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Philip Roth and Judy Blume were born five years apart in the 1930s. Both grew up in New Jersey, in the crucible of Jewish American suburban assimilation. Both were haunted by the Holocaust, news of which trickled stateside just as they were nearing adulthood. And both are literary icons. But they’re icons of different kinds.... The post We need to talk about New Jersey’s Jewish master of literature. No, not that one appeared first on The Forward.

Sign up for Chalkbeat Detroit’s free newsletter to keep up with the city’s public school system and Michigan education policy.As the sound of fireworks boomed around Detroit neighborhoods to mark the end of Ramadan Thursday night, Humayra Ahmed stayed up late weighing a heavy decision.The 17-year-old had not yet decided if she would miss school at Cass Technical High School the next day to observe the sacred Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr. If Ahmed didn’t go to school on Friday, she would not be eligible to receive a $100 perfect attendance incentive from the Detroit Public Schools Community District. She said she needs the money to cover the costs of activities for the end of her senior year.Ahmed and other Muslim students in the district have expressed frustration over missing out on the attendance incentive for observing Eid, which can be celebrated for up to three days. The observances commemorate the end of Ramadan, a month of fasting, prayer, gatherings, and time with family. Eid is not recognized in the district’s calendar this year, despite years of student advocacy. However, observance is considered an excused absence.“We’re not asking for the whole month off for Ramadan – it’s one day to celebrate with family and feel closer to God,” said Ahmed. “We still continue to show up to school while we are fasting to get the work done and score good grades.”Superintendent Nikolai Vitti said in an email the district is “committed to including Muslim holidays in the calendar next year.” He added that will depend on factors outside of the district’s control, such as union negotiations.The holiday is based on the Islamic lunar calendar, which means it falls on a different day each year.The district’s attendance incentive began last year as one of its efforts to combat chronic absenteeism, which is defined as a student missing 10% or more of the days in a school year. In a typical 180-day school year, it amounts to about 18 missed days of instruction.Students missing too much school due to systemic barriers such as inadequate transportation, chronic illness, and parents’ work schedules has long been an issue for communities like Detroit, where 84% of students come from low-income homes.Last school year, nearly 61% of DPSCD students were chronically absent.This year, students who showed up to each class every school day for a week got $100 Visa gift cards. There were 10 weeks students could get the incentive this year, giving them a chance to earn up to $1,000. This week is the last of the incentive, which is given in the winter and early spring months when attendance tends to drop due to inclement weather.Vitti previously said the incentive helped improve attendance last year, with nearly half of all high schoolers receiving a payment.Studies suggest attendance incentives may have minimal effects because researchers said the programs do not address demotivating factors like unsafe routes to school.The district’s attendance incentive does not make exceptions for any excused absences – whether they are for religious holidays, chronic illnesses, deaths in the immediate family, or college visits.Both excused and unexcused absences are included when the state calculates chronic absenteeism.Vitti told Chalkbeat the district relied on state guidelines regarding which absences contribute to chronic absenteeism when it created the incentive.Students, educators, and advocates asked during public comment at multiple board meetings this school year for a 2026-27 calendar without classes on the holiday.Vitti said including Eid in the district’s 2026-27 calendar may require an agreement with unions to shorten midwinter break. Some other school systems in Metro Detroit, home to one of the country’s largest Muslim populations, do so to accommodate students.Another option, said Vitti, is “adjusting the midwinter break and/or spring break” next year. Having a spring break that does not occur from March 29 through April 2, 2027, as mandated in the Wayne Regional Educational Service Agency’s common calendar, would require a waiver from the Michigan Department of Education and union approval, he added.It is unclear what adjustments to the breaks the district may consider.“We do not want to extend the school year into mid to late June by adding days off to the calendar because this leads to worsening student attendance, behavioral issues, and the risk of temperatures being too high in most of our schools,” he said.After years of student calls for change, DPSCD recognized the holiday for the first time in its 2021-22 calendar. Union negotiations and considerations for extending the school year upended plans for observances other years.Muneer Taher, a senior at Western International High school sits for a portrait at Clark Park on Thurs., March 19, 2026 in Detroit, MI.Muneer Taher, a Muslim Western International High School senior, planned to miss school on Friday. Instead, he planned to wake up early to go to a Mosque for hours of prayer, lecture, and spend the rest of the day practicing the tenets of Islam.Taher exchanged emails with Vitti expressing his and his peers’ frustrations over not getting the attendance incentive.The superintendent’s explanation of union calendar negotiations and why exceptions could not be made for excused absences fell flat to the 18-year old.“There are a big number of Muslim students in DPSCD, and accommodating those students will help the community,” he said.Ultimately, Ahmed, the Cass Technical senior, decided to attend school Friday. She said she needs the money to pay for an outfit for her senior pinning ceremony and supplies for an upcoming Muslim Interscholastic Tournament.“I think it’s just unfair,” she said. “But I have this financial strain weighing on me.”Hannah Dellinger covers Detroit schools for Chalkbeat Detroit. You can reach her at hdellinger@chalkbeat.org.

