent any of their birds from meeting the same fate. 

Birds spread the virus through droppings and nasal discharge.

 Experts say it can be spread through contaminated equipment, clothing, boots and vehicles carrying supplies.

By Associated PressOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Zoos across North America are moving their birds indoors and away from people and wildlife as they try to protect them from the highly contagious and potentially deadly avian influenza. Penguins may be the only birds visitors to many zoos can see right now, because they already are kept inside and usually protected behind glass in their exhibits. Nearly 23 million chickens and turkeys have already been killed across the United States to limit the spread of the virus. Zoos are working hard to prevent any of their birds from meeting the same fate. Birds spread the virus through droppings and nasal discharge. Experts say it can be spread through contaminated equipment, clothing, boots and vehicles carrying supplies.

Zoos hiding birds as avian flu spreads in North America

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Authorities say one person is dead in Georgia and another in Texas amid damaging storms, high winds and tornadoes around the South. 

Forecasters said the storms Tuesday were just the start of what could be two days of violent weather in the region. 

More than 50,000 homes and businesses were without power Tuesday night from eastern Texas to South Carolina. 

In Bryan County, Georgia, an offical said a woman was killed by a suspected tornado that damaged homes and left several others injured. 

In Whitehouse, Texas, a fire chief confirmed one person was killed as storms moved through early Tuesday Forecasters say another round of damaging weather is expected Wednesday.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/6/1560023806185.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>By ASSOCIATED PRESSSAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Authorities say one person is dead in Georgia and another in Texas amid damaging storms, high winds and tornadoes around the South. Forecasters said the storms Tuesday were just the start of what could be two days of violent weather in the region. More than 50,000 homes and businesses were without power Tuesday night from eastern Texas to South Carolina. In Bryan County, Georgia, an offical said a woman was killed by a suspected tornado that damaged homes and left several others injured. In Whitehouse, Texas, a fire chief confirmed one person was killed as storms moved through early Tuesday Forecasters say another round of damaging weather is expected Wednesday.

2 killed in Georgia, Texas as damaging storms strike South

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration plans to freeze federal student loan payments through Aug. 31, extending a moratorium that has allowed millions of Americans to postpone payments during the coronavirus pandemic, according to an administration official familiar with the White House’s decision-making.

Student loan payments were scheduled to resume May 1 after being halted since early in the pandemic. But following calls from Democrats in Congress, the White House plans to give borrowers additional time to prepare for payments.

The action applies to more than 43 million Americans who owe a combined $1.6 trillion in student debt held by the federal government, according to the latest data from the Education Department. That includes more than 7 million borrowers who have defaulted on student loans, meaning they are at least 270 days late on payments.

Borrowers will not be asked to make payments until after Aug. 31, and interest rates are expected to remain at 0% during that period.

The extension was first reported Tuesday by Bloomberg.

Democrats on education panels in the House and Senate recently urged President Joe Biden to extend the moratorium through the end of the year, citing continued economic upheaval.

Sen. Patty Murray said more time is needed to help Americans prepare for repayment and to rethink the government’s existing system for repaying student debt.

“It is ruining lives and holding people back,” she said in a statement last month. “Borrowers are struggling with rising costs, struggling to get their feet back under them after public health and economic crises, and struggling with a broken student loan system — and all this is felt especially hard by borrowers of color.”

Murray called on the Biden administration to lift all borrowers out of default to provide a “fresh start” following the pandemic.

The decision is being made amid rising concern that large numbers of Americans would quickly fall behind if payments restarted in May.

In March, the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank warned that resuming loan payments could place a heavy burden on borrowers who faced financial hardship during the pandemic. It said the impact would be hardest on Black families, who are more likely to rely on student loans to pay for college.

“Serious delinquency rates for student debt could snap back from historic lows to their previous highs in which 10% or more of the debt was past due,” the bank said.

The Trump administration initially gave Americans the option to suspend loan payments in March 2020, and Congress made it automatic soon after. The pause was extended twice by the Trump administration and twice more under Biden.

It remains in question whether Biden will pursue widespread debt forgiveness to reduce the nation’s student debt. Some Democrats in Congress have pressed Biden to use executive action to cancel $50,000 for all student loan borrowers, saying it would jumpstart the economy and help Black Americans who on average face higher levels of student debt.

Last year, Biden asked the Education and Justice departments to review the legality of widespread debt cancellation, but no decision has been announced. Biden previously said he supports canceling up to $10,000, but he argued it should be done through congressional action.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration plans to freeze federal student loan payments through Aug. 31, extending a moratorium that has allowed millions of Americans to postpone payments during the coronavirus pandemic, according to an administration official familiar with the White House’s decision-making.Student loan payments were scheduled to resume May 1 after being halted since early in the pandemic. But following calls from Democrats in Congress, the White House plans to give borrowers additional time to prepare for payments.The action applies to more than 43 million Americans who owe a combined $1.6 trillion in student debt held by the federal government, according to the latest data from the Education Department. That includes more than 7 million borrowers who have defaulted on student loans, meaning they are at least 270 days late on payments.Borrowers will not be asked to make payments until after Aug. 31, and interest rates are expected to remain at 0% during that period.The extension was first reported Tuesday by Bloomberg.Democrats on education panels in the House and Senate recently urged President Joe Biden to extend the moratorium through the end of the year, citing continued economic upheaval.Sen. Patty Murray said more time is needed to help Americans prepare for repayment and to rethink the government’s existing system for repaying student debt.“It is ruining lives and holding people back,” she said in a statement last month. “Borrowers are struggling with rising costs, struggling to get their feet back under them after public health and economic crises, and struggling with a broken student loan system — and all this is felt especially hard by borrowers of color.”Murray called on the Biden administration to lift all borrowers out of default to provide a “fresh start” following the pandemic.The decision is being made amid rising concern that large numbers of Americans would quickly fall behind if payments restarted in May.In March, the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank warned that resuming loan payments could place a heavy burden on borrowers who faced financial hardship during the pandemic. It said the impact would be hardest on Black families, who are more likely to rely on student loans to pay for college.“Serious delinquency rates for student debt could snap back from historic lows to their previous highs in which 10% or more of the debt was past due,” the bank said.The Trump administration initially gave Americans the option to suspend loan payments in March 2020, and Congress made it automatic soon after. The pause was extended twice by the Trump administration and twice more under Biden.It remains in question whether Biden will pursue widespread debt forgiveness to reduce the nation’s student debt. Some Democrats in Congress have pressed Biden to use executive action to cancel $50,000 for all student loan borrowers, saying it would jumpstart the economy and help Black Americans who on average face higher levels of student debt.Last year, Biden asked the Education and Justice departments to review the legality of widespread debt cancellation, but no decision has been announced. Biden previously said he supports canceling up to $10,000, but he argued it should be done through congressional action.___

Pause on $1.6 trillion in student loan payments extended again

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today reminds those who 
make estimated tax payments such as self-employed individuals, retirees,
 investors, businesses, corporations and others that the payment for the
 first quarter of 2022 is due Monday, April 18.

