College-bound high schoolers are making their final deliberations ahead of May 1, the national deadline to pick a school. That day will mark the end of a hectic admissions season drastically shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many colleges dropped standardized testing requirements, and because some high schools gave pass/fail grades and canceled extracurriculars and sports, admissions counselors had to change how they read and evaluate applications.

The judge in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin criticized comments made by Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., over the weekend, calling them "disrespectful to the rule of law," but rejected a motion from the defense to use her rhetoric as grounds for a mistrial.

The fate of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, on trial for the killing of George Floyd in May 2020, is now in the hands of the jury.

Chauvin's trial entered its seventh week Monday with Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill's instructions to jury members, followed by closing arguments from prosecution and defense attorneys. Jurors will be sequestered during their deliberations.

In closing arguments, prosecutor Steve Schleicher said Chauvin directly caused the death of Floyd on Memorial Day after kneeling on Floyd's neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds.

U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who engaged with pro-Trump rioters during the Jan. 6 insurrection, died of natural causes the day after the attack, Washington, D.C.'s chief medical examiner announced Monday.

On Monday, Australia and New Zealand launched their long-anticipated travel bubble that will allow residents of each country to visit the other without having to quarantine upon arrival.

Emotional videos capturing long-awaited reunions in arrival halls in various airports across Australia and New Zealand have been circulating online since the first passengers touched down. Thousands are reported to have made the journey across the Tasman Sea in the bubble's opening first day.

Greta Thunberg, the 18-year-old Swedish environmental activist, is now lobbying world leaders to make sure that COVID vaccines are distributed equitably around the globe.

Speaking at a Monday press conference for the World Health Organization, Thunberg called it is "unethical" that young people at low-risk from COVID in rich nations are being vaccinated before health care workers in low-income countries.

The prosecution and defense, in closing arguments, accused each other of misleading the jury in the trial of Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd.

Prosecutor Jerry Blackwell had the last word, telling jurors, "the largest departure from the truth" was that "Mr. Floyd died because his heart was too big."

A federal judge on Monday ordered two alleged leaders of the far-right extremist group the Proud Boys detained pending trial on conspiracy and other charges tied to the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly found that the evidence presented so far in the case weighs in favor of jailing Ethan Nordean and Joseph Biggs ahead of their trial. Both men had been released, but the government renewed its request to have them returned to custody after they were indicted.