Weekly Review

After a driver was told to ignore a red light, two trains collided in Greece, leading to the deaths of at least 57 people, the arrest of a stationmaster, strike action from rail workers, mass protests, and the resignation of the minister of transport.^{1 2} “You think Tucker Carlson knows the difference between a T.J. Maxx and a Kohl’s?” asked U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg during an interview in which he acknowledged that he should have traveled to East Palestine, Ohio, sooner.³ House Democrats unveiled a bill to tighten regulations on trains transporting hazardous materials on the same day that a train carrying propane tanks partially derailed in Manatee County, Florida.^{4 5} A Florida Republican filed a bill titled the “Ultimate Cancel Act,” which would eliminate the state’s Democratic Party.⁶ Tennessee’s governor, Bill Lee, who once dressed as a woman in high school, signed legislation banning drag shows on public property or in locations where they could be viewed by minors.⁷ “I may be a white boy, but I’m not stupid,” said President Biden at a Black History Month celebration held at the White House.⁸ The president announced that he would be raising taxes in March and nominated a new labor secretary, and the Supreme Court began hearing arguments opposing his student loan forgiveness program.^{9 10} The Danish government proposed abolishing the “Great Prayer Day” in an attempt to boost funds for defense spending.¹¹ New York City Mayor Eric Adams dismissed the separation of church and state, seemed to endorse compulsory prayer in public schools, and claimed God had made him mayor.^{12 13} Bags of cocaine worth roughly $160 million washed up on the shores of Normandy.¹⁴ Bola Tinubu, 70, who once posted an eight-second video of himself riding an exercise bike and has weathered accusations of corruption and vote-buying, won the Nigerian presidential election.¹⁵ “Of course, there will be areas that need work to bring further transparency and credibility to the voting procedure,” tweeted his predecessor, who first came to power following a 1983 military coup only to be subjected to his own coup less than two years later, before being democratically elected in 2015.^{16 17}

Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, who married his three-time equestrian national champion wife, Casey, at Disney World in 2009, signed a law that ended the theme park’s self-governing status and gave the state greater control over its district.^{18 19 20} “I do not think Republican primary voters are sheep,” wrote DeSantis in his newly released book, The Courage to Be Free, which debuted at the top of Amazon’s Best Sellers list.^{21 22} Seven sheep, seen wandering the streets of Paterson, New Jersey, had escaped from a slaughterhouse.²³ New Mexicans protested the U.S. Forest Service’s aerial shooting operation, which seeks to kill up to 150 cows whom the agency deemed “unauthorized,” in the Gila Wilderness.²⁵ The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, which last month promoted its recipe for “spicy teriyaki goose jerky,” encouraged residents to kill and cook bullfrogs.^26 27  An ice cream parlor in Rottenburg am Neckar, Germany, has started selling cricket-flavored scoops.²⁸ Because of legislation known as the Swissness Act, Toblerone will be forced to remove the Matterhorn from its packaging.²⁹ A Pennsylvanian teenager covered his parents’ kitchen in 28 pounds of peanut butter.³⁰

A former U.S. soldier who holds neo-Nazi, anti-Semitic, and Satanic beliefs was sentenced to 45 years for attempting to murder his fellow service members and providing material support to terrorists.³¹ Two siblings were arrested in Lake Worth, Texas, for stealing thousands of dollars of scented candles and other merchandise.³² “We’ve really put everything we have into this shop to make it really cool,” said the owner of a CBD store in Temple, Texas, after a suspect wearing a clown mask stole items including rolling paper, a grinder, and room spray from her shop.³³ Police compared a suspect’s phlegm, which they collected from a puddle, to DNA found on a sweet potato, leading to an arrest in a cold case that had had no leads in 12 years.³⁴ A man in Peru was found to be in possession of a centuries-old mummified male whom he called “Juanita,” carried around in an isothermal bag normally used for food deliveries, and referred to as his “spiritual girlfriend.”³⁵ “Archaeologists study things to learn about the past,” said one of the researchers in Michigan who announced they’d found the site of an 1894 shipwreck “remarkably preserved” in Lake Huron.³⁶ The holy chrism oil, which will be used to anoint King Charles III on his coronation day and is mostly made up of olive oil, will not include the intestinal wax of sperm whales.³⁷ —Megan Evershed