Good Morning! Today’s edition is 1,184 words, a 4-minute read.

What’s on tap: 

• Today’s lunar lander launch

• WNBA legend Diana Taurasi retires

• World’s most beautiful cinemas

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Big Story

Venezuela’s First Saint

Pope Francis has approved a decree making Dr. José Gregorio Hernández the first saint from Venezuela.

• Known as the "doctor of the poor," Hernández was beatified in April 2021 after the church certified a miracle involving a girl who completely recovered from a gunshot wound to the head in 2017. Beatification is the third of the four stages of sainthood (canonization). (Read about the four stages here)

• Hernández was born in 1864 in the western Venezuelan town of Isnotu and graduated as a doctor in Caracas in 1888. He never married and dedicated his life to science and medicine, believing these fields could help lift Venezuela out of poverty. He established two research institutions and taught at the Central University of Venezuela.

• Hernández died tragically on June 29, 1919, when he was hit by a car while crossing a street after picking up medicine for an impoverished woman. An estimated 20,000 people—about one-quarter of Caracas' population at the time—participated in his funeral procession.

Big Story

Lunar Lander Launch

A robotic moon lander called Athena, built by Texas-based Intuitive Machines, is scheduled to launch into space today (Feb. 25th) at 7:17 p.m. ET from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

• The spacecraft will ride on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which will also carry NASA's Lunar Trailblazer satellite. Athena is targeting a landing site on Mons Mouton, a flat-topped mountain in the moon's south polar region. If all goes according to plan, the lander could touch down as early as March 6.

• Athena will carry a drill and instruments to study the chemical makeup of rocks and soil beneath the moon's surface, with a particular focus on detecting subsurface water. This water could be a critical resource for future moon bases. The mission will also test a 4G communications system developed by Nokia and deploy several rovers.

• This is the second lunar mission for Intuitive Machines, which made history in February 2024 by becoming the first private company to successfully land on the moon with its Odysseus lander. That landing was also the first American spacecraft to touch down on the lunar surface in over 50 years.

Big Story

Train Robbers

Organized freight train robberies are trending, but modern-day robbers are after shoes instead of gold.

• Teams of thieves have targeted freight train cars in California and Arizona and stolen over $2 million worth of Nike sneakers, including many unreleased models. So far, they’ve pulled off at least 10 heists, and all but one were after Nikes.

• The thieves get tips from warehouse associates about merchandise on rail lines that run parallel to highways. Then they board slow-moving trains and wait until they stop in secluded areas — either for a scheduled pause or due to sabotage. Finally, they toss the goods off to waiting “follow vehicles” or hide them near the tracks for pickup crews later.

• Trade groups estimate that the number of train thefts last year jumped 40% to 65,000 nationwide — resulting in more than $100 million in losses. However, train heists are only a small percentage of supply chain losses. Customs officials believe between $15 and $35 billion of goods are stolen from trains, trucks, and ships every year.

Quick Stories

US News

• Speaker Mike Johnson narrowly passed a Republican budget plan through the House. The plan includes $4.5 trillion in tax cuts, aims for $2 trillion in spending cuts, and adds over $100 billion for immigration enforcement and military spending. (More)

• Fired Yosemite employees hung the US flag upside-down at the national park as a distress signal, protesting to protect public lands from privatization and demanding thousands of terminated federal workers be rehired. (More)

• Utah may become the first state to ban fluoride in public water, with a bill preventing local communities from adding the cavity-fighting mineral. This could set a national precedent as new health secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. questions fluoridation. (More)

World

• A major power outage hit Chile Tuesday, leaving Santiago in darkness and affecting key copper mines. The blackout shut down streetlights, triggered emergency sirens, and closed the metro system, forcing train evacuations. (More)

• European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen made her ninth visit to Kyiv, joining other Western leaders at Zelenskyy's summit and announced €3.5 billion in EU aid. (More)

• Nearly 25 women have died from gender-based violence in Nigeria already in 2025, prompting activists to call for a state of emergency. The Femicide Observatory reports 17 cases in January (a 240% increase from last year) plus five more by mid-February. (More)

Business & Economy

• US stock markets closed mixed on Tuesday (S&P -0.47%, Nasdaq -1.35%, Dow +0.37%). The S&P fell for a fourth consecutive session, while the Nasdaq dropped into negative territory for the year. (More)

• Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes will stay in prison after a federal appeals court upheld her fraud conviction for deceiving investors about her blood-testing startup. The court also confirmed her ex-partner Balwani's conviction and ordered both to pay $452 million in restitution. (More)

• Bitcoin fell below $90,000 Tuesday morning, down from about $106,000 in January. Other cryptocurrencies also dropped, losing some gains made since Trump took office with his pro-crypto agenda. (More)

Sports & Entertainment

• Georgia basketball took down a top-3 team for the first time since 2004 Tuesday night, defeating No. 3 Florida 88-83. The Bulldogs built a massive 26-point lead early and held tough even after Florida took the lead with 90 seconds to go. (More)

• Diana Taurasi, 42, announced her retirement from the WNBA after 20 seasons with the Phoenix Mercury. The first overall pick in 2004 led the team to three championships (2007, 2009, 2014), made 11 All-Star Teams, claimed league MVP in 2009, and won Finals MVP twice during her career. (More)

• More than 1,000 musicians, including Kate Bush and Cat Stevens, released a silent album protesting potential changes to UK copyright laws. These changes might let tech companies train AI using their music without paying them. (More)

Science, Health, & Tech

• Plant compounds called anthocyanins, which give fruits and vegetables their bright colors, may protect against reproductive damage caused by microplastics. (More)

• An unknown illness has killed over 50 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo since January 21. The disease has infected 419 people in the northwest region, with most deaths occurring within 48 hours of symptoms appearing. (More)

• Google introduced Gemini Code Assist for Individuals, a free AI tool that lets developers chat naturally with an AI model that can access and edit their code. It can fix bugs, complete code sections, and explain confusing parts of the codebase. (More)

Extra Credit

🌡️ Meteorologists explain “feels like” temperature.

🐈️ Why do cats have “toe beans?”

🧳 Where college-educated Americans are moving. 

📽️ The World’s 50 most beautiful cinemas.