“President Emmanuel Macron on Monday broke several decades of French nuclear taboos — promising to increase the number of warheads and making explicit France’s role in European security. Those are some of the most significant changes in French nuclear doctrine since the end of the Cold War. ‘An increase of our arsenal is indispensable,’ the French president said at the highly secure Ile Longue naval base that houses France’s four nuclear submarines. … The French president outlined enhanced cooperation with European nations, naming Germany, Poland, Greece, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Sweden, which would include joint nuclear drills and ultimately, the potential temporary deployment of French nuclear-capable fighters in allied countries.” (03/02/26)
“The Supreme Court denied an opportunity Monday to weigh the Second Amendment rights of those convicted of nonviolent felonies. The opportunity arose through an appeal in Vincent v. Bondi, in which Utah resident Melynda Vincent argued that the prohibition on her possessing a firearm due to her check fraud conviction contradicts recent case law. The 10th Circuit twice ruled against Vincent, holding that neither the Supreme Court’s ruling in NYSRPA v. Bruen nor United States v. Rahimi abrogated the nearly 50-year-old federal statute prohibiting felons from possessing guns. The high court refused to hear the case despite issuing a grant, vacate and remand order requiring the 10th Circuit to reconsider the appeal in light of Rahimi.” (03/02/26)
“A disgraced small-town mayor who was allegedly caught by her kids having sex with a drunken 16-year-old boy at a booze-fueled pool party ordered emergency contraception on DoorDash afterward. Misty Roberts, the 43-year-old former leader of tiny DeRidder, LA, is now on trial for third-degree rape over the 2024 alleged tryst. After news spread of Roberts’[s] reputed romp with the teen in the town of 9,800, the mother of the victim (a friend of the defendant’s son) texted the then-mayor to ensure she was not pregnant, to which she replied she was on birth control, prosecutors told jurors last week, according to KPLC. Roberts then shared a screenshot of the exchange in a group chat with her friends, who urged her to take Plan B, an over-the-counter ‘morning after’ pill. A DoorDash driver testified that he accepted a request from ‘Misty C’ to purchase the emergency contraceptive and leave it at her front door.” (03/02/26)
“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)
