
White House keeps encouraging masks in schools as some states move toward lifting mandates
CNN
The White House maintained its adherence to US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance encouraging mask usage in schools Monday as some states take steps toward lifting mask mandates in the classroom.
The CDC recommends that those who are vaccinated should "wear a mask indoors in public if you are in an area of substantial or high transmission."
School masking continues to be a politically divisive topic as the pandemic enters its third year, with rising vaccinations and cases falling in recent weeks. As CNN reported earlier Monday, New Jersey's universal mask mandate for all schools and child care settings will be lifted on March 7, Gov. Phil Murphy, a Biden ally, announced during a news conference. Delaware Gov. John Carney announced that the state's universal indoor mask mandate will end on Friday and that school mask mandates will expire March 31.

Cuba is going dark under US pressure. How the crisis unfolded and why its troubles are far from over
Almost three months after the US effectively imposed an oil blockade on Cuba that worsened its energy crunch, nearly every aspect of Cuban society has been feeling the strain.

The Department of Homeland Security has been ensnared by a partial government shutdown as Congress did not act to fund the agency by the end of Friday. But nearly all DHS workers will remain on the job — even if many won’t get paid until the lapse ends — and the public probably won’t notice much of a change.











