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  • Hailey Baldwin says she 'missed out on interacting with boys' because she was homeschooled

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  • Did Prince Andrew Really Just Use Prince Philip’s Death to Sneak Back on TV?

    Duncan McGlynn/Getty ImagesThe shamelessness of Britain’s Prince Andrew really does take some beating.He has suggested that a photograph of him with his arm around a teenage sex trafficking victim was faked because he has “chubby fingers.” He said that same woman’s description of him pouring with sweat at a nightclub must be a lie because he cannot sweat (he can). He ascribed his week-long 2010 visit to Jeffrey Epstein to his extreme sense of honor. Don’t even mention his love of pizza.Prince Andrew Says Prince Philip’s Death Has Left ‘Huge Void’ in Queen’s LifeIncredibly, Andrew now appears to be using his father’s death to crawl out from under the rock of royal exile to which his brother Charles, who has long struggled with him, banished him after the disastrous November 2019 Newsnight interview in which those, and many other questionable claims, including the cynical lie that he would co-operate with law enforcement inquiries into Epstein’s crimes, were made.Coming out of church on Sunday morning, just 48 hours after the death of his father, whose greatest disdain was reserved for royals embarrassing the family, Andrew made a beeline for the camera and started giving what appeared to be an off-the-cuff interview to a news camera about how the entire royal family was “all feeling a great sense of loss.”Andrew has clearly missed his media appearances. On and on he went. How grateful he was for the tributes paid to his father. How “calm” his father was as a man. He was also careful to suggest his father’s death had helped connect him to the proletariat, saying it “brought it home to me not just our loss but actually the loss that everybody else has felt, for so many people who have died and lost loved ones during the pandemic.”It was shockingly unshocking to see Andrew, not a drop of perspiration on him despite having gained a few extra pounds, bad British teeth and all, standing there in his black suit, acting like nothing had happened, freelancing away for the cameras.Maybe we had all just imagined the past year and a half, especially the bit where Prince Charles, now more than ever the acting head of the royal family, had stripped him of all his royal patronages, kicked him out of his office in Buckingham Palace, and removed his obscene $300,000 a year grant from the British taxpayer.It was, at first, all rather inoffensive waffle that was emanating from Andrew’s mouth. It might not have even made the evening news. But if there is one thing that is guaranteed to galvanize the British public, it is insight into that most mysterious of things: how the queen is actually feeling, up close and in private.Asked about the effect of Philip’s death on Her Majesty, Andrew, stunningly, decided to go there: “She described it as having left a huge void in her life,” he said, adding that she had described her husband’s passing as a “miracle.”His words were plastered over news websites and TV stations within moments.Given that Andrew was filmed outside the private Royal Chapel of All Saints in Windsor Castle, which he had attended along with other members of the royal family including his younger brother, Prince Edward (who spoke more traditionally to reporters outside the chapel saying that his father’s death was a “dreadful shock”) there was at first an assumption that Andrew had been given permission to speak to the media. Had Charles had a change of heart? It seemed incredible, but was Andrew back on his way inside the charmed circle, entitled to free food and air miles once again?On Monday, however, leaks began trickling out suggesting that that assumption was far from an accurate characterization.Dan Wooton, the journalist who broke the news that Harry and Meghan were leaving the U.K., reported in the Daily Mail that sources had told him: “Prince Andrew might hope that this sad situation changes things, but Prince Charles is adamant there is no way back while allegations hang over him. He spoke on camera in a private capacity because this is a family event. No one can stop him doing that.”Neither the palace nor an advisory firm retained by Prince Andrew responded to inquiries from The Daily Beast.Andrew’s fantasy of a comeback has been oft-reported over the past two years. And he is still at it, with a source described as “close to Prince Andrew” telling Wooton, “He still harbors thoughts that he can make a comeback. He genuinely thinks that’s possible.”If Andrew needs any further reminder that he is no longer welcome in public life or in British sitting rooms, and that his father’s death changes nothing, he may want to consider this statistic: Almost 400 people have already written to the BBC to complain about Andrew featuring on the corporation’s coverage.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.

