A Little Extra News You Can Use

The Christchurch City Council will end its contract with Ian Brackenbury Channell, reportedly the world's only state-appointed wizard. The "Wizard of New Zealand" has had a long and unique career.

Federal prosecutors have accused a U.S. Capitol Police officer of obstruction of justice for allegedly encouraging a suspect in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot to hide evidence of their participation.

The company alleges that the employee leaked confidential information outside the company. Netflix employees have planned a walkout over transphobic comments made in Chappelle's new special.

The climate pattern known as La Niña generally brings winters that are drier and warmer than usual across the southern U.S. and cooler and wetter in the northern part of the country.

"It is HIGHLY unlikely that we will find any legal sprinkles that we will use as a replacement," says Rich Myers, owner of the Get Baked bakery in Leeds. "I am extremely passionate about sprinkles."

Many Uyghurs living in Afghanistan want to leave now that the Taliban are back in control. They fear that the Chinese government could push the Taliban to deport them to China.

An administrator with the Southlake School District reportedly made the statement during a meeting when a new state law came up. It says multiple perspectives should be presented on certain topics.

Janneke Parrish says she was fired from Apple as part of an investigation tracing the source of leaks to the press. She co-led the #AppleToo movement, part of growing labor unrest in Silicon Valley.

A panel of experts voted to recommend that the Food and Drug Administration authorize a booster dose of the Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine at least two months after the first shot.

The Justice Department wants the high court to put the restrictive law on hold during ongoing legal challenges. The U.S. government says the legislation is unconstitutional.

Nikolas Cruz's legal team will focus on the trial's penalty phase, where they hope to secure 17 consecutive life sentences instead of the death penalty for the Marjory Stoneman Douglas school deaths.

In Ethiopia, old ethnic tensions are being incited in new ways. And that means the bloody civil war may be entering an even more destructive phase.

Wang Yaping, 41, will become China's first female spacewalker. She and two male colleagues successfully launched aboard Shenzhou 13 to spend six months aboard the Tiangong station.

82% of members of the historically Black Protestant tradition who attend church regularly have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. The post In historically Black Protestant churches, regular attenders more likely to have received COVID-19 shot appeared first on Pew Research Center.

46% of U.S. adults say the area where they live has had an extreme weather event over the past 12 months. The post 67% of Americans perceive a rise in extreme weather, but partisans differ over government efforts to address it appeared first on Pew Research Center.

New findings reveal exactly how the United States is more divided than the other 16 advanced economies surveyed. The post Americans see stronger societal conflicts than people in other advanced economies appeared first on Pew Research Center.

The 2020 census counted 126.8 million occupied households, representing 9% growth over the 116.7 million households counted in the 2010 census. The post U.S. household growth over last decade was the lowest ever recorded appeared first on Pew Research Center.

Columbus Day seems to be fading as a widely observed holiday, having come under fire in recent decades from Native American advocates and others. The post Working on Columbus Day? It depends on where your job is appeared first on Pew Research Center.

Republican- and Democratic-led states alike already require hundreds of thousands of citizens to be vaccinated against various diseases. The post States have mandated vaccinations since long before COVID-19 appeared first on Pew Research Center.

Over the years, we have studied how U.S. adults – as well as teens and children – use and engage with Instagram. Here are seven key takeaways. The post 7 facts about Americans and Instagram appeared first on Pew Research Center.

Weekly Mass-goers and Catholic Republicans express higher levels of disapproval of the pope’s new restrictions. The post Two-thirds of U.S. Catholics unaware of pope’s new restrictions on traditional Latin Mass appeared first on Pew Research Center.

About a third of Republicans (32%) say they would not like Donald Trump to remain a national political figure for many years to come. The post Two-thirds of Republicans want Trump to retain major political role; 44% want him to run again in 2024 appeared first on Pew Research Center.

If you’ve wondered what opinion polls are for, how they are done or how to tell a good one from a bad one, sign up for our email mini-course. The post Want to better understand how surveys work? We’ve got an email course for you appeared first on Pew Research Center.

