Texas Attorney General acquitted, Chick-fil-A in the UK, and Shrek Crocs.

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US News, Politics, & Government

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton acquitted in impeachment trial

Texas state senators acquitted Attorney General Ken Paxton on Saturday of all impeachment charges, allowing him to return to his job. Despite a majority of the House voting to impeach Paxton earlier this year, the Senate didn’t reach the majority threshold for his removal this weekend. The impeachment stemmed from Paxton’s business dealings with an Austin real estate developer and whether he used his position to illegally benefit the developer and himself. (More)

Top Biden adviser meets with Chinese foreign minister in effort to cool tensions

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Malta this weekend in an effort to cool down tensions with China and lay the groundwork for a potential meeting between President Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in November. The two sides discussed key issues, including the Ukraine War and the US’s concerns about Chinese military activity around Taiwan. The talks were constructive, and both sides agreed to keep communication channels open. (More)

A Los Angeles sheriff’s deputy was fatally shot inside his patrol car

Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer, 30, was found unconscious by a civilian in his patrol car in Palmdale on Saturday evening. He was pronounced dead from a gunshot at a hospital later that night. The department has no leads on a suspect and has said that the attack appeared to be targeted. There have been 83 ambush-style attacks on law enforcement in 2023, resulting in 101 officers being shot, with 15 being fatal. (More)

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World

Protests erupt in Iran, one year after Mahsa Amini’s death

Protesters took to the streets in Iran one year after the death of Mahsa Amini, who died in the custody of Iran’s morality police after being arrested for allegedly not wearing her headscarf correctly. Rallies were also held around the world. Iranian rights groups reported that her family has been detained and arrested repeatedly by authorities since her death. Her father and brother were held for a few hours on Saturday and told they would be banished to a remote village if they encouraged people to attend ceremonies commemorating Masha’s death. Iranian authorities denied the claims, saying they prevented an assassination attempt. (More)

Wartime Pope Pius XII probably knew about Holocaust early on, letters show

Wartime Pope Pius XII likely knew about the Holocaust as early as 1942, according to a letter found in the Vatican archives. At the time, the Pope maintained that the information in the letters was vague and unverified. However, the letter’s author had sources that confirmed that 6,000 Poles and Jews a day were being killed in a German concentration camp. The letter also mentioned two other Nazi camps – Auschwitz and Dachau — and suggested there were other letters with further information that are either lost or haven’t been found yet. (More)

EU chief pledges migrant action plan in Italy's Lampedusa

European Union President Ursula von der Leyen visited the Italian island of Lampedusa and promised a 10-point action plan to help Italy deal with its massive influx of migrants. The small island received more than 7,000 migrants this week, more than its entire population. Von der Leyen promised to increase access to legal channels for migrants while cracking down on people-smugglers. (More)

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Business & Economy

Daily stock market update

US stock markets closed lower on Friday (S&P -1.22%, Nasdaq -1.56%, Dow -0.83%) ~ The Nasdaq closed out a positive week but the S&P and the Dow both suffered their second-straight week of losses. (More)

Chick-fil-A expanding across the pond to UK in 2025

Chick-fil-A plans to open its first UK store in 2025 and four more over a two-year timeframe. It will be the chain’s first permanent store outside the US. The company opened a pop-up in the UK in 2019 but received backlash from an LGBTQ activist, and the mall decided not to renew the restaurant’s temporary lease. (More)

Minimum wage hikes for fast-food workers in California

The restaurant industry and fast-food labor unions reached a deal to raise the minimum wage for restaurant workers to $20 in California next year. The deal also creates a nine-person council that will decide future wage hikes for the fast-food industry in the state through 2029. The wage floor will be applied to restaurants in California with at least 60 locations nationwide, starting April 1. (More)

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Sports & Entertainment

Joe Burrow tweaks calf injury as Bengals fall to 0-2

Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow said he aggravated his strained right calf during Sunday’s loss to the Ravens. Burrow was seen limping towards the end of the game but said he would have returned if the Bengals had gotten the ball one more time. He said he doesn’t know how bad the injury is yet. The team has started 0-2 for the second straight season. (More)

Alabama falls to No. 13 in AP Top 25; Texas moves to No. 3

No. 13 Alabama fell outside of the top 10 of the Associated Press college football poll for the first time in eight years, while Georgia remained No. 1. Alabama barely beat USF on Saturday and had its streak of AP poll appearances ranked in the top 10 snapped at 128. It was the second-longest streak in the history of the poll, behind Miami’s 137 from 1985 to 1993. (More)

Russell Brand accused of rape and sexual assault

Four women have accused comedian and actor Russell Brand of rape, sexual assault, and emotional abuse between 2006 and 2013. One of the women claims that she was abused when she was 16 and Brand was in his early 30s. Brand has denied the allegations and said his relationships have always been consensual. (More)

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Science, Health, & Tech

Insiders reveal major problems at lab-grown-meat startup Upside Foods

Lab-grown meat startup Upside Foods claims to be growing their chicken cutlet product in large steel bioreactors. However, insiders revealed that the process is actually being done in small single-use 2-liter plastic bottles in an area of the company’s factory not open to the public or journalists. Each bottle can only produce 2-3 grams of tissue before it must be replaced or recycled. For reference, an average chicken breast weighs about 170 grams. Since a 2-liter plastic drink bottle can weigh around 30 grams, Upside’s current production method likely produces plastic waste more than 10 times faster than it makes meat. (More)

Sea-ice levels in Antarctica are at a historic low

Satellite images from the National Snow and Ice Data Center show that sea-ice levels in Antarctica are at a record low. An unstable Antarctica could result in further increases in global temperatures as well as sea level rise. Scientists say this year’s sea-ice level is about 930,000 square miles less than the maximum coverage usually seen in September, and that these changes may be irreversible. (More)

NASA releases 'baby picture' of a star

NASA has released an image from its James Webb Space Telescope that shows what Earth’s sun looked like when it was only tens of thousands of years old. The image shows shades of blue and pink erupting from a dark center. This colorful outflow is produced as a result of the new star ejecting gas jets that collide with nearby gas and dust. Currently, the young star is only 8% of the Sun’s mass, but it will eventually grow to be a similar size. (More)

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Bonus Material

How to exercise when you’ve got bad knees.

2023’s latest fashion trend is here: Shrek Crocs.

Visualizing the states with the highest and lowest property taxes.

The cost of raising a child is almost $240,000 — not including college.