Jay Daniel Wright

EDITOR’S NOTE Good morning. The NFL season comes to a close today with Super Bowl LX, but another equally exciting season is already upon us: tax season. In fact, the two seasons have more in common than you might think: They both have hikes, cuts, and game-changing returns. Today, we’re even diving into post routes, cheating, hustling on the sidelines, and free agency (all in a tax context, of course). So, read on, and make sure to let the IRS know if you hit that parlay tonight.

GOVERNMENT If you file your taxes on time, that might be too late Carmen Whitehead/Getty Images Unlike soup, tax returns are not always better a day later, which is why we’ve got some devastating news for procrastinators: Filing your tax returns via mail on April 15 may not get the job done anymore. Due to some changes at the US Postal Service, mail might not be postmarked on the same day it’s sent out, turning that 11th-hour success story into an April 16 dud. What’s changing? Technically, the USPS isn’t changing how it postmarks things. It’s still going to stamp the day’s date on your letter or package when it gets to a processing facility. But your mail might take longer to actually make it to that facility. That’s in part because the USPS is trying to save money by cutting back on how often it picks up mail from local post offices, making same-day postmarking less common, the agency warned at the end of last year. But there are a few alternative options: Ask someone at the post office to manually postmark your tax return. Deliver tax documents via UPS or FedEx. File taxes electronically. Beyond taxes: Post-deadline postmarks aren’t just a potential tax problem. All time-sensitive mail, like bills and ballots, could be affected, so set your calendar reminders accordingly.

The world’s most famous fountain is no longer free

Niv Bavarsky

It now costs two euros (~$2.35) to visit Rome’s treasured Trevi Fountain—not including the three coins you’ll have to toss to marry a local, as the superstition goes. In a bid to tame crowd chaos, the city started charging tourists a fee this week to access the ornate sculptural fountain featured in Federico Fellini’s film La Dolce Vita and the Instagram story of every Roman holidayer. Additionally, there’s now a five-euro charge for some city museums. Still worth it The city says it’s not trying to deter visitors, but rather aims to raise a projected $7.6 million yearly to fund historic preservation and crowd control efforts at the site, insisting that two euros is peanuts for the chance to behold the Baroque-era marble masterpiece. A local official conjectured that if the fountain were located in New York, it would cost “at least $100.” But there are still two ways to visit Italy’s landmark water spewer for free: Go after 10pm, or relocate to Rome permanently, since locals are exempt. Rome isn’t alone…in combating overcrowding by tourists. Paris recently hiked the Louvre’s ticket price for non-Europeans from $26 to $37, while Venice imposed a daily five-euro city visit fee.

 

Progress is not measured only in miles

 Progress is not measured only in miles

Ten teams began the 2025-26 Clipper Round the World Yacht Race on August 31, with the 14th edition completing the first half of the multi-leg course around the world. Racing identical Tony Castro designed Clipper 70s, this event for amateurs is en route to the Philippines, with the milestone prompting reflection.

"I set out to sail around the world and discovered that the greater journey was inward," noted crew Jimmy Johnson. "What began as an adventure became a lesson in humility, endurance, and gratitude. The ocean strips life down to its essentials. Out here, you learn that strength isn't found in force, but in patience, awareness, and the willingness to continue when comfort disappears.

"There comes a moment when you believe you have nothing left to give. The sea teaches you that this moment is rarely the end, it is often the beginning of your truest effort. Reaching the halfway point is a reminder that progress is not measured only in miles sailed, but in the understanding gained along the way."

 

Prime number: 80 years of slush

Nick Illuzada

Wherever you stand on the great pulp vs. no pulp debate, if you prefer your OJ still a little bit frozen with a slight metallic tang, we’ve got some bad news for you. After 80 years, Minute Maid is discontinuing its canned frozen juice concentrates in the US and Canada. All five flavors—orange juice, lemonade, limeade, pink lemonade, and raspberry lemonade—will disappear from store shelves once they sell out. The story of frozen juice concentrate is a tale as American as Fievel’s: The product was born when the US army ordered 500,000 pounds of orange juice in 1945 from a company then known as Florida Foods—though the war ended before it could be delivered. The company made it commercially available in 1946 as Minute Maid. It caught on, and the Minute Maid brand was bought in 1960 by Coca-Cola, which didn’t bring out non-frozen juice under its banner until 1973. But now, consumer tastes have shifted away from the slushy stuff, and Coca-Cola said it was shifting its focus to what the people actually want. Although the outpouring of love for the nostalgic canned stuff on social media shows that tubular juice has still got its fans.