20 березня в телефонній розмові з митрополитом ПЦУ Епіфанієм президент України Володимир Зеленський висловив глибокі співчуття з приводу упокоєння патріарха Філарета

San Diego Unified overshoots its affordable housing goals so 10% of its workforce will still be housed if something goes wrong.

As the US and Israel’s war on Iran continues to worsen, Hegseth’s attacks on the media have also escalated.

O plenário do Supremo Tribunal Federal (STF) começou a julgar nesta sexta-feira (20) a privatização da Companhia Paulista de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo (Sabesp). O primeiro voto, do ministro Cristiano Zanin, foi por manter o processo de desestatização. A análise, entretanto, foi interrompida por um pedido de destaque feito pelo ministro Luiz […] Fonte

(The Center Square) – Armed with battering rams and search warrants, federal agents stormed homes and warehouses across the country, seizing millions in cash, piles of illegal drugs and a deadly arsenal, signaling an aggressive escalation in America’s war on drugs. The multi-agency crackdown, highlighted by the DEA’s Operation Fentanyl Free America, comes as the United States faces a shifting landscape in the opioid crisis. Although overdose deaths have declined from record highs, fentanyl and other synthetic drugs remain a deadly threat, fueling action by law enforcement and policymakers. In the second phase of Operation Fentanyl Free America, the DEA seized more than 4.7 million fentanyl pills and nearly 2,400 pounds of fentanyl powder between Jan. 12 and Feb. 10. "The drug poisoning epidemic has been cultivated by designated terrorist cartels who operate like multi-billion-dollar corporations and have weaponized fentanyl with the clear objective to increase America's dependence on illicit drugs," DEA Administrator Terrance Cole said in a statement. Agents also confiscated 147,000 pounds of cocaine, 21,000 pounds of methamphetamine, more than 26 million methamphetamine pills, 1,200 pounds of heroin, 65,000 pounds of illicit cannabis and more than 1,500 firearms. More than 3,000 arrests were made nationwide. President Donald Trump has made fentanyl the face of his renewed war on drugs in the U.S. He has also taken aggressive steps to reduce drug trafficking around Venezuela with military strikes on suspected drug boats. In October 2025, the DEA launched an enforcement initiative and awareness campaign called "Fentanyl Free America" to reduce supply and demand for fentanyl. While drug overdose deaths have declined in the U.S., they remain a significant public health crisis. Provisional CDC data show about 87,000 overdose deaths from October 2023 to September 2024, a drop from around 114,000 the previous year and the lowest total in any 12-month period since June 2020. For families, the toll remains devastating. In December, the DEA reported that the first phase of the operation put "unprecedented pressure on the global fentanyl supply chain." DEA lab testing found that 29% of fentanyl pills analyzed in fiscal year 2025 contained a potentially lethal dose, a sharp decrease from 76% in fiscal 2023. Fentanyl powder purity also dropped to 10.3%, down from 19.5%. "Aside from producing less potent fentanyl, the cartels have increasingly diversified their operations in an attempt to minimize their risks and maximize profits, an evolution driven by opportunity and greed," according to the drug agency. Cole said the operations are hurting cartels. "Drug seizures in the United States strike directly at cartel profits, while efforts to disrupt supply chains and dismantle money laundering networks deliver consequences far beyond our borders," he said. Cole also stressed education around opioids could help reduce overdose deaths. "We must reach into our communities nationwide and share the simple truth: One pill can kill," he said. "Enforcement saves lives. Education prevents the next tragedy. Together, we can end this crisis." The DEA seized about 29% less fentanyl in 2024 compared to the prior year, according to its 2025 threat assessment. In 2024, agents seized 22,000 pounds of fentanyl and 61 million fake pills – a 24% decrease from 2023. Data from the El Paso Intelligence Center’s National Seizure System reflect the same trend, with total fentanyl seizures down nationwide. The drug agency is expected to release an updated drug threat assessment late this year. The latest DEA operations come amid a wider war on drugs. The Department of War's U.S. Southern Command carried out more than 45 strikes on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific since September, killing more than 140 people. The most recent military strikes came on Thursday, when Gen. Francis Donovan conducted a lethal kinetic strike, but Southern Command didn't say how many people were killed in the strike. "Intelligence confirmed the low-profile vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations," Southern Command announced in a social media post. Three suspected drug traffickers survived the attack. Military officials alerted the U.S. Coast Guard to begin search-and-rescue operations for survivors. The strikes, part of Joint Task Force Southern Spear, target international drug smuggling operations in international waters. Trump has frequently said that each strike saves 25,000 American lives. Since Trump began the controversial military strikes on suspected drug boats in the region in September, Democrats, a few Republicans, and some international groups have condemned the U.S. military strikes. Congress failed to pass a measure requiring Trump to get permission before launching such strikes. U.S. officials have not estimated the weight or value of illegal drugs that have been destroyed in the military strikes. Trump has yet to use the military on suspected drug operations in other parts of the world, but has said he would consider military action elsewhere to stop drug smuggling. The military strikes continue on some vessels, while others face more traditional enforcement, such as seizures and arrests. Last month, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Seneca's crew unloaded about 17,750 pounds of cocaine worth more than $133.5 million in Port Everglades from four interdictions in international waters off the eastern Pacific Ocean, according to the Coast Guard. Most of the world's cocaine supply comes from nearby Colombia. China and other Asian nations produce most of the precursor chemicals needed to make fentanyl, the potent opioid responsible for most U.S. overdose deaths in recent years.

