Plus: U.S. agencies with the most wasteful spending & plane safety in 2025

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Good afternoon,

Is anyone else talking about Pope Francis being sick? We've been in the newsroom, and apparently so are Italians.

The 88-year-old pontiff is in good spirits and joking still, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said. But that hasn’t stopped questions about who would follow Francis.
- He has been at Rome's Gemelli Hospital since February 14, battling double pneumonia and asthmatic bronchitis.

It brings me back to nearly 12 years ago in my Catholic high school, watching a livestream of the Vatican in the background, waiting for white smoke to signal the election of a new pope.

Over the holiday my family watched ‘Conclave’ — fictionally depicting the process of electing the next pope with a big twist at the end. Hopefully, when the time comes, real life won’t be quite as dramatic.

Lauren
Mo News Producer

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🚨 ONE IMPORTANT THING

Bodies Of Four Israeli Hostages, Including Bibas Children, Returned 503 Days After They Were Kidnapped Alive

Hamas terrorists returned the bodies of four slain Israelis, including Shiri Bibas and her two young children, Ariel and Kfir, more than 500 days after they were kidnapped alive.

🚨 Before the bodies were returned, Hamas paraded their four black coffins in a celebratory transfer ceremony in Gaza with music, surrounded by banners — one depicting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a vampire — and thousands watching, including Palestinian children.
- The US, Israel, and European nations blasted the Hamas “ceremony.” The United Nations rights chief condemned the handover, saying that “Under international law, any handover of the remains of deceased must comply with the prohibition of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.”

It was the first transfer of dead hostages since the ceasefire deal with Hamas went into effect last month.

THE VICTIMS
At just 9 months old when taken captive, Kfir was the youngest of the 251 hostages Hamas took on October 7, 2023. His brother, four-year-old Ariel, and their 33-year-old mother were also killed. Their father, Yarden Bibas, was released alive in a hostage-for-prisoner exchange just over two weeks ago.

The other body released Thursday was of 84-year-old Oded Lifshitz, a retired journalist who had advocated for peace and Palestinian rights.

In exchange for the bodies, Israel freed women and teens from Gaza who were detained during the war, mostly without formal charges.

ISRAEL REACTS
Israelis lined the streets as the police convoy carrying the coffins drove to Tel Aviv.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed revenge, saying Israel will "settle the score with the vile murderers,” quoting Psalm 94: "O God of vengeance, O Lord; O God, show vengeance."
“The hearts of an entire nation lie in tatters," Israeli President Isaac Herzog said, “On behalf of the State of Israel, I bow my head and ask for forgiveness. Forgiveness for not protecting you on that terrible day. Forgiveness for not bringing you home safely.”

What’s next: Israel and Hamas are now in the final weeks of the first phase of a 42-day ceasefire that began in late January — the two sides will begin indirect negotiations on a second phase of the deal this week after delays.

Six living hostages are expected to be released Saturday. So far, 19 living hostages have been released.
- Eight bodies of killed hostages are set to be returned under the deal — leaving four more to return to Israel.
- In total, Hamas still has about 60 male hostages, around half of whom are believed to be dead.

🚨 ONE THING THAT NEEDS CONTEXT

U.S. Govt. Agencies With The Most Wasteful Spending & How Americans Feel About Musk

As the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) aims to eliminate government waste, fraud, and abuse, data from inside government agencies already highlights where there is room to cut billions of dollars.

A Wall Street Journal analysis of agencies’ self-identified improper payments in 2024 shows $149 billion in wasteful spending — about 2% of the government's $6.75 trillion budget last fiscal year.

The real issue: Figuring out ways to actually stop those payments.

ZOOM INTO THE NUMBERS
More than 90% of improper payments come from overpayments, with only about 5% coming from fraud.

Federal agencies have identified some of the challenges with cutting overpayments:
- States actually distribute much of the funding for programs like Medicaid, SNAP, and unemployment insurance.
- The Social Security Administration also relies on individuals to self-report income changes affecting Supplemental Security Income – they are seeking approval to get payroll-service providers to inform them of income changes instead.

*Most improper payments come from overspending. Via: WSJ*

Once the improper payments are made, the government can try to get some of the money back.
- Improper payments surged during the pandemic as relief programs expanded with weak fraud protections. Though they have dropped 46% since 2021, they remain above 2019 levels, partly due to rising spending.
- In 2024, agencies got back $22.6 billion.

