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What’s one good clue that President Joe Biden really intends to run for reelection in 2024? He is trying to distance himself from the Democratic Party’s soft approach to crime. The president, who in 2020 distanced himself from Democrats who advocated defunding the police, stunned many in his party recently when he announced his opposition to a lenient local law in the District of Columbia that would reduce sentences for carjackers and other criminals who use guns in the commission of their crimes. Read moreByron York: Biden, Democrats have a chronic crime problem

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Federal prosecutors have rested their seditious conspiracy case against former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and four lieutenants charged with plotting to stop the peaceful transfer of presidential power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden after the 2020 election. Jurors will hear testimony by defense witnesses before they begin deliberating. Before prosecutors rested Monday, the jury heard over 30 days of testimony by more than 20 prosecution witnesses. A defense attorney told jurors Monday the Proud Boys did not travel to Washington to “cause a riot.” The case against the far-right extremist group’s leaders is among the most serious generated by the Justice Department’s investigation of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.

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Increased punishments for rioting in North Carolina will become law as Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper says he won't veto a measure containing them. Cooper on Friday announced he would let the bill become law without his signature. The governor successfully vetoed a similar bill in 2021. But now Republicans have padded their House and Senate majorities and a half-dozen House Democrats voted for this year's measure. That raised prospects of a successful override. Republicans have advanced the bills following the 2020 demonstrations about racial injustice that at times turned violent. Cooper says changes had been made to this year's bill but he still had First Amendment concerns.

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A retired Air Force officer who stormed the U.S. Capitol dressed in combat gear and carried zip-tie handcuffs into the Senate gallery has been sentenced to two years in prison. U.S. District Judge John Bates also sentenced Larry Brock on Friday to two years of supervised release after prison and 100 hours of community service. Brock declined to speak in court before the judge imposed his sentence. Brock joined other rioters on the Senate floor only minutes after then-Vice President Mike Pence, senators and their staff evacuated the chamber to escape the mob attacking the building on Jan. 6, 2021.

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Much of Wall Street is rising after regulators pushed together two huge banks over the weekend and made other moves to build confidence in the struggling industry. The S&P 500 was 0.5% higher in Monday morning trading. The Dow was also higher, while the Nasdaq was edging lower. Much of the attention was still on banks, which may be cracking under the fastest series of interest rate hikes in decades. Swiss banking giant UBS is buying rival Credit Suisse in a deal quickly put together by regulators. U.S. bank First Republic fell after another another downgrade to its credit rating, but other U.S. banks rose.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in a memo to staff on Monday that the company plans to eliminate 9,000 more jobs in the next few weeks. The job cuts would mark the second largest round of layoffs in the company’s history. Amazon had already cut 18,000 in the past few months. In the memo, Jassy said the second phase of the company’s annual planning process completed this month and led to the additional job cuts. He said Amazon will still hire in some strategic areas its prioritized.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin has welcomed Chinese leader Xi Jinping to the Kremlin, a visit that sent a powerful message to Western leaders allied with Ukraine that their efforts to isolate him have fallen short. Putin said he welcomed China’s plan for “settlement of the acute crisis in Ukraine.” Xi's visit to Moscow shows off Beijing’s new diplomatic swagger and gives a welcome political lift for Putin. The two major powers have described Xi’s trip as part of efforts to further deepen their “no-limits friendship.” China looks to Russia as a source of oil and gas and as a partner in opposing what both see as American domination of global affairs.

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Archaeologists say they have found the oldest pearling town in the Persian Gulf on an island off one of the northern sheikhdoms of the United Arab Emirates. The discovery further expands this young nation’s understanding of its pre-Islamic history. Archaeologists announced Monday that artifacts found in this town on Siniyah Island in Umm al-Quwain date as far back as the late 6th century. While older pearling towns have been mentioned in historical texts, this represents the first time archaeologists say they have physically found one from this ancient era across the nations of the Persian Gulf.