~Bitcoin News of the Day

• The firm said it adopted Bitcoin payments in response to increasing demand for digital currency options in the tech world. It added that the payment flexibility is intended to benefit clients and partners, especially as businesses worldwide embrace crypto for streamlined, secure cross-border transactions.

Global Trade & ~Econ

• Russia was the single most affected nation, followed by Ethiopia and Iran, whose internet outages cost them £1.5bn ($1.96bn) and £722m ($920m) respectively. The Russian ban on Instagram, Facebook and X/Twitter was first implemented in February 2022 and continued into 2023 as a Russian court labelled Meta as “extremist”.

~Politics_and_Law

• Tom Homan, his pick for “border czar,” and Stephen Miller, his deputy White House chief of staff for policy, won’t formally helm any arms of government, but they are likely to carry enormous sway with cabinet secretaries and agency directors. They are expected to be viewed as the president’s direct emissaries, empowered to push for specific actions and track progress implementing Trump’s agenda.

~Stacker_Sports News

• Joel Embiid is expected to play this week for the Philadelphia 76ers — barring another setback, and there is always that chance with the 7-footer — after he won Olympic gold, signed a contract extension, slogged through a knee injury, was the root of two NBA investigations, scuffled with a columnist and was hit with a technical foul for waving a towel from the bench.

~Tech & ~Science

• The electrical resistance of materials typically decreases as they are cooled. But some materials, called superconductors, maintain a gradually declining electrical resistance until they are cooled to their critical cut-off temperature, at which point their resistance becomes zero. Some types of superconductors, such as topological superconductors, can be used to transmit quantum data.

~History with Mystery

• Dr. Eamonn O’Keeffe, a historian from the University of Cambridge, has uncovered strong evidence that Britain’s earliest brass bands were established by military musicians in the 1810s. His research, recently published in The Historical Journal, demonstrates that regimental bands began adopting all-brass ensembles shortly after the Napoleonic Wars, setting the stage for the wider adoption of brass bands across Britain.

~Entertainment World

• The Grammy-winning singer and filmmaker have swooped in to buy the historic Hollywood home of The Muppets. “John Mayer and McG are under contract to buy Henson Studios,” a spokesperson for Mayer told The Hollywood Reporter in a statement. It’s a dramatic reversal from the fate the property seemed destined to face. In recent weeks, the storied property — formerly A&M Studios and earlier Charlie Chaplin Studios — had been the subject of speculation that the Church of Scientology, already a major landlord in the area, was closing in on a bid.

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