🌾 Kansas

• Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed House Substitute for Senate Bill 244, which would have restricted bathroom access in government buildings based on biological sex and barred transgender Kansans from changing gender markers on driver's licenses, but Republicans hold sufficient votes to override. →

• Gov. Laura Kelly will attend a White House governors' working meeting Feb. 20 but skip the black-tie dinner, after Democratic governors initially threatened to boycott amid a dispute over invitations. →

• The Kansas House moved to ratify Gov. Laura Kelly's emergency declaration for Douglas, Johnson and Wyandotte counties through late July for the FIFA World Cup while a committee advanced sports tourism event grant bills. →

• The House Health and Human Services Committee advanced HB 2520 to raise the home-plus care facility cap from 12 to 16 residents, with new oversight requirements for facilities serving 13 to 16 individuals. →

• HB 2779 would guarantee Reno County at least one seat on the Kansas State Fair Board, addressing what supporters call a gap that leaves the host community without formal voice in fair governance. →

🇺🇸 US

• World leaders at this week's Munich Security Conference declared the post-1945 international order dead, with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz saying the system "no longer exists," French President Emmanuel Macron warning Europe must prepare for war, and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announcing a "new geopolitics era."

• Annual inflation cooled to 2.4% in January, down from 2.7% in December and below the 2.5% forecast, driven by declining gasoline and used-vehicle prices.

• South Carolina and at least 16 other Republican-controlled states are advancing legislation to subject state regulations costing $1 million or more to direct legislative review, following the Supreme Court's 2024 decision curtailing federal regulatory agency power.

• Matt Shumer, CEO of OthersideAI, posted a viral essay to X warning that AI's rapid acceleration signals knowledge work is about to be radically upended, drawing parallels to early COVID-19 pandemic underestimation.

• The U.S. military is preparing for sustained, weeks-long operations against Iran if President Trump orders an attack, two U.S. officials told Reuters, as diplomats head to Geneva Tuesday for negotiations.

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February 16 2024: Alexei Navalny, fierce critic of Vladimir Putin, dies in prison

New statements from the U.K., France, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands say tissue samples from his body “conclusively” contained epibatidine, a dart‑frog–derived toxin not found naturally in Russia, and that only the Russian state had the means, motive, and opportunity to administer it—amounting to explicit proof he was poisoned in prison.

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