According to two people who were briefed on the plan by the Trump administration, and who asked not to be named for fear of retribution, the administration has forged six new agreements between the Education Department and other agencies, offloading day-to-day operations of congressionally-required programs while retaining a small contingent of staff at the department. For example, under these new agreements, much of the work of the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, which includes managing Title I, a key federal funding stream that helps schools support low-income students, would shift to the U.S. Department of Labor, as would much of the work of the Office of Postsecondary Education. The U.S. Department of the Interior would take on much of the work of the department's Office of Indian Education. The U.S. Department of State would take on international education and foreign language studies programming. read more
Asked by a reporter about Khashoggi's murder during a press conference in the Oval Office, Trump defended the crown prince -- who minutes earlier had pledged to increase his past commitment of $600 billion in investments in the U.S. to $1 trillion. "He's done a phenomenal job," Trump said of Mohammed, adding: "Things happen, but he knew nothing about it." And, referencing Khashoggi, the president also seemed to offer an explanation for his murder: "a lot of people didn't like that gentleman," he said. read more
He grew up on a farm in Indiana, the son of a factory worker and eldest of five children. He studied at Liberty, a Christian university founded by conservative pastor and televangelist Jerry Falwell ... read more
A federal appeals court on Friday upheld the hate crime convictions of three white men who chased Ahmaud Arbery through their Georgia subdivision with pickup trucks before one of them killed the running Black man with a shotgun. read more
Community cohesion refers to the strength of relationships and solidarity among community members. In everyday life, it's about community members having a sense of trust and belonging and believing that neighbors will show up for one another. This study asked rural Americans how they experience their communities across seven different dimensions of cohesion, including feelings of support and connection and openness to diverse perspectives. Based on their answers, rural Americans were grouped into three categories: low (20%), moderate (63%) or high (17%) sense of community cohesion. Overall, most rural Americans report strong feelings of support (82%) and pride (81%) in their communities. About two-thirds also feel emotionally connected (68%), able to collaborate with others (67%), free to express their opinions (65%) and valued (65%). read more
2. How much money do you think US pastors were getting from USAID?