‘Hockey’s not hockey any more’: did three-on-three overtime ruin Canada’s Olympics? | Winter Olympics 2026 | The Guardian

‘Hockey’s not hockey any more’: did three-on-three overtime ruin Canada’s Olympics? | Winter Olympics 2026 | The Guardian

Hockey’s not hockey any more’: did three-on-three overtime ruin Canada’s Olympics?


Two Olympic finals between Canada and the US were settled by sudden death. The format made the showpieces feel more like a coin toss than a climax


Tom DartMon 23 Feb 2026 00.05 GMT
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Two Olympic finals against the US, two strong performances, two sudden-death losses. Canada is so over overtime.

While all good things must come to an end, it’s hard to fathom why hockey’s international rule-makers think that the very best things – huge clashes that were some of the hottest tickets of the entire Olympics – should be ended using three-on-three golden-goal overtime, a concept beloved only by people with a train to catch or firm dinner reservations.


Forty-six years after the Miracle on Ice, the US men and women celebrated with a pair of huge assists from the Misrule on Ice. Following an overtime winner by Megan Keller that saw the Americans break stubborn Canadian resistance in the women’s final on Thursday, another 2-1 win for the US against their neighbours in Milan on Sunday handed the men their first gold since the famous triumph over the Soviet Union at Lake Placid in 1980.


USA stun Canada in overtime to win first Olympic men’s ice hockey gold since 1980

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At the end of regulation during two mesmerizing knife-edge finals, the rules decreed: OK, that’s enough high-quality five-on-five hockey. Let’s put an end to all this drama as quickly as possible by forcing the teams to play a different format to decide the outcome of the most important contests in international hockey.

On the one hand – the odd dubious refereeing call and a magnificent goaltending display from USA’s Connor Hellebuyck aside – Canada’s men have only themselves to blame for failing to make the most of their dominance on Sunday. They outshot the US 42-28 and nerves appeared to sneak in, most obviously when Nathan MacKinnon pushed the puck wide of an open net in the third period, missing a chance so easy that the pitiless Canadian curling assassin, Brad Jacobs, no doubt could have scored it with a flick of his broom.


And overtime gave to Canada – Mitch Marner scored an extra-frame winner against Czechia in the quarter-finals – before it took away. But it’s not only about them: three of the men’s quarter-finals went to overtime, including the US’s victory over Sweden. Switzerland’s women took bronze with an overtime win over Sweden.

In the sense that impatience, derangement and ripping up tradition to facilitate the cruel and arbitrary sorting of groups of humans into winners and losers in a frenzied made-for-screens spectacle defines this cultural and political era, then the format is perfectly suited to our times.

Savagely abrupt endings make for great TV: cut to overjoyed winners, cut to stunned losers, cut back and forth again and again, gorging on the contrasting emotional overloads, stillness and shock, hugs and bliss.

It forces everyone to wait 15 or so minutes for a passage of play that’s likely to be over within a few seconds. Or, as it turned out on Sunday, 101 seconds, with Jack Hughes crashing the puck past Jordan Binnington as a weary Canada were caught out of shape on the counter. From a ratings-hungry television executive’s perspective, this helpfully means viewers can’t take their eyes off the action because it could end at any second.

Canada coach Jon Cooper did not blame the overtime regulations for his team’s loss – he said his players “knew the rules coming in” – but he did think they affected the spectacle. “You take four players off the ice, now hockey’s not hockey any more. There’s a reason overtime and shootouts are in play – it’s all TV-driven to end games, so it’s not a long time. There’s a reason why it’s not in the Stanley Cup Final or playoffs,” Cooper told reporters after Sunday’s game.


