A Little Extra News You Can Use

September was expected to be the month of mass returns to the office. New the surging extra-contagious coronavirus variant has employers wondering what to do.

A new order by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott that allows state troopers to stop and turn around vehicles carrying migrants to curb the spread of COVID-19 drew a threat of a Justice Department lawsuit.

Sweat is an "evolutionary marvel," says Sarah Everts, the author of The Joy of Sweat. In her new book, Everts delves into the science of perspiration and how this trait has enabled humans to thrive.

China is battling to stem the spread of new cases tied to the more infectious variant. Nearly 200 people have been infected since last week, when a case was detected at an international airport.

About 300 unarmed soldiers are joining local police in the city of 6 million to enforce coronavirus restrictions as authorities try to quell a new outbreak linked to the delta variant.

Jill Biden reportedly stepped on an object on a beach in Hawaii last weekend ahead of two official events there. She was in Hawaii after attending the start of the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

French judo athlete Teddy Riner, a 6-foot-8, two-time gold medalist known as "Big Ted," has dominated his sport for a decade. It was a shock when he lost in a quarterfinal fight.

Earlier this year, the basketball guard was preparing for the NBA draft after completing his freshman year at the University of Kentucky. He had signed to an agency associated with LeBron James.

In addition to smashing a longtime world record, Tatjana Schoenmaker took home South Africa's first gold medal of the Tokyo Games.

This means they'll head to the semifinal. The U.S. is trying to become the first reigning Women's World Cup champion to win Olympic gold.

The U.S. defeated Japan 86-69 in group play. It's a record 51st straight win for the top-ranked U.S. dating to the 1992 Games. The Americans are going for their 7th straight Olympic gold medal.

The Serbian star was beaten in the men's tennis semifinal by Germany's Alexander Zverev. It means Djokovic can't make history by winning all four major tournaments and Olympic gold in a single year.

President Biden has called on states and localities to offer $100 to people who get vaccinated. Many states have already offered cash incentives, with varying results.

Those on the political right are more likely to say there should have been fewer public activity restrictions during the COVID-19 outbreak. The post Those on ideological right favor fewer COVID-19 restrictions in most advanced economies appeared first on Pew Research Center.

A growing share of U.S. adults say it’s a bad thing for the country that some people have personal fortunes of a billion dollars or more. The post Americans’ views about billionaires have grown somewhat more negative since 2020 appeared first on Pew Research Center.

In the U.S., highly religious adults are much more skeptical about the possibility of extraterrestrial life than those who are less religious. The post Religious Americans less likely to believe intelligent life exists on other planets appeared first on Pew Research Center.

We’ve updated our series of fact sheets on the U.S. news media industry. Here are some key findings about the state of the industry in 2020. The post 6 key takeaways about the state of the news media in 2020 appeared first on Pew Research Center.

Americans’ comfort levels with using gender-neutral pronouns to refer to someone have remained static since 2017. The post Rising shares of U.S. adults know someone who is transgender or goes by gender-neutral pronouns appeared first on Pew Research Center.

With the economic recovery gaining momentum, unemployment among immigrants is about equal with that of U.S.-born workers. The post Immigrants in U.S. experienced higher unemployment in the pandemic but have closed the gap appeared first on Pew Research Center.

GOP moderates and younger adults generally offer more support for action to address climate change than conservatives and older adults. The post On climate change, Republicans are open to some policy approaches, even as they assign the issue low priority appeared first on Pew Research Center.

57% of Americans view voting as “a fundamental right for every adult U.S. citizen and should not be restricted in any way.” The post Wide partisan divide on whether voting is a fundamental right or a privilege with responsibilities appeared first on Pew Research Center.

Canadian views of their own country’s and their southern neighbor’s handling of the pandemic have shifted considerably in the past year. The post As border remains closed, Canadians are critical of U.S. pandemic response but still view their neighbor favorably appeared first on Pew Research Center.

Here, we discuss the findings of a comprehensive report about the polling errors of 2020 and their implications for polling. The post Q&A: A conversation about U.S. election polling problems in 2020 appeared first on Pew Research Center.

The tech giant rejects claims it has broken European Union data protection laws.

The star says box office takings for Black Widow were hit when it was streamed at the same time.

Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta says vaccine nationalism is why he wants his country to move towards vaccine production.

