This woman announced she is stepping down after over 15 years as German Chancellor. Her

party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), selected Armin Laschet as the new party leader

and Chancellor candidate to replace her in the upcoming election. This woman is

Letters sent in September of 2020 to the White House and to federal agencies in Texas

contained a lethal substance, and investigators are trying to determine if other envelopes with

the toxin were sent through the postal system. The letters contained

The Trump administration said it would bar the Chinese-owned mobile apps TikTok and one other from U.S. app stores, a significant escalation in America’s tech fight with China that takes aim at two popular services used by more than 100 million people in the United States. Which other mobile app is included in the ban?

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, known as a member of the liberal wing of the Supreme Court died in

September after battling cancer. She was a role model for women and a champion of women’s

equality. RBG, as she was affectionately known, was a very close friend to this Justice with a

more conservative leaning who died in 2016. Despite their differences on the Bench, this odd

friendship endured between RBG and

For more than seven years, prosecutors say an employee at a test center in Louisiana took

bribes to enter falsified test scores, allowing

Accused of putting users' privacy at risk, policing content online and harming small business

competition, tech giants were summoned to Capitol Hill to be grilled by Republicans and

Democrats alike for wielding their market power to crush competition and amass data. Called

before Congress were leaders from Amazon, Facebook, Google and Apple. All but one of the

following attended the meeting. Missing was

Pat Quinn, the man credited with helping to make the ice-bucket videos a viral sensation that

raised $220 million for ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, succumbed to the disease seven

years after his diagnosis. ALS is also know as

This effort, in collaboration with the Texas Education Agency, will provide digital skills designed

to address economic recovery through skilling both underserved communities and re-skilling

Americans impacted by COVID-19. The plan is part of a larger plan aimed at helping 25 million

people worldwide acquire new digital skills by the end of the year. The program is called the

A team of physicians recently reported a never-before-described set of salivary glands in

patients' neck. The first hint of this new gland emerged while Wonter Vogel, a radiation

oncologist was probing for damage to salivary glands after radiotherapy for cancer in the head,

neck, or brain – injuries that can lead to issues such as problems with digestion, speech, and

increase in oral infections. These two glands were named "tubarial glands" based on their

location above the torus tubarius, the section of the nasopharynx just behind the pharynx.

Rarely do doctors or come across an undiscovered bit of human anatomy, but Vogel's rare

discovery was made in the Cancer Institute in

All of the following except one ravaged the coast of Louisiana and threatened Texas during the

2020 hurricane season.

12) Police in Grafton, Wis., arrested Steven Brandenburg on recommended charges of first-degree

recklessly endangering safety, adulterating a prescription drug and criminal damage to

property. The man allegedly left the vials of Covid-19 vaccine out overnight, thus causing

concern that the vaccine produced by Moderna would not be effective in offering protection

from the disease. Moderna's vaccine can be stored in a refrigerator and frozen, but must be left

used within 12 hours of non-refrigeration. At first the situation was deemed an honest mistake,

but the man later confessed to leaving the viles out for two 12 hour periods. Moderna's vaccine

was unlike the first vaccine that rolled out for mostly hospital workers and front line workers

which had to be kept at the temperature of dry ice (-70 degrees C) and was produced by

Samples of near-earth asteroid Ryugu have arrived in Japan for investigation. The samples

were recovered in 2019 by the Japanese Hayabusa2 spacecraft and began a year-long journey

to deliver them to Earth in a small sample-return capsule that landed December 5, 2020 in

The US Department of Transportation announced that it is revising the Air Carrier Access Act on the transportation of service animals by air. After unfavorable publicity about Emotional Support Animals such as snakes, ferrets, hamsters, and monkeys. American Airlines banished an 80-pound support pig after it squealed and defecated in the aisles. Dexter, the emotional support peacock, was turned away from a United flight and subsequently died and in July, and an emotional support dog bit a flight attendant. The Airline lobbying group Airlines For America (A4A) sought the change that resulted in

On October 15th an explosion occurred at an office of the Flower Grove Coop Gin. According

to the fire marshal's preliminary investigation an undetected butane leak was behind the blast.

