AP News in Brief at 11:09 p.m. EST

Biden meets Republicans on virus aid, but no quick deal

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden told Republican senators during a two-hour meeting Monday night he’s unwilling to settle on an insufficient coronavirus aid package after they pitched their slimmed down $618 billion proposal that’s a fraction of the $1.9 trillion he is seeking.

No compromise was reached in the lengthy session, Biden’s first with lawmakers at the White House, and Democrats in Congress pushed ahead with groundwork for approving his COVID relief plan with or without Republican votes. Despite the Republican group’s appeal for bipartisanship, as part of Biden’s efforts to unify the country, the president made it clear he won’t delay aid in hopes of winning GOP support.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that while there were areas of agreement, “the president also reiterated his view that Congress must respond boldly and urgently, and noted many areas which the Republican senators’ proposal does not address.”

She said, “He will not slow down work on this urgent crisis response, and will not settle for a package that fails to meet the moment.”

The two sides are far apart, with the Republican group of 10 senators focused primarily on the health care crisis and smaller $1,000 direct aid to Americans, and Biden leading Democrats toward a more sweeping rescue package, three times the size, to shore up households, local governments and a partly shuttered economy.

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Pandemic’s deadliest month in US ends with signs of progress

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — The deadliest month yet of the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. drew to a close with certain signs of progress: COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are plummeting, while vaccinations are picking up speed.

The question is whether the nation can stay ahead of the fast-spreading mutations of the virus.

The U.S. death toll has climbed past 440,000, with over 95,000 lives lost in January alone. Deaths are running at about 3,150 per day on average, down slightly by about 200 from their peak in mid-January.

But as the calendar turned to February on Monday, the number of Americans in the hospital with COVID-19 fell below 100,000 for the first time in two months. New cases of infection are averaging about 148,000 day, falling from almost a quarter-million in mid-January. And cases are trending downward in all 50 states.

“While the recent decline in cases and hospital admissions are encouraging, they are counterbalanced by the stark reality that in January we recorded the highest number of COVID-19 deaths in any month since the pandemic began,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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‘A long two days’: Major storm pummels Northeast with snow

NEW YORK (AP) — A sprawling, lumbering winter storm walloped the Eastern U.S. on Monday, shutting down coronavirus vaccination sites, closing schools and halting transit as snow piled up from the Appalachians to New England, with the heaviest accumulations yet to come in some places.

With flakes falling since Sunday evening, the National Weather Service said more than 13 inches (33 centimetres) of snow had fallen in Manhattan’s Central Park as of 1 p.m., and as much as 16 inches (41 centimetres) was reported in northern New Jersey. Although the heaviest parts of the storm had moved through the metropolitan area by Monday evening, lighter snow showers were expected to continue virtually all day Tuesday, forecaster James Tomasini said.

“We’re looking at a long two days here,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at a virtual news conference.

Parts of New England also braced for a foot (31 centimetres) or more by the time the snow finally tapers off in the northernmost states by Wednesday evening, the weather service said. At least three deaths that appeared to be related to the storm were reported, in Pennsylvania.

In Pennsylvania, authorities said a 67-year-old woman with Alzheimer’s disease who reportedly wandered away from her home was found dead of hypothermia on an Allentown street Monday morning. About 60 miles (97 kilometres) north in Plains Township, a shooting after an argument over snow removal killed a married couple, and the suspect was later found dead at his nearby home of a wound believed to have been self-inflicted, officials in Luzerne County said.

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A decade after junta’s end, Myanmar military back in control

BANGKOK (AP) — The man installed by army leaders as Myanmar’s president after Monday’s military coup is best known abroad for his role in the crackdown on 2007 pro-democracy protests and for his ties to still-powerful military leaders.

Myint Swe was the army-appointed vice-president when he was named on Monday to take over after the military arrested civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other leaders of her party.

Immediately after he was named president, Myint Swe handed power to the country’s top military commander, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing.

Under Myanmar’s 2008 constitution, the president can hand power to the military commander in cases of emergency. That is one of many ways the military is assured of keeping ultimate control of the country.

Min Aung Hliang, 64, has been commander of the armed forces since 2011 and is due to retire soon. That would clear the way for him to take a civilian leadership role if the junta holds elections in a year’s time as promised. The military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party’s humiliating loss in last November’s elections would likely have precluded that. The military justified the coup by saying the government failed to address claims of election fraud.

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Trump lawyer: Impeachment case ‘undemocratic,’ ill-advised

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats are using the upcoming Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump as a political “weapon” to bar the former president from seeking office again, and are pursuing a case that is “undemocratic” and unconstitutional, one of his lawyers said Monday night.

Trump faces trial before the Senate next week on accusations that he incited a harrowing and deadly siege at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, when a mob of loyalists overran the police and stormed the building. Though a conviction is unlikely, Democrats are aiming to present a damning account that links Trump’s encouragement of his supporters to “fight like hell” against the results of his election loss to Democrat Joe Biden to the violence and chaos.

On the eve of expected legal briefs from lawyers for both sides, Trump attorney David Schoen forecast some of the arguments he plans to make at the trial, calling the case unconstitutional — though many legal scholars disagree — as well as “undemocratic” and needlessly divisive.

“It’s also the most ill-advised legislative action that I’ve seen in my lifetime,” Schoen said in an interview with Fox News.

Trump is the first president in American history to be impeached twice. He was acquitted at a Senate trial last year over his contacts with his Ukrainian counterpart. Impeachment, Schoen said, “is the weapon they’ve tried to use against him.”

