Some 25,000 National Guard troops are being dispatched to Washington, D.C., this week ahead of President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration ceremony Wednesday, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation plans to subject all of them to additional vetting amid concerns of an "insider attack," The Associated Press reports.

Law enforcement agencies routinely scrutinize service members to root out those with any potential links to extremist views. But as AP reports, this practice has for years focused on "homegrown insurgents radicalized by al-Qaida, the Islamic State group, or similar groups." In this case, though, the FBI is worried about troops who might harbor animus toward the incoming administration "fueled by supporters of President Donald Trump, far-right militants, white supremacists, and other radical groups."

Trump has been widely blamed for inciting the violent insurrection attempt on the U.S. Capitol earlier this month, which left five people dead. Ongoing threats of violence have led to increased security in Washington — where the National Mall will be closed for Inauguration Day — and around the country.

Military and law enforcement personnel have been running drills in preparation for Inauguration Day, studying maps of the D.C. area, and plotting their routes. The FBI vetting process for National Guard members will likely involve scanning databases and watch lists for red flags, AP reports. Troops are also being trained on how to spot threats within their ranks.

"The question is, is that all of them? Are there others?" asked Army Secretary McCarthy. Read more at AP. Jessica Hullinger

John Oliver spent most of Sunday's Last Week Tonight talking about Black hair. "And look, I realize I'm not the ideal person to talk about Black hair," he said, showing a ] cautionary tale of what can happen "when a white guy on TV starts confidently talking about Black hair, even with the best of intentions." On the whole, Oliver said, "white people don't really understand a lot about Black hair," and "that lack of understanding, and lack of interest in understanding, can have real consequences, from the personal to the professional."

"Black hair and hairstyles are frequently yet another pretext for discrimination," Oliver said. "So tonight, let's talk about it, and let's start by understanding why Black hair is so important." He had a short cultural history lesson and primer on hair-straightening techniques. "By the 1960s and '70s, though, the embrace of Black hair's natural texture and culturally significant styles had become a radical act of self-acceptance and political power," Oliver said. "But despite the natural hair movement, white people's discomfort and ignorance around Black hair has very much remained."

Because stores frequently keep Black hair products in locked cabinets, "it is already hard enough to get products to do your hair at home, but finding a qualified stylist can be even harder," Oliver said. And when Bo Derek or Miley Cyrus appropriate Black hairstyles for fun, it "isn't just infuriating, it can directly make it harder for Black people to fight discrimination concerning their hair," because "for decades, courts have found that hairstyles, even though they are deeply tied to racial identity, are not covered" by anti-discrimination laws.

"And look, if you're not a Black person, it's probably easy to hear these stories and think, 'Well, it's just hair,'" Oliver said. "But the thing is, it's not, it's not at all. Black people aren't getting hired or are getting fired, Black people are being teased, taunted, and removed from school, all because of their hair." CROWN Acts, passed already in several states, can make a real difference, he explained. "And while social stigma and unrealistic beauty standards aren't going to go away overnight, there are a few things that white viewers in particular might want to keep in mind going forward." Oliver outsourced this message to Uzo Aduba, Craig Robinson, and Leslie Jones. There is NSFW language, mostly from Jones. Watch below. Peter Weber

The Republican governors of Arkansas, Montana, and South Carolina have announced plans to cut expanded federal jobless benefits, arguing that the extra $300 a week is keeping people from returning to the workforce. "More states are expected to follow," Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) said Friday, after the Labor Department reported a smaller-than-expected 266,000 jobs added in April.

The Chamber of Commerce on Friday also urged Congress to end the benefits before they expire in September. Other GOP governors are reinstating requirements that benefit applicants prove they are looking for jobs. "We absolutely can put more people to work," Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said Wednesday.

The White House and Democrats argue the supplemental benefits are helping Americans and not measurably hurting the economy. In fact, there are a host of reasons for April's hiring slowdown, The Associated Press reports. "Nearly 3 million people are reluctant to look for work because they fear catching the virus, according to government surveys. More women also dropped out of the workforce last month, likely to care for children," and supply-chain problems have throttled the construction and manufacturing sectors.

But there is data suggesting businesses are right about a labor shortage, AP says. For example, "average hourly pay rose 0.7 percent in April to $30.17," a sign companies are having to offer better wages to attract workers. "Unemployment benefits have been like collective bargaining," a restaurant worker named Marie M. told AP. "They made a union out of all of us." She isn't alone in being more selective about job offers now.

The hospitality industry raised hourly pay by an average of $1 during the pandemic, Heather Long writes at The Washington Post. But "warehouses have hiked wages by more than a dollar and now pay $26 an hour on average."