Shares in the firm dive 20% as it delays first tourist flight to make upgrades.

Fully vaccinated travellers will be allowed to enter the US for the first time since March 2020.

Psychiatrists examine a man suspected of killing five people with a bow and arrows in Norway.

Larry Miller, now 72, said he was in a gang as a teenager when he shot an 18-year-old man.

The UK has been warned the Chinese president is not likely to come, UK government sources say.

The former US president is said to be "on the mend" and "in good spirits" in hospital in California.

Explosions at a Shia mosque in Kandahar kill more than 30 people during Friday worship.

Thousands gather outside major ports, angry that the "Green Pass" is now mandatory for all workers.

German politicians seek a faster exit from coal power as part of a coalition deal.

Police had launched a massive manhunt for Masten Wanjala, who confessed to killing several children.

Does everyone have a right to know their biological parents?

The original Halloween painted a frightening vision of suburban life. None of its sequels has managed to do the same.

Bans and attempted bans of critical race theory and the 1619 Project in classrooms are part of a familiar pattern: Your weekly guide to the best in books

“The bond that we have and the experiences that we’ve shared, I don’t really think ‘friends’ captures that.”

If Democrats want answers, they’ll need to enforce their subpoenas in the face of Trump allies’ defiance. They say that’s just what they plan to do.

In its third season, HBO’s award-winning series Succession needs to remember the dramatic stakes that made it great.

One family’s journey into the middle class

The simplest way to make roads safer and reduce police violence at the same time

The Biden administration isn’t going to fight Congress over January 6 documents. That’s a good thing for the presidency.

A lasting effect of this pandemic will be a revolution in worker expectations.

The U.S. middle class — defined as the middle 60% of households — now holds a smaller share of wealth than top 1%, according to Schwab. Jonathan Last: “This is […]

The House Select Committee investigating the Capitol insurrection will meet next Tuesday to vote on a recommendation to cite Steve Bannon for criminal contempt and refer the case to the […]

Tampa Bay Times: “Across Florida, former President Donald Trump’s most ardent supporters are scouring communities for evidence of voter fraud. They are bombarding local elections offices with calls and emails. […]

Charlie Crist (D) announced that he would legalize marijuana and expunge criminal records for those arrested on misdemeanors or third-degree felonies related to the drug if he were elected Florida […]

“Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) announced Friday his endorsement of Rep. Karen Bass (D) in the mayor’s race, arguing that Bass’ nearly half-century of public service makes her […]

The Nevada Independent reports that 9 of 16 Republican state Assembly members have either announced or are mulling not returning running for re-election.

Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) “raised more than $9.5 million during the latest fundraising quarter, an enormous sum that highlights the extensive fundraising infrastructure the Democrat has built for a re-election […]

The new Texas abortion law has essentially made it impossible for many teenage girls to terminate a pregnancy, the AP reports. That’s because children under 18 have to get permission […]

Los Angeles Times: “It should have been the safest of political appearances — a group of kids gushing about their love of science and space exploration with Vice President Kamala […]

“Russia claims one of its warships has chased away a U.S. Navy destroyer that, according to Moscow, attempted to enter Russian territorial waters during Russian-Chinese naval drills in the Sea […]

FDA advisors are unanimous in endorsing more COVID-19 vaccine boosters. A former high-profile Trump advisor is first to face criminal contempt proceedings in Congress for defying Jan. 6 attack investigators. And three white men go to trial next week in Georgia in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man who was shot while jogging.

A study suggests Johnson & Johnson vaccine recipients could benefit from another booster brand. Also, investigators looking into the Jan. 6 riot await answers from four former Trump administration officials. And the White House calls on ports and private industry to help unstop shipping bottlenecks and rescue the holiday shopping season.

Oil prices and a tangled supply chain are top inflation predictors for today's consumer price snapshot. Thirty countries join a virtual White House cybersecurity summit. And the FDA for the first time is authorizing an e-cigarette product.

