🐤 Searching all over

📰 Network shutdown: The Israeli government has taken a wide range of steps to shut down what it deems threats from allies of Hamas in the wake of October’s terrorist attack — and one of the most notable recent acts involved a raid of the Al Jazeera TV network in Jerusalem. Although broadcasts were halted across Israel, the network could still be seen via social media. Israeli officials described Al Jazeera as a propaganda tool for Hamas but the network shot back by calling the accusation a “dangerous and ridiculous lie.”

🦓 Runaway zebra: The Pacific Northwest is home to some incredible wildlife, but one species that isn’t a common sight in Washington is the zebra. When one of the black-and-white animals escaped from its owner late last month, it sent authorities on an unusual adventure that spanned nearly a week before it was ultimately located and recaptured. The zebra (her name is Shug, by the way) spent six days exploring the foothills of the Cascades mountain range after breaking out of a trailer on the way to a petting zoo in Montana.

🌊 Severe flooding: Areas in and around Houston, Texas, have been inundated by heavy rainfall in recent days and meteorologists say the trend could extend into this week. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo declared an emergency on Thursday amid mandatory evacuations and widespread flooding that threatened lives and property throughout the region. As of Saturday, authorities said countywide recovery efforts had resulted in the rescue of at least 178 people and 122 pets. Nine Red Cross shelters had been opened to provide emergency assistance.

🎖️ Presidential honors: The latest group of Americans to receive the nation’s highest civilian honor were presented with their medals during a ceremony at the White House on Friday. President Joe Biden gave the Presidential Medal of Freedom to a total of 19 recipients from various fields, including politics (Reps. Nancy Pelosi and Jim Clyburn), sports (Olympian Katie Ledecky), entertainment (actress Michelle Yeoh), and social advocacy (activists Opal Lee and Judy Shepard). Biden said it was among his “favorite events at the White House.”

🏦 Markets: New economic indicators are expected to drop this week, from a central bank assessment to reports on consumer sentiment and lending standards. These benchmarks will surely impact the direction of stock prices as will upcoming earnings reports from companies including Walt Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, Uber, and Airbnb.

Then there’s Apple, which is hoping to make a splash with an event insiders believe will include the unveiling of a new iPad.

The argument could be made that there’s not a more powerful name in the tech industry than Google. And even though parent company Alphabet has gone on to conquer other aspects of this highly competitive realm, its most prominent sphere of influence continues to be search-engine supremacy.

But that success has come at a price … namely, the Justice Department’s claim that it has become a monopoly and needs to be broken up into smaller companies.

Closing arguments

The trial is now in its last phase following the final arguments presented by both prosecutors and Google attorneys last week. In addition to the Justice Department, 14 U.S. states joined in to assert that the company’s stranglehold on online search and related advertising revenue ran afoul of the nation’s antitrust laws.

But Google naturally pushed back against this assessment, with lawyer John Schmidtlein insisting: “It would be an unprecedented decision to punish a company for winning on the merits.”

Now, it’s up to a judge to consider the facts of the case and determine whether Google should be forced to break up in the name of fairness or if it can continue its path of dominance. And other companies are anxiously awaiting the results.

Setting a precedent

Other companies have faced similar antitrust allegations in the past, including several that have been forced to split into smaller companies as a result. But this case could have a significant ripple effect throughout the tech world.

Specifically, companies like Amazon, Apple, and Meta are also embroiled in similar controversies — and the Google decision could have an impact on how their respective cases are resolved.

While these companies might benefit from a ruling in Google’s favor, a win by the Justice Department could help the search engine’s direct competitors like Bing.

In an era of seemingly endless sequels and reimaginings of older films, many movie fans have lamented the dearth of truly original plots and characters over the past several years.

But there have been more than a few bright spots here and there — and Robin Hood fans are hoping that a reboot starring Hugh Jackman will provide another entertaining chapter in that character’s long Hollywood story.

A lengthy lineage

Few narratives have been retold in as many ways as that of Robin of Sherwood, who famously stole from the rich and gave to the poor. There’s a film for fans of all sorts of movies:

• The Classics: You can’t find a more vintage telling of the story than the 1938 version starring Errol Flynn as the title character.
• Animation: Disney put its signature spin on the tale in the 1973 film portraying a cartoon fox in the leading role.
• Irreverent Comedy: No franchise is complete without a Mel Brooks spoof, which came in 1993 with “Robin Hood: Men In Tights.”

That last one was a clear parody of a film that came out earlier the same decade — “Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves” — in which Kevin Costner portrayed the protagonist. And it has been the standard-bearer of the modern age ever since. But that could soon change.

Looking to the future

We don’t know too much about what Deadline called a “darker reimagining” of the Robin Hood story, but production is expected to begin early next year.

The last film to portray the character came out in 2018 and was widely panned, so writer-director Michael Sarnoski has the chore of bringing Robin Hood back into the good graces of audiences … and he says he’s excited for the opportunity to “bring this story to life in a powerful and meaningful way.”

Most of us have felt the urge to help someone in need, whether by offering a hot meal or a few bucks. For one 9-year-old boy in Louisiana, that desire prompted him to give up the only dollar he had to his name.

Here’s how it happened

According to reports, Kelvin Ellis Jr. was walking by a coffee shop in Baton Rouge when he saw a man he thought was homeless and offered a dollar. It was the boy’s last dollar, but he was happy to give it away because he’d always felt a desire to help someone in that situation.

“I had money,” the boy later said. “It wasn’t that much, but it could still help him get something.”

In reality, however, the man was Matt Busbice, a 42-year-old millionaire who had rushed out to the coffee shop after a fire alarm went off at his residence.

He might have looked disheveled and indigent, but he’s actually the owner of a line of retail stores specializing in hunting and other outdoor activities. And he responded to Ellis’ willingness to part with his last dollar by saying that it had been “a very long time” since he experienced “that much faith in humanity.”

Repaying his generosity

For starters, Busbice bought the boy breakfast and treated his dad to a cup of coffee. But the real payoff came when the millionaire took Ellis to one of his stores and gave him 40 seconds to pick out anything he could grab for free.

In the end, Busbice said he hopes the story delivers an important message for everyone who hears it.

“If you give, you’re actually going to get more out of that,” he said. “I couldn’t grasp that as a kid. And if we can spread that around, everything changes.”