The 2022 <a href="https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-1040-es">Form 1040-ES, Estimated Tax for Individuals</a>, can help taxpayers estimate their first quarterly tax payment.

Income taxes are a <a href="https://www.irs.gov/payments/pay-as-you-go-so-you-wont-owe-a-guide-to-withholding-estimated-taxes-and-ways-to-avoid-the-estimated-tax-penalty">pay-as-you-go</a>
 process. This means, by law, taxes must be paid as income is earned or 
received during the year. Most people pay their taxes through 
withholding from paychecks, pension payments, Social Security benefits 
or certain other government payments including unemployment 
compensation.

Most often, those who are self-employed or in the gig economy need to make <a href="https://www.irs.gov/payments">estimated tax payments.</a>
 Similarly, investors, retirees and others often need to make these 
payments because a substantial portion of their income is not subject to
 withholding. Other income generally not subject to withholding includes
 interest, dividends, capital gains, alimony and rental income. Paying 
quarterly estimated taxes will usually lessen and may even eliminate any
 <a href="https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/estimated-taxes">penalties</a>.

Exceptions to the penalty and special rules apply to some groups of 
taxpayers, such as farmers and fishers, casualty and disaster victims, 
those who recently became disabled, recent retirees and those who 
receive income unevenly during the year. See <a href="https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-2210">Form 2210, Underpayment of Estimated Tax by Individuals, Estates and Trusts</a>, and its instructions for more information.

<a href="https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-1040-es">Form 1040-ES, Estimated Tax for Individuals</a>, includes instructions to help taxpayers figure their estimated taxes. They can also visit <a href="https://www.irs.gov/payments">IRS.gov/payments</a> to pay electronically. The best way to make a payment is through <a href="https://www.irs.gov/payments/your-online-account">IRS Online Account</a>.
 There taxpayers can see their payment history, any pending payments and
 other useful tax information. Taxpayers can make an estimated tax 
payment by using <a href="https://www.irs.gov/payments/direct-pay">IRS Direct Pay</a>; <a href="https://www.irs.gov/payments/pay-your-taxes-by-debit-or-credit-card">Debit Card, Credit Card or Digital Wallet</a>; or the Treasury Department's Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (<a href="https://www.irs.gov/payments/eftps-the-electronic-federal-tax-payment-system">EFTPS</a>). If paying by check, taxpayers should be sure to make the check payable to the "United States Treasury."

<a href="https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-publication-505">Publication 505, Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax</a>,
 has additional details, including worksheets and examples, that can be 
especially helpful to those who have dividend or capital gain income, 
owe alternative minimum tax or self-employment tax, or have other 
special situations.

Tax help is available 24/7 on IRS.gov. The IRS website offers a 
variety of online tools to help taxpayers answer common tax questions. 
For example, taxpayers can search the <a href="https://www.irs.gov/help/ita">Interactive Tax Assistant</a>, <a href="https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics">Tax Topics</a> and <a href="https://www.irs.gov/faqs">Frequently Asked Questions</a> to get answers to common questions.

The IRS is continuing to expand ways to communicate to taxpayers who 
prefer to get information in other languages. The IRS has posted 
translated tax resources in 20 other languages on IRS.gov. For more 
information, see <a href="https://www.irs.gov/help/languages">We Speak Your Language</a>.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/9/1599869632873.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>IRSWASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today reminds those who 
make estimated tax payments such as self-employed individuals, retirees,
 investors, businesses, corporations and others that the payment for the
 first quarter of 2022 is due Monday, April 18.The 2022 <a href="https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-1040-es">Form 1040-ES, Estimated Tax for Individuals</a>, can help taxpayers estimate their first quarterly tax payment.Income taxes are a <a href="https://www.irs.gov/payments/pay-as-you-go-so-you-wont-owe-a-guide-to-withholding-estimated-taxes-and-ways-to-avoid-the-estimated-tax-penalty">pay-as-you-go</a>
 process. This means, by law, taxes must be paid as income is earned or 
received during the year. Most people pay their taxes through 
withholding from paychecks, pension payments, Social Security benefits 
or certain other government payments including unemployment 
compensation.Most often, those who are self-employed or in the gig economy need to make <a href="https://www.irs.gov/payments">estimated tax payments.</a>
 Similarly, investors, retirees and others often need to make these 
payments because a substantial portion of their income is not subject to
 withholding. Other income generally not subject to withholding includes
 interest, dividends, capital gains, alimony and rental income. Paying 
quarterly estimated taxes will usually lessen and may even eliminate any
 <a href="https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/estimated-taxes">penalties</a>.Exceptions to the penalty and special rules apply to some groups of 
taxpayers, such as farmers and fishers, casualty and disaster victims, 
those who recently became disabled, recent retirees and those who 
receive income unevenly during the year. See <a href="https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-2210">Form 2210, Underpayment of Estimated Tax by Individuals, Estates and Trusts</a>, and its instructions for more information.<h2>How to pay estimated taxes</h2><a href="https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-1040-es">Form 1040-ES, Estimated Tax for Individuals</a>, includes instructions to help taxpayers figure their estimated taxes. They can also visit <a href="https://www.irs.gov/payments">IRS.gov/payments</a> to pay electronically. The best way to make a payment is through <a href="https://www.irs.gov/payments/your-online-account">IRS Online Account</a>.
 There taxpayers can see their payment history, any pending payments and
 other useful tax information. Taxpayers can make an estimated tax 
payment by using <a href="https://www.irs.gov/payments/direct-pay">IRS Direct Pay</a>; <a href="https://www.irs.gov/payments/pay-your-taxes-by-debit-or-credit-card">Debit Card, Credit Card or Digital Wallet</a>; or the Treasury Department's Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (<a href="https://www.irs.gov/payments/eftps-the-electronic-federal-tax-payment-system">EFTPS</a>). If paying by check, taxpayers should be sure to make the check payable to the "United States Treasury."<a href="https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-publication-505">Publication 505, Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax</a>,
 has additional details, including worksheets and examples, that can be 
especially helpful to those who have dividend or capital gain income, 
owe alternative minimum tax or self-employment tax, or have other 
special situations.<h2>IRS.gov assistance 24/7</h2>Tax help is available 24/7 on IRS.gov. The IRS website offers a 
variety of online tools to help taxpayers answer common tax questions. 
For example, taxpayers can search the <a href="https://www.irs.gov/help/ita">Interactive Tax Assistant</a>, <a href="https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics">Tax Topics</a> and <a href="https://www.irs.gov/faqs">Frequently Asked Questions</a> to get answers to common questions.The IRS is continuing to expand ways to communicate to taxpayers who 
prefer to get information in other languages. The IRS has posted 
translated tax resources in 20 other languages on IRS.gov. For more 
information, see <a href="https://www.irs.gov/help/languages">We Speak Your Language</a>.