  • Online Schools Are Here to Stay, Even After the Pandemic

    Rory Levin, a sixth grader in Bloomington, Minnesota, used to hate going to school. He has a health condition that often makes him feel apprehensive around other students. Taking special-education classes did little to ease his anxiety. So when his district created a stand-alone digital-only program, Bloomington Online School, last year for the pandemic, Rory opted to try it. Now the 11-year-old is enjoying school for the first time, said his mother, Lisa Levin. He loves the live video classes and has made friends with other online students, she said. In December, Bloomington Public Schools decided to keep running the online school even after the pandemic subsides. Lisa Levin plans to re-enroll Rory for this fall. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times “It is such a good fit for him,” she said. “We’re really hoping they can continue it for the rest of his school career.” A year after the coronavirus set off a seismic disruption in public education, some of the remote programs that districts intended to be temporary are poised to outlast the pandemic. Even as students flock back to classrooms, a subset of families who have come to prefer online learning are pushing to keep it going — and school systems are rushing to accommodate them. The districts are racing to set up full-fledged online schools even as concerns mount that remote learning has taken a substantial toll on many children’s academic progress and emotional health. Parents and lawmakers, alarmed by the situation, have urged schools to reopen. Last month, Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, went so far as to say there should be no remote learning option for children in New Jersey this fall. Even so, at least several hundred of the nation’s 13,000 school districts have established virtual schools this academic year, with an eye to operating them for years to come, education researchers said. Unlike many makeshift pandemic school programs, these stand-alone virtual schools have their own teachers, who work only with remote students and use curricula designed for online learning. Demand for virtual schools has soared. Fulton County Schools in Atlanta, one of the nation’s largest school systems, plans to enroll about 1,000 students in its new online school this fall. The Anchorage School District expects about 2,000 children to attend its year-old online school beginning in August. And in Minnesota, the number of state-approved online schools is on track to double this year to 80 or more, from 37 before the pandemic. In a study by the RAND Corp., “Remote Learning Is Here to Stay,” 58 out of 288 district administrators — roughly 20% — said their school system had already started an online school, was planning to start one or was considering doing so as a postpandemic offering. “This is hardly a panacea or a silver bullet for public schooling,” said Heather Schwartz, a senior policy researcher at RAND who directed the study. But, she added, “there is a minority of parents, a minority of students and even a minority of teachers for whom virtual schooling is the preferred mode.” Yet a surge of online schools comes with risks. It could normalize remote learning approaches that have had poor results for many students, education researchers said. It could also further divide a fragile national education system, especially when many Asian, Black and Latino families have been wary of sending their children back to school this year. “My fear is that it will lead to further fracturing and fragmentation,” said Jack Schneider, an assistant professor of education at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. Districts said they were simply responding to demand from parents and children who want to stick with remote learning — some because of student health issues, some because of concerns about bullying or discrimination in their school, and some who just prefer the convenience of learning at home. Districts that fail to start online schools could lose students — along with government education funding — to virtual academies run by neighboring districts, companies or nonprofits, administrators said. To pay for the new online offerings, some districts said, they are using federal coronavirus relief funds or shifting resources from other programs. Online schools began opening in the 1990s, some run by states or districts and others by private companies or nonprofit charter management organizations. But until recently, they played a niche role in many states. Over the past decade, government regulators have accused some of the largest for-profit online school providers of fraud, cited them for poor academic outcomes and closed low-performing schools. Multiple studies have reported that children in full-time online schools, particularly cyber charter schools, have poorer educational results than peers in traditional public schools. Many virtual schools require children to work through online courses independently, supplemented by occasional virtual interactions