“NASA early Tuesday announced it was pushing the launch date of its Artemis II mission to March, after engineers encountered a liquid hydrogen leak during a critical prelaunch test. … NASA had initially aimed to launch Artemis II in a Feb. 8-11 window. Moving the mission’s launch window will give teams time to review data and conduct a second wet dress rehearsal, NASA said in a separate statement.” (02/03/26)
“In the past decade, the political (and to a lesser extent the intellectual) right in the United States has been possessed by ideas of greatness and golden ages. MAGA pithily encapsulates the idea that there was an era of American greatness in the misty past that is somehow remembered by still-living Americans. Kevin Roberts, the current head of the Heritage Foundation, believes that Americans in 2025 are ‘witnessing the dawn of a golden age. Not because of one man — though he has been a battering ram through the fortress of the ruling class. But because of what this moment now makes possible: a return not just to strength or prosperity or sovereignty — but to the permanent things.’ Roberts appeals to Russell Kirk to back up his sense of an emerging golden era for the American republic.” (02/03/26)
“French state prosecutors have asked appeal court judges to maintain a five-year election ban on the far-right leader Marine Le Pen for embezzlement of European parliament funds in a fake jobs scandal. If the judges decide to grant the request, Le Pen would probably not be able to run in France’s 2027 presidential election. The state prosecutors also recommended a four-year prison sentence against Le Pen, three of which would be suspended, and one served at home with an electronic bracelet. They also requested a €100,000 fine.” (02/03/26)
“Eight international NGOs said they would refuse to provide information about their staff in Gaza and the occupied West Bank to Israel, defying new registration requirements as Tel Aviv continues to restrict the flow of aid into the besieged enclave. The eight organisations are ActionAid, Alianza por la Solidaridad, Médecins du Monde, Médicos del Mundo, Première Urgence Internationale, the American Friends Service Committee, medico international, and Medical Aid for Palestinians. Their stance follows similar decisions by Oxfam and Doctors Without Borders (MSF).” (02/03/26)
Source: Popular Information
by Judd Legum, Rebecca Crosby, & Noel Sims
“The Trump administration is engaged in a multi-pronged effort to undermine the integrity of and confidence in the 2026 election. At the center of the effort is President Trump himself. In a Monday appearance on Dan Bongino’s podcast, Trump said: ‘Minnesota is a mess. There’s something in the water up there. I won the state three times, but I got no credit for it. I won that state three times but it’s a rigged state. Really rigged badly with the Somalians, and the Somalians and the theft.’ The Democratic presidential candidate won Minnesota in 2016, 2020, and 2024. Trump’s claims that the 2020 election was stolen, which he continues to make repeatedly, have been exhaustively debunked.” (02/03/26)
“Trump and his top officials’ blame-the-gun comments certainly risk backlash from a key Republican constituency, but they also put the gun-rights movement in a no-win position. The heel-turn was foreseeable since this isn’t the first time Trump has proved unreliable on guns. Trump backed the idea of stricter gun laws three times during his first term.” 902/03/26)
“Spain has set a new tourism record, welcoming nearly 96.8 million foreign visitors in 2025, according to figures released Tuesday by the National Statistics Institute. The number of international visitors witnessed an increase of 3.2%, compared to 2024, which saw 94 million tourists. Spain is one of the world’s most popular destinations, where tourism accounts for 12.6% of the country’s gross domestic product. It has ranked third as the world’s top tourism earners, after the United Kingdom and France, on the U.N. World Tourism Barometer.” (02/03/26)
