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The country will narrowly miss President Biden's goal of having 70% of the U.S. adult population at least partially vaccinated by July 4, according to a White House official who did not want to get ahead of the public announcement.

But the official also noted that 70% of those 30 and older have already been vaccinated a week and a half ahead of Independence Day and that those 27 and older are expected to also reach the 70% mark by July 4.

A federal judge has dismissed claims that former White House officials conspired to forcibly remove peaceful protesters last year from Washington, D.C.'s Lafayette Square so that then-President Donald Trump could pose for a photo holding a Bible at a nearby church.

"I want to wait and watch."

This is a peculiar response I receive from my friends and some family members in the United States when I ask them about their thoughts on COVID-19 vaccination. This is a peculiar response for a couple of reasons: COVID-19 vaccines are exceptionally effective, are now readily available and are the best way to end the pandemic and return to normalcy.

On Monday, 19-year Arvada, Colo., police veteran Gordon Beesley marked another loss for the law enforcement community. Beesley was killed along with two other people during a shooting at a downtown shopping district, authorities said.

New York City Democrats select their candidates for mayor on Tuesday, in a primary race that is seen as an indicator of how voters balance priorities such as crime and police reform. The diverse field also suggests New York could be on the verge of sending its second Black candidate — or perhaps its first woman — into the mayor's office.

Workmen have invaded Flora Dillard's house on the east side of Cleveland. There's plastic over everything and no place to sit, but Dillard doesn't seem to mind. "A couple of days of inconvenience is nothing, compared to the results that you get," she says.

The dangerous Delta variant of the coronavirus is spreading so quickly in the United States that it's likely the mutant strain will become predominant in the U.S. within weeks, according to a new analysis.

The variant, first identified in India, is the most contagious yet and, among those not yet vaccinated, may trigger serious illness in more people than other variants do, say scientists tracking the spread of infection.

Democrats' massive election overhaul bill aimed at protecting and expanding voting rights and reforming campaign finance laws is all but guaranteed to stall in the Senate on Tuesday. It doesn't have the support to advance over a procedural hurdle that would allow the legislation to come up for a debate.

An important election takes place Tuesday in New York City.

But beyond who wins the mayoral primaries there, what happens could have consequences for how millions of Americans vote in the future.

That's because the city, for the first time, is using ranked-choice voting. The method, which allows voters to rank candidates by preference rather than selecting just their top choice, has gained some traction throughout the country, pushed by reformers who say it's a better election system.

JERUSALEM — Palestinians and Jewish settlers hurled stones, chairs and fireworks at each other overnight in a tense Jerusalem neighborhood where settler groups are trying to evict several Palestinian families, officials said Tuesday.

The threatened evictions fueled protests and clashes in the runup to last month's 11-day Gaza war and pose a test for Israel's new governing coalition, which includes three pro-settler parties but is hoping to sideline the Palestinian issue to avoid internal divisions.

Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib came out in a personal Instagram post on Monday, saying he has "agonized over this moment for the last 15 years."

"I just want to take a quick moment to say that I'm gay," Nassib said in an Instagram video he posted on his verified Instagram account. "I've been meaning to do this for a while now, but I finally feel comfortable enough to get it off my chest."

Peacocks: beautiful, majestic, noisy.

And they're all over some Southern California neighborhoods, where feral peacocks have been a presence for decades.

But some residents have complained about property damage and sleepless nights from an increase in their numbers in the last few years. The animals are said to have piercing screams.

Now Los Angeles County officials are saying: stop feeding them.

They say money doesn't grow on trees, but over the last year it did.

Lumber prices skyrocketed to historic highs during the coronavirus pandemic, fueled by a demand for new homes and a surge in renovations and DIY hobbyist projects by those of us on lockdown.

Now those record wood prices are finally starting to crack, and more builders across the U.S. are able to reach for their toolboxes.

Robert Dietz, chief economist at the National Association of Home Builders, said some projects that have been in limbo because of the prohibitive cost of wood may begin to resume.

The White House on Monday opened the door to revisiting the filibuster — a hotly contested issue across political lines — setting the stage for a bitter congressional fight to do away with the controversial debate tactic.

In Florida, wildlife managers and environmental groups are stunned by a record number of manatee deaths. More than 750 manatees have died since the beginning of the year, the most deaths ever recorded in a five month period. Most of the deaths are in Florida's Indian River Lagoon, where a large die-off of seagrass has left manatees without enough to eat.

Authorities in Russia have charged a man with murder in the death of U.S. student Catherine Serou, who went missing last week and was later found dead.

A local court said suspect Alexander Popov gave Serou a ride before taking her to a wooded area where he beat and stabbed her during a "dispute," The Associated Press reported.

New Zealand has named Laurel Hubbard to its women's weightlifting roster for the upcoming Olympics in Tokyo, making her the first openly transgender athlete to compete in the games.

Hubbard, 43, will compete in the category for women over 87 kg, about 192 pounds.

Ethiopians are deciding Monday whether to return Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to office as a growing conflict in Tigray has threatened to engulf the region, unraveling the international goodwill that helped win Abiy a Nobel Peace Prize just two years ago.

The vote, originally planned for last year but delayed by the pandemic, has been described by Abiy as the first attempt at free and fair elections in the country's history.

The election of Ebrahim Raisi as president of Iran brings not just a new face to Iranian politics but also new problems for a Biden administration that hopes to ease tensions with Iran while reining in its nuclear ambitions.

Faced with the prospect of reshaping college athletics, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a narrow but potentially transformative ruling Monday in a case that pitted college athletes against the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

At issue in the case were NCAA rules that limit educational benefits for college players as part of their scholarships.