Some Maryland School Districts Begin Hybrid Learning Tuesday

Some Maryland school systems are back in the building as of this week.

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  • Rishi Sunak leaves door open to future stealth tax raid as National Insurance pledge left out of Budget

    Rishi Sunak has left the door open to another stealth tax raid after a Conservative manifesto commitment to raise the national insurance contributions (NICS) threshold to £12,500 was left out of the Budget. On Wednesday the Chancellor confirmed that personal allowances on income tax, pensions, inheritance tax and capital gains tax would be frozen until 2026, netting the Treasury an additional £21bn as more people are dragged into higher tax rates over time. However, in the Budget Red Book, he has also kept open the option to change a number of NICs thresholds at future budgets, handing the Exchequer the ability to raise billions of pounds in additional revenues if required. In 2019, Boris Johnson told voters that his “ultimate ambition” was to raise the level at which people begin paying both national insurance and income tax to £12,500 - a move which would save taxpayers £500. Last year’s budget also confirmed that the national insurance primary threshold - over which employees’ earnings are taxed at 12 per cent - would rise to £9,500. It described this as “the first step in meeting the government’s ambition to increase these thresholds to £12,500.” Mr Sunak confirmed yesterday that the threshold would increase again to £9,568 from April, along with the upper rate, which will increase to £50,270 and then stay frozen until 2026, in line the personal income allowance. But the future level of the primary threshold has not been set, with the document stating only that it would with “all other NICs thresholds... be considered and set at future fiscal events”. The 102-page Red Book does not appear to mention the Government’s ambition to raise the threshold to £12,500 once. Approached for comment, a Treasury spokesman said raising the NICs threshold to £12,500 was still the Government’s “ultimate ambition”. However, they acknowledged that there was no timeline for doing this. The omission suggests that Mr Sunak has kept open the possibility of temporarily freezing the lower NICs thresholds, should he need to boost tax receipts again in future. This would see more people dragged into tax as wages rise, and is known as "fiscal drag." Mr Sunak has already chosen to freeze other personal allowances due to the limited revenue raising options available to him because of the manifesto pledge not to increase income tax, VAT or NICs during this Parliament

  • Australian broadcaster suspends China's CGTN

    Australian broadcaster SBS said it was suspending the broadcast of Chinese TV news services CGTN and CCTV after receiving a human rights complaint.An SBS spokesman told Reuters that programmes would not air on Saturday (March 6) and that SBS was reviewing a complaint from a human rights organization.A 15-minute CGTN English news service and 30-minute CCTV Mandarin language service had been part of SBS programming. A story on the SBS News website said human rights organization Safeguard Defenders wrote to SBS after Britain's media regulator revoked the licence of CGTN due to "serious non-compliance offences".SBS reported the letter from Safeguard Defenders as saying the CCTV broadcasts; "Involved the extraction, packaging and airing of forced and false confessions of prisoners held under conditions of duress and torture."China's foreign ministry in Beijing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.SBS is a public service broadcaster, providing news and entertainment programming on radio and television in multiple languages with a focus on multicultural issues.

  • New Zealand man charged over threats to Christchurch mosques

    A New Zealand man is facing criminal charges after allegedly posting online threats against two Christchurch mosques that were the sites of a terrorist attack that left 51 people dead. Police on Thursday arrested the 27-year-old man and charged him with threatening to kill. Police Superintendent John Price told reporters the threats were made earlier this week on the website 4chan, which has been used as a forum in the past by white supremacists.

  • QAnon predicted Trump’s re-inauguration on 4 March. Congress braced for an assault. Neither happened

    Two months after Capitol attack, embittered conspiracy cult holds out for last-ditch effort to revive former president – but law enforcement warns that the insurrection was not an isolated event

  • Market may be losing 'bit of confidence' in Fed: strategist

    As stocks slid following Fed Chair Jerome Powell's remarks Thursday, Crossmark Global Investments' Victoria Fernandez tells Reuters' Fred Katayama investors wanted to see him "take a little bit more accountability" on inflation.

  • Biden secretly limits drone strikes, amid congressional scrutiny over war powers

    Obama administration greatly expanded the use of drone strikes before later imposing checks

  • ‘Always up for a fight’: Mike Pompeo refuses to rule out presidential run on Hannity

    ‘I’m always up for a good fight,’ says Trump ally

  • Trump state department staffer arrested on Capitol riot charges

    FBI claim defendant was employed by State Department and possessed Top Secret security clearance

  • NASA's new Mars rover hits dusty red road, 1st trip 21 feet

    NASA’s newest Mars rover hit the dusty red road this week, putting 21 feet on the odometer in its first test drive. The Perseverance rover ventured from its landing position Thursday, two weeks after setting down on the red planet to seek signs of past life. “This is really the start of our journey here,” said Rich Rieber, the NASA engineer who plotted the route.

  • Charles Barkley lost weight because he was worried about being lifted in a chair for the traditional Jewish hora at his daughter's wedding

    "Listen, I need all Jewish people on deck, brother," Chuck told Jimmy Kimmel about the chair lift. "Cause I can only get so skinny by Saturday, man."