First-quarter deadline for tax payments around the corner

PAPILLION, Neb. (AP) — A judge has ordered a mental health evaluation for a man who faces a possible death sentence after pleading guilty a month ago to killing two workers and wounded two others at a Nebraska fast-food restaurant. 

The Omaha World-Herald reports that the evaluation was ordered Monday for 24-year-old Roberto Silva Jr. after Silva's attorney said he is concerned about Silva’s mental health and his ability to assist defense attorneys through the death penalty phase of the case. 

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Silva for the Nov. 21, 2020, shooting at a Sonic Drive-in restaurant in the Omaha suburb of Bellevue that killed 22-year-old Nathan Pastrana and 28-year-old Ryan Helbert and critically wounded two other workers.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/4/1649190053080.png" alt="Silva" />
 <figcaption>Silva</figcaption>
 </figure>By ASSOCIATED PRESSPAPILLION, Neb. (AP) — A judge has ordered a mental health evaluation for a man who faces a possible death sentence after pleading guilty a month ago to killing two workers and wounded two others at a Nebraska fast-food restaurant. The Omaha World-Herald reports that the evaluation was ordered Monday for 24-year-old Roberto Silva Jr. after Silva's attorney said he is concerned about Silva’s mental health and his ability to assist defense attorneys through the death penalty phase of the case. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Silva for the Nov. 21, 2020, shooting at a Sonic Drive-in restaurant in the Omaha suburb of Bellevue that killed 22-year-old Nathan Pastrana and 28-year-old Ryan Helbert and critically wounded two other workers.

Judge orders mental tests for Nebraska restaurant shooter

By CINDY GONZALEZ <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/04/04/28-million-project-takes-hip-downtown-omaha-district-to-new-heights/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

OMAHA
 — A nearly $28 million apartment building is to be the high point, 
literally, of a trendy residential pocket that for the past seven years 
or so has been transforming an area on downtown Omaha’s western edge.

The
 new structure, to be called The Howard, is to rise six stories high and
 contain 120 market-rate units, along with 132 indoor parking stalls and
 a workout facility.

It
 is to operate at 2323 Howard St. as an extension of the Flats on 
Howard, a neighborhood redevelopment effort that launched around 2015 in
 an old mansion district that had fallen into disrepair.

Developers
 Arch Icon and NuStyle, both based in Woodbine, Iowa, are behind the 
overall revival of the district that now will include nearly an acre of 
ground which has long been home to the Nebraska Urban Indian Health 
Coalition and its treatment services.&nbsp;

With
 that land absorbed into the surrounding Flats community for The Howard 
apartments, the millennial- and student-friendly redevelopment will 
occupy almost all of the area bounded by 22nd and 24th Streets, Dewey 
Avenue and Landon Court.

And
 the number of dwellings in the Flats grows to 300 — ranging from 
brand-new and rehabbed micro apartments to larger, refurbished row 
houses with inviting front porches. (One resident has gotten millions of
 views on her series of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@alexisposerio/video/7065018270751149359?is_from_webapp=1&amp;sender_device=pc">&nbsp;TikTok</a> videos featuring her unit that’s smaller than 400 square feet.)

“The
 Flats has always been a great improvement to the area, and the 
mid-priced units are a hit,” NuStyle’s Todd Heistand said of the 
dwellings also popular with nearby Creighton University students.

Construction
 on the new Howard building, which first calls for demolition of the 
aging Urban Indian headquarters complex, is to begin this summer and 
wrap up next summer.

NuStyle,
 which will manage and own the new property, seeks City of Omaha 
approval for $3.28 million in public tax-increment financing, an amount 
that doesn’t include accrued interest.

Under
 the Legislature-created TIF program, intended to spur economic 
development of blighted areas, property tax revenue generated from the 
new development is redirected to pay the applicant’s TIF loan and 
interest for a period of 15 to 20 years. Typically, those property taxes
 flow to public schools and municipalities.

In
 the case of The Howard apartments, the City Planning Department has 
given a preliminary thumbs up, saying the initiative furthers the city’s
 efforts to create “healthy and diverse” neighborhoods and reverse 
“deterioration in older areas of the central city.”

The project also has paved the way for an upgraded campus for the Urban Indian Coalition in a different part of town.

Under
 a property swap arrangement, the coalition programs will relocate to a 
facility that Arch Icon had owned in South Omaha, a former Eagles Club 
at 22nd and N Streets.

That
 brick building is being renovated, with a boost from a nearly $9 
million fundraising campaign, for the Urban Indian offices and services,
 including a residential wing for people struggling with behavioral 
health disorders. Also on site will be an elders program called Tired 
Moccasins, youth and computer technology programs, a small health clinic
 and more.

Arch
 Icon also assisted the coalition with construction of an affordable 
apartment complex just west of that rehabbed Eagles Club, called Eagle 
Heights.

Health
 coalition CEO Donna Polk said the nonprofit’s move to South Omaha 
should take place by June. She said it will offer twice the space and 
will seem a better fit as the downtown neighborhood has changed to the 
point the coalition felt like “the stranger” there.

Rents at The Howard are to range from about $1,100 for one-bedroom units to $2,000 for units with three bedrooms.

City planners say the project furthers the quest for infill development along the 24th Street corridor.

Amenities
 in the new structure, including a workout facility, are to benefit the 
broader Flats community, which is near the Downtown YMCA and the Omaha 
Children’s Museum. The development is just blocks away from Creighton 
University, the Old Market and the downtown business district.

The
 Flats neighborhood emerged from a much smaller vision years ago. Arch 
Icon around 2013 had acquired just a couple of properties to renovate 
near 22nd and Howard Streets but soon realized that success in the 
larger area, which was beset by crime and building code violations, 
required a broader fix.&nbsp;

<a target="_blank" href="https://www.nustyle.net/">NuStyle</a>, which is owned by the parents of one of <a target="_blank" href="http://www.arch-icon.com/">Arch Icon’s</a> founders, eventually joined the effort and now manages the Flats, which encompasses the <a target="_blank" href="https://landmark.cityofomaha.org/article/4130-howard-street-apartment-district">Howard Street Apartment District</a> that since 1996 has been on the National Register of Historic Places.

Most
 of the historical district’s buildings, according to the register, were
 second- and third-generation structures that replaced original single 
family houses and large mansions.&nbsp;

Working
 with Alley, Poyner Macchietto Architecture, many historic features were
 preserved, including some private balconies, hardwood and terrazzo 
flooring and exterior terra-cotta.

