Iran, Toronto, Endangered Species Act: Your Monday Briefing

(SAN FRANCISCO) — They’re lounging, biting each other and generally making a ruckus in numbers not seen in more than a decade. And don’t even think about stealing their anchovies. San Francisco’s famed Fisherman’s Wharf district is seeing a surge in sea lions. First appearing at Pier 39 after the 1989 earthquake, the sea lions have become a well known tourist attraction.

Bird flu, or avian influenza, can be deadly in birds but normally doesn’t infect people. While some strains have caused serious disease and even death in humans, most cause relatively mild symptoms. In the U. S., two people have been known to be infected with avian influenza: one person in 2022, and another earlier this year.

As a former student activist, it’s been a surreal experience following the pro-Palestinian protests occurring at universities across the country. Almost 20 years ago, I helped lead national efforts across the country to divest universities, cities, and states from foreign companies aiding and abetting the genocide in Darfur, Sudan—the last effort that inspired massive divestiture action from institutions of higher education across the country.

(NEW YORK) — Hope Hicks, a former longtime adviser to Donald Trump, took the witness stand Friday in his criminal trial, where prosecutors are expected to question her about her knowledge of hush money payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Hicks, who served as White House communications director, is the first close Trump adviser to testify in the case, which accuses the Republican former president of a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election by silencing women who claimed to have sexual encounters with him. Hicks, who is is testifying for the prosecution under a subpoena, acknowledged she was “really nervous” after stepping up to the microphone.

Before directing Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2, or Bullet Train, David Leitch was one of the most prolific stuntmen in Hollywood. He doubled for Brad Pitt in Fight Club and Troy. He executed stunts on two of the Matrix movies and one of the Bourne installments. He is a scholar of the action flick and told TIME his latest movie, The Fall Guy, is a “love letter to action movies.” The film centers on a stunt man, played by Ryan Gosling.

(WASHINGTON) — Roughly 100,000 immigrants who were brought to the U. S. as children are expected to enroll in the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance next year under a directive the Biden administration released Friday. The move took longer than promised to finalize and fell short of Democratic President Joe Biden’s initial proposal to allow those migrants to sign up for Medicaid, the health insurance program that provides nearly free coverage for the nation’s poorest people. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] But it will allow thousands of people, known as “Dreamers,” to access tax breaks when they sign up for coverage after the Affordable Care Act’s marketplace enrollment opens Nov.