That’s not sour grapes. It’s just plain-speaking: Olympic extra-time inspires strong feelings. “Whoever dreamed up playing three-on-three in overtime to decide a gold medal hockey game in the Olympics should be stacked into a bobsleigh and pushed down a ski jump,” frothed one Edmonton Journal writer after the women’s final.
View image in fullscreenThe US women’s team celebrate their victory against Canada. Photograph: Best Images/Action Plus/Shutterstock

It doesn’t really divide opinion, however, because virtually no one thinks it’s a good idea. It’s hard to discern any logic behind a rule that so fundamentally changes the dynamics, debasing the contest into quasi-random pinball, or as if the players have stepped into a video game. It introduces what ordinarily is the consequence for infringements – reducing the numbers on the ice – into the structure of the match, like you’re punishing everyone for failing to get the job done in 60 minutes.

Unlike soccer, it’s not as if hockey is a sport known for defensive play and few chances in which teams sometimes need to be incentivized to attack. It’s inherently exciting and no one is playing for a tie. The risk of an interminable match is much lower than in, say, baseball and tennis, two sports that have tinkered with the rules to produce winners sooner.

Maybe there is a case for three-on-three over a guaranteed period of time, say, five or 10 minutes. Or sudden death with the full complement of players. But both at the same time? You avoid a shootout – a strong motivation for the NHL and the IIHF, hockey’s worldwide governing body, which eliminated them for the gold medal game in favour of playing on until a winning goal is scored. But are five-on-five shootouts really any less pressurized or capricious? “I guess, 50-50 battle there,” Binnington ruefully told reporters when asked about the additional period.


When overtime is settled by a single shot, likely after no more than a couple of minutes of end-to-end play in which both teams have had chances, there probably isn’t enough useful context or data from that period to conclude that the outcome is fair, that one team has deserved it more. The goal is just something that happened, like a lightning bolt out of the blue. It leaves the neutral numb and feeling cheated by a format divorced from the deadlocked hour that’s gone before.

By rebooting the match so radically, the truth that Canada were much the better team in regulation was rendered irrelevant. The rhythm was all-new; the prolongation was a rebirth of the final, not a continuation. It ransacked the match of meaning. “You be the judge of who was the better team today,” MacKinnon told reporters, seemingly treating the result with as much disdain as he did the stuffed toy he received with his silver medal.

Three-on-three is much more defensible in round-robin games or 82-fixture NHL regular seasons, when there’s less at stake. The Americans and Canadians are highly familiar with the format as it’s been used to settle NHL regular-season overtimes since 2015-16. For the biggest single match in the sport, however, it feels extreme. Notably, when it matters most in the NHL – during the playoffs – overtime is five-on-five.

When Canada beat the US in the 2010 final in Vancouver with an overtime Sidney Crosby goal the format was four-on-four. That is clearly a more reasonable compromise. Another way to settle tied games would be five or ten minutes of five-on-five, then if necessary a switch to four-on-four, then three-on-three for as long as it takes. Regardless, it’s all an unwelcome distraction from what the aftermath of a massive hockey match should really be about: complaining about the officiating.

Spain became the first European country to ban social media for teens

 Spain became the first European country to ban social media for teens. Starting next week, people under 16 will no longer be able to access many social media platforms after the Spanish government passed a series of measures designed to hold tech companies responsible for the harm done to their users. “Social media has become a failed state, a place where laws are ignored, and crime is endured,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said. Spain joins Australia in officially banning social platforms for teens, while France and other countries are considering similar restrictions.

