“The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services intends to impose sanctions that would suspend enrollment in Elevance Health’s Medicare Advantage prescription drug plans starting March 31, pushing the company’s shares down more than 3%. Elevance disclosed in a filing on Monday that CMS notified the health insurer on February 27 of its intention and indicated that the proposed sanctions relate to alleged non-compliance in submitting certain required risk-adjustment data for services provided before April 3, 2023 under the plans, which cover prescription drug costs for older adults. … Since November 13, 2018, Elevance has failed to submit data corrections for diagnosis codes it identified as unsupported by medical record documentation through CMS’s required electronic systems, according to the agency’s February 27 notice. Instead, Elevance has repeatedly provided this information via encrypted external USB flash drives, a method that the company has explicitly rejected.” (03/02/26)
“Anthropic PBC’s artificial intelligence chatbot Claude and related consumer-facing applications went down early Monday, with the startup saying it has been grappling with ‘unprecedented demand’ for its services over the past week. Nearly 2,000 users had reported Claude AI service disruptions at the outage’s peak around 6:40 a.m. New York time, according to service-monitoring website Downdetector. Anthropic said in a statement by WhatsApp that ‘consumer-facing surfaces’ such as claude.ai and the company’s apps were offline. Businesses that have integrated Claude’s AI models into their own systems were unaffected.” (03/02/26)
“X is rolling out a built-in ‘Paid Partnership’ label that creators can apply to sponsored posts, replacing the hashtag workarounds they’ve had to rely on until now. The feature, announced by the platform’s head of product Nikita Bier, adds a toggle that places a disclosure label directly below a post’s content. It can also be applied retroactively. The label is meant to help creators comply with years-old FTC regulations requiring clear disclosure of sponsored content.” (03/02/26)
“President Donald Trump’s war in Iran is extraordinarily unpopular, according to a poll conducted shortly after the US and Israel carried out massive strikes on the country Saturday. The survey, conducted by Reuters/Ipsos, found that just 27% of voters approved of the strikes, which have killed at least 555 Iranians as of Monday morning and resulted in retaliation from Iran that has killed at least four US service members, with more casualties expected according to a spokesperson for the US Joint Chiefs of Staff. Meanwhile, 43% of respondents disapproved of the military action, while 29% said they were not sure. A majority of Republicans said they approved of the strikes, with 55% expressing support. Still, 13% disapproved, and a noteworthy 31% said they were unsure.” (03/02/26)
“GLP-1 drugs — including Ozempic and Wegovy — may be tied to a slightly higher risk of osteoporosis and gout, according to research presented Monday at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons’ annual meeting. … Osteoporosis is a disease that weakens the bones and makes them likelier to break or fracture, often from minor falls. It’s a common concern for many older adults and for people who lose a significant amount of weight over a short period of time. Gout, meanwhile, is a painful form of arthritis that can occur when the body has too much uric acid, which can come from a diet high in red meat and alcohol — as well as rapid weight loss.” (03/02/26)
“The Cincinnati City Council will consider in early March a reparations housing program that would use tax revenue on marijuana to fund a portion of it. The city is expected to discuss the ‘Cincinnati Real Property Reparations Program’, a proposal cosponsored by Vice Mayor Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney and Councilman Scotty Johnson. The program would offer assistance to ‘low-to-moderate income residents’ and ‘any individual or family member of an individual who was prevented from buying a home due to discriminatory practices’, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported. The two officials want an initial investment of $5 million for the program using proceeds from marijuana tax revenue and the city’s capital budget, according to the Enquirer. The program would target residents in 15 of the city’s 52 neighborhoods, and would allow recipients to use the money for a down payment, pay delinquent property taxes or emergency home repairs.” (03/02/26)
“Malaysia’s lower house of parliament on Monday narrowly rejected a constitutional amendment that would limit the premiership to two terms, in a vote marked by high abstention, although without explicit ‘nays.’ The proposed amendment, which sought to limit any individual’s service as prime minister to 10 years, was part of the reform agenda of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s ruling coalition. Anwar, who came to power in 2022, has faced increasing pressure to deliver on campaign promises, with critics accusing him of faltering on reforms. The bill was rejected as 146 lawmakers voting in favor fell just two short of the two-thirds majority required to pass the amendment. Forty-four MPs abstained from voting while 32 were absent.” (03/02/26)
“Responding to a 911 call late Saturday, Des Moines police found an intruder had been shot multiple times. The homeowner told officers he heard someone yelling in his back yard, then pounding on his back door. When he unlocked the door, he says the woman forced her way in and attacked him, so the homeowner fired a handgun. … After she was released from the hospital, [Stannita] Wilson was charged with burglary.” (03/02/26)
“Rap music blared out around us at a campaign rally in the district of Chitwan, in Nepal. Supporters of 35-year-old rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah screamed out lyrics to an AI-generated campaign song which translates to: ‘Time’s up, Fake leaders, Game Over. We’ll ring the bell on 5 March.’ Crowds of all ages were chanting ‘Balen!’, as he’s referred to in Nepal. Giant banners of the political newcomer wearing his trademark black sunglasses were mounted across the rally. Balen Shah is running for prime minister after just three years as mayor of the capital, Kathmandu. He is contesting in what’s become a key race between Nepal’s entrenched political establishment and a new generation of politicians. His party, the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), came fourth in the last general election in 2022.” (03/02/26)
“A German company has signed a deal to help build the first stellarator fusion power plant in Europe. Proxima Fusion has signed the agreement with the Free State of Bavaria, RWE, and Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) to put the world’s first commercial stellarator fusion power plant on the grid in Europe. The company revealed that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed and it outlines a roadmap to commercial fusion in Europe that begins with building demonstration stellarator Alpha near the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) in Garching. … Proxima Fusion also revealed that when operational in the 2030s, Alpha will become the first stellarator to demonstrate net energy gain, meaning its plasma will generate more energy than it consumes.” (03/01/26)
