Texas governor bans schools, local governments from requiring masks
Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, hasn’t shied away from controversial pandemic policies.
Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, hasn’t shied away from controversial pandemic policies.
Deep in the forests of Germany, nestled neatly into the hollowed-out shells of acorns, live a smattering of ants who have stumbled upon a fountain of youth. They are born workers, but do not do much work. Their days are spent lollygagging about the nest, where their siblings shower them with gifts of food. They seem to elude the ravages of old age, retaining a durably adolescent physique, their outer shells soft and their hue distinctively tawny.
People on Twitter noted that many Texans suffered record cold while their senator was in sunny, warm Cancun.
Arne Svenson, Stray #55
To peer into the soul of a sea cucumber, don’t look to its face; it doesn’t have one. Gently turn that blobby body around, and gaze deep into its marvelous, multifunctional anus.The sea cucumber’s posterior is so much more than an exit hole for digestive waste.
Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) can’t.
As gratifying as it can be to see an actor disappear into a role, there’s something soul-restoring about an underappreciated star finally twinkling their way front and center in the Hollywood firmament. At 69, Jean Smart has almost five decades of ancillary and co-lead roles to her name—the rapacious Lana in Frasier, the ditsy helpmeet Charlene in Designing Women—but the new HBO Max series Hacks marks the rare time the actor has anchored a show.
You may have seen some slightly concerning economic reports. Here’s why you shouldn’t worry too much.
FBI suspect Sam Lazar posed for photos with Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano, who backed Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
How linguists are mapping the formerly overlooked variety of Black speech.
Two questions have dominated politics throughout the coronavirus pandemic. Democrats and public-health experts have asked: What should we do? Former President Donald Trump, for his part, minimized the need to act. He instead spoke incessantly about a very different question: Whom should we blame?“In recent months, our nation and the world has been hit by the once-in-a-century pandemic that China allowed to spread around the globe.
As the Israeli bombing of Gaza enters its ninth day, Palestinians across the occupied West Bank, Gaza and inside Israel are staging a historic general strike. This comes as violence is also spreading across Israel, with Jewish mobs attacking Palestinians in mixed Jewish and Arab communities. Last week, extremist Israeli settlers were filmed attacking Palestinian-owned shops in a Tel Aviv suburb.
As the Palestinian death toll in Gaza tops 200, the leading Israeli human rights group B’Tselem is accusing Israel of committing war crimes by killing blockaded civilians and destroying infrastructure on a massive scale. Executive director Hagai El-Ad says Israel has not done enough to distinguish between military and civilian targets or to act with proportionality. “We’ve seen war crimes in previous military assaults on Gaza,” he says.
The ongoing Israeli attack on Gaza, which has now killed at least 213 people, “really is an act of genocide,” says Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, a member of the Palestinian parliament and head of the Palestinian Medical Relief Society who has been leading efforts to manage the pandemic in the West Bank and Gaza. He says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces multiple corruption charges, is using the latest violence to save his political future.
The death toll in Gaza has reached 213, including at least 61 children, as Israel continues to attack the besieged area by air, land and sea using U.S.-made warplanes and bombs. The death toll in Israel stands at 11 from rockets fired from Gaza. Israel is facing increasing criticism for targeting doctors in its attack, and its airstrikes have reportedly damaged at least 18 hospitals and clinics, according to the World Health Organization.
Conflict can actually be good for your relationship—if you do it right.
One morning a few years ago, Amanda Patten, 26, invited five strangers into her home in Cincinnati. She cleared the toys off of the couch and offered everyone a seat. For three hours, she answered questions about her childhood, her hopes and fears for her own kids, and her news-consumption habits.The visitors were from E.W. Scripps, a broadcasting corporation that owns 60 TV stations in 42 markets, and they were doing something unheard-of for a news-media company.
If she is so willing to share it, what’s to stop their son from eventually finding out?
Parenting advice on toxic anger, racist relatives, and potty humor.
She says I “owe” her, since we’re family.
Checking in on the New York City mayoral race—and the regrettable candidates leading it.
A farcical tale of city planning.
In a strip mall just off Houston’s NASA Parkway is a restaurant called Frenchie’s Italian Cuisine. You wouldn’t know it from the unassuming beige storefront, but inside, Frenchie’s looks like a museum. The walls are covered in framed pictures of smiling astronauts, in their blue jumpsuits and puffy spacesuits, holding up bubble helmets and model spaceships.
I don’t know what to say to him.
Corporate executives and lobbyists say they are confident they can kill almost all of these tax hikes by pressuring moderate Democrats in the House and Senate.
The White House’s reaction to unexpected jobs and price data has opened the administration up to GOP attacks.
Neel Kashkari of the Minneapolis Fed says things should get better as people overcome fears related to the pandemic.
“There were elements of growth in the balance from what I can see and understand,” Carney said in a long response that didn’t directly answer the question.
Chrystia Freeland uses Budget 2021 to reveal Canada’s new emissions target.