 

The biggest stars at the Olympics are drones

Nick Iluzada

Ever get the feeling you’re being followed? For Olympians, it’s not paranoia—it’s a high-tech drone camera trailing close behind. It is, also, an exhilarating (sometimes nauseating) first-person perspective for us couch potatoes…but not without some drawbacks. More than two dozen drones deployed by the Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) have been used for high-speed sports like luge and downhill skiing, but have yet to be used for curling (it’s already too electric). Safety first: The drones are controlled by a three-person team with a pilot who has expertise in the particular sport. OBS CEO Yiannis Exarchos said the drones underwent controlled crash tests and are never flown in front of competitors or above them, where they can create shadows. But…some have raised concerns about safety and aesthetics: Several athletes who can’t afford a distraction when operating at breakneck speeds have said the drones are noticeable if they don’t keep their distance. Then there’s the sound of the whirring blades being picked up by microphones. It’s loud enough that viewers have compared the buzzing to the vuvuzelas during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Bottom line: The first-person views of nontraditional sports are a way to draw in viewers to events that they might otherwise skip. Drones are “a big entry point for people, especially younger people,” Exarchos said.

Quebec keeps 33% tuition hike for out‑of‑province students after court ruling

Quebec keeps 33% tuition hike for out‑of‑province students after court ruling

The province will not go back to court to seek approval of the rewritten rules, a Higher Education Ministry spokesperson said.
Author of the article:By Andy Riga
Published Feb 02, 2026Last updated 16 hours ago
3 minute read
McGill (above) and Concordia have cited the tuition increase for non-Quebec students, which caused a drop in out-of-province applications, as a key reason why they have been compelled to make deep budget cuts. Photo by John Mahoney /Montreal Gazette

Quebec is keeping a 33 per cent tuition increase for non‑francophone students from outside the province, saying its revised university funding policy complies with a Quebec Superior Court ruling that found the hike “unreasonable.”

In the April 2025 ruling, Justice Éric Dufour invalidated the hike as drafted but gave the province nine months to update its framework.

In an updated policy published late last month, the province explained the rationale behind the tuition increase, which mainly affected Concordia and McGill, both of which are English universities.

The document now “specifies that the tuition increase aims to prevent Quebec taxpayers from having to largely subsidize the studies of Canadian students who are not recognized as Quebec residents,” Higher Education Ministry spokesperson Bryan St-Louis told The Gazette on Monday.

A preferential tuition rate continues to be available to out-of-province students who choose to pursue their university studies in French, “with the goal of positioning Quebec as a leading francophone destination,” St-Louis said.

In 2024, Quebec hiked tuition for new out-of-province students studying in English by 33 per cent — making it about $12,000, up from $9,000. The Legault government said the increase was meant to protect the French language and curb the number of non-French-speaking students in the province.

McGill and Concordia sued the Quebec government, arguing that the hike was unreasonable and discriminatory. They have cited the tuition changes, which caused a drop in out-of-province applications, as a key reason why they have been compelled to make deep budget cuts.

In his judgment, Dufour criticized the arguments advanced by former higher education minister Pascale Déry, echoing the universities’ contention that the plan was put forward without sufficient evidence.
Article content


Concordia spent $780,000 on legal fight over Quebec tuition overhaul

Academic freedom at risk with constitution bill, Quebec universities warn


The judge also ordered the province to immediately scrap its plan to impose French proficiency requirements for non-Quebec applicants. At the time, Déry’s spokesperson said the province would “be pursuing discussions” on the issue of knowledge of French for students from outside Quebec.

When the judgment was handed down, Concordia University president Graham Carr said he hoped the court ruling would be a wake-up call for Quebec to work with English universities.

However, Quebec said it would maintain the tuition hike, without providing details on how it would proceed.

St-Louis, the ministry spokesperson, said on Monday that Quebec will not go back to court to seek approval of the rewritten rules. He said the province is not obliged to “present the budgetary rules in their modified version to a court following the judicial decision.”

Concordia spokesperson Vannina Maestracci said the university is “disappointed but not surprised” by the government’s stance.

“We regret that despite facts, figures, the opinion of a (government-mandated) specialized committee on the issue and a ruling by the Quebec Superior Court, the government is sticking with a measure that harms the competitiveness of all Quebec universities.”

She said Concordia is scheduled to meet soon with Higher Education Minister Martine Biron, at which time the university will raise “this and other measures that continue to damage the province’s reputation as a university destination.”

McGill declined a request for comment.

