What does senior year look like amid the pandemic?

For high school students, the senior year experience is very different amid COVID-19.

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  • Poll: Americans are more interested in getting stimulus than in seeing bipartisanship support for bill

    Americans are more interested in seeing $1,400 stimulus checks issued to Americans faster than see any potential bill receive bipartisan support, according to a recent Monmouth poll.

  • U.S. House cancels Thursday session after police warn of possible plot on Capitol

    The U.S. House of Representatives canceled its planned Thursday session, after the Capitol Police warned on Wednesday that a militia group could be plotting to breach the building that was subjected to a deadly attack on Jan. 6. The House had been scheduled to debate and vote on a police reform bill, but a Democratic aide said plans changed due in part to the police warning, based on intelligence that "an identified militia group" could present a security threat. The Senate will convene as planned to begin debating President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID-19-relief bill on Thursday.

  • SpaceX's Starship rocket lands but then explodes

    Elon Musk's concept space vehicle completes a test flight but then destroys itself in flames.

  • Swiss to vote on banning face veils

    Provocative posters showing a woman wearing a face veil with the words stop extremism are being put up across Switzerland.The billboard is part of a campaign by the far-right Swiss People's Party (SVP) to ban face coverings in public.And on Sunday, voters will decide in a binding national referendum.The proposal does not mention Islam directly, and also aims to stop violent street protesters and football hooligans wearing masks.Still, local politicians, media and campaigners have dubbed it the burqa ban.And compounds Switzerland's tense relationship with Islam after citizens voted to ban building any new minarets in 2009.Jean-Luc Addor is a member of parliament and part of the campaign."This (niqab wearing) is something that we find shocking. It is fundamentally in opposition with various values of our civilisation simply because, for us, free people show their faces in all circumstances outside."France banned wearing a full face veil in public in 2011 and Denmark, Austria, the Netherlands, and Bulgaria have full or partial bans on wearing face coverings in public.The numbers in Switzerland are tiny. The University of Lucerne estimates no one in the country actually wears a burqa and only around 30 women wear the niqab.Swiss Muslims have said right-wing parties were using the vote to rally their supporters and demonize them.Ouissem Ben Mustapha-Bennour is a Muslim member of an anti-racist association."We women are fed up, and especially Muslim women. We are always being singled out as if we were submissive women, incapable to think or make our own choices. No, we made our choice, the niqab or the veil. Even if I don't wear the niqab, I also stand up for it, like I stand up for any other woman who chooses to wear or not to wear a garment. It's her choice. We are in Switzerland. We are in a secular country. All of our choices must be respected and not politicized." The government has recommended for voters to pick "no" in Sunday's referendum, but opinion polls suggest most Swiss will back the ban and it will become law.

  • 5,000 National Guard troops remain in DC amid QAnon frenzy that Trump will be inaugurated again this week

    QAnon followers believe that on 4 March, which was once the inauguration date of US presidents, Donald Trump will become president again

  • Police bolster security at US Capitol as QAnon theory claims Trump will become president March 4

    It's unclear how many QAnon supporters believe the March 4 inauguration theory. The House canceled its Thursday session as a precaution.

  • 'Little Foot' scans shed new light on early humans

    Scanning technology has revealed new secrets about 'Little Foot'an early human forerunner that inhabited South Africa 3.67 million years agoCourtesy: Science And Technology Facilities CouncilCourtesy: Diamond Light Source(SOUNDBITE) (English) RON CLARKE, PALEOANTHROPOLOGIST, UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND, SAYING: "Little Foot was a female Australopithecus, that is a kind of human ancestor that lived millions of years ago. Now, we know that 3.67 million years ago, this little female Australopithecus was in a forested area, a tropical forested area of what is now known as the state Sterkfontein Caves near Johannesburg in South Africa. And for some reason, she fell into the cave."Courtesy: RJ ClarkeLittle Foot’s species blended ape-like and human-like traitsand is considered a possible direct ancestor of humans

  • 'Harry Potter' game allows creation of trans players despite J.K. Rowling's remarks

    In the wake of J.K. Rowling's transphobic remarks, an upcoming "Harry Potter"-themed video game will allow users to play as trans witches and wizards.

  • Prince Philip health update: Duke of Edinburgh undergoes successful procedure for pre-existing heart condition

    The Duke of Edinburgh has undergone surgery for a pre-existing heart condition and will remain in hospital for several more days, Buckingham Palace has announced. Prince Philip, 99, was transferred from the private King Edward VII hospital to St Bartholomew’s Hospital, a leading cardiac unit, on Monday. The palace said in a statement: “The Duke of Edinburgh yesterday underwent a successful procedure for a pre-existing heart condition at St Bartholomew’s Hospital. “His Royal Highness will remain in hospital for treatment, rest and recuperation for a number of days.” The Duke was admitted to the King Edward VII in central London on February 16 for "rest and observation" after feeling unwell. It was not an emergency admission and he walked in unaided, with aides revealing they expected him to be released within days and that doctors were simply acting with “an abundance of caution.” But the palace later revealed he was being treated for an infection and would remain in hospital for several more days than expected. The Duke, who in 2011 received treatment for a blocked coronary artery, was subsequently transferred to St Bartholomew’s by ambulance, pictured below.

