Assailant with bow and arrows kills 5 in Norway
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — A man armed with a bow fired arrows at shoppers in a small Norwegian town Wednesday, killing five people before he was arrested, authorities said.
The police chief in the community of Kongsberg, near the capital of Oslo, said there was “a confrontation” between officers and the assailant, but he did not elaborate. Two other people were wounded and hospitalized in intensive care, including an officer who was off duty and inside the shop where the attack took place, police said.
According to police, the suspect walked around downtown Kongsberg shooting arrows. Police Chief Oeyving Aas declined to comment on reports that the man used a crossbow, saying only there were “several crime scenes.”
Progressives warn against ‘false choice’ in Biden bill trims
WASHINGTON — Progressive leaders in Congress are warning colleagues against a “false choice” over what to keep or cut as Democrats scale back President Joe Biden’s now-$2 trillion package of social services and climate change strategies.
In a letter Wednesday to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the leaders of the Congressional Progressive Caucus argue the package should not simply be narrowed as centrist lawmakers prefer, but instead kept as Biden’s bigger vision but for fewer than 10 years — “shorter, transformative investments” that could be started quickly and then revisited.
Border residents rejoice as U.S. says it will lift travel ban
SAN DIEGO — Beleaguered business owners and families separated by COVID-19 restrictions rejoiced Wednesday after the U.S. said it will reopen its land borders to nonessential travel next month, ending a 19-month freeze.
Travel across land borders from Canada and Mexico has been largely restricted to workers whose jobs are deemed essential. New rules will allow fully vaccinated foreign nationals to enter the U.S. regardless of the reason starting in early November, when a similar easing of restrictions is set for air travel.