Billionaire Jeff Bezos’ Amazon will cough up $2.5 billion to compensate customers in a “historic” settlement. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) accused Amazon of illegally using “manipulative, coercive, or deceptive” designs to “trick” shoppers into enrolling in auto-renewing Prime subscriptions and making cancelling too hard. Amazon did not admit to any wrongdoing. “Today, the Trump-Vance FTC made history and secured a record-breaking, monumental win for the millions of Americans who are tired of deceptive subscriptions that feel impossible to cancel,” said FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson in a press release. $1 billion of the settlement will be a civic penalty, the largest ever for a FTC rule violation. The remaining $1.5 billion will repay eligible Prime subscribers. Prime customers who signed up for a membership via the company’s ‘Single Page Checkout’ between June 23, 2019 to June 23, 2025 will get $51 as long as they can show they were unintentionally enrolled in Prime, or were deterred from canceling their subscriptions. The settlement also requires the company to change its Prime enrollment and cancellation methods, including adding a clear button for customers to decline Prime. “Amazon and our executives have always followed the law and this settlement allows us to move forward and focus on innovating for customers,” said Amazon spokesperson Mark Blafkin in a statement.
Researchers have a sci-fi movie plot point as a plan to deal with a “city killer” asteroid on a potential 2032 collision course with the moon. The team, which includes NASA scientists, published a Sept. 15 paper outlining their idea to use nuclear bombs to destroy the 300-foot asteroid named “2024 YR4.” Fans of the 1998 film Armageddon, starring Bruce Willis, are likely familiar with this concept. But instead of sending people to plant the bombs, the plan would be to launch a nuclear arsenal at the 10-story, building-sized asteroid. The space rock first made headlines when it was thought to have a historically high chance of hitting Earth. Now, the asteroid, which was discovered on Dec. 27, 2024, has a chance of hitting the moon, according to NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies. An impact on our lunar body could cause moon debris to destroy satellites and potentially even threaten astronauts aboard the International Space Station. But this nuclear option comes with the risk of inadvertently altering the asteroid’s course to Earth, according to the researchers. The team says if this mission were to happen, it would need to launch between 2029 and 2031.
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Actress Joanna Page is opening up about her scary experience being held captive while working in South Africa 20 years ago. During a recent appearance on the “Five Brilliant Things” podcast, Page, 48, revealed she was once taken hostage while filming the 2005 BBC miniseries To the Ends of the Earth. The Gavin & Stacey star said she was visiting a nearby mall when she asked a local man, who told her he was a taxi driver, to bring her back to her hotel. Instead, the man drove around for 90 minutes, refusing to let her out of his car and telling her he would force her to strip for naked photos. “It was the only situation I think I’ve ever been in in my life where I thought, ‘You’re in the s—. This is serious. You can’t get yourself out of this,’’ Page told host Russell Howard. Eventually, the actress decided to charm the driver into letting her go. “I thought, okay, just laugh with him, make him laugh, tell some jokes, be saucy,” said Page. The man ultimately returned her to the hotel, where staff told her she was “so incredibly lucky” to have gotten away unharmed. However, Page wasn’t the only cast member to face a dangerous situation during production. Her co-star, Benedict Cumberbatch, was later abducted and held at gunpoint alongside two friends after their car broke down during a break from filming. The actor said in 2012 that surviving the ordeal had “made [him] want to live a life slightly less ordinary.”
Authorities arrested a former anti-drugs czar after a cocaine “crystallization” lab was found on land he owns, officials said. The suspect—Felipe Cáceres, 63, who ran the Bolivian government’s controlled-substances office from 2006 to 2019—was detained on Tuesday. According to a report by the BBC, police said the facility—near the sand-and-gravel business Cáceres owns in the Cochabamba region, a major coca growing area—could employ up to 10 people. It is unclear whether Cáceres—a former union rep for coca growers—was aware of the operation. Prosecutors are now working to establish who ran the lab and whether Cáceres profited from it. Former president Evo Morales called the arrest a “set-up” by the government “to detract from its own scandals,” although he did not specify what scandals he was referring to. The case comes amid a rotten run for Bolivia’s anti-drug brass. Ex–narcotics chief Maximiliano Dávila was extradited to New York in December to face cocaine-smuggling charges, according to charging documents and U.S. officials, which he denies. Another former top official, René Sanabria, received a 14-year U.S. prison sentence in 2011 after being caught in a trafficking sting.
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Sleep can be hard to come by these days. From city noise and snoring partners to late-night scrolling and spiraling thoughts, there’s a lot that can get in the way of a good night’s rest. In fact, research suggests that one in three adults doesn’t get enough sleep. (Hello, fellow insomniacs!) Luckily, you don’t have to accept exhaustion as your default—Ozlo Sleepbuds can help improve sleep hygiene sans habit-forming treatments or sleeping in separate rooms (aka ‘sleep divorce’).