  • A wealthy Florida Keys community received vaccines before the rest of the state. A month later, one resident sent $250,000 to the governor.

    The Miami Herald report came amid criticism of Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, who has been accused of playing favorites with vaccine distribution.

  • U.S. DOJ declined to investigate Trump transport chief after inspector general review

    The U.S. Justice Department declined to investigate or prosecute then-Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao after the inspector general's office referred allegations of potential misuse of office for review, a report made public on Wednesday said. The report included allegations that Chao directed staff to research or purchase personal items for her online using her personal credit card or performed other personal errands for her or her father. The report focused largely on Chao's actions related to her family's shipping business, the Foremost Group, which was founded by her father and whose current chief executive is her sister.

  • U.S. issues warning after Microsoft says China hacked its mail server program

    All federal government agencies have until noon Friday to download the latest software update to block the perpetrator.

  • Former Trump appointees say they’re still waiting on their vacation payouts

    Some former political appointees say they were promised lump-sum payouts and are now struggling to pay rent.

  • Canada vaccine panel recommends 4 months between COVID doses

    A national panel of vaccine experts in Canada recommended Wednesday that provinces extend the interval between the two doses of a COVID-19 shot to four months to quickly inoculate more people amid a shortage of doses in Canada. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also expressed optimism that vaccination timelines could be sped up. The current protocol is an interval of three to four weeks between doses for the Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines.

  • Michelle Obama: Barack and I ‘can’t get a word in’ with Sasha, Malia

    During a recent interview on Good Morning America with host Robin Roberts, former First Lady Michelle Obama opened up about how she and her husband, former President Barack Obama, have open communications with their two young-adult daughters. “I always have wanted them to start practicing the power of their voices very early on,” Mrs. Obama shared of Sasha, 19, and Malia, 22.

  • Joe Biden just yanked away stimulus checks from 17 million Americans

    During the campaign for the two Georgia Senate races, Joe Biden repeatedly promised to pass $2,000 stimulus checks if the Democrats won. After they did, the administration argued that $2,000 really meant $1,400 in addition to the $600 that had already gone out in the December rescue package. Whether that is true or not, now Biden is inarguably breaking his promise. Under pressure from moderate Senate Democrats, he has reportedly agreed to cut down the formula under which the checks will be sent out. In the previous packages, the amount started phasing out at $75,000 in income for individuals and $150,000 for joint filers, and vanished entirely at $100,000 and $200,000 respectively (as of 2019). Now the phase-out will start start in the same place but end at $80,000 for singles and $160,000 for couples. The $1,400 promise clearly implied at least that the checks would go out according to the previous formula used under Trump. But now singles making between $80,000-100,000 and couples making between $160,000-200,000 will get nothing. The Washington Post's Jeff Stein reports that roughly 17 million people who previously got checks now will not. The supposed justification here is that moderates want the aid to be more "targeted." In fact this formula is horribly inaccurate, because the income data the IRS uses is from the year before the pandemic (unless people have already filed their taxes — and by the way, if your income decreased in 2020, you should do that immediately). This formula is therefore doubly wrong — there are no doubt millions of people who have lost jobs and should qualify but won't, and a smaller number that have gotten raises and shouldn't qualify but will. And this change will only save a pitiful $12 billion. The survival checks are one of the most popular government programs in American history. Polls have them at something like 4-1 approval. "Moderation," for Senate Democrats, apparently means breaking their party's promises in the service of unpopular, pointless actions that make their president seem less generous than Donald Trump. More stories from theweek.com7 scathingly funny cartoons about Trump's CPAC appearanceAfter 50 years, a long-lost family photo has made its way back where it belongsThe complicated quagmire of Dr. Seuss

  • Meghan ignored advice and wore Prince Salman earrings three weeks after Jamal Khashoggi murder

    The Duchess of Sussex wore earrings given to her by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia three weeks after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, against advice from palace aides, The Telegraph understands. The Duchess, 39, had been given the Butani earrings as an official wedding present from the Saudi Royal Family. When she wore them to a formal dinner in Fiji in October 2018, during a royal tour, the media were told that they were “borrowed” but unusually, declined to offer further information or guidance. The dinner took place three weeks after Mr Khashoggi was killed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The Duchess’s lawyers insisted that at the time of the dinner, she was unaware of speculation that the crown prince was involved in the murder of the journalist. However, a royal source claimed that palace staff had advised the Duchess not to wear the jewellery. “Members of Royal Household staff sometimes advise people on their options,” one said. “But what they choose to do with that advice is a very different matter.”

  • Biden cuts 16 million people off from stimulus checks after striking deal with moderate Senate Democrats, study says

    Biden approved phasing out direct payments entirely for individuals making above $80,000 a year and married couples earning more than $160,000.

  • Dr. Fauci has a stunningly simple way to explain how Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine differs from Pfizer's and Moderna's shots

    All three of the COVID-19 shots authorized for use in the US train the body to recognize the coronavirus, but J&J's uses a cold virus instead of mRNA.

  • The Trumps are trying to sell a Florida home for $49 million after buying it from the former president's sister for $18 million in 2018

    Eric Trump tweeted a listing for a home that the family is trying to sell through a limited liability company for more than twice its 2018 value.