In the months since the pandemic began, I’ve heard or read too many stories like this—and now there are numbers backing them up: The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the number of 25- to 54-year-old women in the labor force dropped by more than 5 percent from August to September, the very month that many of us were getting our kids settled in virtual or socially distanced classrooms. The Federal Reserve Bank of St....

A growing body of research shows that saliva samples are equally reliable for detecting SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. And biotech companies and universities are researching and developing saliva tests for their ease of use, including the ability for people to easily and conveniently collect their own samples. “It is important that we have options,” Anne Wyllie, PhD, associate research scientist in epidemiology at Yale School of Medicine, tells Verywell....

As a new administration takes charge, the global community is confronting multiple challenges. More than ever, a strong, engaged and contributing America is deeply needed to help overcome them. President Joe Biden is promising a reassertion of global leadership, a renormalization of diplomacy and alliances and the promotion of human rights abroad. This will be a welcome focus for our foreign policy. January 24 marked International Day of Education. It’s timely to reflect upon one of the most important yet underreported challenges the world is facing—the education deficit....

“The [case] counts are based on the best available information accessible to Reuters at any given time. Total infections and deaths for each country include both confirmed and probable infections and deaths where that data is available. If probable infections and deaths are not reported by a country, we only use confirmed infections and deaths,” Reuters noted. The case data was sourced from official country, state, county, territory government and public health department websites and other verified sources including news conferences, press releases and social media posts by government officials, Reuters explained....

Despite all 19 members of the Vaccine and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee voting “yes” after the lengthy presentation, many members still had concerns over the data they saw from Moderna and the Israel Health Ministry. The committee will hold a similar hearing Friday to review data on the Johnson & Johson booster dose. The decision is seen as crucial for both companies and Biden administration’s vaccine rollout program, but scientific data, as ever in politics, is only one part of the story and can be read in a number of ways....

At least nine people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Ruili, which has a population of about 210,000 people. Of those nine, five were identified as Chinese citizens and four were identified as Myanmar nationals, the Associated Press reported. The outbreak was discovered during routine coronavirus testing of the city’s population, the Yunnan health commission said in a statement. However, the commission did not say how the outbreak began....

However, more than a quarter of patients reported having “COVID rebound,” regardless of whether they’ve taken Paxlovid, according to a small preprint study. The study found that 27% of participants experienced COVID-19 symptoms again after seeing improvements, and 12% tested positive again several days after testing negative. It’s normal for COVID-19 symptoms to return after they’ve initially gone away, according to Stanley H. Weiss, MD, a professor of medicine at the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School....

The Cowboys made the Cowboys look bad. That was all the Cowboys’ mess, and now it’s all on them to clean it up. The other 31 teams ought to take notes, however, and so should the NFL itself. MORE: Whitehead shames Cowboys amid release Don’t be surprised if they all give the Cowboys’ handling of Whitehead’s release, even though it was based on a king-sized screw-up by the police, a thumbs-up....

“I apologize to my family, the Cowboys organization, my teammates and Cowboys fans for my mistake,” McClain said in a statement. “I will not break the rules of my profession in the future, and I regret my error. I look forward to returning to the field on week 5, when I hope to help my team beat the Patriots.” MORE: Top 10 Cowboys | Cowboys’ pressing camp questions | NFL not lifting marijuana ban anytime soon During the offseason, McClain had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee....

Griffin plans to take his horse “Red” to the courthouse in Washington, D.C., as he is charged with knowingly entering restricted areas of the Capitol building on the day of the deadly riot, the Associated Press reported. Griffin is one of hundreds of people who have been arrested and charged in the riot, which left five people dead and spurred a House investigation of former President Donald Trump and his allies....

Jones, 72, had his right hip replaced Sept. 4, according to the Dallas Morning News. He had the same surgery on his left hip just six weeks earlier. MORE: Top 10 Cowboys of all time | Bryant ‘spoke real’ in Rolling Stone interview Jones’ hips had been bothering him over the past year, and he was seen limping at times. He had the surgeries so close together per the recommendation of his doctor....

The final game of wild-card weekend takes place tonight at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, as the No. 4-seeded Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-9, 5-4 home, 4-12-1 ATS) host the No. 5 Dallas Cowboys (12-4, 4-4 away, 10-7 ATS) at 8:15 p.m. EST. There aren’t a lot of “firsts” left for Bucs QB Tom Brady at this point in his career, but tonight’s game will bring one: this will be the first time in his 23 seasons in the NFL that he’s a home underdog in the postseason....

Dallas enters this week coming off a Thanksgiving win over the Giants at home. CeeDee Lamb brought in six catches for 106 yards while Dalton Schultz hauled in two touchdown passes to help lead the team to their second win over their division foes. Meanwhile Indianapolis was on the losing end of its “Monday Night Football” battle with Pittsburgh, falling 24-17 to the Steelers. While rookie wide receiver Jelani Woods broke out for 98 yards on eight catches, the Colts fell behind early and could not catch the Steelers....

How will Baltimore (6-5) respond in a must-win game for its AFC playoff hopes? Will Dallas (3-8) continue to slide further behind New York and Washington in the NFC East race? The Ravens are running out of time to get back into the tournament after going 14-2 as the AFC top seed a season ago. The Cowboys now have the worst record in their conference under head coach Mike McCarthy....

Dallas couldn’t feature enough offense in Week 1 against the Rams, and didn’t play much defense in Week 2 against the Falcons. The Seahawks separated from the Falcons in Week 1 but their defense kept the Patriots in it until the end of Week 2. There’s no doubt these teams can run and pass the ball with anyone in the league. But both the Cowboys and Seahawks expected to have better respective defensive strengths in their linebackers and secondary....

According to ESPN, Dallas hoped to keep Hurns at a smaller price tag than what he was due in the final season of the two-year, $12 million deal he signed with the team last offseason. However, Hurns wanted to see what he could get on the open market, prompting his release. Interest in Hurns from other teams will rely heavily on his health after he suffered a gruesome ankle injury in the Cowboys’ 24-22 win over the Seahawks in the wild-card round of last season’s playoffs....

Anderson, the goalie for the Ottawa Senators, used his stick to stop Giroux in the closing seconds of the second period. The save also stopped Philadelphia from going up 4-0.

Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway brought drama and wreckage as the threat of a rain-shortened race combined with the pack racing noted on restrictor-plate tracks to create some of the worst crashes of the year. MORE: Geico 500 images | Keselowski wins | Johnson, Kurt Busch spark crash Of the 40 cars on the track, 33 were involved in a crash at some point in the race, according to Fox....

Sean Gentille, Sporting News' hockey writer and my trusted source for information on cultural happenings among those younger than me, chimed in on Twitter: "Tyler is pretty horrible, and there's a chance something truly insane would happen. Please go." For 24 hours, I waffled on whether I should go. Finally, I decided that Socrates was right and the unexamined life is not worth living. So, I lined up around the block with a bunch of people, most of whom appeared to be a little more than half my age, and bought my ticket an hour and a half before the show....

“As of last night we had issued evacuations to approximately 8,000 homes, impacting between 25,000 and 30,000 people,” said Fresno County Sheriff’s spokesperson Tony Botti in an email to Newsweek. The California National Guard deployed three helicopters on Tuesday morning to rescue dozens of people, including campers and hikers, from the Sierra Nevada Mountains as the wildfire grew. A spokesperson for the state’s National Guard told Newsweek that they rescued at least 148 people trapped by the fire on Tuesday, bringing the total number of people airlifted to safety to 362 and 16 dogs since Friday....