Wall Street shrugged off Friday's jobs report "as an anomaly," Long notes. "But another way to look at this is there is a great reassessment going on in the U.S. economy," with "growing evidence — both anecdotal and in surveys — that a lot of people want to do something different with their lives than they did before the pandemic."

"And if the extended benefits mean some workers can take the time to find a job that's a better match for their skills, and pays them a better wage, that's a good thing, not a bad thing," Heidi Shierholz, senior economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, tells The Wall Street Journal. Peter Weber

His hard work paid off, and now, Joshua Nelson wants to give a boost to another deserving student.

Nelson, 18, is a senior at St. Charles West High School in St. Charles, Missouri. He was one of just a handful of students to receive the President's Scholarship at Southeast Missouri State University — a $43,000 award that will cover tuition and boarding for four years, as long as Nelson meets the criteria for renewal. He had saved $1,000 for college, and is now using that as the foundation for the Joshua Nelson Leaders in Action Scholarship, which will be given to a well-rounded student active in community service.

"I really thought it was important to give back to my community that poured in so much to me," Nelson, who will study biomedical sciences, told KSDK. "Honestly, it makes me feel on top of the world. The fact that I can just help somebody a little bit makes me feel great and I really want to see other people succeed."

Nelson has a history of giving back: he is president of his school's Multicultural Achievement Council, which aims to prepare historically under-represented students for college and careers, and also tutors at a local Boys and Girls Club. On top of that, he is a varsity basketball player and member of the National Honor Society and National Society of Black Engineers.

It is Nelson's hope that other individuals and businesses in the community will donate to the scholarship fund, so multiple awards can be distributed to students for years to come. Catherine Garcia

Laos has recorded its first COVID-19 death, CNN reports, more than a year after the coronavirus pandemic began.

The state-run Vientiane Times said the person who died was a 53-year-old Vietnamese woman who worked at a karaoke club in the capital Vientiane. The woman had diabetes and other medical conditions, the Vientiane Times said.

A landlocked country in Southeast Asia, Laos has experienced a surge in COVID-19 cases since the Lao New Year holiday in mid-April — of the 1,233 cases reported in Laos since May 2020, 1,184 were recorded in the last month, Johns Hopkins University data shows. About 7.28 million people live in Laos, and so far, the government has administered 184,387 COVID-19 vaccine doses, CNN reports. Catherine Garcia

When his mother called to tell him she had been fired from her job as a hotel housekeeper, Sian-Pierre Regis knew it was time for her to stop worrying about taking care of everyone else and start focusing on herself.

His mom, Rebecca Danigelis, was fired in 2016, at the age of 75. By that point, she had been working hard for decades, and Regis was concerned that without a job, she would feel adrift. "She worked her hands to the bone," Regis told CBS Evening News. "She deserved to feel joy. And that's what I wanted to give her."

Regis, a freelance journalist, had his mom share with him her bucket list — things she had always wanted to do, but couldn't because of work. Soon, they were on the road, doing everything from milking cows in Vermont to dancing in a hop-hop class to jumping out of an airplane. Regis filmed their adventures and turned the footage into a documentary called Duty Free, which is about their journey, ageism, and financial insecurity. The documentary is now in theaters and available to stream online. Catherine Garcia

There are nearly a dozen countries that have yet to receive a single COVID-19 vaccine dose, including Chad, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Eritrea, and Tanzania.

"Delays and shortages of vaccine supplies are driving African countries to slip further behind the rest of the world in the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, and the continent now accounts for only 1 percent of the vaccines administered worldwide," the World Health Organization said last week.

Chad, one of the world's least developed countries, has recorded 4,835 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 170 deaths. The government has expressed concerns over receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine, over fears it won't protect as well against the coronavirus variant that first emerged in South Africa. The country routinely sees the temperature reach 110 degrees Fahrenheit, and could receive a shipment of Pfizer doses next month if the cold storage facilities necessary to hold the vials can be secured, The Associated Press reports.

Dr. Oumaima Djarma, an infectious disease doctor in N'Djamena, the capital of Chad, told AP it is "unfair and unjust" that no one in the country — not even a single health care worker — has been able to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Djarma has been pleading for vaccines "to at least protect the health workers. Everyone dies from this disease, rich or poor. Everyone must have the opportunity, the chance to be vaccinated, especially those who are most exposed."

Burkina Faso was on track to receive vaccines from a manufacturer in India, but because that country is dealing with an overwhelming number of COVID-19 cases, production has been scaled back. Chivanot Afavi, a nurse in Burkina Faso, told AP that health care workers there want COVID-19 vaccines just as much as their "colleagues around the world. No one really knows what this disease will do to us in the future." Catherine Garcia