with teachers. That self-directed approach has attracted self-motivated students and those with parents available to act as learning coaches. But it has not worked well for those who need more live, face-to-face teacher guidance. “If our traditional public schools start teaching this way, it’s going to be disastrous,” said Gary Miron, a professor of education evaluation and research at Western Michigan University who has studied virtual schools. Before the pandemic, fewer than 1% of the nation’s primary and secondary school students attended virtual schools full time, according to the National Education Policy Center at the University of Colorado. The majority of those students attended virtual charter schools. Then last spring, as the coronavirus spread, districts began seeking ready-made digital curricula. Many turned to established providers like Florida Virtual School, a 24-year-old online-only public school that offers free instruction to in-state students and franchises its courseware to hundreds of other districts. This school year, Somerville Public Schools in Somerville, Massachusetts, has enabled remote students to take certain classes through Florida Virtual School. Keri Rodrigues, a Somerville parent, enrolled her son Miles, a third grader, in the program in December. Rodrigues said Miles had grown bored and felt ignored during his local school’s live video classes. She thought he might be happier taking courses through the virtual school, where he could direct his own learning and she could check on his progress. “He had a beautiful experience,” said Rodrigues, who is president of the National Parents Union, a network of advocacy groups representing low-income parents and parents of color. “One day he was down the rabbit hole in social studies, and he could spend all day doing those lessons — then the next day he could take on math.” Other districts, such as Bloomington Public Schools, decided to create online schools in-house. “Our tagline is: ‘Bloomington Online School courses are taught by Bloomington teachers with Bloomington-created curriculum,’ ” said John Weisser, the district’s executive director for technology. “It adds a layer of integrity, where often online courses are considered lesser.” Some districts are also providing social opportunities for children in online schools. Students in the Anchorage School District’s virtual program may participate in athletics, clubs and other in-person activities through their neighborhood schools. Districts establishing online schools face a learning curve. Last summer, Huntsville City Schools in Alabama began marketing its new Huntsville Virtual Academy as an option for children to learn from anywhere at their own pace. But a few months into the school year, parents asked for more support and structure for children in the program, so this semester the school introduced a teacher-directed model requiring students to log in for group video classes and turn on their cameras. Nearly 6,900 of the district’s students — about 30% — are enrolled. Siloam Springs Virtual Academy, which was set up last fall by the Siloam Springs School District in northwest Arkansas, has also tightened its policies. Instead of accepting all interested students, it is asking them to submit applications for this fall and meet certain criteria, administrators said at a school board meeting. That includes having a good attendance record and strong parental support. The momentum for online schools is particularly evident in Minnesota. The state’s Department of Education said it was processing about 50 applications for new virtual schools, compared with two or three a year before the coronavirus. “It was a small club before of people who really understood and were practicing online learning,” said Jeff Plaman, the digital learning specialist who manages applications for new online schools at the Minnesota Department of Education. “Now it’s the entire workforce.” Last summer, administrators at Osseo Area Schools, near Minneapolis, created a distance-learning program for the pandemic school year. About 5,000 kindergartners through 12th graders, or nearly 25% of the district’s students, enrolled. Now Osseo is setting up a full-fledged online school with its own teaching staff, said Anthony Padrnos, the district’s executive director of technology. Unlike some virtual schools that pack 80 or more students into live group video lessons, he said, Osseo caps its online classes at 30 to 35 students. So far, 1,000 have signed up for the fall. Whether virtual schools can maintain high enrollments after the pandemic remains to be seen. Even self-driven students who enjoy online school said they missed their friends, not to mention in-person activities like gymnastics. “I do like online school,” said Abigail Reams, 11, a fifth grader at Bloomington Online School who anchored the school’s video news broadcast this year. “But I also like in-person school. I’m really hoping that next year we can go back.” This article originally appeared in The New York Times. © 2021 The New York Times Company

