Today is Tuesday, May 27, 2025.
It is the 147th day of the year.
218 days remain.
WHAT’S ON TAP
NOTABLE & NOTEWORTHY: New details on the New Orleans jailbreak.
DIDDY spent Memorial Day shooting hoops and eating BBQ chicken. More in SHOWBIZ.
Disney’s “Lilo & Stitch” makes box office history. Details in CASTING CALL.
A handwritten note from MEGHAN SUSSEX goes viral. Details in ROYALS.
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FOLLOW UP: North Korean officials have arrested three shipyard workers following last week’s embarrassing failure to launch a 5,000 ton destroyer.
Officials rounded up the Chongjin shipyard’s chief engineer, a construction supervisor, and a mid-level manager, the New York Times reports. KIM JONG JUNIOR was personally on hand to watch what was supposed to be a glorious moment for the communist regime, marking the launch of its second naval destroyer – but during the ship’s slide into water, it fell off the slip and, according to satellite imagery, remains floating on its side.
Analysts say the failed launch has much to do with the ship’s weight: the Chongjin shipyard usually sets lighter cargo ships and fishing vessels out to sea, not massive warships. South Korean intelligence suggests that, in a brutal twist of irony, engineers at Chongjin cut corners in order to get the ship ready in time for Junior’s visit, leading to the shameful mishap. [via New York Times]
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UPDATE: CNN reports that the inmates who busted out of a New Orleans jail earlier this month used the blades on hair clippers to cut through cell walls.
Investigators have also identified jailed accomplices who remained on the inside, who allegedly helped with the escape. In one instance, they provided towels that the escapees later used to scale down a fence. In another, they helped conceal the escape route by moving a toilet to cover the hole that was cut for their escape.
Half of the inmates remain at large. [via CNN]
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Earth has another neighbor in the cosmic neighborhood.
An analysis of astronomical data shows there’s a dwarf planet about a third the size of Pluto that orbits somewhere past Neptune, but in a route so wide it takes about 25,000 years to complete.
So far, there’s no formal name, only the scientific designation 2017 OF201.
At its closest, the new find is 44.5 times farther from the sun than Earth, similar to Pluto, but can venture off 1600 times that at its farthest. At such extremes, telescopes only pick it up about 1% of the time it’s in view. [via USA Today]
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LAST YEAR: The New York Times reported that an indigenous tribe in Brazil was able to connect to the internet for the first time thanks to ELON MUSK’s Starlink satellite internet technology – only for the young men in the rainforest society to become infatuated with pornography.
NOW: That tribe is suing the Times, and news outlets that shared the story, for defamation, to the tune of $180 MILLION – each.
The suit alleges: “The NYT portrayed the Marubo people as a community unable to handle basic exposure to the internet, highlighting allegations that their youth had become consumed by pornography shortly after receiving access. These statements were not only inflammatory but conveyed to the average reader that the Marubo people had descended into moral and social decline as a direct result of internet access.” [via Xatakon]
WORTH NOTING: A follow-up story in the Times a week after the original made clear that despite the social media narrative at the time, it never reported that tribe members were addicted to porn, only that some were sharing it for the first time. But by then the internet sensation mill was running at full capacity.
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ALEX PALOU, with Chip Ganassi Racing, made history Sunday, becoming the first Spaniard to win the Indianapolis 500.
He entered the race as the two-time defending IndyCar champion, and was listed at +500 by BetMGM Sportsbook.
Driver MARCUS ERICSSON (Andretti Global) took second, followed by DAVID MALUKS (AJ Foyt Racing) in third. [via USAToday]
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