Greetings! Happy National Cheddar Day to those celebrating.

Let’s get into today’s top stories.

🇮🇷 Narges Mohammadi’s health deteriorates behind bars. Her husband Ali Taghizadeh says she is battling severe heart pain and numbness. He says she has fainted, felt dizzy, and struggled to walk. Doctors previously said three of her four heart arteries were severely constricted. Mohammadi had heart surgery in 2018, and her family says symptoms are returning. Taghizadeh says she was beaten during her arrest about two months ago. Iranian authorities arrested her again on December 12th, he says. Her family says she began a hunger strike on February 2nd. He says a new sentence of more than seven years was added to earlier time in prison. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate has already spent about 13 years and nine months incarcerated.

🇬🇷 Greek farmers roll tractors to parliament in a night protest. By early Wednesday, hundreds had reached Athens and parked near key roads. More than 2,000 tractors stayed staged in northern Greece as reinforcements. Farmers handed out oranges and chestnuts, then shouted for costs to come down. They say diesel, fertilizer, and electricity have climbed faster than crop prices. Organizers want stronger subsidies and disaster compensation that arrives on time. Police watched closely as tractor convoys pushed against traffic and patience. Union leaders said the demonstration would last two days if talks stall. Officials have urged calm while negotiations continue. The protest is a reminder that when food margins shrink, politics gets louder.

🧾 Homeland Security funding lapsed, forcing a shutdown inside DHS. Congress failed to pass a measure before the midnight deadline, triggering the stoppage. The American Department of Homeland Security (DHS) houses border security, disaster response, and airport screening. Many frontline employees must keep working even as paychecks pause. Some contractors and support staff are being furloughed, and training schedules are being scrapped. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations continue, but overtime and travel can tighten. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) response remains active, yet planning work slows. Lawmakers are still bargaining over a stopgap bill and border policy conditions. Union leaders warn that uncertainty erodes morale faster than any budget cut. For travelers and border towns, the shutdown turns routine security into a waiting game.

✈️ Airport screeners work unpaid as shutdown ripples into travel. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers are reporting for shifts without paychecks. The lapse stems from the wider American Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown. Screening lanes stay open, because federal law treats the job as essential. Managers can reassign staff, but they cannot manufacture new hours or new patience. Travel groups urge passengers to arrive early and expect longer waits at busy hubs. Unions warn missed pay can push workers into burnout. Airlines say flight schedules are steady, but line length can still disrupt connections. Officials say back pay is typical once Congress restores funding, though timing is uncertain. For a system built on routine, unpaid labor is an unstable substitute for planning.

🏀 Chris Paul retires, ending iconic 21-season NBA career. Chris Paul made the announcement as All-Star weekend began and arenas turned nostalgic. He leaves as a 12-time National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star with a résumé built on control. Teammates called him the “Point God” because he ran offenses like a metronome with teeth. Paul finishes near the top of the league’s all-time assists list and steals list. He never won an NBA title, a missing ring that became a running subplot. Coaches praised his film study, and opponents complained about how loud he was on defense. He also served as president of the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA). His goodbye lands in a league now younger, faster, and more three-point addicted. Still, the template he perfected remains simple: protect the ball, punish mistakes, repeat.

⛸️ Ilia Malinin falls twice as Mikhail Shaidorov wins gold. Ilia Malinin, nicknamed the “Quad God,” entered the free skate with a five-point lead. Then he missed a quad toe loop and later popped another jump, the kind of slip that multiplies. He called the skate a disaster and said he felt too confident coming in. Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan delivered clean jumps and steadier spins under pressure. Shaidorov won with 291․58 total points, while Malinin finished with 264․49. The American dropped to eighth overall, a plunge that stunned the arena. American skater Andrew Torgashev took silver with 280․75 points. Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama claimed bronze at 278․19 after his own errors. In figure skating, greatness is often one landing away from chaos.

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That’s all for today!

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See you tomorrow!