Amenities
 include a lighted corridor, pet-washing station, coffee bars, 
courtyards, a bike&nbsp; storage and repair station, and community lounges 
with washers and dryers. The Flats <a target="_blank" href="https://www.theflatsonhoward.com/">website</a> calls the area a “hip collection of historic, refurbished properties” that offers assorted layouts and social hubs.&nbsp;

“We’re
 excited to have a new building go up in the neighborhood,” said Arch 
Icon’s Mindy Crook. “It’s great to add more foot traffic in the 
neighborhood and more units downtown, which is needed.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/4/1649179835231.png" alt="The Howard apartments, 2323 Howard St., will expand the Flats on Howard neighborhood in downtown Omaha. (Courtesy of Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture)" />
 <figcaption>The Howard apartments, 2323 Howard St., will expand the Flats on Howard neighborhood in downtown Omaha. (Courtesy of Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture)</figcaption>
 </figure>By CINDY GONZALEZ <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/04/04/28-million-project-takes-hip-downtown-omaha-district-to-new-heights/">Nebraska Examiner</a>OMAHA
 — A nearly $28 million apartment building is to be the high point, 
literally, of a trendy residential pocket that for the past seven years 
or so has been transforming an area on downtown Omaha’s western edge.The
 new structure, to be called The Howard, is to rise six stories high and
 contain 120 market-rate units, along with 132 indoor parking stalls and
 a workout facility.It
 is to operate at 2323 Howard St. as an extension of the Flats on 
Howard, a neighborhood redevelopment effort that launched around 2015 in
 an old mansion district that had fallen into disrepair.Developers
 Arch Icon and NuStyle, both based in Woodbine, Iowa, are behind the 
overall revival of the district that now will include nearly an acre of 
ground which has long been home to the Nebraska Urban Indian Health 
Coalition and its treatment services.&nbsp;<h2>Expands the Flats community</h2>With
 that land absorbed into the surrounding Flats community for The Howard 
apartments, the millennial- and student-friendly redevelopment will 
occupy almost all of the area bounded by 22nd and 24th Streets, Dewey 
Avenue and Landon Court.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/4/1649179890457.jpeg" alt=" The Mayfair is one of the structures in the Flats on Howard neighborhood (Courtesy of NuStyle Development)" />
 <figcaption> The Mayfair is one of the structures in the Flats on Howard neighborhood (Courtesy of NuStyle Development)</figcaption>
 </figure>And
 the number of dwellings in the Flats grows to 300 — ranging from 
brand-new and rehabbed micro apartments to larger, refurbished row 
houses with inviting front porches. (One resident has gotten millions of
 views on her series of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@alexisposerio/video/7065018270751149359?is_from_webapp=1&amp;sender_device=pc">&nbsp;TikTok</a> videos featuring her unit that’s smaller than 400 square feet.)“The
 Flats has always been a great improvement to the area, and the 
mid-priced units are a hit,” NuStyle’s Todd Heistand said of the 
dwellings also popular with nearby Creighton University students.Construction
 on the new Howard building, which first calls for demolition of the 
aging Urban Indian headquarters complex, is to begin this summer and 
wrap up next summer.NuStyle,
 which will manage and own the new property, seeks City of Omaha 
approval for $3.28 million in public tax-increment financing, an amount 
that doesn’t include accrued interest.<h2>Land swap</h2>Under
 the Legislature-created TIF program, intended to spur economic 
development of blighted areas, property tax revenue generated from the 
new development is redirected to pay the applicant’s TIF loan and 
interest for a period of 15 to 20 years. Typically, those property taxes
 flow to public schools and municipalities.In
 the case of The Howard apartments, the City Planning Department has 
given a preliminary thumbs up, saying the initiative furthers the city’s
 efforts to create “healthy and diverse” neighborhoods and reverse 
“deterioration in older areas of the central city.”The project also has paved the way for an upgraded campus for the Urban Indian Coalition in a different part of town.Under
 a property swap arrangement, the coalition programs will relocate to a 
facility that Arch Icon had owned in South Omaha, a former Eagles Club 
at 22nd and N Streets.That
 brick building is being renovated, with a boost from a nearly $9 
million fundraising campaign, for the Urban Indian offices and services,
 including a residential wing for people struggling with behavioral 
health disorders. Also on site will be an elders program called Tired 
Moccasins, youth and computer technology programs, a small health clinic
 and more.<h2>Eagles Club</h2>Arch
 Icon also assisted the coalition with construction of an affordable 
apartment complex just west of that rehabbed Eagles Club, called Eagle 
Heights.Health
 coalition CEO Donna Polk said the nonprofit’s move to South Omaha 
should take place by June. She said it will offer twice the space and 
will seem a better fit as the downtown neighborhood has changed to the 
point the coalition felt like “the stranger” there.Rents at The Howard are to range from about $1,100 for one-bedroom units to $2,000 for units with three bedrooms.City planners say the project furthers the quest for infill development along the 24th Street corridor.Amenities
 in the new structure, including a workout facility, are to benefit the 
broader Flats community, which is near the Downtown YMCA and the Omaha 
Children’s Museum. The development is just blocks away from Creighton 
University, the Old Market and the downtown business district.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/4/1649179915482.jpeg" alt="The Flats on Howard neighborhood. (Courtesy of NuStyle Development)" />
 <figcaption>The Flats on Howard neighborhood. (Courtesy of NuStyle Development)</figcaption>
 </figure>The
 Flats neighborhood emerged from a much smaller vision years ago. Arch 
Icon around 2013 had acquired just a couple of properties to renovate 
near 22nd and Howard Streets but soon realized that success in the 
larger area, which was beset by crime and building code violations, 
required a broader fix.&nbsp;<h2>Mansions, coffee bars</h2><a target="_blank" href="https://www.nustyle.net/">NuStyle</a>, which is owned by the parents of one of <a target="_blank" href="http://www.arch-icon.com/">Arch Icon’s</a> founders, eventually joined the effort and now manages the Flats, which encompasses the <a target="_blank" href="https://landmark.cityofomaha.org/article/4130-howard-street-apartment-district">Howard Street Apartment District</a> that since 1996 has been on the National Register of Historic Places.Most
 of the historical district’s buildings, according to the register, were
 second- and third-generation structures that replaced original single 
family houses and large mansions.&nbsp;Working
 with Alley, Poyner Macchietto Architecture, many historic features were
 preserved, including some private balconies, hardwood and terrazzo 
flooring and exterior terra-cotta.Amenities
 include a lighted corridor, pet-washing station, coffee bars, 
courtyards, a bike&nbsp; storage and repair station, and community lounges 
with washers and dryers. The Flats <a target="_blank" href="https://www.theflatsonhoward.com/">website</a> calls the area a “hip collection of historic, refurbished properties” that offers assorted layouts and social hubs.&nbsp;“We’re
 excited to have a new building go up in the neighborhood,” said Arch 
Icon’s Mindy Crook. “It’s great to add more foot traffic in the 
neighborhood and more units downtown, which is needed.”

$28M project to take ‘hip’ Omaha housing district to new heights

News Release Unites States Attorney-Omaha

United States Attorney Jan Sharp announced that Charles Ryan Croney, age 26, of Missouri, was sentenced in federal court on April 1, 2022, in Omaha, Nebraska, for distribution of child pornography.&nbsp; Chief United States District Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr. sentenced Croney to 100 months of imprisonment and ordered him to pay $36,000 in restitution.&nbsp; There is no parole in the federal system.&nbsp; After completing his term of imprisonment, Croney will begin a 7-year term of supervised release.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

On January 1, 2020, Croney uploaded two images of child pornography to an online chat group.&nbsp; On January 30, 2020, a federal search warrant was executed where Croney was temporarily residing in Nebraska City, Nebraska.&nbsp; Agents obtained Croney’s cellular phone and located about 400 images of child pornography.&nbsp; Agents later searched Croney’s online Discord account and located additional child pornography.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit&nbsp;<a href="http://www.projectsafechildhood.gov/" target="_blank">www.projectsafechildhood.gov</a>.

