The Daily Populous

Monday February 16th, 2026 day edition

image for Wendy’s keeps Biggie Deals as it closes hundreds of underperforming stores

Wendy’s plans to close 5% to 6% of its underperforming restaurants after reviewing sales at its nearly 6,000 locations, the fast-food chain announced.

The company began closing locations in late 2025, with most of the closures continuing through the first half of 2026.

“By closing consistently underperforming restaurants, we are enabling our franchise partners to increase focus on locations with the greatest potential for profitable growth,” said Wendy’s interim CEO Ken Cook.

RELATED STORY | Smokey Bones barbecue chain closing locations, converting some into Twin Peaks.

Cook said the chain’s recently introduced $4, $6, and $8 Biggie Bags will remain on menus as consumers face economic challenges this year.

“Launching this new Biggie Deals platform was important.

Although Wendy’s has no plans to exit the breakfast market, Cook said it will allow locations the flexibility to open later. »

EVs are already making your air cleaner, research shows

Authored by yahoo.com
image for

But now researchers have confirmed, to the greatest extent yet, that this is indeed what’s actually happening on the ground.

Across nearly 1,700 ZIP codes, the analysis showed that, for every increase of 200 electric vehicles, nitrogen dioxide emissions decreased by 1.1 percent.

Another arguably hopeful finding was that the median increase in electric vehicle usage during the study was 272 per ZIP code. »

Jesus Was a Psychedelic Mushroom, a Controversial Theory Suggests. Could It Reshape Christianity Forever?

Authored by popularmechanics.com

Titled The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross, the book argued through linguistic analysis of the Bible’s New Testament that Jesus Christ was, in fact, actually a psychedelic mushroom .

Essentially, Allegro tried to convey that the New Testament brims with code words for psychedelic rituals.

But now, 55 years later, there appears to be renewed interest in Allegro’s most controversial work. »

Silent Hill: Townfall reveals first-person gameplay in a new trailer

Authored by blog.playstation.com

I am thrilled to finally be able to deliver updates on Silent Hill: Townfall, following our announcement back in 2022.

In today’s State of Play, we revealed a new trailer that gives you a glimpse into the world that awaits.

To explain more, I will hand it over to Jon McKellan, Writer and Director at Screen Burn Interactive on Silent Hill: Townfall. »

Bondi criticised after saying all Epstein files have been released

Authored by bbc.co.uk

There is no suggestion that appearing in the documents implies any wrongdoing and each has denied any involvement in Epstein's crimes.

US lawmakers previously said files on Epstein were improperly redacted ahead of their release, leading to at least one document being unredacted after their criticism.

At the time, the DoJ said mistakes were due to "technical or human error" and they had taken down all the flagged files. »