The local governor said a joint effort by security, traditional leaders, and stakeholders helped secure the release of 38 pupils, staff, and relatives abducted from the Government Science College Kagara. They will receive medical care for a few days before reuniting with their families, Niger state Gov. Abubakar Sani Bello said.

Lawmakers passed a $1.9 trillion economic rescue plan along party lines on Saturday, bringing President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 relief package a step closer to reality. The economic stimulus bill includes direct payments of $1,400 to individual taxpayers who make $75,000 or less per year or less than $150,000 for a couple. It also expands extra unemployment benefits to $400 a week and includes funding for schools, vaccines, and state and local governments. The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.

Lawmakers once again grilled law enforcement officials Thursday about the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman pushed back against suggestions that Capitol police failed to prepare adequately. Many lawmakers agreed that Capitol law enforcement should not shoulder all of the blame. But members maintained police should have been more prepared than they were.

Gov. Greg Abbott largely blames the board leaders of Texas’ power grid operator for catastrophic utility failures during last week’s winter storm. Historic snowfall and single-digit temperatures left millions throughout the Deep South without power and water for days. More than 80 people died, roughly half of them in Texas.

Law enforcement officers tasked with protecting the U.S. Capitol blamed intelligence failures for the Jan. 6 incursion that left five people dead and dozens injured. At a joint Senate committee hearing on Tuesday, witnesses said they never saw a warning the FBI sent about the potential for violence the day Congress met to certify the results of the presidential election. “We properly planned for a mass demonstration with possible violence,” former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund said.

Fans of Kermit the Frog and his friends rejoiced when Disney+ added all five seasons of The Muppet Show to the streaming platform on Friday. But one change to the variety show, which ran on prime-time TV from 1976-1981, had viewers scratching their heads: Eighteen of the more than 100 episodes opened with a trigger warning.

President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Justice Department returns to Capitol Hill on Tuesday for the second day of his confirmation hearing. On Monday, Merrick Garland told members of the Judiciary Committee that if confirmed, he would first focus on prosecuting those involved in the riot at the U.S. Capitol. Senators pressed him for assurances the Justice Department would remain politically independent on his watch.