“The world’s largest acidic geyser is putting on a show again, erupting for the first time in six years after a quiet hiatus, officials at Yellowstone National Park say. The Echinus Geyser — located in the park’s famous Norris Geyser Basin — had been in slumber since 2020, and it’s unknown whether the eruptions will continue into the summer. Researchers say geysers can sometimes become active for a month or two before falling dormant again. ‘Geysers are always turning on and off. That’s Yellowstone being Yellowstone!’, the US Geological Survey wrote on X. A geyser is a spring of water which has been heated geothermally, and which erupts at various rates. It is formed from a tube-like hole that goes down into the Earth’s surface and is filled with water. When the water at the bottom, which is near molten rock called magma, heats in the tube it begins to boil and is forced upwards and erupts. After eruption, the water slowly goes back down into the tube. Then the process starts again.” (03/03/26)
“A federal judge in Washington, D.C., ruled Monday that the Trump administration can’t block members of Congress from making unannounced visits to Immigration and Customs Enforcement [abductee concentration camp] facilities. U.S. District Court Judge Jia Cobb said an order from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem that required lawmakers to give a seven-day notice before visiting the facilities violated the law. Under a the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Noem is not allowed to use funds appropriated by Congress to then prevent them from visiting ICE detention facilities. Cobb said the Department of Homeland Security, however, used appropriated funds to craft the seven-day policy announced in January.” (03/02/26)
“Iranian drones hit the US embassy in Riyadh as Tehran continued to launch waves of retaliatory strikes at the Gulf and Israel, while Israeli soldiers began operating in southern Lebanon on the fourth day of an increasingly regional war in the Middle East. The drone attack on the US embassy in Riyadh caused a minor fire, prompting the diplomatic mission to tell Americans to distance themselves from the compound. The attack followed an earlier Iranian drone strike on the US embassy in Kuwait, as Iran continued to target US bases, facilities and personnel in Arab Gulf states. … Meanwhile, US and Israel continued their strikes against Iran, with the US claiming it had destroyed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps command and control facilities.” (03/03/26)
“A federal appeals court on Monday declined to delay implementation of the Supreme Court ruling that invalidated most of President Trump’s tariffs, allowing next steps in processing of tariff refunds to begin swiftly, following the high court’s decision last month. … The Trump administration had said it would issue refunds if the duties targeting nearly every U.S. trading partner around the world were ultimately found unlawful by the Supreme Court. The high court ruled in a 6-3 decision that a federal emergency powers law known as the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, did not give the president the authority to impose tariffs. But on Friday, the Trump administration asked the Federal Circuit to wait 90 days before issuing its mandate ‘to allow the political branches an opportunity to consider options,’ after the Supreme Court’s decision.” (03/02/26)
“At least 169 people were killed after insurgents raided a village in a remote area of South Sudan, a local official said Monday, It’s the latest bout of sporadic violence that has left the country teetering on the verge of full-blown civil war. The victims, including 90 civilians, were attacked on Sunday in Abiemnom county, said James Monyluak, information minister for the administrative area of Ruweng. He said women and children were among the dead, in addition to dozens of combatants. The U.N. Mission in South Sudan, known as UNMISS, said in a statement that 1,000 people sought shelter at its base after the attack.” (03/02/26)
“The Supreme Court on Monday ruled California is likely violating the constitutional rights [sic] of parents who object to policies preventing teachers from disclosing when their child changes their name or pronouns in school. The decision marks a major victory for parental rights [sic] advocates at this early stage of the case — and a blow to the state’s efforts to shield the privacy of LGBTQ students. The justices have yet to definitely resolve the fiercely disputed issue, and the case could ultimately return to the high court. … ‘The parents who assert a free exercise claim have sincere religious beliefs about sex and gender, and they feel a religious obligation to raise their children in accordance with those beliefs. California’s policies violate those beliefs,’ the court wrote in its unsigned opinion.” [editor’s note: Are the teachers also required to serve communion, conduct circumcisions, etc. on demand? – TLK] (03/02/26)
“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)