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  • Prince Harry and Prince William’s Feud Rumbles on as They Issue Dueling Statements on Philip’s Death

    Twitter / Kensington RoyalIf this is a truce, it doesn’t much look like one.Prince Harry and Prince William released dueling statements Monday afternoon following the death of their grandfather last week, with Harry making a statement just 32 minutes after his brother released his.If you love The Daily Beast’s royal coverage, then we hope you’ll enjoy The Royalist, a members-only series for Beast Inside. Become a member to get it in your inbox on Sunday.That the brothers were unable or unwilling to co-ordinate a joint statement does not bode well for hopes of fraternal reconciliation in the coming days.Harry and Meghan were criticized in some quarters for unilaterally posting a brief message of condolence on their website last week, before other more senior members of the family had spoken.While William’s statement today was intensely personal, focused on his own memories of his grandfather, Harry sought to identify directly with the general public, referencing the coronavirus pandemic and drawing a parallel between his bereavement and that of “many of you who have lost a loved one or grandparent over the pain of this past year.”Prince William’s statement, which was accompanied on Twitter by an adorable photograph of Prince George on a horse-drawn carriage with Philip, appeared to refer to the guidance and support his grandfather offered him after the death of his mother, Diana, in a 1997 car accident, saying: “I feel lucky to have not just had his example to guide me, but his enduring presence well into my own adult life—both through good times and the hardest days.”Prince Philip Thought Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s Oprah Interview Was ‘Madness’William said Philip’s “century of life was defined by service—to his country and Commonwealth, to his wife and Queen, and to our family.”William paid testament to Philip’s “infectious sense of adventure as well as his mischievous sense of humour” and said he was grateful Kate “had so many years to get to know my grandfather and for the kindness he showed her,” adding, “I will never take for granted the special memories my children will always have of their great-grandpa coming to collect them in his carriage.”William’s statement concluded: “My grandfather was an extraordinary man and part of an extraordinary generation. Catherine and I will continue to do what he would have wanted and will support The Queen in the years ahead. I will miss my Grandpa, but I know he would want us to get on with the job.”Harry described his grandfather “as a man of service, honour and great humour.”In language that seemed more Californian than British, Harry described his grandfather as “authentically himself.”He also seemed to refer to the duke’s tendency to make outrageous remarks, saying, “You never knew what he might say next.”Harry’s statement went on to say that while he would be remembered for his many official roles, “for me, like many of you who have lost a loved one or grandparent over the pain of this past year, he was my grandpa: master of the barbecue, legend of banter, and cheeky right ‘til the end.“He has been a rock for Her Majesty The Queen with unparalleled devotion, by her side for 73 years of marriage, and while I could go on, I know that right now he would say to all of us, beer in hand, ‘Oh do get on with it!’“So, on that note, Grandpa, thank you for your service, your dedication to Granny, and for always being yourself. You will be sorely missed, but always remembered—by the nation and the world. Meghan, Archie, and I (as well as your future great-granddaughter) will always hold a special place for you in our hearts.”Harry signed off his note with the phrase “Per Mare, Per Terram,” the Latin motto of the British Royal Marines.Harry succeeded his grandfather as captain general of the Royal Marines in 2017. Philip had previously done the job for 64 years. Harry was forced to resign after 30 months as part of the terms of his departure from royal life.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.

  • Prince Harry may have to wear suit instead of military uniform to Prince Philip's funeral

    The Duke of Edinburgh's funeral will be the first occasion that marks Prince Harry's change of status within the Royal family. The Queen stripped the Duke and Duchess of Sussex of all official royal titles earlier this year after they confirmed that they would not return to their roles as working royals. As a ceremonial event, it is believed that the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge and the Earl of Wessex will attend the funeral in military uniform. But as the Duke was stripped of his honorary military titles, including his prized role as Captain General of the Royal Marines, it is thought he will have to wear a suit despite having served as an Army officer. Protocol dictates that retired service personnel can wear their medals – but not their uniform – at official engagements once they have left the military.

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  • John Boehner calls Trump 'a guy who's unemployed' and 'has nothing else to do but cause trouble'

    "The president abused the loyalty and the trust that voters placed in him by perpetuating this noise," Boehner said of Trump's false election claims.

  • Maduro says Venezuela has secured funds to complete COVAX payment

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  • The island where Prince Philip is worshipped

    Ten thousand miles from Windsor Castle, the people of Ikunala planned to hold a special ceremony this week to remember Prince Philip, who died last week at the age of 99. You see, in this part of the South Pacific, the Prince was considered to be…more than just a prince. Here in this village on Tanna Island in Vanuatu, the indigenous population revered Prince Philip as something of a demigod, stemming from a local legend about the pale-skinned son of a local mountain god who ventured across the seas to look for a rich and powerful woman to marry. IKUNALA VILLAGE CHIEF YAPA: "The connection between the people on the Island of Tanna and the English people is very strong. We are sending condolence messages to the royal family and the people of England." In 2007, Yapa and four other men from the village traveled to England to participate in a three-part British television documentary. They visited Windsor Castle and met Philip and took photos with him which they now cherish.Anthropologists believe the late husband of Queen Elizabeth became linked to the legend in the 1960s when Vanuatu was an Anglo-French colony.The villagers' special interest in Philip manifested itself in daily prayers for his blessing of their banana and yam crops and the posting of photos in village homes. One such photo was from 1980 and showed the prince, dressed in a suit, holding a club used to kill pigs that had been made by the islanders and sent to London.While Philip had a reputation for being gruff and outspoken with a propensity for the occasional gaffe, it's said he maintained a respectful 50-year relationship with the group.Back in England, the royal family will gather for his ceremonial funeral at Windsor Castle on Saturday where he will be remembered as a prince and husband to the Queen - one who served his country in his role longer than any other in British history.