Two crew members, a British and a Romanian citizen, are killed in an incident off the coast of Oman.

Novak Djokovic's hopes of winning a 'Golden Slam' are over after losing to Alexander Zverev in the Olympic tennis semi-finals.

The operator says the EPR reactor at Taishan in China is "under control" despite fuel rod concerns.

For the first time since 2004 an athlete other than Usain Bolt will win the men's Olympic 100m - but who are the contenders for gold?

The National Gallery says their repatriation will "close a very difficult chapter of our history".

The Olympics host is facing record Covid case numbers, fuelled by the virulent Delta strain.

Villages and hotels are evacuated as firefighters attempt to put out dozens of blazes.

Works that illuminate the intricacies of how we form communities and relate to one another: Your weekly guide to the best in books

The Delta variant is winning, for the moment, and the CDC’s coronavirus map shows that we’re failing to fight it.

The vaccines promised freedom, but political opportunists have spoiled that.

Go ahead, hit Snooze.

Start-ups are going to ridiculous lengths to rebrand an industry in desperate need of some younger customers.

To reach vaccine conspiracists and other skeptics, focus on what they care about most: freedom without repercussions.

The country’s robust investment in public media has helped it reduce political divisions.

Lofty prodemocracy rhetoric is back, but the Biden administration isn’t doing enough to thwart a coup in Tunisia.

Anti-gay bigotry is on the defensive in hip-hop right now.

Scenes from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, wildfires in Turkey and Russia, a spacecraft in Earth’s orbit, migrants crossing the Mediterranean, flooding in China, and much more

“A sobering scientific analysis published Friday of an explosive Massachusetts covid-19 outbreak fueled by the delta variant found that three-quarters of the people who became infected were fully vaccinated,” the […]

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) criticized the “inconsistency” of Republicans who were all-in for President Donald Trump’s infrastructure ideas but aren’t supporting the $550 billion bipartisan deal reached this week, Bloomberg […]

Charlie Cook: “Democratic hopes of retaining their slim majorities in Congress are almost entirely dependent upon President Biden not sinking them.”

A new GW Politics poll finds that 47% of Republican voters believe that a time will come when “patriotic Americans have to take the law into their own hands.” Just […]

Susan Glasser: “Still, it has long struck me that the Trump Presidency was very much a House-style Presidency, just as Biden’s politics have undoubtedly been shaped by his thirty-six years […]

Washington Post: “As a federal ban on evictions expires Saturday, a $46.5 billion emergency fund aimed at getting rent to tenants at risk of eviction remains largely unspent.” “Only nine […]

Republicans are accusing Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of trying to substitute his own version of the bipartisan infrastructure agreement as the base text of the bill that differs from […]

The House Oversight Committee released handwritten notes by former Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue of a call with former Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen and Donald Trump on Dec. 27, 2020 […]

“Donald Trump promised to give away his $400,000 presidential salary. And he kept that promise, publicly announcing each gift — at least, for his first three and a half years […]

“Today’s Anniversary of Medicare & Medicaid reminds us to reflect on the critical role these programs have played to protect the healthcare of millions of families. To safeguard our future, […]

Internal documents from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that the delta variant of the coronavirus appears to cause more severe illness than earlier variants and could spread as easily as chickenpox. Also, defrocked Catholic Cardinal Theodore McCarrick was criminally charged Wednesday with sexually assaulting a 16-year-old boy in 1974. And, about 200 […]

Senate Democrats and Republicans came together to advance a roughly $1 trillion proposal to improve the country's aging infrastructure, a deal months in the making. Also, President Biden is set to announce that all civilian federal employees must be vaccinated against the coronavirus or submit to regular testing and other restrictions. And, a look at […]

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revised its guidance on wearing masks and is now recommending that some fully vaccinated people wear masks indoors if they live in areas with significant or high coronavirus spread. Also, four police officers testified about the physical and verbal assaults they faced responding to the Jan. 6 riot […]

Four police officers who defended the U.S. Capitol on January 6 will be the first to testify today when a House select committee opens its investigation. Also, in New York City, all city workers are being told they have to be vaccinated by mid-September. This is one of several vaccine mandates popping up around the […]

A surge in coronavirus cases across the U.S. fueled by the delta variant is prompting a growing number of public health experts to call for everyone to mask back up, especially indoors. Also, Iraq's prime minister is in Washington to meet with President Biden, and on the table is how long to keep U.S. troops […]

This week's bonus episode of Up First comes from NPR's daily business podcast The Indicator from Planet Money. The Bureau of Labor Statistics updates the Consumer Price Index each month. The latest number shows a 5.4% increase over the last twelve months. That has some inflation watchers worried. So how do we measure inflation? And […]

With our democracy on the line, the Senate must create an exception to the filibuster for legislation concerning voting and other constitutional rights.

