Computer detectives found unusual internet messages using addresses linked to the White House, where the U.S. president works.

The messages used a **proxy**—like asking a friend to deliver your note, so it looks as though it came from them. Some apps let other people use a device’s internet connection this way without clearly telling its owner.

This can create safety problems. But **the clues do not prove anyone broke into White House computers**. The detectives still do not know which device or person was involved. They found similar activity in faraway places, too—even Antarctica!

The White House’s fountain, flag, and gardens appear beneath floating computer-like letters and numbers. Those symbols suggest internet activity; they are not really in the sky. There is no special joke or pun.

**Insurance is like a shared emergency piggy bank.** Families pay money into it, and it is supposed to help fix their homes when something bad happens.

In California, big wildfires have damaged many homes. A warming planet makes fire danger worse, and many houses were built in places that burn easily. Some insurance companies now charge more or stop protecting homes.

Lynn’s house stayed standing after a fire, but smoke and ash damaged it badly. She stands outside its boarded-up windows wearing flowery trousers. Her backup insurance helped pay for somewhere else to stay, but not the repairs she needed. She had to borrow money.

**Two people want to lead California’s insurance watchdog:**
- **Ben Allen** wants insurance companies to stay, follow better rules, and help make homes safer.
- **Jane Kim** wants the state government to run a shared disaster-insurance program. Some people worry about how to pay for it.

Both want families to get better help. Neighbors and workers are also making homes harder to burn by changing building materials and removing nearby things that catch fire. Whole neighborhoods need to work together.

**The wordplay:**
- “Cover band” usually means musicians playing other people’s songs. Here, “cover” means insurance protection! Darker green places on the map have more homes using the backup plan.
- “A tale of two markets” borrows a famous book title to describe how insurance works differently in safer and riskier places.
- Lynn’s remark about burning her house is an upset, bitter joke about not getting help—not a safe suggestion.

Leaders in the Philippines and the United States want to build a huge place for making tiny computer parts, including ones used for AI—computers that learn patterns. The plan is part of **Pax Silica**. Leaders say it could help the country earn money.

But Aeta families, whose ancestors lived on this land long ago, worry about losing their homes and farms. Gloria, an elder wearing a bright blue scarf in a green field, says families have already been told to leave. Officials say nobody will have to move.

The factories would need lots of water and electricity. People worry there may not be enough for farms and homes, and that factory waste could harm nature. Hundreds protested, and some people were hurt during clashes with police.

“Ride the AI wave” means joining the excitement about AI—not surfing on a real wave!

A computer helper called **AI** tried about **4,000 very tricky math puzzles**, including questions that mathematicians are still exploring.

Its work was collected into **722 math reports**, sorted into **372 groups**. These groups are called “families” because their ideas belong together—not because they have moms and dads!

The puzzles involve things like number patterns, shapes, and magnets. Each result usually took about three hours of computer work.

**The answers still need careful checking.** Many have proofs checked with a computer tool called **Lean**. A proof explains, step by step, why a math answer works. Some results might have mistakes, so people plan to fix them and keep both old and new versions.

There are also guides to help readers find the reports and shorter explanations. There aren’t any jokes or visual puns here.

Power plants are big factories that make electricity for lights and homes—not plants with leaves! Some burn coal or gas, releasing gases that warm Earth and pollution that can make people sick.

A rule made under President Biden says certain power plants must catch much of their planet-warming gas, run less, or close. President Trump’s government wants to remove that rule, but the change is not final.

Georgia Power is keeping some coal plants running longer and building more gas-powered machines, partly to power buildings full of computers. An expert warns that removing the rule could more than double the warming gas from those new machines.

The company says it wants dependable electricity that people can afford. Health and nature groups are asking a court to stop the change because they worry about people and Earth.

Guam is an island in the Pacific Ocean. A dad and lawyer named Leevin Camacho learned that his family’s tap water contained **dieldrin**, an old bug-killing chemical that can make people sick. Families were warned not to drink it. Officials are investigating where it came from; a nearby U.S. military base is one suspected source.

The military is building more places for soldiers, ships, and airplanes on Guam and nearby islands. Big digging machines are clearing land. Some people welcome the jobs and protection. Others worry about dirty water, lost forests, harmed sea animals, and places important to their families.

Guam’s CHamoru people have lived there for thousands of years. Other countries later took control, and wars hurt many families. Today, residents want more say in what happens to their home.

Camacho and other community helpers use the law to protect people and nature. They have already helped save an ancient village site, though many problems remain.

There aren’t silly jokes here. **“Swept under the rug”** means hiding a problem instead of fixing it—not actually putting dirty water under a carpet!

Tuvalu is a skinny strip of land with homes and trees, surrounded by blue water. As Earth gets warmer, ice on land melts and the sea rises. This can flood low islands.

World leaders agreed that **island countries should still count as countries even if their land goes underwater**. They should also keep their rights to the ocean around them, including places to fish.

Philip Davis, the leader of the Bahamas, wants countries to help protect island communities. Money could pay for sea walls, coastal trees that soften waves, or moving people somewhere safer. But this agreement does not provide extra money by itself—more work is needed.

“Land being swallowed by water” means water is covering the land. The ocean doesn’t really have a mouth!