“A federal judge has barred the Trump administration from quickly deporting eight foreign nationals who say they are likely to be persecuted or killed if they’re returned to their home countries — including a family of four fleeing the Taliban. However, the Justice Department indicated Thursday that one of the prospective asylum seekers, identified only as N.S. in public court filings, may already be en route back to Ecuador, where she says her husband — a police officer who she says has raped her, beat her and held her at gun point — might kill her. Lawyers for the asylum seekers say the Trump administration has flagrantly ignored federal laws that require people who have ‘credible fear’ of persecution and violence in their home countries be given a chance to legally seek shelter in the United States.” (02/20/25)
“Target was sued on Thursday by the state of Florida for allegedly concealing the risks of its diversity and social initiatives, leading to a backlash among customers that caused its stock price to decline. The lawsuit by the State Board of Administration of Florida, an agency overseeing public pension funds that own Target stock, was filed in the federal court in Fort Myers, Florida. Target did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Florida accused Target of betraying investors and its core customer base of working families by making false and misleading statements about its environmental, social and governance and diversity, equity and inclusion mandates. It said this culminated in a ‘disastrous’ May 2023 Pride Month campaign, which led the retailer to remove some LGBTQ-themed merchandise after in-store confrontations led some employees to fear for their safety.” (02/20/25)
“New York sued several large e-cigarette manufacturers, distributors and retailers on Thursday, saying they fueled a youth vaping epidemic by selling products with cartoonish packaging and flavors such as Baja Slushie, Strawberry Cereal Donut Milk and OMG Blow Pop. Letitia James, the state’s attorney general, is seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in civil fines and damages [sic] from 16 corporate and individual defendants for gross negligence and creating a public nuisance by selling fruit- and candy-flavored vapor products to impressionable children.” (02/20/25)
“Pope Francis is alert, got out of bed to eat breakfast and is showing signs of ‘slight improvement,’ the Vatican said Thursday — nearly a week after the pontiff was rushed to hospital battling double pneumonia. The 88-year-old pontiff, who has been undergoing treatment at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, slept well overnight and had breakfast sitting in an armchair, a Vatican spokesman said in the latest health update. … Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited the pontiff on Wednesday and said he was ‘alert and responsive’ — and even joked about people betting on his death, Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported.” (02/20/25)
“In a major shakeup for the film industry, Amazon MGM Studios said on Thursday it will take creative control of the James Bond franchise from long-serving producers Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli. The deal comes amid mounting speculation of the fate of one of the world’s most popular franchises, after a Wall Street Journal report in December said a clash between the Broccoli family and the e-commerce giant had put Bond’s future on pause. … Under the terms of Thursday’s joint venture, all parties would remain co-owners of the franchise’s intellectual property rights, but Amazon MGM would have creative control. This would give the tech giant a lot more freedom in its approach to the series, as fans await the 26th Bond film and the reveal of who will don the iconic tuxedo after [Daniel] Craig’s 2021 exit.” (02/20/25)
“A Polish woman who claimed to be Madeleine McCann has been arrested at Bristol Airport. Julia Wandelt, 23, was detained alongside a 60-year-old woman from Wales on suspicion of stalking involving serious alarm and distress. … Ms Wandelt claimed to be the missing Madeline McCann in an Instagram post in 2023. Months later she took a DNA test that showed she was from Poland, with some Lithuanian and Romanian heritage. In other words, she is not Madeleine McCann. Mr Clair said the 23-year-old and her companion had travelled to the UK for a few weeks to stay with a friend. He said his client denies the stalking allegations.” (02/20/25)
“President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he likes the idea of giving some of the savings from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency back to U.S. citizens as a kind of dividend. He said at an investment conference in Miami that the administration is considering a concept in which 20% of the savings produced by DOGE’s cost-cutting efforts goes to American citizens and another 20% goes to paying down the national debt. Trump also said the potential for dividend payments would incentivize people to report wasteful spending.” (02/20/25)
“Hipshipper, a shipping platform used by sellers on eBay, Shopify and Amazon, accidentally exposed millions of shipping labels with personal customer information. Researchers at Cybernews found the exposed data in December 2024, but it wasn’t fixed until January, meaning it was open for at least a month. Hipshipper helps people ship packages to over 150 countries, offering tracking, free insurance and easy returns. The exposed shipping labels are important because they detail what’s inside the packages and where they’re supposed to go. However, an unprotected AWS bucket held over 14.3 million records, mainly shipping labels and customs forms. Researchers from Cybernews said, ‘Cybercriminals can use leaked data to carry out scams and phishing attacks. For example, criminals might pretend to be trusted businesses and send fake messages using specific order details to trick people into sharing personal or financial information.'” (02/20/25)
“Why did humans start speaking? Scientists suggest genetics played a big role – and they say the evolution of this singular ability was key to our survival. A new study links a particular gene to the ancient origins of spoken language, proposing that a protein variant found only in humans may have helped us communicate in a novel way. Speech allowed us to share information, coordinate activities and pass down knowledge, giving us an edge over extinct cousins like Neanderthals and Denisovans. The new study is ‘a good first step to start looking at the specific genes’ that may affect speech and language development, said Liza Finestack at the University of Minnesota, who was not involved with the research.” (02/20/25)
“Gov. Kathy Hochul wants to keep Mayor Eric Adams on a short leash, but won’t call on him to resign Thursday, The Post has learned. The governor plans to announce a sweeping set of proposed ethics reforms that would increase the state’s oversight powers over the embattled mayor and senior City Hall officials, a source familiar with her thinking told The Post. Hochul will stop short of calling for Adams’[s] resignation, but is not ruling out removing the mayor at a later date, the source said. … It comes as Adams and New York City face an unprecedented leadership crisis prompted by President Trump’s Department of Justice controversially moving to drop the corruption case against the mayor.” (02/20/25)