250 білоруських політв’язнів вийшли на волю в результаті переговорів між Лукашенком і США.

The commission had asked permission to file a friend-of-the-court brief warning against the “premature termination” of court oversight of the police. The post Judge denies Community Police Commission bid to oppose Cleveland’s request to end police consent decree appeared first on Signal Cleveland.

The order filed March 16, 2026, said Pollyann Sorcan failed to state a First Amendment retaliation claim in her 2023 suit.

美国众议院中国问题特设委员会星期五(3月20日)公布的一项最新调查报告说，中国正在操纵联合国以实现其自身战略目标。报告说，中国这种做法不仅损害了联合国这一机构，也损害了美国的利益和价值观。与此同时，在众议院拨款委员会的一个听证会上，该委员会主席约翰·穆勒纳尔(John Moolenaar)向美国常驻联合国代表迈克尔·华尔兹(Michael Waltz)就美国如何与盟友和伙伴合作，维护联合国机构的透明度，防止其被像中国这样的国家利用进行了问询。

ارتش اسرائیل با انتشار داده‌نمایی، اعلام کرد که طی ۲۴ ساعت پیش از آن، اهداف متعددی در تهران را هدف قرار داده است که از جمله آنها می‌توان به چندین سایت تولید تسلیحات و انواع پرتابگرها اشاره کرد.

گفت‌وگو با حسن نایب هاشم و شیوا محبوبی درباره وضعیت زندانیان سیاسی در ایران

Spring turkey hunting involves luring in toms — mature male turkeys — and jakes — 1-year-old male turkeys — with calls that mimic the hens they are trying to impress during breeding season.  It can be a tricky process, which is in part why the Iowa Department of Natural Resources is offering a handful of […]

The psychoactive herb kratom can be legally sold in Rhode Island starting April 1, but a Portsmouth lawmaker and pharmacist wants it to be kept in a locked case behind sales counters. Rep. Michelle McGaw, a Portsmouth Democrat, had voted against passage of the kratom law last year. “Kratom is an addictive psychoactive substance,” McGaw […]

خلف العناوين السياسية الكبرى، هناك بشر يواجهون خطرًا استثنائيًا. الإيرانيون اليوم ليسوا مجرد أرقام في صراع جيوسياسي، بل هم أرواح تحاول النجاة في مساحة ضيقة بين غارات الخارج وقبضة الداخل.

شەرقى تۈركىستاندىكى بىر قىسىم ئايرىدۇرۇملارنىڭ يېزىق تاختىلىرىدا ئۇيغۇرچە ئەمەلدىن قالدۇرۇلغان

O líder supremo iraniano, Mojtaba Khamenei, afirmou nesta sexta-feira (20) que o Irã desferiu um “golpe fulminante” e “derrotou” o inimigo na guerra, em uma mensagem pelo Ano Novo persa, marcado pelos ataques de Israel, que matou outros dois dirigentes da república islâmica. Às vésperas de completar três semanas, o conflito ainda está se expandindo. […] Fonte

La escudería británica aclara su modelo tras la salida de Wheatley de Audi.

A spokesperson for the state Department of Environmental Protection, told the Capital-Star the agency is reviewing the letters and “has no plans to modify the Administrative Orders at this time.”