What happened
Melania Trump has publicly dismissed allegations tying her to Jeffrey Epstein, urging that such claims “need to end today”. In an unanticipated appearance at the White House, she said she had only briefly encountered Epstein decades ago and had no involvement in his crimes. She also rejected suggestions that the convicted sex offender introduced her to Donald Trump. The remarks came without prior notice and included a call for lawmakers to hold formal hearings for survivors.

Who said what
“I have never had any knowledge of Epstein abuse of his victims,” the first lady said, adding: “I was never involved in any capacity.” She described a past email exchange with Ghislaine Maxwell as “casual correspondence”. She also said that victims should testify publicly before Congress, saying: “Each and every woman should have her day to tell her story.” Democratic Congressman Robert Garcia backed the proposal.

What next?
The comments mark a “rare public foray for the ‘unknowable’ first lady”, said Alistair Bell on Reuters. The appearance “stunned the internet”, said Dan Gooding in Newsweek. Tommy Vietor, a co-host of “Pod Save America”, said, “What the f*** was that Melania statement??? What story are they frontrunning over at the White House??” Another reporter, Ahmed Baba, shared a similar sentiment on X, saying, “Seems to me the First Lady just injected Epstein back into the news cycle unprompted.”

What happened
Emperor penguins have been officially declared in danger of extinction for the first time by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, with the population expected to halve by the 2080s.

The deterioration of “fast ice” – fixed ice sheets to the coastline or ocean floor – due to climate change is the principal concern, with record lows in Antarctic ice since 2016.

Who said what
Around “half the colonies around the continent have experienced an early breakout of the ice”, said Philip Trathan of the IUCN penguin specialist group.

Rod Downie, chief advisor, polar and oceans at WWF-UK, said the “shocking decline” in Antarctic sea ice could see these “icons on ice” heading down the “slippery slope towards extinction by the end of this century – unless we act now”.

What next?
The WWF is also calling for emperor penguins to be listed as a “specially protected species” at the next Antarctic treaty meeting in May in Japan, which would “help reduce other pressures on their habitat such as tourism and shipping”, said The Guardian.

A new injectable filler is making a splash for being minimally invasive and for the source that fills its vials: donated human fat from cadavers. The eerie origins of the shots have led to a mixed response. Some praise the innovations; others worry about future complications. 

Tiger Aesthetics’ new product, AlloClae, has become popular with “patients eager to look their best in the boardroom” without “undergoing general anesthesia or taking days off for recovery,” said Business Insider. Rather than using an implant or a patient’s body fat to add volume to hips or augment breasts, AlloClae relies on “donor fat from a cadaver as a first-of-its-kind body filler.” On social media, influencers sometimes refer to buttocks injections of AlloClae as “zombie BBLs”, “zombie filler” and “corpse cosmetics”.

The rise in GLP-1 use has contributed to the trend, along with “filler fatigue”, as traditional fillers can “cause problems such as puffiness and lymphatic issues”, said The Guardian’s Ask Ugly column. People who are on Ozempic or are dieting heavily are “really thin and don’t have enough fat to transfer”, plastic surgeon Melissa Doft said. They want their “legs and their belly to be skinny but want their breasts to be fuller”.

Some are worried that fears about the origins of AlloClae could have a negative impact on organ donation. If people start “restricting their participation” due to fears of the product being used for cosmetic purposes, the “harm may outweigh the good”, Ryan Pferdehirt, the vice president of ethics services at the Center for Practical Bioethics, said to The Guardian. We need “skin grafts, bone marrow transplants and organ donation.” That is “far more important, I think, than the cosmetic aspects.”