The case was investigated by the Sarpy County Sheriff’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

News Release Unites States Attorney-OmahaUnited States Attorney Jan Sharp announced that Charles Ryan Croney, age 26, of Missouri, was sentenced in federal court on April 1, 2022, in Omaha, Nebraska, for distribution of child pornography.&nbsp; Chief United States District Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr. sentenced Croney to 100 months of imprisonment and ordered him to pay $36,000 in restitution.&nbsp; There is no parole in the federal system.&nbsp; After completing his term of imprisonment, Croney will begin a 7-year term of supervised release.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;On January 1, 2020, Croney uploaded two images of child pornography to an online chat group.&nbsp; On January 30, 2020, a federal search warrant was executed where Croney was temporarily residing in Nebraska City, Nebraska.&nbsp; Agents obtained Croney’s cellular phone and located about 400 images of child pornography.&nbsp; Agents later searched Croney’s online Discord account and located additional child pornography.This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit&nbsp;<a href="http://www.projectsafechildhood.gov/" target="_blank">www.projectsafechildhood.gov</a>.The case was investigated by the Sarpy County Sheriff’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Missouri man sentenced for child porn in Nebraska

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — A federal judge has blocked the military from disciplining a dozen U.S. Air Force officers who are asking for religious exemptions to the mandatory COVID-19 vaccine.

The officers, mostly from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton,&nbsp;Ohio, along with a handful of airmen and reservists, filed a lawsuit in February after their exemption requests were denied.

U.S. District Court Judge Matthew McFarland in Cincinnati granted a preliminary injunction last Thursday that stops the Air Force from acting against the officers, airmen and reservists until their lawsuit is resolved.

The plaintiffs accuse the Air Force of using a double standard when it comes to approving exemption requests, saying it had allowed thousands of medical and administrative exemptions but only a handful for religious reasons.

Last week, a federal judge in&nbsp;Texas&nbsp;barred the Navy from taking action for now against sailors who have objected to being vaccinated on religious grounds.

U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor had, in January, issued a preliminary injunction preventing the Navy from disciplining or discharging 35 sailors who sued over the Navy’s vaccine policy while their case played out. A week ago, O’Connor agreed the case could go forward as a class action lawsuit and issued a preliminary injunction covering about 4,000 sailors who have objected on religious grounds to being vaccinated.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin last year made vaccinations mandatory for service members, saying the vaccine is critical to maintaining military readiness and the health of the force. But members of Congress, the military and the public have questioned if the exemption reviews have been fair.

Those who refuse the vaccine can face discipline up to being discharged from the service.

The officers who filed the lawsuit in Ohio said they had followed their chain of command and each had talked with an Air Force chaplain to determine the sincerity of their beliefs.

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — A federal judge has blocked the military from disciplining a dozen U.S. Air Force officers who are asking for religious exemptions to the mandatory COVID-19 vaccine.The officers, mostly from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton,&nbsp;Ohio, along with a handful of airmen and reservists, filed a lawsuit in February after their exemption requests were denied.U.S. District Court Judge Matthew McFarland in Cincinnati granted a preliminary injunction last Thursday that stops the Air Force from acting against the officers, airmen and reservists until their lawsuit is resolved.The plaintiffs accuse the Air Force of using a double standard when it comes to approving exemption requests, saying it had allowed thousands of medical and administrative exemptions but only a handful for religious reasons.Last week, a federal judge in&nbsp;Texas&nbsp;barred the Navy from taking action for now against sailors who have objected to being vaccinated on religious grounds.U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor had, in January, issued a preliminary injunction preventing the Navy from disciplining or discharging 35 sailors who sued over the Navy’s vaccine policy while their case played out. A week ago, O’Connor agreed the case could go forward as a class action lawsuit and issued a preliminary injunction covering about 4,000 sailors who have objected on religious grounds to being vaccinated.Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin last year made vaccinations mandatory for service members, saying the vaccine is critical to maintaining military readiness and the health of the force. But members of Congress, the military and the public have questioned if the exemption reviews have been fair.Those who refuse the vaccine can face discipline up to being discharged from the service.The officers who filed the lawsuit in Ohio said they had followed their chain of command and each had talked with an Air Force chaplain to determine the sincerity of their beliefs.

Judge blocks Air Force discipline over vaccine objections

BUCHA, Ukraine (AP) — Moscow faced a new wave of revulsion and accusations of war crimes Monday after the Russian pullout from the outskirts of Kyiv revealed streets&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine">strewn with corpses</a>&nbsp;of what appeared to be civilians, some of whom had seemingly been killed deliberately at close range.

The images of battered bodies out in the open or in hastily dug graves also led to calls for tougher economic sanctions against the Kremlin, namely a cutoff of fuel imports from Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy left the capital, Kyiv, for his first reported trip since the war began nearly six weeks ago to see for himself what he called the “genocide” and “war crimes” in the town of Bucha, the site of some of the horrors.

“Dead people have been found in barrels, basements, strangled, tortured,” said Zelenskyy, who again called on Russia to move quickly to negotiate an agreement to end to the war.

European leaders and the United Nations human rights chief condemned the bloodshed, some of them also branding it genocide, and U.S. President Joe Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin should face a war crimes trial.

“This guy is brutal, and what’s happening in Bucha is outrageous,” said Biden, who also promised to increase sanctions against Moscow.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov dismissed the scenes outside Kyiv as a “stage-managed anti-Russian provocation.” The Kremlin has repeatedly rejected allegations of atrocities as fakery on Ukraine’s part.

Lavrov said the mayor of Bucha made no mention of atrocities a day after Russian troops left last week, but two days later scores of bodies were photographed scattered in the streets.

Ukrainian officials said the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-zelenskyy-kyiv-europe-evacuations-665fd06b92852547d7b27627b99509a6">bodies of 410 civilians&nbsp;</a>were found in towns around Kyiv that were recaptured from Russian forces in recent days.

In Bucha, northwest of the capital, Associated Press journalists saw 21 bodies, including a group of nine in civilian clothes who appeared to have been shot at close range. At least two had their hands tied behind their backs. A bag of groceries were spilled by one of the dead.

The full extent of the bloodshed in the Kyiv area has yet to emerge, but by all accounts the horrors in the shattered southern port city of Mariupol are likely to be even worse.

“This is a war of murders, a lot of blood. A lot of civilians are dying,” said Natalia Svitlova, a refugee from Dnipro in eastern Ukraine who fled to Poland. “I don’t understand why this is possible in the 21st century and why no one can stop it.”

