The Oakland Unified School District is considering as many as 13 schools to close permanently at the end of this school year, although the list, and decision to close any schools, is still tentative, according to district officials. Neighborhood elementary schools are the predominant campuses on the chopping block....
U.S. Warns That Computer Chip Shortage Could Shut Down Factories
The U.S. supply of computer chips has fallen to alarmingly low levels, raising the prospect of factory shutdowns, the Commerce Department is reporting. Companies that use semiconductors are down to less than five days of inventory — a sharp drop from 40 days in 2019, according to a department...
New COVID-19 Variant Detected in at Least 40 Different Countries
As omicron cases fall across some parts of the United States, international health officials are now warning about a new variant. "BA.2" is a sub-variant of omicron and has been labeled “variant under investigation" by health officials in the United Kingdom who say they are now monitoring the newest strain. Also...
Free N95 Masks Are Arriving at Pharmacies and Grocery Stores. Here’s How to Get Yours
Nearly a week after the Biden administration announced it will deploy 400 million free N95 masks to the public, the high-quality face coverings are starting to arrive at pharmacies and grocery stores. "Every person is allowed up to 3 free masks pending availability," the Department of Health and Human Services...
Ukraine Prepares for War: Photos Show Civilians Armed With Rifles as Invasion Threat Looms
Tensions between Moscow and Kiev have reached boiling point over recent months. In September, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned an all-out war with Russia could be a "possibility." Now, thousands of Ukrainians have joined the nation's Territorial Defence Forces (TDF), a voluntary section of the army. Pictures show civilians...
Zakaria: Putin Has Carefully Calculated the Odds. Right Now, They’re in His Favor.
What does Vladimir Putin want? It’s a question Washington finds hard to answer because we Americans rarely put ourselves in other people’s shoes. Two important recent essays provide some clues. Both suggest that the Russian president has stayed in power since 1999 not by being a reckless gambler but rather...
This New Vaccine Could be a Pandemic Game-Changer
The world now has a new Covid-19 vaccine in its arsenal, and at a fraction of the cost per dose. Unlike the three vaccines approved in the U.S. – Pfizer and Moderna’s mRNA vaccines and Johnson & Johnson’s viral vector vaccine, which provide the body instructions on how to produce the spike...
Smittcamp Slams LA DA George Gascon for Policies ‘Wreaking Havoc on Crime Victims’
Fresno County's top prosecutor has penned a letter to her counterpart in Los Angeles County, telling him that a series of controversial directives he issued upon taking office last month are "extreme" and "already wreaking havoc on crime victims." District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp wrote: "Your special directives are extreme,...
Israeli Soldiers Blindfolded and Gagged Elderly Palestinian American Later Found Dead: Leaked Report
A leaked summary of an Israeli investigation into the death of a Palestinian American in the West Bank after Israeli troops detained him this month suggested that no soldiers were likely to be prosecuted despite investigators confirming that the man was dragged from his car, blindfolded and handcuffed and then fell...
Germany Wants to Attract 400,000 Skilled Workers From Abroad Each Year
Germany's new coalition government wants to attract 400,000 qualified workers from abroad each year to tackle both a demographic imbalance and labor shortages in key sectors that risk undermining the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. After decades of low birth rates and uneven migration, a shrinking labor force also poses a...