• ☝️ ❄️ Polar vortex update: Millions of Americans remained under cold weather advisories yesterday; nationwide, at least 10 deaths have been reported due to the cold and winter storm, which contributed to 5,500 canceled or delayed flights on Wednesday.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 📈 US markets rose across the board (S&P: +0.6%; Dow: +0.3%; Nasdaq: +1.3%). | 📺 Netflix shares rose 13% to reach an all-time high in intraday trading; the movement follows announced subscription price hikes and a strong Q4 earnings report.
• 🤖 Stargate, a partnership between OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank, plans to invest up to $500 billion into AI infrastructure in the US, President Trump announced yesterday; Elon Musk later wrote on X that two of the companies don’t have enough capital to follow through on their pledges.
• 💰 Some family offices are paying exec assistants up to $190,000/year, as the demand for talent spikes.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

in partnership with Going

• 📰 Prince Harry will receive a $12+ million settlement from Rupert Murdoch's UK newspaper group (who, as part of the deal, is also admitting wrongdoing); Harry alleged the papers had illegally obtained private info about him from 1996–2011. | 📰 CNN is reportedly planning to lay off hundreds of employees this week; NBC News is also reportedly planning layoffs this week (though smaller than CNN).
• ⚖️ Chris Brown filed a $500 million defamation suit against Warner Bros. Discovery; the suit is related to sexual assault claims made in a docuseries titled: Chris Brown: A History of Violence. | ⚖️ A$AP Rocky rejected a plea deal in his Hollywood assault case; his trial kicked off this week.
• 🤔 MrBeast is reportedly in talks with investment groups seeking to make a bid to acquire TikTok.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🏃🤖 Humans vs. robots: An upcoming half-marathon in Beijing will feature 12,000 human runners racing alongside dozens of bipedal, humanoid robots from 20+ companies.
• 🌭🧠 Eating more red meat – especially processed red meat like bacon and hot dogs – is associated with worse mental cognition and a higher chance of developing dementia, per a new study.
• ⚛️⚡ South Carolina’s state-owned utility company is seeking to restart construction on a pair of nuclear reactors that were put on hold in 2017, in an effort to meet AI-fueled energy demand.

MISCELLANEOUS

in partnership with Super Greens

• 🔥 LA fires update: A new, fast-spreading blaze called the Hughes Fire has burnt 8,000+ acres since sparking early yesterday, prompting new evacuation orders in northern LA County; red-flag fire warnings are in effect through tonight across LA and Ventura Counties due to high winds.
• 🛍️ The California “queenpin” who ran an organized retail crime ring that stole millions worth of beauty products from Ulta, Sephora, and others was ordered to pay back $3 million to the retailers.
• ⚖️ Four additional Democratic-led states are suing to stop President Trump’s new executive order seeking to eliminate birthright citizenship for unauthorized immigrants; all 22 states with a Democratic AG are now suing over the order. (From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)

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CLICKBAIT

• ✈️ The Best and Worst Airlines of 2024.