Moscow continued to press its offensive in eastern Ukraine, where little news has made it to the outside world since the war began Feb. 24. Russia, in pulling back from the capital, has said its main focus is gaining control the Donbas, the largely Russian-speaking industrial region in the country’s east that includes Mariupol.

European allies, though united in outrage over the aftermath outside Kyiv, appeared split on how to respond.

Poland, which is on Ukraine’s border and has taken in large numbers of refugees, angrily singled out France and Germany for not taking tougher action and urged Europe to quickly wean itself off Russian energy. But Germany said it would stick with a more gradual approach of phasing out coal and oil imports over the next several months.

Western and Ukrainian leaders have accused Russia of war crimes before, and the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-genocides-crime-war-crimes-europe-499d7b6a9e955f659284b2edc6f1c508">has opened an investigation.&nbsp;</a>But the latest reports ratcheted up the condemnation.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said “the Russian authorities are responsible for these atrocities, committed while they had effective control of the area.”

French President Emmanuel Macron said there is “clear evidence of war crimes” in Bucha that demand new measures. “I’m in favor of a new round of sanctions and in particular on coal and gasoline. We need to act,” he said on France-Inter radio.

But Poland’s prime minister, who described Russia under Putin as a “totalitarian-fascist state,” called for actions “that will finally break Putin’s war machine.”

“President Macron, how many times have you negotiated with Putin? What have you achieved? ... Would you negotiate with Hitler, with Stalin, with Pol Pot?” Mateusz Morawiecki asked.

The U.S. and its allies have sought to punish Russia for the invasion by imposing sweeping economic sanctions. But they may be reluctant to impose measures that cause further harm to a global economy still recovering from the coronavirus pandemic.

Europe is in a particular bind, since it gets 40% of its gas and 25% of its oil from Russia.

Putin’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-kyiv-entertainment-business-fumio-kishida-4977ac7797317890b220e85ee0af92b6">Feb. 24 invasion&nbsp;</a>has left thousands of people dead and forced more than 4 million Ukrainians to flee their country.

Putin has said the attack is aimed at eliminating a security threat and has demanded that Ukraine drop its bid to join NATO. Ukraine insists it never posed any threat but has offered to officially declare itself neutral.

While Western officials initially said they believed Putin’s goal was to take Kyiv and install a Kremlin-friendly government, Russian forces faced stiff resistance outside the capital and on other fronts, and have now retreated from some areas.

Britain’s Defense Ministry said Russia continues to flood soldiers and mercenaries from the Wagner military group into the Donbas. It said Russian troops are still trying to take Mariupol, which has seen weeks of heavy fighting and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-mariupol-descends-into-despair-708cb8f4a171ce3f1c1b0b8d090e38e3">some of the worst suffering</a>&nbsp;of the war.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Monday called for a war crimes trial against Russia President Vladimir Putin and said he’d seek more sanctions after reported atrocities in Ukraine.

“You saw what happened in Bucha,” Biden said. He added that Putin “is a war criminal.”

Biden’s comments to reporters came after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-zelenskyy-kyiv-business-moscow-3a40c029638ffddb289ceba89462c1aa">Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Bucha,</a>&nbsp;one of the towns surrounding Kyiv where Ukrainian officials say the bodies of civilians have been found. Zelenskyy called the Russian actions “genocide” and called for the West to apply tougher sanctions against Russia.

Biden, however, stopped short of calling the actions genocide.

The bodies of 410 civilians have been removed from Kyiv-area towns that were recently retaken from Russian forces, Ukraine’s prosecutor-general, Iryna Venediktova, said. Associated Press journalists saw the bodies of at least 21 people in various spots around Bucha, northwest of the capital.

“We have to continue to provide Ukraine with the weapons they need to continue the fight. And we have to gather all the detail so this can be an actual -- have a war crimes trial,” Biden said.

Biden lashed out at Putin as “brutal.”

“What’s happening in Bucha is outrageous and everyone sees it,” Biden added.

White House officials said talks about ramping up new sanctions against Russia intensified after reports of alleged atrocities emerged. Biden said Monday that he would continue to add sanctions but did not detail what sectors the U.S. may target next.

After unveiling an avalanche of sanctions in the first weeks of the war, administration officials in recent days have put more focus on closing loopholes that Russia might try to use to avoid sanctions.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, tweeted Monday that he European Union will send investigators to Ukraine to help the local prosecutor general “document war crimes.”

A Russian law enforcement agency says it has launched its own investigation into allegations that Ukrainian civilians were massacred in suburbs of Kyiv that were held by Russian troops, focusing on what it calls “false information” about Russian forces.

