Good morning! The weekend edition is 749 words, a 3-minute read.

What’s on tap: 

• Oldest Tyrannosaurus fossil

• Avalanche rescue

• Happiest cities

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Today’s Big Story

Flu Vaccines Flop

• This year's flu vaccine was only 25-30% effective in adults, one of the worst rates in two decades and well below the 40-60% range officials consider acceptable. A new strain not matched to the vaccine drove an intense early season, with New York City health officials calling it the most intense in 20 years.

• The culprit was a new version of the H3N2 virus, subclade K, which spread more easily than previous strains. The vaccine was built to address a different H3N2 version. CDC estimates at least 27 million illnesses, 350,000 hospitalizations, and 22,000 deaths so far this season. At least 101 children have died, 85% of whom were not fully vaccinated.

• Next year's vaccine is already being updated to target subclade K. Meanwhile, the Trump administration stopped broadly recommending flu shots for all children in January, leaving the decision to parents and family doctors.

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Saturday’s Quick Hits

• An unusually severe stretch of extreme weather is hitting the US this week. Phoenix could reach 107 degrees — the earliest triple-digit heat in 137 years of records. At the same time, a polar vortex will push temperatures near zero in Minneapolis and into the 20s as far south as Atlanta. Back-to-back snowstorms could dump three to four feet on parts of the Great Lakes. Meteorologists say this is rare even for early spring. (More)

• The US bombed military sites on Iran's Kharg Island yesterday, the hub of Iran's oil exports. President Trump warned that oil infrastructure on the island could be hit next if Iran interferes with shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively closed to a fifth of the world's traded oil. The US is also sending 2,500 more Marines and a warship to the region. (More)

• The US economy grew at just 0.7% in last year's fourth quarter, the Commerce Department reported Friday, half of what the government initially estimated and far below the 4.4% growth seen in the prior quarter. The 43-day government shutdown was a major factor, cutting growth by more than 1 point on its own. Consumer spending also slowed sharply. For all of 2025, the economy grew 2.1%, down from 2.8% the year before. (More)

• Cuba's president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, confirmed his government has been in talks with US officials, after months of denials, aiming to resolve an oil blockade that has left Cuba without petroleum for three months. The resulting power blackouts have disrupted schools and hospitals, forcing the postponement of tens of thousands of surgeries. Trump has called Cuba near collapse and recently suggested the US might pursue a "friendly takeover." (More)

• A man previously convicted of supporting ISIS shot and killed an Army lieutenant colonel at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, on Thursday, wounding two others before being killed by students. The gunman, Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, 36, was on probation for the terrorism charge at the time of the attack. He had pleaded guilty in 2016 and served about eight years in prison before being released last year. (More)

• A giant shinbone found in New Mexico in the 1980s may belong to a close relative of T. rex that lived 74 million years ago — making it the oldest known giant tyrannosaur in North America. Researchers at the University of Bath say the animal weighed around 5 tons, about the size of a large elephant. The finding supports the idea that T. rex's ancestors evolved in southern North America, not Asia. (More)

Weekly Dose of Positive

• A Washington skier buried in an avalanche survived after his wife used Find My iPhone to pinpoint his location and guide rescuers directly to him. (More)

• A mom with Stage 4 colorectal cancer is cancer-free after a friend donated part of her liver at Northwestern Medicine — one of the only U.S. programs offering the procedure. (More)

• A Canadian restorative justice program dramatically reduces repeat offenses by having offenders meet their victims face-to-face, with the youth-focused approach emphasizing accountability over punishment. (More)

• A Toledo restaurant couple surprised their 60-person staff with a three-day Bahamas cruise after the holidays, closing the restaurant so no one had to stay behind. (More)

Extra Credit

Mapping gas prices by state.

US jobs losing the most workers by 2034.

Freemont, California tops list of America’s happiest cities.

Catch up on Oscar-nominated movies before Sunday’s ceremony.