Five child care centers in Brooklyn and Queens face potential closures. Content warning: mentions of sexual assault and substance abuse

Happening in the World: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law a bill that allows the state to seize land without compensation if “it is ‘just and equitable and in the public interest’ to do so.” The new law replaces the Expropriation Act of 1975, which required the state to pay land owners for taking their land. Some members of the coalition government have reported that they are considering challenging the law in court. (BBC)

Happening in the US: Late Friday night, Pete Hegseth was confirmed by the Senate to become President Donald Trump’s US defense secretary. Hegseth, a former combat veteran and Fox News television host, previously denied allegations of sexual assault, alcohol abuse, and infidelity during his confirmation hearing. The Senate vote was tied before Vice President JD Vance cast the tie-breaking vote in Hegseth’s favor. Vance is now the second vice president in US history to break a tie during a cabinet confirmation vote, the first being Trump’s previous vice president, Mike Pence, during the confirmation vote for Betsy DeVos as education secretary in 2017. (BBC)

Happening in NYC: After five child care centers in Brooklyn and Queens were informed last week that their city-owned leases would not be renewed due to low enrollment, three of these child care centers, all in Brooklyn, have stated that the city’s enrollment numbers were incorrect and that the city owes them millions of dollars in late payments. City officials previously stated that non-renewal of the five city-owned leases will bring significant savings that can be reinvested into early childhood education programs, but they have not released information on the exact amount of savings nor explained the reason for delayed payments to the child care centers. (Gothamist)

Happening in Our Community: The Columbia Women’s Basketball team will be facing off against Penn at the Levien Gymnasium. The game starts at 2 pm.

Child care center via Wikimedia Commons