The Investigative Committee claims Ukrainian authorities made the allegations “with the aim of discrediting Russian troops” and that those involved should be investigated over possible breaches of a new Russian law banning what the government deems to be false information about its forces.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/4/1649084165553.png" alt="“This guy is brutal, and what’s happening in Bucha is outrageous,” said President Biden, who also promised to increase sanctions against Moscow-photo courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>“This guy is brutal, and what’s happening in Bucha is outrageous,” said President Biden, who also promised to increase sanctions against Moscow-photo courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>BUCHA, Ukraine (AP) — Moscow faced a new wave of revulsion and accusations of war crimes Monday after the Russian pullout from the outskirts of Kyiv revealed streets&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine">strewn with corpses</a>&nbsp;of what appeared to be civilians, some of whom had seemingly been killed deliberately at close range.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">President Biden on Putin: &quot;He is a war criminal, but we have gather the information...We have to gather all the detail so this can be an actual have a war crime trial. This guy is brutal. What&#39;s happening in Bucha is outrageous.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/SnlJdHgOT7">pic.twitter.com/SnlJdHgOT7</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1510993467299799051?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 4, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>The images of battered bodies out in the open or in hastily dug graves also led to calls for tougher economic sanctions against the Kremlin, namely a cutoff of fuel imports from Russia.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy left the capital, Kyiv, for his first reported trip since the war began nearly six weeks ago to see for himself what he called the “genocide” and “war crimes” in the town of Bucha, the site of some of the horrors.“Dead people have been found in barrels, basements, strangled, tortured,” said Zelenskyy, who again called on Russia to move quickly to negotiate an agreement to end to the war.European leaders and the United Nations human rights chief condemned the bloodshed, some of them also branding it genocide, and U.S. President Joe Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin should face a war crimes trial.“This guy is brutal, and what’s happening in Bucha is outrageous,” said Biden, who also promised to increase sanctions against Moscow.Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov dismissed the scenes outside Kyiv as a “stage-managed anti-Russian provocation.” The Kremlin has repeatedly rejected allegations of atrocities as fakery on Ukraine’s part.Lavrov said the mayor of Bucha made no mention of atrocities a day after Russian troops left last week, but two days later scores of bodies were photographed scattered in the streets.Ukrainian officials said the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-zelenskyy-kyiv-europe-evacuations-665fd06b92852547d7b27627b99509a6">bodies of 410 civilians&nbsp;</a>were found in towns around Kyiv that were recaptured from Russian forces in recent days.In Bucha, northwest of the capital, Associated Press journalists saw 21 bodies, including a group of nine in civilian clothes who appeared to have been shot at close range. At least two had their hands tied behind their backs. A bag of groceries were spilled by one of the dead.The full extent of the bloodshed in the Kyiv area has yet to emerge, but by all accounts the horrors in the shattered southern port city of Mariupol are likely to be even worse.“This is a war of murders, a lot of blood. A lot of civilians are dying,” said Natalia Svitlova, a refugee from Dnipro in eastern Ukraine who fled to Poland. “I don’t understand why this is possible in the 21st century and why no one can stop it.”Moscow continued to press its offensive in eastern Ukraine, where little news has made it to the outside world since the war began Feb. 24. Russia, in pulling back from the capital, has said its main focus is gaining control the Donbas, the largely Russian-speaking industrial region in the country’s east that includes Mariupol.European allies, though united in outrage over the aftermath outside Kyiv, appeared split on how to respond.Poland, which is on Ukraine’s border and has taken in large numbers of refugees, angrily singled out France and Germany for not taking tougher action and urged Europe to quickly wean itself off Russian energy. But Germany said it would stick with a more gradual approach of phasing out coal and oil imports over the next several months.Western and Ukrainian leaders have accused Russia of war crimes before, and the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-genocides-crime-war-crimes-europe-499d7b6a9e955f659284b2edc6f1c508">has opened an investigation.&nbsp;</a>But the latest reports ratcheted up the condemnation.European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said “the Russian authorities are responsible for these atrocities, committed while they had effective control of the area.”French President Emmanuel Macron said there is “clear evidence of war crimes” in Bucha that demand new measures. “I’m in favor of a new round of sanctions and in particular on coal and gasoline. We need to act,” he said on France-Inter radio.But Poland’s prime minister, who described Russia under Putin as a “totalitarian-fascist state,” called for actions “that will finally break Putin’s war machine.”“President Macron, how many times have you negotiated with Putin? What have you achieved? ... Would you negotiate with Hitler, with Stalin, with Pol Pot?” Mateusz Morawiecki asked.The U.S. and its allies have sought to punish Russia for the invasion by imposing sweeping economic sanctions. But they may be reluctant to impose measures that cause further harm to a global economy still recovering from the coronavirus pandemic.Europe is in a particular bind, since it gets 40% of its gas and 25% of its oil from Russia.Putin’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-kyiv-entertainment-business-fumio-kishida-4977ac7797317890b220e85ee0af92b6">Feb. 24 invasion&nbsp;</a>has left thousands of people dead and forced more than 4 million Ukrainians to flee their country.Putin has said the attack is aimed at eliminating a security threat and has demanded that Ukraine drop its bid to join NATO. Ukraine insists it never posed any threat but has offered to officially declare itself neutral.While Western officials initially said they believed Putin’s goal was to take Kyiv and install a Kremlin-friendly government, Russian forces faced stiff resistance outside the capital and on other fronts, and have now retreated from some areas.Britain’s Defense Ministry said Russia continues to flood soldiers and mercenaries from the Wagner military group into the Donbas. It said Russian troops are still trying to take Mariupol, which has seen weeks of heavy fighting and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-mariupol-descends-into-despair-708cb8f4a171ce3f1c1b0b8d090e38e3">some of the worst suffering</a>&nbsp;of the war.___WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Monday called for a war crimes trial against Russia President Vladimir Putin and said he’d seek more sanctions after reported atrocities in Ukraine.“You saw what happened in Bucha,” Biden said. He added that Putin “is a war criminal.”Biden’s comments to reporters came after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-zelenskyy-kyiv-business-moscow-3a40c029638ffddb289ceba89462c1aa">Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Bucha,</a>&nbsp;one of the towns surrounding Kyiv where Ukrainian officials say the bodies of civilians have been found. Zelenskyy called the Russian actions “genocide” and called for the West to apply tougher sanctions against Russia.Biden, however, stopped short of calling the actions genocide.The bodies of 410 civilians have been removed from Kyiv-area towns that were recently retaken from Russian forces, Ukraine’s prosecutor-general, Iryna Venediktova, said. Associated Press journalists saw the bodies of at least 21 people in various spots around Bucha, northwest of the capital.“We have to continue to provide Ukraine with the weapons they need to continue the fight. And we have to gather all the detail so this can be an actual -- have a war crimes trial,” Biden said.Biden lashed out at Putin as “brutal.”“What’s happening in Bucha is outrageous and everyone sees it,” Biden added.White House officials said talks about ramping up new sanctions against Russia intensified after reports of alleged atrocities emerged. Biden said Monday that he would continue to add sanctions but did not detail what sectors the U.S. may target next.After unveiling an avalanche of sanctions in the first weeks of the war, administration officials in recent days have put more focus on closing loopholes that Russia might try to use to avoid sanctions.European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, tweeted Monday that he European Union will send investigators to Ukraine to help the local prosecutor general “document war crimes.”A Russian law enforcement agency says it has launched its own investigation into allegations that Ukrainian civilians were massacred in suburbs of Kyiv that were held by Russian troops, focusing on what it calls “false information” about Russian forces.The Investigative Committee claims Ukrainian authorities made the allegations “with the aim of discrediting Russian troops” and that those involved should be investigated over possible breaches of a new Russian law banning what the government deems to be false information about its forces.

🎥Biden calls for Putin to face war crimes trial for shocking atrocities

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers have moved to the brink of shaking hands on a scaled-back bipartisan compromise providing a fresh $10 billion to combat COVID-19, a deal that could set up final congressional approval this week.

The price tag was down from an earlier $15.6 billion agreement between the two parties that collapsed weeks ago after House Democrats rejected cutting unused pandemic aid to states to help pay for it. President Joe Biden requested $22.5 billion in early March. With leaders hoping to move the package through Congress quickly, the lowered cost seemed to reflect both parties’ calculations that agreeing soon to additional savings would be too hard.

The effort, which would finance steps like vaccines, treatments and tests, comes as&nbsp;Biden&nbsp;and other Democrats have&nbsp;warned the government is running out of money&nbsp;to counter the pandemic. At the same time, the more transmissible omicron variant BA.2 has been spreading quickly in the U.S. and abroad.

“We’ve reached an agreement in principle on all the spending and all of the offsets,” Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, the lead Republican bargainer, told reporters Thursday, using Washington-speak for savings. “It’s entirely balanced by offsets.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and others were more circumspect.

“We are getting close to a final agreement that would garner bipartisan support,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. He said lawmakers were still finalizing the bill’s components and language, and awaiting a cost estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., chair of the Senate health committee and another bargainer, said, “I’m hoping,” when asked about Romney’s assessment.

Once clinched, an agreement would represent a semblance of bipartisan cooperation in battling the pandemic that dissolved a year ago, when a far larger, $1.9 trillion measure proposed by the new president cleared Congress with only Democratic votes. That bill was laden with spending to help struggling families, businesses and communities, while this one would be aimed exclusively at public health.

