Rio Police Chief and Congressman Convicted in Assassination of Marielle Franco

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Lead: This week Brazil’s Supreme Court found former Rio Civil Police chief Rivaldo Barbosa and Congressman Chiquinho Brazão, alongside Domingos Brazão, guilty of ordering the 2018 killing of Rio city councilwoman Marielle Franco and her driver Anderson Gomes. The ruling closes an eight-year legal and activist campaign to hold the alleged masterminds to account. Judges … Read more

85-year-old Sydney widower kidnapped and murdered in apparent case of mistaken identity

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Australian detectives arrested two men on Feb. 25, 2026, in connection with the abduction and killing of 85-year-old Chris Baghsarian, who was taken from his North Ryde home on Feb. 13. Police found Baghsarian’s remains on Feb. 24 near a golf club on Sydney’s northwestern fringe after an extensive search. Authorities say the attack appears … Read more

Bob Kerrey Resigns from Monolith After Epstein Email Revelations

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Lead Former U.S. Senator Bob Kerrey resigned from the board of Nebraska clean-energy start-up Monolith after Department of Justice documents showed he met and exchanged emails with Jeffrey Epstein. The resignation, which Kerrey confirmed by text on Feb. 25, 2026, followed revelations in the released DOJ records about contacts that took place more than a … Read more

Federal Judge Lets ExxonMobil Sue California Attorney General Over Recycling Remarks

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Lead A federal judge in Texas has allowed ExxonMobil to pursue a defamation claim against California Attorney General Rob Bonta over public statements about the company’s plastic recycling efforts. The decision, issued by U.S. District Judge Michael J. Truncale of the Eastern District of Texas earlier this month, rejected Bonta’s claim to official immunity for … Read more

Cuban Border Guards Kill 4 on Florida-Registered Speedboat Near Villa Clara

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Lead On Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, Cuban Interior Ministry officials said border guard personnel engaged in a firefight with occupants of a Florida-registered speedboat near Corralillo in Villa Clara province, leaving four people dead and six wounded. The ministry said five Cuban border troops on a government vessel had approached the speedboat about one nautical … Read more

Cuban border agents kill four after exchange with Florida‑tagged speedboat

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Lead: On Feb 25, 2026, Cuba’s Ministry of the Interior said its maritime border patrol exchanged gunfire with a speedboat bearing Florida registration offshore Cayo Falcones, north‑central Villa Clara province. The ministry reported that four people on the foreign vessel were killed and six wounded, and that a Cuban commander was injured. Cuban officials said … Read more

Jobs, gas prices and ending wars: factchecking Trump’s State of the Union claims

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Lead On the evening of 25 February 2026, President Donald Trump delivered the longest State of the Union address in U.S. history, making sweeping declarations about jobs, foreign investment, energy costs and wartime diplomacy. Many assertions in the more-than-100-minute speech were definitive, but several conflict with official data or rely on disputed counting methods. This … Read more

Avian flu found in California elephant seals — first marine-mammal cases in state

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Lead: On Feb. 24–25, 2026, seven northern elephant seal pups at Año Nuevo State Park in San Mateo County, California, tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI H5N1), officials said. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory confirmed the results late Tuesday. Park viewing areas were closed and tours canceled as researchers … Read more

How Britain Could Remove Prince Andrew From the Line of Succession

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Feb. 25, 2026 — Former Prince Andrew, now styled Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, remains eighth in line to the British throne even after losing royal honors and being ordered from his 30-room Windsor‑area residence. Last week he was arrested and released on suspicion of misconduct in public office after allegations he shared confidential material with Jeffrey Epstein; … Read more

Rubio Visits Caribbean to Address Leaders’ Concerns Over Trump Policies

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Lead: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Caribbean leaders on Wednesday in Basseterre, St. Kitts and Nevis, to discuss regional anxieties tied to recent U.S. policies and actions. The closed-door session with 15 CARICOM members preceded separate bilateral meetings with prime ministers from St. Kitts, Trinidad and Tobago and other nations. Leaders said they … Read more

FBI Raids Los Angeles Schools Chief’s Home and District Headquarters

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On Feb. 25, 2026, FBI agents executed sealed search warrants at the home of Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho and at the district’s downtown headquarters. Federal officials confirmed the warrants were being carried out but said the supporting affidavits were under seal and did not identify the investigation’s specific target. The … Read more

Samsung Unveils All-New Galaxy Buds4 Series With Ultimate Sound

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Samsung Electronics announced the Galaxy Buds4 series on the same day it revealed the Galaxy S26 family, introducing two new models—Galaxy Buds4 Pro and Galaxy Buds4—designed to combine hi‑fi audio with improved everyday comfort. The company says the lineup pairs a wider woofer and upgraded Active Noise Cancellation with a computationally optimized fit based on … Read more

Lawrence Summers to Resign from Harvard After Epstein Document Revelations

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Lead On Feb. 25, 2026, Harvard announced that Lawrence H. Summers, the university economist and former president, will resign from teaching at the end of the 2025–26 academic year. The move follows a university review prompted by Department of Justice–released documents that showed a closer relationship between Summers and Jeffrey Epstein than previously disclosed. Summers, … Read more

Kalshi reveals insider trading case against editor for MrBeast

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Lead On Feb. 25, 2026, prediction-market operator Kalshi disclosed it had suspended an editor who worked for YouTube creator James “MrBeast” Donaldson after concluding the employee traded on material nonpublic information. Kalshi identified the trader as Artem Kaptur, saying he placed roughly $4,000 in wagers on MrBeast-related markets and achieved near-perfect success on low-odds bets. … Read more

An Extensive And Exhaustive Player-By-Player Preview Of ‘Survivor 50’ – Defector

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Season 50 of Survivor premieres as a full-returnee edition: 24 veterans, divided into three tribes of eight, will play 26 days in Fiji for a $1 million prize. The cast stretches from two-timers like Genevieve Mushaluk, Dee Valladares and Q Burdette to franchise fixtures such as Cirie Fields and Ozzy Lusth—each back for a record-tying … Read more