Updated at 4:15 p.m. ET on August 27, 2021.In 2006, astronomers gathered in Prague to consider a very basic question: How many planets are in our solar system? Was it nine, or was it actually eight, or perhaps as many as 12? By the end of the conference, after several polite debates and “lots of heated hallway discussions,” the verdict was in. Under the new rules of planethood, the solar system had eight planets, and Pluto wasn’t one of them.
Patrick Zachmann / Magnum
This week, kids and teachers across the United States went back to school, after a year and a half of remote learning and Zoom fatigue. This school year is likely to be a mess—again—and among all of the pandemic considerations, teachers are also contending with keeping students engaged in and out of the classroom.
The conservative talk radio host Larry Elder is now the Republican front-runner challenging Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom in a special election that could also shape national politics. California voters cast ballots on September 14 on whether to recall Newsom, after a right-wing campaign to unseat the governor garnered enough signatures to trigger the vote.
As thousands of people in Afghanistan attempt to flee the country before the United States’ withdrawal on August 31, we look at how the Trump administration made it much harder for Afghans who worked with the U.S. to apply and receive what is known as a special immigrant visa, or SIV.
We speak with Haroun Rahimi, assistant professor of law at the American University of Afghanistan, about the Islamic State affiliate that claimed responsibility for this week’s devastating suicide bombings at Kabul airport, which killed more than 110 people, including 13 U.S. troops. Islamic State Khorasan, or ISIS-K, is a puritanical group that is “critical of all other sects of Islam,” says Rahimi.
We go to Kabul, Afghanistan, for an update as the death toll from twin suicide bomb attack outside the airport has topped 110 people, including 13 U.S. troops. The suicide bombers struck near the crowded gates of the airport where thousands of Afghans had gathered in an attempt to flee the country before the withdrawal of U.S. troops on August 31.
Parenting advice on new activists, nail polish, and wedding woes.
Prospects for Medicare expansion are further complicated by a price tag that could exceed $350 billion over a decade and surpass the cost of other health priorities under discussion.
He spends his meager income on his motorcycle and cigarettes.
We’ve spent tens of thousands of dollars on unnecessary takeout and groceries.
A well-meaning rule is working completely backward.
And I would rather they find out after I’m gone.
The executive order comes after the governor, who is recovering from his own case of Covid, touted the vaccine as the reason for his “brief & mild” infection.
They noted among other things that Chinese officials are still reluctant to share some raw data, citing concerns over patient confidentiality.
Health care costs for those infected with Covid-19 are significant, and some employers may follow Delta’s lead.
The findings come as the Biden administration is firming up plans to roll out booster shots to adults in late September.
The agency originally tried to track all infections in vaccinated people, from mild to severe. But in May it decided to focus on the most severe cases.
Thursday’s report from the Labor Department showed that jobless claims fell to 375,000 from 387,000 the previous week.
“We’re not trying to hide this,” the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s executive director said.
Some economists have already begun to ease back on forecasts for the rest of this year.
The growth is another sign that the nation has achieved a sustained recovery from the pandemic recession.
A new wave of cases followed by the looming expiration of enhanced jobless benefits, a ban on evictions and other rescue programs is sparking concern among lawmakers and economists.
We speak with Stéphane Vincent, a Haitian citizen journalist who is helping the BBC to cover the aftermath of the devastating August 14 earthquake for the BBC and says the destruction in Les Cayes is reminiscent of the 2010 earthquake that struck the country. “To relive that again was very heart-wrenching,” he says. “The people have been feeling left out and abandoned by government.
Leading the news today: A suicide bombing at a checkpoint outside the Kabul airport has killed at least 60 people, including 13 American military members. Military evacuation efforts will continue. There’s new movement in the push to learn the full extent of the Trump White House’s involvement in a seditious attempt to nullify an American election, and a new lawsuit against Trump from some of the Capitol Police officers who defended lawmakers that day.
When President Joe Biden addressed the nation Thursday in the wake of a deadly terrorist attack in Kabul, he sought to soothe, center, and steel Americans for what had been, what is, and what is yet to be.
“Tough day,” Biden said from the East Room of the White House before even beginning his prepared remarks.
States across the nation have handled the novel coronavirus pandemic very, very differently, thanks to irresponsible Republican governors. It’s no surprise, then, that when it comes to masks in public schools, districts are handling the matter with varying degrees of concern for public health and safety.
Again thanks to their Republican leaders, Texas and Florida are concerning both residents and the rest of the country with bans against mask mandates.
August is winding down, but statehouse action is … not.
And I’m not even talking about Virginia, which has gubernatorial and state House elections this fall!
(And if you’re fretting that I haven’t done a deep dive into that landscape yet, fear not, erudite reader—I will absolutely be talking about the Commonwealth at length in the near future.)
But for the moment, let us, despite the heat, return to Texas.
What happens after you crash and burn alongside the Trump administration? You head over to one of the many money-making right-wing propaganda outlets to sell your wares. Former Trump campaign adviser and insufferable douchebag Steve Cortes has done just that and found a home at Newsmax. Here’s a short biography of Steve Cortes: He’s the guy that said Donald Trump needed to be a “bit more of a fascist.
