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During a portion of an interview with NBC aired on Thursday’s edition of “NBC Nightly News,” President Joe Biden said that it’s “hard to say” if blue state governors rolling back mask requirements are wrong and that while doing so is “probably premature, but it’s a tough call.” And that he believes we will likely see fewer mask requirements as kids are better protected. Host Lester Holt asked, “Mr. President, in recent days, we’ve seen numerous governors from blue states roll back indoor mask requirements, essentially getting ahead of the federal government, the CDC. Are those governors wrong?”

Alberta’s ruling United Conservative Party has denied that members have been negotiating with an anti-coronavirus restriction trucker border blockade, but nevertheless noted that vaccine passports could end in the province within days.United Conservative Party (UCP) caucus chair Nathan Neudorf dismissed claims that rural UCP members of the Alberta legislative assembly (MLAs) had negotiated a deal with the trucker blockade at the border town of Coutts to end the coronavirus restrictions in the province in exchange for opening the border.“Reports have surfaced that the United Conservative rural caucus has negotiated an agreement to temporarily end the Coutts blockade pending the...

White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci voiced his concern Wednesday with states lifting mask mandates and relaxing health measures at this point in the coronavirus pandemic where cases seem to be dropping dramatically across the country. The recent drop in cases is in part due to three different COVID-19 vaccines being rolled out in recent months. Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warned of people “completely putting aside all public health measures.” He said doing so at this time was “inviting” another surge in cases.

The deadlift may be the simplest and easiest exercise to learn in all of barbell training. You pick up a loaded barbell and set it back down, keeping the bar in contact with your legs the whole way. There are a few subtle complications — the bar should move up and down the legs in a vertical line over the middle of the foot, the bar should start from a position directly over the mid-foot, and you should keep your back flat when you pull. But that’s really about all there is to it. The deadlift is one of...

The army is considering revoking a ban on Jews entering West Bank cities that are under Palestinian Authority control, in view of significant improvement in security and in Israel's coordination with Palestinian security services. The Palestinian Authority is interested in having Israelis visit Palestinian-controlled West Bank cities and their environs, designated as Area A, because it could signal the resumption of trade and tourism, which would boost the Palestinian economy.

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The New York Times is conducting an investigation after a Wall Street and finance reporter was found to have improperly used wording and passages from other news organizations. Zachery Kouwe, who joined the Times in 2008 from the New York Post, "reused language from The Wall Street Journal, Reuters and other sources without attribution or acknowledgement," the Times said in an editors' note. The Times said Kouwe appeared to have "improperly appropriated wording and passages published by other news organizations" in a number of business articles over the past year and in posts on NYTimes.com's DealBook blog....

Washington -- New legislation moving through Congress would end the quarter-century-old moratorium on drilling off the coast of California and other states, and shift the power to block development in coastal waters from Congress to governors and state legislatures. The proposal by House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, also adds a sweetener to boost offshore oil and gas production: States that allow drilling off their coasts would gain a greater share of royalty payments from energy companies, which usually go to the federal government. The measure is stirring debate in coastal states from California to Florida, with environmentalists and...

Jail: Rough Road or Easy Street? Amenitites Important, Prison Officials Say The Hartford Courant 4 August 1997 Page A-1 by Dana TofigCorrection Officer Charles Robinson stands at the edge of the gymnasium at Cybulski Correctional Institution. From his vantage point, he can see across the room. In front of him, a handball smacks off a wall of the gym, creating a rhythmic cadence with the grunts of two inmates. Prisoners are shooting hoops on the other end of the expansive room. The metallic clang of weights echoes through the gym. Some would look at this scene as an example...

No-frills prisons and jails: a movement in flux. Federal Probation Vol.60 No.3 (Sept. 1996) Pages 35-44. By. Peter Finn Introduction IN RECENT years, a number of state legislatures, governors, commissioners of corrections, and sheriffs have eliminated or reduced the availability of certain amenities or privileges that inmates have previously enjoyed--so-called "frills"--ranging from weightlifting equipment to hot meals to personal clothing. Corrections experts and administrators interviewed for this study (see below) agreed that the no-frills movement is already widespread and gaining momentum. In addition, a 1995 survey conducted by Corrections Compendium found that 60 percent of responding departments of corrections...