A new poll confirms Americans are behind and on edge because of the pandemic. Raiders Coach Jon Gruden resigns after NFL officials found racist, misogynistic and homophobic language in his emails. And a U.S. Navy nuclear engineer and his wife head for federal court to answer espionage charges.

FDA advisors meet to consider Moderna and Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine boosters. Poor turnout mars Iraq's parliamentary elections. And Taiwan tells China it will not bow to pressure to reunify.

In this episode of NPR's Book of the Day, authors Joshua Prager and Leni Zumas each explore the real world implications of abortion politics, through fiction and non-fiction. First, in a conversation with Michel Martin, Prager talks through his book The Family Roe: An American Story, centered on the woman who was the baby at […]

Angelo Codevilla warned that secrecy was the key to power

School drop-off used to be a happy occasion, a time for children to reunite with their friends and parents and caregivers to socialize. For a growing number of Americans, that's no longer the case, writes Ruth Ben-Ghiat.

Precedent shows a Democrat-controlled DOJ, now led by Garland and his radical associates, intends to intimidate and bully parents into silence.

Backlash is building-but Beijing can't seem to recalibrate.

Many Americans today assume that the threat of Communism subsided with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. But "We continue to see Communist and socialist regimes pop up and spread not only in Latin America - for example, in Venezuela and Nicaragua - but around the world," says Ambassador Andrew Bremberg, president and […]

White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain recently endorsed the idea that inflation and supply-chain struggles Americans are struggling with are "high class problems."

Even when the president's party passes historic legislation, voters don't seem to care.

From lockdowns to vaccine passports.

Elaine Godfrey, a staff writer at The Atlantic, joins the FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast to discuss her recent article about what happened when a local paper disappeared from a small Iowa town. And Danny Hayes, a political science professor at George Washington University, also joins to talk about his research on the role local news plays […]

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 […]

Welcome to Pollapalooza, our weekly polling roundup. Election Day 2021 is only about two weeks away, and the big race to watch is undoubtedly Virginia’s gubernatorial contest. A still-somewhat purple state with a Democratic lean in recent presidential elections, Virginia will be viewed by many as a bellwether for the 2022 midterms, and the race […]

Football fans are in for an early treat this weekend. The Los Angeles Chargers and Baltimore Ravens face off during the early slate of games on Sunday, and the matchup looks to be a great one. According to our quality and game importance metrics, this is the game of the week by a wide margin, […]

Local news is disappearing in towns across the country. From 2008 to 2019, the percentage of people who said they got their news from local papers every day fell by more than half. In the same time period, the number of newsroom jobs plummeted. The way Americans get their news has changed and that can […]

It took a small town chiropractor named Charles Brown to help vaccinate millions of kids for decades to come — all because he didn’t want to vaccinate his own. It was 1979 in Houston, Mississippi, and Brown needed to enroll his 6-year-old son in school. But state law required the boy to be vaccinated against […]

This year’s San Francisco Giants-Los Angeles Dodgers division series was billed as a historic clash of dominant regular-season teams, with the two clubs combining to win a record 213 games over the preceding six months. By and large, it has lived up to that expectation: Every win by the perhaps-still-underrated Giants has been followed by […]

How this works: These forecasts are based on 100,000 simulations of the rest of the season. Elo ratings — which power the pure Elo forecast — are a measure of team strength based on head-to-head results, margin of victory and quality of opponent. Our CARMELO forecast doesn’t account for wins and losses; it is based […]

Welcome to the 2021-22 NBA season, folks! And welcome back to FiveThirtyEight’s NBA forecast, which is based on our RAPTOR player ratings. Before we get into the results of this year’s model and how our forecast sees the battle to dethrone the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks playing out, let’s quickly address a few of the […]

Build An NBA Contender With Our Roster-Shuffling MachineMove players around and make “trades” to change FiveThirtyEight’s NBA predictions. More NBA:2020-21 NBA predictionsOur RAPTOR player ratings By Ryan Best and Jay Boice How would adding a superstar change your favorite team’s title chances? Could a specific role player be the missing piece for a certain squad? […]