DOGE PRIORITIES
DOGE claims to have saved $55 billion as of Feb. 17 through fraud detection, contract renegotiations, grant cancellations, asset sales, workforce cuts, and regulatory changes – with 20% coming just from contract actions.

Verifying DOGE’s claims is difficult since it has only disclosed a portion of the terminated contracts, and legal battles over some moves loom.

🚨 Firing government workers — key to DOGE’s initiative — will only slightly reduce the budget, as personnel costs are a small fraction of spending, according to Danielle Brian, of the independent watchdog group, the Project on Government Oversight.

HOW AMERICANS FEEL
Public opinion on government spending varies across political ideology: 42% of Americans support DOGE, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos, while 53% oppose it. Those numbers reflect a partisan divide — with Republicans significantly in favor of the DOGE project, while Democrats believe the Musk group has too much power.

Overall, 55% of voters told Quinnipiac polling that Musk wields excessive government influence – 78% of Republicans say his power is just right.
- A Pew Research Center poll found similar results.
An interesting takeaway: 71% of Reuters respondents said the wealthy have too much White House influence, and 69% believe they profit from those connections — crossing the partisan divide.

🚨 ONE THING THAT NEEDS CONTEXT

U.S. Plane Safety Check: Fewer Accidents, More Deaths So Far In 2025 vs 2024

*An American Airlines jet and an Army helicopter collided in late January. Via: Getty.*

Despite several recent high-profile incidents, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) data shows that aviation accidents in the U.S. are actually down in early 2025 compared to 2024. However, fatalities have more than doubled compared to the same period last year.

A LOOK AT THE NUMBERS

From Jan. 1 – Feb. 19, 2025, there have been 87 accidents with 85 fatalities.
During the same period in 2024, there were 123 accidents and 42 fatalities.
- Across all of 2024, there were 1,415 accidents and 306 deaths reported.

The spike in fatalities is largely due to the collision between an American Airlines regional jet and an Army helicopter over Washington, D.C. in late January, which killed all 67 people on board.

⏪ REWIND: 2024 also started with a major airline incident, when a Boeing jet’s door flew off mid-flight in early January. No one died on that flight.

WHAT’S UP WITH ALL THE HEADLINES?
Several factors may be driving the heightened coverage of plane crashes in 2025: more issues involving larger aircraft at major airports (including a Delta jet carrying 80 people crash-landing in Toronto on Monday), amplified public awareness/discourse online, the Trump administration’s criticism of these events, and the recent firing of FAA employees.

⏳ SPEED READ

🚨NATION

📌 Kash Patel confirmed as FBI director by the Senate despite Democratic doubts (MO NEWS)

📌 Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth could soon fire or remove generals and senior officers (CNN)

📌 NY Gov. Kathy Hochul won't remove NYC Mayor Adams (POLITICO) Judge appears on track to let DOJ dismiss Adams case (POLITICO)

🌎 AROUND THE WORLD

📌 Egypt and its neighbors working on alternative to Trump's Gaza plan that wouldn't displace Palestinians (CBS)

📌 Spain's ex-soccer boss Luis Rubiales guilty of sexual assault for World Cup kiss (USA TODAY)

📌 South Korean President Yoon appears in two different courts while defending his martial law decree (AP)

📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH

📌 Delta offering $30K to passengers aboard flight that crashed, flipped in Toronto (CBS)

📌 Apple unveils a souped-up and more expensive version of its lowest priced iPhone (AP)

📌 OpenAI says ChatGPT users jumped 33% in three months to 400 million (THE WRAP)

📌 Italian chemist Francesco Rivella, the inventor of Nutella, dies at 97 (NY POST)

🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

📌 A$AP Rocky and Rihanna promise to name their next baby after rapper's lawyer following no guilty verdict (E!)

📌 James Bond shake-up: Amazon takes creative control of franchise from Broccoli family in new deal (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER)

📌 TONIGHT: U.S. and Canada to face-off in politically-charged four nations hockey final (TIME)

ICYMI FROM THE 📲

In case you missed it… While everyone debates (and hates?) the new ‘White Lotus’ opening theme song, we’re watching old clips of the show's creator, Mike White, on ‘Survivor’ season 37 in Fiji. Let’s just say, it helps explain some of the shows vibes.

Deep cut: White brought his former co-stars, Natalie Cole and Carl Boudreaux, to make cameos in season three as hotel guests at dinner. Keep your eye peeled.

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