“Columbia University said Thursday that federal immigration officials [abducted] a student after misrepresenting their purpose for entering a school building. Columbia said that early this morning federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) went into a residential building owned by the university and [abducted] a student. ‘Our understanding at this time is that the federal agents made misrepresentations to gain entry to the building to search for a ‘missing person.’ We are working to gather more details,’ said Claire Shipman, acting president of the university. … Shipman said that DHS officers need a judicial warrant or subpoena to enter nonpublic buildings, writing, ‘An administrative warrant is not sufficient.'” (02/26/26)
“In a stunning twist, Netflix is declining to raise its bid for Warner Bros., positioning David Ellison’s Paramount as the winner in the battle for the fabled studio. Netflix co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters released a statement Thursday outlining their decision, namely that the deal is ‘no longer financially attractive’ and that it ‘was always a ‘nice to have’ at the right price, not a ‘must have’ at any price.’ … With Netflix out, Paramount’s latest bid is almost a sure thing to be accepted by the Warners board, which determined earlier Thursday that it was a ‘superior proposal’ to Netflix’s deal.” (02/26/26)
“The Trump administration has accused China of secretly testing a nuclear weapon in 2020. The group that monitors nuclear tests worldwide, the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), says it couldn’t confirm a test actually occurred. China has rejected the accusations, calling them a distortion of its nuclear policy. Instead of treating this as a technical disagreement for international institutions to sort out, the Trump administration appears to be using these claims to push for restarting U.S. nuclear testing ‘on an equal basis.'” (02/26/26)
“Delivery company FedEx said in a statement on Thursday that it will return any tariff refund it might get to shippers and customers who paid them. The statement came after FedEx filed suit in the U.S. Court of International Trade to request a refund on what it paid for tariffs set by President Donald Trump under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. On Friday, the Supreme Court ruled that the IEEPA tariffs are illegal. More than 1,000 companies have filed suit in the U.S. Court of International Trade in efforts to recoup costs from the illegal tariffs, including large U.S. corporations like Costco and Revlon. … The Supreme Court ruling did not address implementation of any system by which the companies and individuals who paid those tariffs could be refunded.” (02/26/26)
“The cost of PC components has been skyrocketing as AI infrastructure buildout creates extraordinary demand amid limited supply. HP says that squeeze is now hitting PC memory especially hard, with RAM now accounting for 35 percent of a system’s overall cost. … AI has been eating up the world’s supply of memory and companies like Micron have even abandoned their consumer brands to focus entirely on B2B supply. Other components like GPUs have also been feeling the pressure.” (02/26/26)
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Joseph Solis-Mullen
“In a landmark 6–3 decision issued on February 20, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that President Donald Trump exceeded his statutory authority when he imposed sweeping tariffs on imports from nearly every trading partner under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) of 1977. Yet within hours of the decision, the administration made clear that its tariff strategy was far from finished. By pivoting to alternative statutory authorities dating from the 1930s, 1960s, and 1970s, the White House signaled that while one legal pathway had been closed, others remain available. The practical result is not policy clarity but continued regime uncertainty, an outcome that carries real economic costs.” (02/26/26)