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GOP’s McConnell blasts ‘loony lies’ by Ga. Rep. Greene

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell denounced newly elected Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Monday, calling the far-right Georgia Republican’s embrace of conspiracy theories and “loony lies” a “cancer for the Republican Party.”

“Somebody who’s suggested that perhaps no airplane hit the Pentagon on 9-11, that horrifying school shootings were pre-staged, and that the Clintons crashed JFK Jr.’s airplane is not living in reality,” said McConnell, R-Ky., referring to a handful of conspiracy theories that Greene has publicized in the past. “This has nothing to do with the challenges facing American families or the robust debates on substance that can strengthen our party.”

McConnell’s explicit condemnation adds to pressure on House Republicans to take action against Greene even as she is claiming renewed support from former President Donald Trump. It comes as House Democrats moved Monday to strip Greene of her committee assignments if Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., refuses to do so himself.

“It is my hope and expectation that Republicans will do the right thing and hold Rep. Greene accountable, and we will not need to consider this resolution,” said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md. “But we are prepared to do so if necessary.”

Thus far, however, GOP leaders in the House have been reluctant to criticize Trump supporters, like Greene, out of concern that they could alienate the former president’s most ardent voters, underscoring a bitter divide over how the out-of-power party should navigate the two years until the next congressional elections.

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Myanmar, Russia pose early tests for Biden’s foreign policy

WASHINGTON (AP) — A military coup in Myanmar and a mass crackdown on dissidents in Russia are presenting early tests for the Biden administration as it tries to reestablish American primacy as a worldwide pro-democracy leader.

Having taken office with a pledge to restore ironclad U.S. support for human rights, freedom of speech and political openness, President Joe Biden is being confronted with two serious challenges in two disparate parts of the world that had either been neglected or the subject of inconsistent messaging during the Trump era.

After investing decades of time, energy and money into promoting democracy in both Myanmar and Russia, the U.S. now faces challenges in each that could affect the global balance of power, with the Myanmar turmoil potentially strengthening China’s hand.

And, while neither situation can be directly tied to domestic political uncertainty in the United States, experts believe foreign governments might be taking cues from the vestiges of America’s perceived rudderlessness in the final months of President Donald Trump’s term.

“It is not always about us,” said Dan Fried, a former senior U.S. diplomat for Europe. “Each has its own dynamic, but they certainly take cues from us. What links the two is that during the campaign, the Biden team talked about support for democracy being a North Star — a guiding point for democracy.”

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‘Saved by the Bell’ star Dustin Diamond dies of cancer at 44

“Saved by the Bell” star Dustin Diamond died Monday after a three-week fight with cancer, according to his representative. He was 44.

“Dustin did not suffer. He did not have to lie submerged in pain. For that, we are grateful,” the actor’s spokesman, Roger Paul, said in a statement.

Diamond, best known for playing the quirky, nerdy Screech on the hit ’90s sitcom, was hospitalized last month in Florida and his team disclosed later that he had cancer. Diamond had carcinoma.

Former co-star Mario Lopez took to Twitter to say farewell: “Dustin, you will be missed, my man. The fragility of this life is something never to be taken for granted.” Another co-star, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, called Diamond “a true comedic genius,” adding “I will miss those raw, brilliant sparks that only he was able to produce.”

“Saved by the Bell” aired from 1989 to 1993, and its related shows included “Saved by the Bell: The College Years,” “Good Morning, Miss Bliss” and “Saved by the Bell: The New Class,” which Diamond starred in. A sequel was launched on Peacock last fall featuring many from the original cast, including Gosselaar, Lopez, Elizabeth Berkley and Tiffani Thiessen. Diamond was not included.

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US billionaire buys SpaceX flight to orbit with 3 others

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A U.S. billionaire who made a fortune in tech and fighter jets is buying an entire SpaceX flight and plans to take three “everyday” people with him to circle the globe this year.

Besides fulfilling his dream of flying in space, Jared Isaacman announced Monday that he aims to use the private trip to raise $200 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, half coming from his own pockets.

A female health care worker for St. Jude already has been selected for the mission. Anyone donating to St. Jude in February will be entered into a random drawing for seat No. 3. The fourth seat will go to a business owner who uses Shift4 Payments, Isaacman’s credit card processing company in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

“I truly want us to live in a world 50 or 100 years from now where people are jumping in their rockets like the Jetsons and there are families bouncing around on the moon with their kid in a spacesuit,” Isaacman, who turns 38 next week, told The Associated Press.

“I also think if we are going to live in that world, we better conquer childhood cancer along the way.”

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Marilyn Manson denies Evan Rachel Wood’s abuse allegations

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Rocker Marilyn Manson was dropped by his record label on Monday after actor Evan Rachel Wood accused her ex-fiancé of sexual and other physical abuse, alleging she was “manipulated into submission” during their relationship.

Manson called the allegations “horrible distortions of reality.”

Wood, who stars on HBO’s “Westworld,” had spoken frequently in recent years about being abused in a relationship but did not name the person until she posted Monday on Instagram.

“The name of my abuser is Brian Warner, also known to the world as Marilyn Manson,” Wood said. “He started grooming me when I was a teenager and horrifically abused me for years.”

Manson’s label, Loma Vista Recordings, said in a statement that after the “disturbing allegations,” it will “cease to further promote his current album” and has “also decided not to work with Marilyn Manson on any future projects.”