  • A man in jail tried to hire a hitman to kill the witnesses in his court case but the guy was actually a federal informant

    The US Virgin Islands man denied trying to hire a hitman to kill witnesses, but prosecutors recovered calls and text messages showing otherwise.

  • Live stimulus updates: Senate vote-a-rama on stimulus bill stalls for nearly 6 hours

    Biden and Democratic leaders are pushing for passage before March 14 when unemployment benefits approved under an earlier relief bill expire.

  • Fox News Turns to Tyrus, Currently Embroiled in Sexual-Harassment Lawsuit, for Thoughts on Cuomo

    Fox NewsFor thoughts on New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s harassment scandal, Fox News daytime show Outnumbered on Friday turned to Tyrus, who is currently embroiled in a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit from his former Fox Nation co-host Britt McHenry.“As far as, all women should be heard and respected, and then you need to have the investigation and then results of the investigation. Uhh, we need to respect those,” the Fox contributor said, when asked for his thoughts on the accusations against Cuomo, before quickly pivoting to the controversy over the governor’s alleged cover-up of coronavirus-related nursing home deaths.Later in the broadcast, Tyrus was asked to comment on why many prominent Democrats have not commented on the three women accusing Cuomo of sexual harassment. “It’s so important that we respect the process of the investigations and not be quick to pass judgments but at the same time, that's kind of across the board for everything,” he declared, adding: “This is not a fortunate situation but the investigation will be compelling and will give us the answer that we need.”Britt McHenry: Fox News Is Promoting My Harasser Tyrus While It Buries MeMcHenry, who recently made her first on-air Fox appearance in more than a year, alleged that the network has sidelined her while promoting and protecting Tyrus, whom she accused of sending lewd and inappropriate texts. Late last year, a judge denied Tyrus’ motion to dismiss McHenry’s lawsuit and said the case would move forward. Tyrus has continually denied the allegations and Fox has maintained that McHenry’s claims are “without merit.”Fox News turns to Tyrus, who is currently being sued by a Fox colleague for sexual harassment and retaliation, to weigh in on the Andrew Cuomo sexual misconduct scandal. pic.twitter.com/GzZSYOpYOp— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) March 5, 2021 Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

  • Texas regulators will not correct $16 billion in electricity ‘overcharges.’ Why?

    Texas regulators say they will not lower skyrocketing prices from the winter storm: “It’s nearly impossible to unscramble this sort of egg.”

  • Nasa's Perseverance rover takes its first drive on Mars

    The one-tonne robot wiggles its wheels before rolling forwards across Jezero Crater's dusty terrain.

  • Detroit's mayor rejected a shipment of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Experts say that's nuts.

    Experts feared the Johnson & Johnson vaccine's slightly lower efficacy rate would lead to an impression of a two-tiered system. That has been exactly the case in Detroit, where the mayor just rejected a shipment of the company's vaccine. CNN reports that Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan (D) declined an allocation of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine this week, saying the other available vaccines are better. "Johnson & Johnson is a very good vaccine. Moderna and Pfizer are the best," he said. "And I am going to do everything I can to make sure the residents of the City of Detroit get the best." Stat News' Matthew Herper called this a "bad plan." It's true that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine trials showed a 72 percent efficacy rate, while Moderna and Pfizer, the two other approved coronavirus vaccines, have a rate of about 95 percent. But health experts say it's still an excellent option, and has other perks like only requiring a single shot and frequently leading to fewer side effects, reports The New York Times. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious disease expert, said people shouldn't overthink which one to get, and explained the vaccines can't really be compared head-to-head because of different trial circumstances. Besides, experts note, the raw numbers don't show the full picture. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine prevented all hospitalizations and deaths in its large clinical trial, meaning the slightly lower efficacy rate really only points to mild to moderate disease. Detroit's mayor, however, said the city has been able to meet demand with just its supply of Pfizer and Moderna doses, but CNN notes Duggan's administration only expanded vaccine eligibility to residents ages 50 and older with chronic medical conditions on Thursday. Duggan said he would accept Johnson & Johnson doses later on if all other doses are distributed and there are remaining residents who want a vaccine. More stories from theweek.comWhy the Dr. Seuss 'cancellation' is chillingWhat Republicans talk about when they talk about the 'working class'7 scathingly funny cartoons about Trump's CPAC appearance

  • A California city gave some residents $500 per month. After a year, their unemployment rate had dropped, while the control group's rose.

    The group that didn't receive the stipends saw unemployment rise from 14% in February 2019 to 15% in February 2020.

  • The US military is still working on how to keep the president's new helicopter from burning the White House lawn

    A test aircraft left scorch marks on the White House lawn a few years ago, and the military is still trying to figure out how to fix that.

  • Jennifer Aniston reveals the significance behind her '11 11' tattoo

    The actor and her best friend have matching ink.

  • Does restaurant dining lead to rises in COVID case and death rates? CDC finds out

    The report comes days after Texas and Mississippi lifted its mask mandates and limits on business capacity.