The fumes ignited when one of the workers flipped on a light switch. Three were injured in the

blast suffering 2nd and 3rd degree burns. Flower Grove Coop Gin is located in

Mayor Brandon Whipple was told of a plot to kidnap him over the cities mask mandate to help

prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. The kidnapper spelled out his plans graphically in

a series of text messages sent to another city official. After kidnapping the mayor and killing

him, he planned to turn him into fertilizer. Meredith Dowty, 59, was arrested on a charge of

criminal threat. This follows a disturbing trend of alleged abduction plots involving elected

officials nationwide. Mayor Whipple is the mayor of

Found alive, hiker, Holly Courtier, 38, went missing for two weeks after hiking in

A French teacher, Samuel Paty, 47, was beheaded near his school in October for showing a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad to his students. Seven people, including two students and a parent have been detained and charged with complicity in a terrorist murder. Mr. Paty was hailed as "a quiet hero" and "the face of the Republic" at an event in Paris. The teacher's family was presented with the nation's highest honor, the Legion d'honneur. Presenting the honor was French President

Joe Biden selected Miguel Cardona as his pick for Secretary of

After the attack on the Capitol building in Washington, DC, several members of Trump's

cabinet resigned or threatened to resign. Elaine Chao, the wife of the Republican leader,

Senator Mitch McConnell, submitted her resignation and announced it in a letter posted on

Twitter. Chao was the

Major General Stephen M. Neary, a two-star general who oversaw Marine forces in Africa and

Europe was relieved of his command following allegations that he used a racial slur while

speaking with subordinates. The US Army also fired or suspended 14 officers and enlisted

soldiers. This move came to address a chronic failure of leadership that contributed to a

widespread pattern of violence, including murder, sexual assault and harassment. This comes

after a year that saw at least 25 soldiers die due to suicide, homicide or accidents, including the

bludgeoning death of Spc. Vanessa Guillen who was missing for two months before her

remains were found close to her base at

A U.S. Postal Service carrier, Crystal Nicole Myrie, was arrested on charges of stealing a mail- in ballot along with 10 gift cards and four prepaid debit cards as well nearly 200 other pieces of mail according to a complaint filed by the U.S. Postal Service office of Inspector General. This happened in

For the first time ever, the Vatican has

In October the Republican National Committee (RNC) chair, Ronna McDaniel tested positive for Covid-19. McDaniel, along with running the RNC, is also the niece of Senator

Newly-elected Texas House Speaker Rep. Dade Phelan had a close call in December when

With the election of Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock in Georgia the balance of power shifted in the Senate to 50/50 representation by Democrats and Republicans. Ties will now be broken by

Receiving a 3 percent raise this year after adoption of the spending bill will be

SpaceX's Starlink won nearly 900 million in FCC subsidies to

This country became the largest in South America to legalize abortion, a landmark vote in a mostly conservative Catholic region and a victory for Latin America's growing feminist movement. Legalizing abortion was

Pixar's new animated movie, Soul, is it's first movie to

The Justices on the United States Supreme Court are: Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, John

G. Roberts, Samuel A. Alito, Stephen Breyer, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett

Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. The Chief Justice is

) Numerous candidates for President expressed support for either abolishing or changing the

Electoral College which ultimately picks the U.S. president. In the past 200 years more than

700 proposals have been introduced in Congress to reform or eliminate the Electoral College

with none of them becoming law because the Electoral College is constitutionally mandated.

The election for president is held every four years on the Tuesday after the first Monday in

November. In each state, electors meet after the presidential election on the first Monday after

the second Wednesday in December and cast their votes for president and vice president in

separate ballots. Joe Biden received 306 electoral votes and Donald Trump received 232

electoral votes in the 2020 election. With a total of 538 electors, in order to win the office of the

presidency, a candidate must receive 270 electoral votes. In order to do away with the electoral

college

 Storm Filomena, an extratropical cyclone, in early January brought unusually heavy snowfall

and killed at least 5 people in

Many called for the invoking of the 25th amendment after the breaching of the Capitol when the

House and Senate were meeting in joint session to certify the results of the 2020 presidential

election. The 25th Amendment strips the president of his duties and the Vice President

assumes the responsibilities of the President. The 25th Amendment can be invoked when it is

deemed that the president is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. The 25

Amendment can be invoked by

Following Kamala Harris' resignation from the Senate to fill her role as Vice President,

California Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed the California Attorney General to fill her vacant

Senate seat. Becoming California's first Latino Senator is

President Joe Biden's nominee for Attorney General is

Which company has been chosen by TikTok as its secure cloud provider and will become minority investor with a 12.5% stake?

Two planets in our solar systems were very close together on December 21 for the first time in

800 years. This created a bright light in the sky that has been dubbed by some as the Star of

Bethlehem or Christmas Star in reference to the star that appears in the nativity story in the

Gospel of Matthew where "wise men from the East" are inspired by the star to travel to

Jerusalem in search of the infant king, Jesus. The two planets that seemed to be as one on

December 21 are

A British judge rejected the extradition to the U.S. of Julian Assange due to mental health

concerns. Assange is the founder of this controversial website:

What is Operation Warp Speed?