Greetings! Happy Presidents Day to those celebrating.

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🇨🇳 Year of the Horse arrives with prayers and robots. In Beijing, worshippers lit incense at Lama Temple before dawn. In Hong Kong, families queued at Wong Tai Sin Temple for fortunes. Firecrackers, lanterns, and red banners turned streets into photogenic noise. A televised gala leaned on machines, not just celebrities, for spectacle. China Central Television (CCTV) aired humanoid robots dancing in sync. The robots came from Unitree Robotics, a Chinese maker of humanoids. The choreography nodded to tradition while advertising factory-grade grace. The holiday runs 15 days, so the rhythm is patience, food, and family. For many celebrants, the Horse promises speed, stamina, and luck.

🇨🇲 Cameroon becomes a landing pad for third-country deportations. Eight migrants arrived in Cameroon on February 16th after removal flights, lawyers said. Nine people were sent there last month, including five women and four men. Advocates say several held protection orders tied to sexuality or politics. Attorney Alma David said clients from Zimbabwe, Morocco, and Ghana feared being stranded. A White House official acknowledged a second deportation flight to Cameroon. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is seeking more third-country deals. Documents cited in the report put spending at at least $40M to deport about 300 people. Officials have discussed 47 agreements, with 15 done and 10 near final. For migrants, the math is brutal, one border crossed, then another assigned.

🗓️ Presidents Day shuts offices, but errands still run. The federal holiday falls on February 16th, the third Monday in February. Many government offices close, and some school calendars follow suit. Some garbage service may shift, so curbside schedules can slide a day. Most major banks pause service, and American stock markets do not trade. Most retailers and restaurants remain open, though hours can change by location. National parks stay open, and entrance fees are waived on February 16th. The National Park Service (NPS) lists June 14th, not Juneteenth, as a free day. It also keeps National Public Lands Day on September 26th and Veterans Day on November 11th. Call it civic rest with a retail pulse, the closed signs are selective.

🏒 Rhode Island rink shooting kills three during youth hockey. Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves said three people died Monday. Three others were hospitalized in critical condition after the gunfire. Investigators said the violence erupted inside Dennis M Lynch Arena. Goncalves identified the shooter as Robert Dorgan, also known as Roberta Esposito. Police said Dorgan, born in 1969, died from an apparent self-inflicted wound. Witnesses told officers someone tried to subdue the shooter during the chaos. Goncalves said the attack appeared targeted and possibly tied to a family dispute. Authorities have not released the victims’ names and called the inquiry active. The state is still raw after December’s Brown University attack that killed two students and wounded nine.

🎞️ Robert Duvall, Godfather fixture, dies at 95. The Oscar-winning actor died Sunday at home in Middleburg, Virginia. His publicist confirmed the death, and his wife Luciana Duvall wrote a tribute. Duvall won best actor for 1983’s Tender Mercies and earned seven Oscar nominations. He broke out on film in 1962 as Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird. Director Francis Ford Coppola cast him as Tom Hagen in The Godfather films. Duvall later played Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore in Apocalypse Now. He won four Golden Globes, including for Lonesome Dove in 1989. In 2005, he received the National Medal of Arts. Character actor was the label, but his range kept escaping its cage.

📺 Anderson Cooper exits 60 Minutes to make room for family. Cooper said he will leave his reporting role after nearly 20 years on the show. He plans to finish the current season, which ends in May. He will remain at Cable News Network (CNN), where he hosts Anderson Cooper 360. He has worked that prime-time job since 2003, alongside the Sunday assignment. His departure lands amid internal tension at Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) News. Editor-in-chief Bari Weiss delayed a Sharyn Alfonsi report on immigration in December. The segment later aired with added administration comments but no on-camera interviews. President Donald Trump has sued the program over its Kamala Harris interview handling. Paramount Global ($PARA), the network’s parent, settled the case out of court.

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