DC residents on 10 million US Covid cases and potential Pfizer vaccine

A 2-meter-high fence lines the area around the Capitol. National Guard soldiers are patrolling the building and Capitol police roam the surrounding streets. The scene has changed dramatically since last week's riots.

Twitter has locked the account of the Chinese embassy in the US following a tweet it says violated its stand against "dehumanizing" people. The embassy had posted that Uighur women were "no longer baby-making machines."

Washington DC residents and tourists visit the National Mall to see the US capital's landmarks covered in snow after the biggest snowstorm in two years hit the city. At the Smithsonian's National Zoo, giant pandas made the most of the weather by sliding and rolling in the snowfall.

Just 12% of gas stations in the US capital still have fuel for sale, after cybercriminals forced a shutdown of the nation's largest gasoline pipeline.

A leader in the sustainable food movement, chef Bun Lai cooks cicadas to open up conversations about food alternatives that cause less environmental destruction than traditional farming. In the Washington, DC area, billions of cicada nymphs that have been living underground since 2004 have started bursting out of the soil - a rare and remarkable invasion.

Revellers crowd the newly reopened dance floor of a club in Washington, DC, as authorities lift all Covid restrictions on bars, nightclubs and entertainment venues in the US capital, allowing them to operate at full capacity. "I just high-fived a stranger," says local resident and partygoer Aimee Bailey, "we're just so excited to be able to be next to each other." Nightclub owner Bill Spieler shares her enthusiasm but also confesses to being "nervous," as his venue hasn't welcomed dancing crowds indoors for over a year until now.

The White House announced plans to hold a virtual summit for democracy in December. Leaders of the world's democracies are set to take part.

Baby panda Xiao Qi Ji celebrates his first birthday by eating a fruitsicle cake with his mother Mei Xiang at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, DC, in front of delighted visitors.

An Afghan refugee who fled the Soviet invasion in 1987 and set up afresh in Washington DC organizes a donation center with the help of local volunteers. "It was hard just to watch on TV and just be idle," says Fatima Popal, who remembers the challenges of setting up a new home in a foreign country. The lightspeed Taliban takeover brought back painful memories for the 41-year-old who runs an Afghan restaurant in the US Capital.

Martin Luther King III, son of the iconic civil rights activist Dr Martin Luther King Jr, was arrested while protesting for voting rights in front of the White House on Wednesday as the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act was blocked in the US Senate. He and scores of other protesters were detained before later being released. The reasons for the arrests remain unclear. The 13-year-old granddaughter of Martin Luther King Jr, Yolanda King, gave a speech at the rally.

The US Justice Department has charged four Chinese nationals over a global hacking campaign, which took aim at dozens of companies, universities and government agencies in the United States and elsewhere.

Police said they arrested a man after a series of shootings of homeless men in Washington, DC, and New York that killed two. The man was arrested early morning in southeast Washington, DC.