The world's best gymnast doesn't need to look invincible.

Joe Biden's presidential approval rating is dropping fast. In the latest Rasmussen poll, Biden is now at a 47 percent approval rating.

Words change frequently when Democrats are in charge. Liberals are now called progressives. Voter identification is called voter suppression. Mothers are now birthing persons.

Will the performative confrontation of the former President and his congressional allies overwhelm Joe Biden's Senate style?

The January 6 rioters stormed the Capitol because they believed the election was stolen. They thought they were resisting an insurrection

By John Kass Every Monday in the city of anarchy, on what Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot once called Accountability Mondays without irony, the media tallies the number of the weekend murdered dead and the wounded. And the Democrat politicians point fingers at each other. More than 70 people were shot this past weekend, with 12 […]

Britney Spears has gained attention in her conservatorship case because she is a pop star, but usually it is an elderly grandma or grandpa who suffers from abuse in the system. This attention, fortunately, is bringing needed scrutiny to the crisis, which will hopefully bring relief to the elderly caught in the conservatorship trap as […]

Welcome to The Riddler. Every week, I offer up problems related to the things we hold dear around here: math, logic and probability. Two puzzles are presented each week: the Riddler Express for those of you who want something bite-size and the Riddler Classic for those of you in the slow-puzzle movement. Submit a correct […]

Sport climbing is making its debut at the Olympic Games this year. To win a medal, 20 men and 20 women will each compete in three separate events: lead, speed and boulder. To explain what differentiates the three events, what all the climbing lingo means and what it will take to win gold, Tokyo Olympics […]

Welcome to Pollapalooza, our weekly polling roundup. It’s easy to blame partisanship for everything these days. Including the speed with which COVID-19 is raging through the U.S., causing cases to spike and CDC guidance to shift.  The delta variant is spreading rapidly in part because around 30 percent of Americans remain entirely unvaccinated. About 60 […]

Cases of COVID-19 are surging in the U.S., largely due to the spread of the delta variant. Earlier this summer, an average of 11,000-15,000 cases per day were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but that average is now surpassing 60,000 per day. The federal government and some states have started taking […]

Sport climbers have a lot to worry about during competition: the difficulty of the climb, the risk of falling, the distractions from spectators and the speed of their opponent. But Olympic climber Alannah Yip has found a way to work through her anxiety using a mindfulness technique called “color breathing.” This practice helps her get […]

It’s official: For only the fourth time in U.S. history, a state will hold an election on whether to recall its governor midterm. The long-expected gubernatorial recall election in California is set for Sept. 14, and 46 candidates (not including the governor himself, Democrat Gavin Newsom) have officially qualified to run. But perhaps the most […]

The women’s 1,500-meter swim made its Olympic debut Wednesday in Tokyo, which meant NBC’s camera operators experienced a struggle previously known to only a few others: They had to film gold medalist Katie Ledecky’s race and make it look close. “She’s got a trail group of three swimmers below her,” announcer Dan Hicks said about […]

A typical NBA draft prospect’s scouting report is likely to include a few common attributes listed as strengths: “athletic,” “long wingspan,” “playmaker.” One characteristic that rarely appears as a strength? “Old.”  It’s no secret that over the years, NBA teams have selected fewer and fewer players who spent four years at a U.S. college, prioritizing […]

This is the latest edition of our column that excavates the origins of public figures’ factually dubious comments. We explain what their claims are referring to, the evidence (or lack thereof) behind them and where they sprang from in the first place. Who said what … On July 19, Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of […]

In this installment of the FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast, the crew looks back at the record number of Democrats who ran for president in 2020 and assesses where they are now. They also review a new report from the American Association for Public Opinion Research on why election polls were historically off in 2020.