Such attacks, once common in the Iraqi capital, have become rarer in recent years as U.S.-backed Iraqi forces have largely defeated the Islamic State.

If confirmed, Buttigieg would oversee a department that requested $90 billion for the 2021 fiscal year.

The U.S. will join a global alliance that aims to deliver coronavirus vaccines to low-income countries, Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Thursday.

Suicide bombings have been rare in the Iraqi capital since the country’s military pushed out the Islamic State in 2017. The last such attack occurred three years ago.

Grocers from Aldi to Trader Joe’s are pitching financial incentives to their employees to encourage them to get vaccinated.

Daily numbers of new cases are finally starting to wane, and hospitalizations are down slightly. But health care systems are still overburdened and another resurgence remains a threat.

Sergei Lebedev is making his debut as a spy novelist with “Untraceable,” a book inspired by the attempted killing of a former Russian intelligence agent.

Biden is signing 10 executive orders aimed at expanding testing and vaccine availability and reopening schools soon.

As the new administration implements the federal initiatives, it will also emphasize the safe reopening of schools and businesses, the plan says.

Demonstrators in Portland, Ore., on Wednesday were said to be anti-fascist protesters. They vandalized the Democratic Party of Oregon’s office and held signs rejecting Biden’s presidency.