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President Donald Trump has driven Colin Firth’s ex-wife to return an honor bestowed upon her by the British government. Livia Giuggioli gave back the MBE awarded to her by the U.K. in protest over the president’s state visit in September. Giuggioli, an Italian national known as the “queen of the green carpet” for her work in sustainable fashion, also slammed Trump for what she called his “poisonous rhetoric.” The 56-year-old ripped up her MBE certificate in a video on Instagram, saying, “I have been reflecting on his visit to the U.K. last week and I am afraid I can’t reconcile [with] the way he was appeased and honored and, again, legitimized.” The environmentalist added that the U.K. had rolled out the red carpet for “someone who stands for the obliteration of the natural world and the most vulnerable people on Earth.” She was given the fourth-highest award in the Order of the British Empire as part of a tranche of foreign nationals in 2019. An MBE, or Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, is awarded by a member of the royal family for sustained, positive contributions to society. Giving hers back, Giuggioli said, “As I write this, we see that horrible excuse of a human (called Trump) in full flow at the U.N. General Assembly.” She was referring to his rambling, almost-hour-long speech after the teleprompter broke. She and Firth were married from 1997 to 2019 and have two sons together.
Aggressive waves swept away two women and a child after posing for photos during Typhoon Ragasa. The video, filmed in the South Horizons district of Hong Kong, captured a huge wave rising quickly above them and crashing, pushing them several feet into a metal fence. The wave receded around them, leaving them struggling to get back on their feet. More than 2 million people relocated across the area in preparation for the super-typhoon that hit. Typhoon Ragasa weakened after causing deaths in Taiwan and the Philippines earlier this week. By Thursday, it was no longer as strong but was moving west along the southern coast of China toward Vietnam. The storm caused flooding in the streets and homes in the economic hub of Guangdong province. In the province, half a million households lost power and more than 100,000 trees were damaged. Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh instructed government agencies and authorities to protect their infrastructure. They sought to protect hospitals, dams, and other coastal assets. The government executed evacuation protocols and search and rescue operations.
Austria has thanked the U.S. for providing it with a “brain gain” after it said it poached 25 “top researchers” from institutions such as Harvard, Princeton, and MIT, with grants set up in response to the Trump administration’s funding cuts for top universities. “Thank Trump for this brain gain,” the Austrian Academy of Sciences said in a statement on Thursday. “We have succeeded in bringing these outstanding individuals from the United States to Austria. They bring with them new ideas, new perspectives, and international networks. That is a big win for Austrian science.” Recipients of the grants will receive $587,000 each to study their post-doctoral fields over the next two years, while President Donald Trump has cut funding to top U.S. universities over allegations of antisemitism and civil rights violations. “At a time when political interference and authoritarian tendencies are encroaching on research and teaching, we are taking a strong stand against them,” said Eva-Maria Holzleitner, Austria’s minister for science and research.
At least seven Buddhist monks are dead after a shocking cable car accident at a monastery in Sri Lanka. Thirteen people were traveling in the standing-only, open cable car at the historic Na Uyana Monastery in central Sri Lanka when the accident occurred. Of the seven who died, three were foreign nationals hailing from India, Romania, and Russia. Four other passengers were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment and two managed to escape injury by jumping from the cable car, according to a local media outlet, Lancasara. The local Pansiyagama Police told the outlet that it suspected the accident was caused by a snapped cable and that it was investigating. The Na Uyana Monastery dates back to the 3rd century B.C. and sits in 5,000 acres of forest. About 200 monks live in the monastery, which can be accessed via a steep incline by riding on the cable car or walking up a long set of stairs that ascend parallel to the track. Photos after the accident show monks gathered and surveying the site of the horror incident.
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Turn your holiday countdown this year into something a little naughtier (and more fun) with Lovehoney’s Advent calendars. A spicy spin on the class tradition, these calendars are an erotic journey of passion, play, and connection. Choose from five tantalizing options, each loaded with toys and treats to keep things steamy all winter long. The ultimate pick? The Couples Calendar. With 24 luxe goodies—think card games, blindfolds, and whips—it’s full of ways to turn everyday into a new adventure with your partner.
Lovehoney Couple’s Advent Calendar (24 Day)
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A kindergarten has shelved a bizarre plan to bill parents $1,451 for their own kids’ artwork. The volunteer-run Craigslea Community Kindergarten in Brisbane, Australia, informed families that it was insolvent and owed approximately $26,587 (AUS$40,314) to staff and the tax office, then proposed selling the children’s “portfolios” for AUS$2,200 as a fundraising effort. Families were asked to tick a form “opposing” or “agreeing” to the fee. However, according to a report in The Guardian, it backed away from the plan after the Queensland education department intervened, stating that the scrapbooks must be handed back free of charge. A spokesperson for the department said the children’s portfolios “are now available for families to collect, free of charge.” The center, affiliated with C&K Childcare and Kindergarten, but run independently, reported a 2024 loss of approximately US$29,679 (AUS$45,003) on income of around US$237,929 (AUS$360,772).
of charge
Bill Ferrario, a former NFL lineman, was found dead on Wednesday in his Wisconsin home, two days after his 47th birthday. A cause of death has not been announced. The Green Bay Packers drafted Ferrario in the fourth round of the 2001 NFL Draft. He spent two seasons with the team before playing for the former Washington Redskins and Carolina Panthers. He retired in 2005. Before the NFL, he was a starter for four years at the University of Wisconsin after becoming a standout recruit at West Scranton High School in Pennsylvania. Ferrario committed to the university in 1997 and played in 50 games. His blocking work helped running back Ron Dayne win the Heisman trophy in 1999. Despite his short professional career, he remembered it fondly. “It was definitely an honor to be able to be part of that offensive line,” he told The C.S. Podcast in 2013. “To be able to tell my kids as they grow up, it wasn’t for a long time, but your dad got to block for Brett Favre, one of the best quarterbacks ever.” He is survived by his two children.