  • Psaki says Biden 'does not spend his time tweeting conspiracy theories' after a GOP senator criticized the president's social-media use

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  • Iran blames Israel for Natanz nuclear plant outage, vows revenge

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  • China official calls reports he said country's COVID-19 vaccines weren't very effective 'a complete misunderstanding'

    Chinese Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Gao Fu is walking back comments he made about the country's COVID-19 vaccines. The vaccines "don't have very high protection rates," Gao reportedly said Saturday at a conference in Chengdu. "It's now under formal consideration whether we should use different vaccines from different technical lines of the immunization process," he added, explaining that China was considering a few different options for how to boost effectiveness. A dosage increase, mixing vaccines, or turning to mRNA technology (the kind used in the highly effective and safe Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines) were all on the table. The comments were noteworthy for a couple of reasons. For one, it was quite simply a "rare admission" from Beijing, The Associated Press writes. But, more importantly, China has already exported hundreds of millions of doses of two vaccines developed by Chinese drug makers, Sinovac and Sinopharm, to dozens of countries, including Mexico, Turkey, Indonesia, Hungary, and Brazil. So, this could turn into a global predicament. Now, though, Gao is telling Chinese state media that the reaction to his remarks "was a complete misunderstanding" and that he was really just suggesting that the question of how to improve vaccines' effectiveness is one "that needs to be considered by scientists around the world" because of the novelty of the virus. He did not, however, specifically address protection levels of the Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines. More stories from theweek.comTrump finally jumps the sharkThe immense untapped potential of offshore wind7 brutally funny cartoons about Mitch McConnell's corporate hypocrisy

  • Retired Navy admiral says U.S. looks either 'complicit' or 'ignorant' in Iran nuclear facility blackout

    While nothing is definitive, "all indications are pointing to the fact" that Israel was behind a cyberattack that knocked out power at Iran's Natanz uranium enrichment facility over the weekend, and retired United States Navy Adm. William McRaven finds the allegations "a little disturbing" given that the U.S. and other countries are currently trying to renegotiate the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. "Frankly, I'm not exactly sure what it accomplishes," McRaven told CNN's Jake Tapper on Monday. "It's a little bit of a shot across the bow, but Natanz will only be down for maybe a week or so." McRaven didn't sound too concerned about significant retribution from Iran, noting that Tehran doesn't often follow through on its threats, but he is worried about whether this could hamper efforts to strike an agreement. However, the blame shouldn't be placed squarely on Israel, McRaven suggested. Tapper asked him if he thought it was plausible Israel carried out the alleged "act of sabotage without informing the U.S. government, either before or after." That, indeed, "is the problem," McRaven responded. "It implies that [the U.S. was] either complicit or we were ignorant, and neither one of those is a good look for us," he said. Iran's Foreign Minister has vowed revenge against Israel after an apparent attack on an Iranian nuclear site caused a blackout at the facility. Ret. Adm. William McRaven says the situation is "not helpful" as the US is trying to renegotiate the JCPOA. https://t.co/rhF6IfAUx0 pic.twitter.com/tMxnLkhAjR — The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) April 12, 2021 More stories from theweek.comTrump finally jumps the sharkThe immense untapped potential of offshore wind7 brutally funny cartoons about Mitch McConnell's corporate hypocrisy

  • A former Minneapolis police officer said Derek Chauvin violated protocol kneeling on George Floyd's neck, but he doesn't think the officer committed a crime

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