“The remains of London’s earliest Roman basilica have been discovered under an office block, in what archaeologists have described as one of the most significant recent discoveries in the capital. The almost 2,000-year-old structure was part of the forum, the Roman capital’s social and administrative centre, and built around the late 70s or early 80s AD, just a few decades after the Romans invaded Britain and 20 years after Boudicca sacked and burned the city in AD60. … Archaeologists have long known of the location of the forum but were surprised to find extensive foundations and walls made of flint, ragstone and Roman tile, in some areas extending more than 10 metres long, 1 metre wide and 4 metres deep. The scale of the remains led the site’s developers, Hertshten Properties, to revise its plans to include a public exhibition and event space, for which it intends to submit a revised planning application.” (02/13/25)
“The CEO of Jeff Bezos'[s] Blue Origin announced in an all-hands call on Thursday company-wide layoffs of ‘about 10 percent’ of its employees, a sweeping readjustment of its space and launch business. The layoffs affect roughly 1,400 of the company’s nearly 14,000 employees and comes as Blue Origin aims to ramp up production of its giant New Glenn rocket, which had its first long-awaited debut launch last month.” (02/13/25)
“New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she will not comply with a request to extradite to Louisiana a New York doctor who faces a criminal charge there for allegedly prescribing abortion-inducing drugs despite a near-total abortion ban. Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R) on Tuesday signed an extradition warrant for the New York doctor, Margaret Daley Carpenter, after a Louisiana patient was allegedly found to have taken abortion medication. … New York is among the Democratic-led states that have enacted ‘shield laws’ to protect doctors who prescribe abortion medication to patients who live in states where abortion is restricted. New York law prohibits any state or local government worker from cooperating with out-of-state authorities regarding any health-care practice that is legal in New York.” (02/14/25)
“Close to 100,000 protesters thronged the center of Brussels on Thursday while airports and public transport were largely paralyzed as trade unions took their ire to the streets over drastic plans of the new center-right government to revamp some of the foundations on which the nation’s welfare state was built. Reductions in pensions and cuts for public service personnel were central themes as the country’s three main unions joined hands to confront the new government of Prime Minister Bart De Wever, whose program to take on massive government debt includes measures that weigh heavy on the lower-income working classes.” (02/13/25)
“Matt Schlapp, the Chairman of the American Conservative Union, which hosts the CPAC convention, allegedly engaged in lewd conduct and allegedly sexually assaulted a man at a restaurant and bar in Virginia on Saturday night, six witnesses and the man who alleges he was assaulted tell me. Schlapp has repeatedly been accused of sexual misconduct in recent years by multiple individuals, with at least one allegation reportedly ending in a confidential settlement of nearly half a million dollars, paid on Schlapp’s behalf by an insurance company to the accuser — also a man. … I spoke to seven sources, a mix of men and women, who were present at the bar on Saturday night. … I have also reviewed video footage and photographs confirming Schlapp was present at the bar. Further, sources confirmed to me that Schlapp used a credit card in his name to set up a tab, which he did not close out.” (02/13/25)
“The European Parliament has asked lawmakers, parliamentary assistants and staff to use Signal, an end-to-end-encrypted messaging app, as an instant messaging tool for work-related communications, according to an internal email seen by POLITICO. ‘Due to a recent increase in threat on commercial telecommunications infrastructure and following certain incidents targeting large telecommunications companies mainly in the U.S., the risk of interception or manipulation of unsecure communications via public networks has increased,’ the email said. The advice comes after it was revealed that a China-linked hacking group called Salt Typhoon conducted large-scale intrusions on U.S. and global telecommunication providers.” (02/13/25)
“The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits decreased last week, suggesting the labor market remained stable early in February. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 7,000 to a seasonally adjusted 213,000 for the week ended February 8, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 215,000 claims for the latest week. Claims have trended lower so far this year, consistent with historically low layoffs.”(02/13/25)
“The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ramped up grants for migrants from 2020 to 2024 — which included cash assistance to buy cars, homes and even build credit for startup businesses, according to a shocking watchdog report that found taxpayers were left on the hook for $22.6 billion. HHS’[s] Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) — which came under fire last year for having lost track of 32,000 migrant kids in the US — handed out the high sum to a host of nonprofits, effectively acting as a ‘giant magnet’ for those crossing the US border and claiming asylum, auditors from the money monitor OpenTheBooks revealed exclusively to The Post.” (02/13/25)
“Ghana’s former former finance minister has been declared a fugitive. On Wednesday the special prosecutor gave Ken Ofori-Atta an ultimatum: give himself up or be tracked down. He is in the spotlight, accused of having released tens of millions of dollars in public money for the building of a vanity project conceived of by the former president. The massive cathedral still has not been built.” (02/13/25)
“Elon Musk will withdraw his $97.4 billion bid for OpenAI’s nonprofit arm if the ChatGPT maker stops its conversion into a for-profit entity, according to a court filing. … On Monday, Musk, along with his artificial intelligence company xAI and a consortium of investors, launched a bid to acquire OpenAI’s nonprofit arm for $97.4 billion, accusing the firm and its CEO Sam Altman of abandoning its original mission to develop AI for good and of pursuing profits instead. Altman has rebuffed the offer, telling CNBC that the move is just an effort by Musk to ‘slow down a competitor.'” (02/13/25)
