The Taliban's Rise Is Complicating Biden's Efforts To Close Guantánamo's Prison Afghanistan's fall and the Taliban's resurgence have raised fears that if President Biden releases additional Guantánamo prisoners, they may join the militant group or return to the battlefield. Sacha Pfeiffer
ICE Deported Him After His Movie Came Out. Now He's Testing The Limits Of Free Speech Lawyers for Claudio Rojas say he was deported by ICE in retaliation for his activism, which the agency denies. His case could have big implications for immigrants' freedom of speech. Joel Rose
High School Is Accused Of Censorship As Officials Rip Out Yearbook Pages On The News Administrators tore out a two-page timeline depicting recent events, including the police killing of George Floyd, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Jan. 6 insurrection. They cited "community backlash." Vanessa Romo
No word yet on refunds for people fined under now-void WA drug law People who paid fines under Washington State’s old felony drug possession law say they are still waiting for the state to refund their money, which could total tens of millions of dollars. Amy Radil
A Texas School Made Masks Part Of Its Dress Code To Get Around Gov. Abbott's Ban Gov. Greg Abbott — who announced Tuesday that he had tested positive for COVID-19 despite being fully vaccinated — has been fighting with local governments over masks for months. Rachel Treisman
Senators Demand TikTok Reveal How It Plans To Collect Voice And Face Data Sens. Amy Klobuchar D-Minn., and John Thune, R-SD., said they are alarmed by TikTok's recent changes to its privacy policies that automatically collect biometric data of its users. Bobby Allyn
Opinion: 13 Years After The Last R. Kelly Trial, The Culture Has Changed The first federal trial against disgraced R&B superstar R. Kelly is underway. Tenacious reporting has explicitly centered the mostly Black girls and women who have accused him. Anastasia Tsioulcas
U.S. Supreme Court Blocks Part Of New York's Ban On Residential Evictions The court has agreed to partially lift a ban on evictions for renters in New York state, which was already scheduled to expire at the end of the month. Eric Singerman
Jamie Spears Agrees To Step Down From Britney Spears Conservatorship Facing pressure to cede control of his daughter's finances, Jamie Spears filed documents Thursday to leave his position as conservator of the pop star's estate. No timeline has been laid out, however. Anastasia Tsioulcas
A Former College Professor Accused Of Serial Arson Is Denied Bail In California "Where [Gary] Maynard went, fires started. Not just once, but over and over again," the government said in a court memorandum. Bill Chappell