Many Republicans have been willing to go along with the new expenditures but have insisted on paying for them with unspent funds from previous bills Congress has enacted to address the pandemic.

Half the new measure’s $10 billion would be used for treatments, said Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., who has helped negotiate the agreement. He said top federal health officials would be given wide discretion on spending the rest of it but it would include research and other steps for battling the disease, which has killed around 975,000 Americans and millions across the world.

Romney and others said savings the two parties had agreed to for the new bill would not include the cuts in state assistance that House Democrats opposed. He said some unused funds would be culled from another pandemic program that gives state and local governments funds for grants to local businesses.

Blunt said both sides had also agreed to savings that include pulling back an unspent $2.2 billion for aiding entertainment venues closed during the pandemic and more than $2 billion still available for assisting aviation manufacturing.

Romney said the $10 billion might include $1 billion for vaccines, treatments and other support for countries overseas. Blunt said that figure seemed unresolved. One third of the earlier, $15.6 billion measure had been slated to go abroad.

The lowered figure for assisting other countries encountered opposition in the House, where some Democrats wanted to boost the figure. Epidemiologists have cited the need to vaccinate more people around the world and reduce the virus’ opportunities for spinning off new variants.

“It’s a problem,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told reporters. “It’s a shame.”

Kate Bedingfield, White House communications director, said officials were “very hopeful” an agreement would be reached and prodded lawmakers to include funds to help other countries cope with the disease.

“We’re not going to be able to put this pandemic behind us until we stop the spread and proliferation of new variants globally,” Bedingfield said.

Leaders hope Congress can approve the legislation before lawmakers leave for a spring recess after next week.

Republicans have leverage in the Democratic-controlled, 50-50 Senate because 60 votes are needed to pass most major bills. Romney and Blunt both said they believed a finalized package they described would attract significantly more than the 10 GOP votes needed.

Since the pandemic began, Congress has approved more than $5 trillion to address the economic and health crises it produced. Only a small fraction of that has been for public health programs like vaccines.

In an interview earlier Thursday with Punchbowl News, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said the measure’s price tag seemed to have fallen to $10 billion because Democrats weren’t agreeing to additional savings.

Minutes later, Schumer took to the Senate floor and mentioned no figures but suggested its size could fall.

“I’m pleading with my Republican colleagues, join us,” Schumer said. “We want more than you do, but we have to get something done. We have to get something done.”

Asked if he thought an agreement could be reached before lawmakers’ recess, McConnell said, “We’ll see. Hope so.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/3/1646882872135.png" alt="The lowered figure for assisting other countries encountered opposition in the House, where some Democrats wanted to boost the figure.&nbsp;“It’s a problem,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told reporters. “It’s a shame.”" />
 <figcaption>The lowered figure for assisting other countries encountered opposition in the House, where some Democrats wanted to boost the figure.&nbsp;“It’s a problem,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told reporters. “It’s a shame.”</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers have moved to the brink of shaking hands on a scaled-back bipartisan compromise providing a fresh $10 billion to combat COVID-19, a deal that could set up final congressional approval this week.The price tag was down from an earlier $15.6 billion agreement between the two parties that collapsed weeks ago after House Democrats rejected cutting unused pandemic aid to states to help pay for it. President Joe Biden requested $22.5 billion in early March. With leaders hoping to move the package through Congress quickly, the lowered cost seemed to reflect both parties’ calculations that agreeing soon to additional savings would be too hard.The effort, which would finance steps like vaccines, treatments and tests, comes as&nbsp;Biden&nbsp;and other Democrats have&nbsp;warned the government is running out of money&nbsp;to counter the pandemic. At the same time, the more transmissible omicron variant BA.2 has been spreading quickly in the U.S. and abroad.“We’ve reached an agreement in principle on all the spending and all of the offsets,” Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, the lead Republican bargainer, told reporters Thursday, using Washington-speak for savings. “It’s entirely balanced by offsets.”Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and others were more circumspect.“We are getting close to a final agreement that would garner bipartisan support,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. He said lawmakers were still finalizing the bill’s components and language, and awaiting a cost estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., chair of the Senate health committee and another bargainer, said, “I’m hoping,” when asked about Romney’s assessment.Once clinched, an agreement would represent a semblance of bipartisan cooperation in battling the pandemic that dissolved a year ago, when a far larger, $1.9 trillion measure proposed by the new president cleared Congress with only Democratic votes. That bill was laden with spending to help struggling families, businesses and communities, while this one would be aimed exclusively at public health.Many Republicans have been willing to go along with the new expenditures but have insisted on paying for them with unspent funds from previous bills Congress has enacted to address the pandemic.Half the new measure’s $10 billion would be used for treatments, said Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., who has helped negotiate the agreement. He said top federal health officials would be given wide discretion on spending the rest of it but it would include research and other steps for battling the disease, which has killed around 975,000 Americans and millions across the world.Romney and others said savings the two parties had agreed to for the new bill would not include the cuts in state assistance that House Democrats opposed. He said some unused funds would be culled from another pandemic program that gives state and local governments funds for grants to local businesses.Blunt said both sides had also agreed to savings that include pulling back an unspent $2.2 billion for aiding entertainment venues closed during the pandemic and more than $2 billion still available for assisting aviation manufacturing.Romney said the $10 billion might include $1 billion for vaccines, treatments and other support for countries overseas. Blunt said that figure seemed unresolved. One third of the earlier, $15.6 billion measure had been slated to go abroad.The lowered figure for assisting other countries encountered opposition in the House, where some Democrats wanted to boost the figure. Epidemiologists have cited the need to vaccinate more people around the world and reduce the virus’ opportunities for spinning off new variants.“It’s a problem,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told reporters. “It’s a shame.”Kate Bedingfield, White House communications director, said officials were “very hopeful” an agreement would be reached and prodded lawmakers to include funds to help other countries cope with the disease.“We’re not going to be able to put this pandemic behind us until we stop the spread and proliferation of new variants globally,” Bedingfield said.Leaders hope Congress can approve the legislation before lawmakers leave for a spring recess after next week.Republicans have leverage in the Democratic-controlled, 50-50 Senate because 60 votes are needed to pass most major bills. Romney and Blunt both said they believed a finalized package they described would attract significantly more than the 10 GOP votes needed.Since the pandemic began, Congress has approved more than $5 trillion to address the economic and health crises it produced. Only a small fraction of that has been for public health programs like vaccines.In an interview earlier Thursday with Punchbowl News, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said the measure’s price tag seemed to have fallen to $10 billion because Democrats weren’t agreeing to additional savings.Minutes later, Schumer took to the Senate floor and mentioned no figures but suggested its size could fall.“I’m pleading with my Republican colleagues, join us,” Schumer said. “We want more than you do, but we have to get something done. We have to get something done.”Asked if he thought an agreement could be reached before lawmakers’ recess, McConnell said, “We’ll see. Hope so.”