“A French police officer initially charged with murder in the deadly shooting of a teenager in 2023 will instead stand trial for the lesser charge of voluntary assault leading to death, the Versailles appeals court said on Thursday. Police officer Florian M. had fired at Nahel Merzouk after the latter had failed to comply with an order to stop his car. The seventeen year old had later died from his wounds, sparking violent protests across the country. In 2025, the Nanterre prosecutor’s office said one of two officers under investigation, identified as Florian M., would face the Assize Court of Hauts-de-Seine on charges of murder. Florian M. appealed, and the court lowered the charges on Thursday. … Under French law, voluntary assault leading to death by a person holding state authority carries a maximum sentence of 20 years, compared with up to 30 years for murder.” (03/05/26)
“A newly formed anti-corruption group has filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi over the deal that sold TikTok’s U.S. operation to a group of administration-backed investors. The suit, filed by the Public Integrity Project, a law firm that seeks to raise the ‘reputational cost of corruption in America,’ argues the deal violates a law intended to prevent the spread of Chinese government propaganda and has enriched Trump’s allies. … Trump signed an executive order in September paving the way for the deal, and the White House and China finalized a deal to give control of TikTok’s U.S. operations to a group of investors who were backed by Trump earlier this year. The deal included investors ‘Oracle, MGX, and affiliates of Susquehanna International Group, LLP and General Atlantic, among other companies,’ which the lawsuit said ‘have close ties to the President, and have at times personally enriched him.'” (03/05/26)
“Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas said late Thursday he was withdrawing from his reelection race, after having admitted an affair with a former staff member who later died by suicide, but he vowed to finish out his term in Congress. He had faced calls from GOP leadership to end his reelection bid, and from others in Congress to resign. … The move is the latest in a quickly changing situation that stunned Capitol Hill and resulted in a House Ethics Committee investigation into his conduct. Gonzales’ decision to bow out of the race appears to clear the field. On Tuesday, he had been forced into a May runoff against Brandon Herrera, a gun manufacturer and YouTube gun-rights influencer who narrowly lost to him in the 2024 primary.” (03/06/26)
“A pronounced increase in home relistings suggests U.S. sellers are gearing up for a potentially busier spring housing season, according to a new analysis from Redfin. Nearly 45,000 homes that were taken off the market in 2025 were relisted in January 2026 — the highest January relisting count in records going back to 2016, and equivalent to 3.6 % of all active listings for the month. Relistings occur when a home that was previously taken off the market is listed again after at least 31 days off the market, signaling renewed seller confidence. The surge follows a period in which many sellers withdrew homes rather than accept low offers amid declining demand, high housing costs, and economic uncertainty.” (03/05/26)
“Rising sea levels caused by climate change may be significantly higher than previously thought, according to a new study, which says a “methodological blind spot” led researchers to underestimate existing coastal water levels. The revelation suggests that higher seas threaten tens of millions more people than scientists and government officials believed, with elevated risks for already vulnerable communities. The new research, published in the journal Nature, reviewed hundreds of scientific studies and hazard assessments, calculating that about 90% of them underestimated baseline coastal water heights by an average of 1 foot. The study found it’s a far more frequent problem in the Global South, the Pacific and Southeast Asia, and less so in Europe and along Atlantic coasts.” (03/05/26)
“The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits last week was unchanged from the week before, a sign that layoffs remain at historically low levels. U.S. filings for jobless aid for the week ending Feb. 28 matched the previous week’s 213,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet forecast 215,000 new benefit applications. Filings for unemployment benefits are viewed as a proxy for U.S. layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market.” (03/05/26)
“The Israeli Army on Thursday ordered a mass evacuation of Beirut’s southern suburbs — a main stronghold of Iran-backed Hezbollah — in an unprecedented warning ahead of massive strikes, causing widespread panic among fleeing residents and heavy traffic jams in the capital. Army Arabic spokesman Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee issued the warning for entire densely populated neighborhoods in the southern suburbs — citing Bourj al-Barajneh, Hadath, Haret Hreik and Chiyah — and calling on their residents to immediately leave their homes ahead of potential strikes to save their lives. … Israeli English-language websites quoted Israeli defense officials as saying that the warning precedes what is expected to be a large-scale strike in the area, describing the planned operation as one of the most dramatic developments so far in the fighting along the northern front.” (03/05/26)
“Millions of Nepalis have voted in the country’s first general election since violent youth-led protests toppled the government last September. Corruption, economic stagnation and inequality were the main issues in the vote. They sparked the uprising in which 77 people died, many of them protesters shot by police. The election represents a crossroads for Nepal, pitting the establishment against a new generation of politicians advocating for angry, young Gen Z voters hungry for change. Counting the votes cast for the Nepalese parliament’s 275 seats is expected to take several days, and results are not expected before next week. Nepal’s mountainous terrain makes it slow and difficult to transport ballots, which are tallied by hand.” (03/05/26)
“A House committee voted Wednesday to subpoena Attorney General Pam Bondi to testify about her handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files. Five Republicans joined with all Democrats in support of a motion to call the nation’s top law enforcement official up to Capitol Hill for questioning, and the motion itself was offered by GOP Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina. It underscores the increasing frustration with Bondi among members of her own party, catalyzed in part by the Epstein saga. The Justice Department did not immediately return a request for comment.” (03/04/26)
“A social media post from James Talarico about his ‘white skin’ giving him ‘immunity’ from the ‘virus of racism’ has left the Democratic US Senate nominee from Texas wide open to attacks from Republicans and other pundits, who attacked his message as ‘peak woke’ and openly racist. GOP Gov. Greg Abbott said the pro-Black Lives Matter post is proof that Talarico ‘is toast’ in the Nov. 3 contest, in which Democrats are seeking to win one of Texas’ two US Senate seats for the first time since 1988. Talarico, a state legislator who triumphed over US Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) in Tuesday’s primary, suggested in an X post on May 8, 2020, that he was as ‘contagious’ as any white American in spreading systemic racism. The message merged the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic with the headline-making murder of Ahmaud Arbery while jogging in Georgia.” (03/05/26)