Many Quebec students study in other provinces. For example, in 2024, about 6,400 Quebec students were in Ontario universities — roughly the same number going in the other direction, according to an analysis by Higher Education Strategy Associates.

With some exceptions, Quebec students studying in the rest of Canada pay the same amount as locals.

In 2023, McGill noted that the planned $12,000 rate for out-of-province students would price Quebec out of the market in the arts and sciences programs that welcome most students from elsewhere in Canada.

“Put yourself in the shoes of a student from the rest of Canada — ($12,000) is still double what you’re going to pay at the University of Toronto or the University of British Columbia,” a McGill official said at the time.

Concordia spent $780,000 on legal fees to fight Quebec’s tuition overhaul, according to information obtained by The Gazette last year via an access-to-information request.

McGill refused to disclose the cost of its legal fight. The Gazette has asked Quebec’s access-to-information commission to review the university’s decision.

The Coalition Avenir Québec government has drafted a Quebec constitution that would bar public institutions such as universities from suing the province using taxpayer dollars.

The Bureau de coopération interuniversitaire, which represents all Quebec universities, says the proposal would curb academic freedom and punish administrators who authorize legal challenges using public funds, exposing them to personal financial liability.

 

Homes are not selling like hotcakes

Lindsey Nicholson/Getty Images

Last month, the housing market had the energy of a spider web-covered basement that’s used for storage. After months of recovery, sales of preowned US homes decreased by 8.4% in January from December, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported yesterday. Despite mortgage rates falling throughout 2025: Home sales were down 4.4% from a year ago, amounting to the worst month for home closings in more than two years. Dwellings sat unsold for a median of 46 days last month, compared with 41 days a year prior. Housewarming recession The NAR says arctic weather in parts of the US may be partially to blame for market frigidness, but places that weren’t impacted also experienced home sales declines. Analysts attribute tepid homebuying to economic uncertainty, on top of low inventory that’s keeping prices high. The number of homes on the market rose by 3.4% in January from a year earlier, but given the monthly pace of sales, that equals just 3.7 months’ worth of supply. Six months of supply is considered a balanced market. In a silver lining for buyers and sellers…the median price of homes crept up by 0.9%, to $396,800, over the year—but they’ve become more affordable, thanks to wage growth and lower mortgage rates, according to the NAR.

 

Parks may be driving Disney toward its next CEO

Gary Hershorn/Getty Images

It sounds like Disney adults are having a big say in who will be named the company’s new CEO. Bloomberg reported that theme parks head Josh D’Amaro is the favorite to replace two-term chief Bob Iger thanks to his division’s consistent profitability. His edge comes as parks once again bolstered the Mouse’s middling earnings report, which beat estimates but sent the stock tumbling 7% yesterday. Disney’s experiences unit, which includes parks and cruises, reported a record $10 billion in profit last quarter. Since D’Amaro was placed atop Space Mountain in 2020, the experiences unit has accounted for a majority of the company’s profits. Kalshi gives D’Amaro an 89% chance to do his best Tom Wambsgans and move from parks to the CEO chair when the board votes on a new company leader this week. Hitting it out of the parks: Total attendance at Disney’s US theme parks only climbed 1% in the most recent quarter, but visitor spending jumped 4% due to concession sales (having a beer at every country in Epcot Center isn’t cheap). So what’s dragging Disney down? First, the good news: Operating income in Disney’s streaming division surged 72% from a year ago to $450 million, and the company said it had fewer cancellations (it does not release subscriber totals). However, earnings per share and operating profit declined 7% and 9% year over year, respectively: Nonstreaming entertainment revenue crashed 55%. Sports operating income was down 23%, which can be attributed, in part, to a 15-day standoff with YouTube TV that Disney says cost $110 million in revenue. Disney released nine movies in the quarter compared to four a year ago, which comes with higher production costs. And Disney warned that parks and cruises growth could slow in the next quarter because of expansion costs, as well as “international visitation headwinds at our domestic parks” from tariffs and potentially stricter visa requirements. Zoom out: This earnings report represents the challenges that the next CEO will face—how to keep parks and streaming flourishing while managing the expected continued decline of linear TV.