☘️ Green Day

💰 Jesuits Commit to Reparations

Jesuit priests announced a foundation to raise $100M for the descendants of people enslaved by Jesuits and to promote racial reconciliation across the country.

• The Catholic order committed to raising the entire amount in three to five years, with $15M deposited in a trust already.

More: The foundation said the descendants of Jesuits’ slaves rejected individual cash settlements in favor of a substantial investment that could improve lives for generations to come.

🗳️ U.S. Election Assessment

A U.S. intelligence assessment released Tuesday found Russia and Iran both carried out operations attempting to interfere with the 2020 presidential election, and China considered doing so but ultimately refrained.

• The report said Russia’s efforts were meant to hurt Biden’s campaign and support Trump’s re-election, while Iran’s operation intended to hurt Trump’s re-election chances but didn’t directly promote his rivals.

More: Despite the campaigns, the assessment found no indications that any foreign actor had attempted to alter “any technical aspect” of the 2020 election, including voter registration, ballot casting, vote tabulation, or reporting results.

🇬🇧 UK Increases Nuclear Stockpile

British PM Boris Johnson announced plans to increase the maximum number of nuclear warheads the country may possess by more than 40%.

• The UK’s overall cap on the number of warheads will now increase to 260.
• Britain’s current stockpile is estimated at 195 warheads, and had been due to fall to 180 by the mid-2020s.

More: A recent year-long UK defense review found the government’s previously planned nuclear cuts were “no longer possible” given the “evolving security environment” over the last decade.

⏰ Catch Up Quick:

💉 Moderna began testing its vaccine in children aged six months to 11 years in a Phase 2/3 trial in the U.S. and Canada.

🇺🇸 DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the U.S. is on pace to encounter more migrants attempting to cross the Southern border “than we have in the last 20 years.” (From the Left | From the Right)

🚨 Breaking: A 21-year-old man is in custody after the shootings in three Atlanta massage parlors that killed eight people, mainly women of Asian descent. No motive has yet been established. | Japan’s Supreme Court ruled the prohibition on same-sex marriages is unconstitutional (Taiwan is the only major Asian country to grant legal rights to same-sex couples).

☝️ 1 Last Thing… 

Image: AP

Israeli archaeologists discovered dozens of new Dead Sea Scroll fragments containing lines of biblical text in Greek, marking the first such discovery in over 60 years.

• Israel’s Antiquities Authority said the fragments were radiocarbon dated to the 2nd century AD. (What are the Dead Sea Scrolls?)

📱 Google Adjusts Pay to Play

Starting July 1, Google will lower its Google Play app store commissions globally.

• The company plans to take a 15% cut from the first $1M each developer makes through its Play Store each year.
• After the first $1M, Google will charge developers its standard 30% fee for in-app purchases and downloads.

More: The announcement follows a similar move from Apple last December, although Apple’s policy only applies to developers who make under $1M per year.

🏌️ Back in the Swing of Things

NY-based software firm Take-Two Interactive announced an exclusive multi-year partnership with Tiger Woods to feature his name and likeness in future golf video games.

• Take-Two also announced it acquired the small game studio that creates its PGA Golf 2K series, with Tiger signed on to help with the game development process. He will also join 2K as an executive director.

More: Tiger was previously the face of Electronic Arts’ PGA Tour video game series between 1998 and 2013.

🏀⚾️ Sports, Sports, Sports: Per USA Today, LeBron James and his longtime business partner Maverick Carter are joining Fenway Sports Group, making them part-owners of subsidiaries that include the Boston Red Sox (the deal is still subject to MLB approval).

🚗 Uber Works It Out

Uber announced it will reclassify all UK-based drivers as workers starting today. The move comes after the company lost a legal battle around the issue earlier this year.

• Under the new designation, more than 70k drivers will receive worker benefits – including minimum wage, holiday time, and pension contributions – but will not be entitled to full employee benefits. (The UK’s employment hierarchy.)

Also…

🛍️ U.S. retail sales fell by 3% in February compared to the prior month, according to data from the Census Bureau.

☝️ 1 Last Thing…

Image: Ford

Ford unveiled the F-150 Police Responder yesterday. The pickup is based on consumer versions of the truck, but is pursuit rated and can reach 120 MPH (up from the previous limit of 105 MPH).

🎭🎟 Feel The Beat on 42nd St.

The Arts and Entertainment industry has been one of the hardest hit by COVID-19. At the heart of New York City, the curtains of Broadway theaters have been closed for over a year.

• But the spirit of Broadway is not lost. Last week, on the one year anniversary of the shutdown, some of NYC’s most notable performers took to Times Square to bring musical theater back to midtown.

Image: CNN

The pop-up performance, titled We Will Be Back, aimed to support the arts and shine a spotlight on the millions of people working in the Broadway industry.

Image: The Vulture

The event raised $32,500, which went toward paying the artist working the event as well as purchasing PPE for all performers.

• “To be able to actually sing out loud and see the joy that [theatre] brings to people again after so long,” said Tony Award nominee Charl Brown. “This reunion of sorts and this celebration of what is to come is something that will stick with the rest of my life.”