Edith Olmsted

National Geographic/Bertie GregoryFor the first time ever, filmmakers for National Geographic have captured the annual rite of passage many baby penguins take before they embark on their first swim: a daring leap from a towering ice shelf. The astounding new footage shows approximately 700 Emperor penguin chicks gathering precariously at the top of a sheer ice cliff, and one-by-one launching themselves into the icy waters 50-feet below. The footage was captured on location at Atka Bay, in Antarctica, by the BAFTA Award-winning cinematographer Bertie Gregory as part of a upcoming National Geographic production called THE SECRETS OF PENGUINS, which will air in April 2025. Read more at The Daily Beast.

Alex Wong/Getty ImagesA fire at the office of Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT) in Burlington, Vermont on Friday was intentionally lit, authorities say. The Burlington Fire Marshal’s office deemed the fire “incendiary in nature,” according to a press release. An investigation found that an accelerant had been sprayed on the door of Sen. Sanders downtown office, according to NECN. Personnel in the building and surrounding structures were evacuated. Sanders was not in the office at the time, and no staffers were injured.Read more at The Daily Beast.

Ronen Tivony/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty ImagesThe judge in Donald Trump’s Manhattan hush-money case has squashed the former president’s bid to subpoena NBCUniversal over a Stormy Daniels documentary, calling it “the very definition of a fishing expedition.”In late March, Trump subpoenaed NBCUniversal for information on a documentary about one of the trial’s key witnesses, adult film star Stormy Daniels, who Trump is accused of having paid-off through his former attorney Michael Cohen. Trump’s team had hoped to demonstrate collusion between Daniels and the media company about the Stormy documentary release date, which they contended was purposefully slotted in proximity to the trial’s start date.Read more at The Daily Beast.

James Devaney/GC ImagesLevi’s has responded to Beyoncé giving the brand a nod on her new album, Cowboy Carter.The award-winning artist’s newest album, which dropped on Friday, included the track “Levii’s Jeans” featuring rapper Post Malone, an obvious reference to the brand, with a little twist to note that this is Act II of her Renaissance series. In the song, Beyoncé sings “Boy, I’ll let you be my Levi’s jeans/ So you can hug that ass all day long,” and then the two go back and forth crooning over the opportunity to become Beyoncé’s pants.Read more at The Daily Beast.

David Grooms/Icon Sportswire/Corbis/Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesFormer Clemson outfielder Reed Rohlman died in Florida on Wednesday, according to a statement from the college baseball team. He was 29 years old. The Greenville News reported that Rohlman died following a car accident in Hobe Sound, Florida.A South Carolina native, Rohlman began redshirting for the Tigers as a freshman at Clemson University in 2014. The Tigers are an NCAA Division I team which participates in the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Read more at The Daily Beast.

ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty ImagesActress Patricia Richardson said there is no chance of reviving the hit 90s sitcom Home Improvement with the original cast, despite what her former co-star Tim Allen has been saying.On the most recent episode of the pop culture podcast Back to Best, Richardson said that she wasn’t interested in playing Jill Taylor, Allen’s on-screen wife and mother-of-three, ever again. Not only that, but she apparently found it really “weird” that he’s been suggesting that she would.“It was so weird, I would hear on Twitter or whatever, I would hear that he was coming out publicly and saying this stuff about how ‘everyone was on board’ to do a Home Improvement reunion, but he never asked me and he never asked Jonathan [Taylor Thomas],” she said. “He was kind of lying to people and telling them that I was on board, and I didn’t know anything about it.”Read more at The Daily Beast.

Vatican MediaPope Francis skipped out on a Good Friday procession in Rome on Friday night in an apparent last-minute decision that has fueled speculation surrounding the 87-year-old’s physical condition.A press release from the Vatican said Pope Francis stayed home during the Way of the Cross procession at the Colosseum “to preserve his health,” in the lead up to the final Holy Week events. The procession is meant to re-enact Jesus of Nazareth’s carrying of the cross before his crucifixion with the Pope presiding over the event. Instead, Pope Francis followed the event remotely from the Casa Santa Marta, where he lives.Read more at The Daily Beast.

Courtesy of the Lake County Illinois Sheriff's Office via FacebookA former MTV reality star’s year on the run ended on Thursday when he was arrested by police in Florida, according to authorities. Connor Smith, who was a contestant on the dating show Are You The One? in 2015, fled from police in Illinois last year, after allegedly making plans to meet up with the minor for sex. Smith had been messaging for weeks with an undercover detective pretending to be a 15-year-old girl, allegedly sending explicit photos and videos, according to officers with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. Read more at The Daily Beast.

Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesEric Adams and the New York Police Department announced a plan on Thursday to deploy scanners that use artificial intelligence to detect guns in the city’s subway stations.“This is our Sputnik moment,” Mayor Adams said at a news conference in a Lower Manhattan subway station, according to Gothamist. “Like when Kennedy said we’re going to put a man on the moon. ... Let’s bring on the scanners.”Adams is still finalizing a deal with the scanners’ manufacturer, Evolv, which is under investigation by the Securities Exchange Commission as well as the Federal Trade Commission. The company recently had to walk back claims that its technology had been tested by the British government, and is now being sued by its investors for misleading them about the efficacy of its weapon-detecting capabilities. Read more at The Daily Beast.

The Daily Beast/Brian Pritchard for GeorgiaA judge ruled on Wednesday that the first vice chairman of Georgia’s Republican Party, who’d made public claims about widespread voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, voted illegally nine times.Brian K. Pritchard, who hosts a conservative talk show, was accused of illegally voting in Georgia while on probation after pleading guilty to felony check forgery in Pennsylvania in 1996. Pritchard claimed that he believed his probation had already ended when he registered to vote in Georgia, but Senior District Attorney General Russell Willard argued that was not true. Read more at The Daily Beast.