• ☝️ The Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia, which aims to be the world's tallest building when completed, has resumed construction after a seven-year pause; the planned 200+-story building would stand ~3,300 feet high, and is now scheduled to open in 2028.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 📈 US markets rose across the board (S&P: +0.5%; Dow: +0.4%; Nasdaq: +0.3%); 4 out of every 5 stocks in the S&P rose, per the AP. | 💰 US GDP grew 2.5% in 2024, and 2.3% in Q4, per new data; that's compared to 3.2% for all of 2023.
• ⚖️ The DOJ moved to block Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks; it marks the first antitrust challenge during President Trump’s second term.
• 📦 UPS shares fell 14% after the company announced a cut to its Amazon deliveries. | 🍏 Apple posted quarterly earnings that beat top and bottom line estimates; iPhone sales fell 11% in China. | 📱 Meta will pay ~$25 million to settle a 2021 lawsuit brought by President Trump after the social media platform suspended his account following January 6. | 🤖 OpenAI is reportedly in talks to raise $40 billion at a valuation as high as $300 billion; SoftBank is in discussions to invest $15 billion–$25 billion.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

in partnership with Asutra

• 📺 Netflix unveiled its streaming plans for 2025, which includes Knives Out 3, the fifth and final season of Stranger Things, and Squid Game’s third and final season.
• 🏀🔍 Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier is under federal investigation over whether he manipulated his performance as part of an illegal sports betting scheme while playing for Charlotte in 2023; it’s part of a wider probe into alleged game-rigging across US sports, which already led to criminal charges and a lifetime NBA ban for forward Jontay Porter.
• 👕 The Blue Man Group’s 34-year run in New York City officially comes to an end on Sunday.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• ☄️ A newly discovered asteroid has a ~1% chance of striking Earth in 2032, NASA announced this week; our planet is struck by an asteroid this size – 130 to 330 feet across – roughly every few thousand years.
• 🐁👬 Chinese scientists developed a new method for breeding baby mice who have two dads, with the babies surviving until adulthood.
• 🏥 Kansas recorded 742 cases of tuberculosis across the state last year, one of the largest outbreaks since the CDC started tracking TB in the 1950s. | 💊 The FDA approved a new type of nonopioid painkiller for acute pain: Journavx, made by Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

MISCELLANEOUS

in partnership with MANSCAPED®

• 🏛️ Three top Trump admin nominees faced Senate confirmation hearings yesterday: Health Secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Director of National Intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard, and FBI Director nominee Kash Patel.
• 🤝 Israel and Hamas exchanged a new group of hostages and prisoners yesterday after an initial delay over what Israeli authorities called unacceptable chaotic crowds at the handover in Gaza.
• 🇺🇸🇨🇺 President Trump instructed the Pentagon to prepare the military base at Guantanamo Bay to house up to 30,000 unauthorized migrants who committed crimes in the US. (From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)

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CLICKBAIT

• 👶❗ These baby names are at risk of going extinct in 2025.