“Kari McCaw was flying with co-workers to attend a conference in Las Vegas last month when Southwest Airlines employees stopped her at the ticket counter. The agents’ message was clear: either buy a second seat for herself or don’t fly. McCaw is not alone in her experience. In January, Southwest’s popular ‘customer of size’ policy changed, and flyers have taken to social media to share their frustrations. Flyers report that customer service agents have singled them out for their appearance and forced them to buy another seat to be accommodated, something they’ve never needed to do before.” [editor’s note: It’s not about “appearance,” it’s about size. If you require two seats, they’re going to charge you for two seats because space is a scarcity factor – TLK] (03/26/26)
“Nepal’s newly elected members of parliament were sworn in Thursday with nearly two-thirds of them from a political party that is less than four years old. The 275 members of the House of Representatives, the powerful lower chamber of parliament, will be in their positions for the next five years. The election — the country’s first since last year’s youth-led revolt — was won by the Rastriya Swatantra Party, or RSP, led by rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah. Shah is expected to be chosen as the leader by the elected members from his party later on Thursday and formally inform President Ram Chandra Poudel. The president will then appoint Shah as the prime minister of Nepal.” (03/26/26)
“The U.S. can continue to detain immigrants without bond, an appeals court ruled on Wednesday, handing a victory to the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration. The opinion from a panel of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis overturned a lower court ruling that required that a native of Mexico arrested for lacking legal documents be given a bond hearing before an immigration judge. It’s the second appeals court to rule in favor of the administration on this issue.” (03/25/26)
“Falling debris from a missile interception over the United Arab Emirates on Thursday killed two people, injured three others and damaged cars in Abu Dhabi, the authorities there said. The U.A.E.’s air defenses were responding to Iranian missiles and drones, the country’s defense ministry had said earlier. … The Israeli military said Thursday that it had launched more strikes on Iran, as Washington and Tehran struggled [sic] to start negotiations to end the war after nearly four weeks of fighting.” (03/26/26)
“A jury has found Meta and Google liable for $3 million in damages [sic] on Wednesday, March 25 in a landmark trial over allegations that their popular social media apps, including Instagram and YouTube, are designed to get children addicted. The Los Angeles case centers on a 20-year-old woman, identified as Kaley G.M., who said she became addicted to Google’s YouTube and Meta’s Instagram at a young age. The jury found Google and Meta were negligent in the design of both apps and failed to warn about their dangers [sic]. … Kaley G.M. alleged in the case that she became addicted to social media apps as a teenager because of their attention-grabbing design, in turn worsening her mental health, according to court filings.” (03/25/26)
“Sarah Mullally has been formally installed as archbishop of Canterbury, marking the start of her public ministry as the first woman to lead the Church of England. The former nurse on Wednesday took her seat on the 13th-century Chair of St Augustine at Canterbury Cathedral before 2,000 guests that included heir to the British throne Prince William and his wife Catherine, as well as Prime Minister Keir Starmer and religious leaders. She will serve as the spiritual head of the global Anglican Communion, which has about 85 million members worldwide. … While Mullally’s appointment in October drew sharp criticism from the conservative Global Anglican Future Conference, made up largely of churches in Africa and Asia that oppose moves towards same-sex blessings and women’s leadership, the bloc this month abandoned earlier plans to appoint a parallel figurehead to rival Canterbury, opting instead to establish a new council.” (03/25/26)
“Drones coming from Russian airspace hit their territories, Latvian and Estonian authorities said on Wednesday. One drone ‘struck the chimney of the Auvere power plant’ in Estonia, the country’s internal security ISS said in a statement, while another fell on Latvian territory. The Auvere power plant, operated by the Enefit Power group, is located in northeastern Estonia, near the town of Narva on the Russian border. ‘These are the effects of Russia’s large-scale war of aggression,’ said ISS Director General Margo Palloson, expressing concern about ‘the occurrence of such incidents in the future.’ Prosecutors are supervising an investigation into the incident. Meanwhile, Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina said in a post on X that the drone that fell on Latvian territory was apparently Ukrainian.” (03/25/26)
“Among the classified records taken to Mar-a-Lago by President Trump were documents so sensitive that one had been distributed to just six people, while another set was relevant to his business interests. The disclosure, made to the House Judiciary Committee as part of its investigation into the probes into Trump, offers new details about the types of records the president took with him to Florida after losing the 2020 election. The public is still barred from seeing former special counsel Jack Smith’s report surrounding the investigation that prompted him to bring Espionage Act charges against Trump after 300 documents with classified markings were discovered at his Florida estate. … The Justice Department on Wednesday called [ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-MD)] ‘blinded by hatred of President Trump,’ and claimed without providing further details that the Smith memo contains ‘salacious and untrue claims about President Trump.'” (03/25/26)
“China Eastern Airlines said on Wednesday it placed a multibillion-dollar order for 101 Airbus A320neo aircraft, marking another success for the French company after it raked in big orders from Chinese airlines in December and amid uncertainties related to a widely speculated potential deal between its rival Boeing and Beijing. … Last year, Airbus secured orders for 148 A320 aircraft from several Chinese airlines and a state-owned aircraft leasing group. China Eastern was not part of that deal. While Airbus keeps taking in orders, the speculated Boeing deal has yet to materialise, with the delayed visit to China by US President Donald Trump adding more uncertainty.” (03/25/26)
“The Supreme Court unanimously ruled Wednesday that internet providers are not liable for copyright infringement by their users, delivering an opinion in Cox v. Sony and tossing a $1 billion verdict. ‘Under our precedents, a company is not liable as a copyright infringer for merely providing a service to the public with knowledge that it will be used by some to infringe copyrights,’ Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in the opinion. ‘Accordingly, we reverse.’ The ruling marks a significant win for broadband providers facing pressure from copyright owners to police subscriber activity. Cox Communications now cannot be held liable for piracy by its internet service subscribers of songs owned by Sony Music, Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group and other labels, ending their billion-dollar-plus music copyright lawsuit.” (03/25/26)
