Today's top stories

U.S. air strikes in Syria, why the chips aren't down for Hyundai, and what did the queen get Prince Harry for Christmas?
The U.S. House of Representatives will aim to pass President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus aid bill today in what would be the first major legislative victory of his presidency.
But in a blow to Democrats, the Senate parliamentarian - the official advisor on Senate rules - said the chamber cannot include Biden’s proposed $15-an-hour minimum wage in the bill.
Donald Trump’s hold on the Republican Party will be on full display as an annual gathering of prominent conservatives starts in earnest, with a key question being whether the former president will run again in four years.
Biden directed U.S. military air strikes in eastern Syria against facilities belonging to what the Pentagon said were Iran-backed militia, in a calibrated response to rocket attacks against U.S. targets in Iraq.
The decision to carry out the strikes was meant to send a signal that, while the United States wanted to punish the militias, it did not want the situation to spiral into a bigger conflict, according to a U.S. official.

↑ Joe Biden commemorates the 50 millionth COVID-19 vaccination at the White House, February 25, 2021. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

WORLD

↑ Thanoun Yahya, a 59 year-old an Iraqi Christian, walks at Al-Bishara church in Mosul, Iraq, February 22, 2021. REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani

Ahead of Pope Francis' trip to Iraq next week, we look at the stark choice facing the scattered and dwindling Christian community in this Biblical nation - to stay or go.
Unidentified gunmen have kidnapped a number of schoolgirls, estimated to be more than 300, from the town of Jangebe in northwest Nigeria, the second such kidnapping in little over a week. A surge in armed militancy in the northwest has led to a breakdown of security in Africa’s most populous country.
Israel has led the world in COVID-19 vaccinations. Now it faces another challenge that other countries will have to grapple with: how to balance public health and the rights of the unvaccinated.
Prince Harry has said he stepped back from his royal duties because the “toxic” British press had been destroying his mental health. In an interview with James Corden, Harry also revealed his one-year-old son Archie’s first word was “crocodile” and said the queen had sent him a waffle maker as a Christmas present.