Stolen Painting, Fed Governor Fights Back, & Best Airlines

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Adam Rogers
August 27, 2025

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A Nazi-looted Italian master painting was discovered in Argentine real estate listing photos when a Dutch reporter accidentally spotted it while investigating missing artworks. The Giuseppe Ghislandi painting was stolen from Jewish dealer Jacques Goudstikker by Nazi leader Hermann Göring in 1940 after Goudstikker died fleeing the Netherlands.
The painting ended up in possession of Friedrich Kadgien, an SS officer and Göring aide who fled to Argentina after the war and died there in 1978. His daughters refuse to discuss the artwork with reporters. Art historians say it matches historical records but needs physical examination for confirmation.
Goudstikker's daughter-in-law has recovered 202 of his 1,100 stolen artworks and plans to pursue this painting's return. Estate lawyers will seek recovery along with a second work possibly identified in social media posts by Kadgien's daughter.

Trump moved to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook on Monday, alleging she made false claims about primary residences on 2021 mortgage applications. Her lawyer says she’ll sue, arguing the president lacks the authority to remove her. Cook, the first Black woman on the Fed board, was confirmed in 2022 to serve through 2038.
The Federal Reserve Act permits removal “for cause,” but no president has tested that power since 1913. Legal scholars note Cook’s mortgage filings predated her appointment and were public during Senate confirmation, raising doubts they qualify as grounds for dismissal. Markets reacted with the dollar dropping and bond yields falling on concerns about Fed independence.
Attorney General Pamela Bondi is reviewing whether to pursue charges. If Cook is forced out, Trump would gain a fourth seat on the seven-member Fed board, expanding his influence ahead of the September 16–17 policy meeting when the Fed will decide on rate cuts.

The Coast Guard offloaded a record 76,140 pounds of cocaine and marijuana worth $473 million in Fort Lauderdale on Monday. The seizure contains enough cocaine for 23 million lethal doses, which officials said could kill Florida's entire population. It is the largest drug offload in Coast Guard history.
The drugs were seized during 19 interdictions between June 26 and August 18 across Eastern Pacific and Caribbean waters. The Coast Guard worked with the Royal Netherlands Navy and detained 34 suspected traffickers while stopping 11 go-fast vessels.
Since January, the Coast Guard has seized $2.2 billion of drugs headed to the US, a service video released Monday said.

A massive dust storm called a haboob engulfed Phoenix in darkness Monday, knocking out power for 47,000 people and damaging the airport. (More)

Trump officials threatened to cut federal funding for 40 states and five territories unless they remove transgender content from sex education programs. (More)

A Utah judge ordered the state legislature to redraw congressional maps within 30 days, ruling that current districts violated anti-gerrymandering standards and could create a Democratic seat. (More)

Cambodia's parliament passed a law allowing the government to strip citizenship from people who "collude" with foreign countries, which rights groups fear will silence dissent. (More)

Two men in Indonesia's Aceh province were publicly caned 80 times each for hugging and kissing. An Islamic court ruled their actions violated Shariah law. (More)

Spanish police shut down an illegal exotic animal ring, seizing 150 animals worth $81,500, including endangered lemurs and stolen macaws. (More)

US stock markets closed higher on Tuesday (S&P +0.41%, Nasdaq +0.44%, Dow +0.30%). Stocks shook off Trump’s plan to remove of Fed Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. (More)

Frontier Airlines launched 20 new routes targeting Spirit Airlines customers as Spirit warned it might not survive another year without more cash. (More)

EchoStar stock jumped 70% after AT&T agreed to buy the company's wireless spectrum licenses for $23 billion to resolve FCC compliance issues. (More)

The MLB released its 2026 schedule with the earliest Opening Day ever on March 26, featuring the Yankees at the Giants and the All-Star Game in Philadelphia. (More)

Netflix's "KPop Demon Hunters" became the platform's most-streamed movie ever with 236 million views, beating "Red Notice.” (More)

Cadillac hired veteran F1 drivers Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas for its 2026 debut as only the second American team in Formula 1 history. (More)

Researchers discovered that primates with longer thumbs have bigger brains, showing that hand dexterity and intelligence evolved together across species. (More)

Spotify launched a messaging feature that lets users chat with friends they've shared music with, as the company pushes to become more social. (More)

Swiss chemists built a molecule that stores four electrical charges from light, like plants do, bringing them closer to creating carbon-neutral fuels. (More)

Why the Pacific Northwest is so rainy.

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