Only Lakers legend Kobe Bryant could score 60 points in his final game. "Mamba out" indeed. And oh, don't forget, the Golden State Warriors won a record 73 games and Steph Curry scored his 400th three-pointer this season, all last night. It doesn't get much better. [Maxwell Stratchan, HuffPost]
"A video released by Nigerian [Islamic militant] group Boko Haram appears to show some of the schoolgirls kidnapped two years ago from the town of Chibok." [BBC]
But researchers called for more work to further determine the range of birth defects and risk factors at play. [Anna Almendrala, HuffPost]
"The Chicago Police Department is failing to hold officers accountable and not doing enough to combat a 'justified' lack of trust from the community, according to a sweeping report released Wednesday by a task force assembled by Mayor Rahm Emanuel." [WaPo]
Not so much. [CNN]
You can be sued. Talk about forced family time. [Alexandra Ma, HuffPost]
WHAT’S BREWING
Cherelle Baldwin was just released from prison after being acquitted of murdering her abusive ex, but as Melissa Jeltson points out, the hard part has just begun. [HuffPost]
We're going to bet this sells out today. [Jamie Feldman, HuffPost]
Or why stickers are suddenly everywhere. [HuffPost]
Because it's never too early to be thinking about next year's Oscars. [HuffPost]
Well, the most popular kickstarter of all time still hasn't come. And it’s asking funders for another $97 for "expedited delivery." [Motherboard]
But Vulture asks, what does that even mean anymore? [Vulture]
"Women of color, men of color, LGBTQ characters and white female characters have been killed off left and right. None of that’s new for TV, but the sheer volume of these deaths -- a number of which were shocking for the wrong reasons -- has been notable." [Variety]
WHAT'S WORKING
"The company on Wednesday rolled out Goals, a new feature for the Google Calendar app that lets you schedule activities, like jogging or spending time with your kids, during the hours when you have nothing going on." [HuffPost]
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BEFORE YOU GO
~ This octopus managed to escape to the ocean from a New Zealand aquarium. He must have been watching "Finding Nemo."
~ There will be an emoji movie that Facebook and Spotify appear in. This could go the genius way of "Inside Out" or "The Lego Movie," or it could signify the end of humanity. One of the two.
~ Everything you thought you knew about baby carrots is a lie.
~ Your brain on LSD.
~ This is an alarming tool to show how much your browser knows about you.
~ The fictional characters you fell in love with first.
~ It costs Russia $200,000 a year to keep its former leader Vladimir Lenin's embalmed body looking like, well, Vladimir Lenin.
~ And we're already counting down the days until Christmas next year, when Benedict Cumberbatch voices the new "Grinch" remake.
Send tips/quips/quotes/stories/photos/events/scoops to Lauren Weber at lauren.weber@huffingtonpost.com. Follow us on Twitter @LaurenWeberHP. And like what you're reading? Sign up here to get The Morning Email delivered to you.