• ☝️ The Philadelphia Eagles held their Super Bowl Championship parade on Friday, drawing 1+ million attendees despite freezing temperatures.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 📈 US markets rose last week (S&P: +1.5%; Dow: +0.5%; Nasdaq: +2.6%).
• 🚫 OpenAI’s board unanimously rejected Elon Musk’s unsolicited $97.4 billion offer to buy the ChatGPT-maker, saying the “much-publicized ‘bid’ is in fact not a bid at all.”
• 🇯🇵 Japan's economy grew a better than expected 0.7% in October-December; it marks the country's third straight quarter of growth. | 🇦🇷 Argentina President Javier Milei is under investigation for fraud after promoting a cryptocurrency on his social media that later tanked.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

in partnership with NoNetz

• 🏀 NBA All-Star Weekend: Steph Curry earned All-Star MVP after leading the Shaq OGs to victory in the new four-team mini tournament format (which drew controversy). | 🏁 NASCAR’s William Byron avoided a late wreck to win his second straight Daytona 500 and become the youngest driver ever to win the race twice (27 years old). | 🎾 Jannik Sinner, the world’s #1-ranked men’s tennis player, accepted a three-month ban to settle a World Anti-Doping Agency case over two positive doping tests; Sinner won’t miss any Grand Slam tournaments.
• 📲 TikTok has returned to Apple and Google’s app stores after nearly a month of being unavailable; President Trump has delayed the US government’s TikTok sale-or-ban law until at least April 5.
• 📺 SNL aired its 50th anniversary special this weekend, with dozens of celebrities appearing across the three-hour show. | 🏆🍿 The British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs) presented its 2025 awards in a ceremony Sunday; Conclave won best movie; see the full list of winners.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• ⚱️ Well-preserved Egyptian mummies up to 5,000 years old emit pleasant odors described as "woody," "spicy," and "sweet," per a new study; the scents are attributed to the oils, waxes, and balms used during mummification.
• 🌬️⛽ University of Cambridge researchers developed a solar-powered reactor that pulls carbon dioxide directly from the air and converts it into sustainable fuel.
• 💉🐔 A bird flu vaccine was given conditional USDA approval for use in chickens last week, amid an ongoing outbreak driving up egg prices across the US. | 🐦 The fossil of a newly discovered bird from the Jurassic Era is reshaping what scientists know about avian evolution.

MISCELLANEOUS

in partnership with Pique Life

• 🌧️ A major storm struck the Southern and Eastern US this weekend, causing massive flooding across several states; at least 14 deaths were reported, including 12 in Kentucky. | 🥶 Nearly a dozen Central US states – from the Canadian border to Oklahoma and central Texas – are facing extreme cold warnings that started yesterday and extend through Thursday.
• 🛬 A Delta Airlines plane crash-landed yesterday at Toronto Pearson International Airport; all 80 passengers and crew onboard were safely evacuated, with at least 17 injured. | 🇻🇦 Pope Francis was hospitalized on Friday for a respiratory infection; his hospital stay was later extended following the diagnosis of “a polymicrobial infection of the respiratory tract," the Vatican said.
• 🇺🇸🇷🇺 Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other top US officials will meet their Russian counterparts in Saudi Arabia today to begin discussing an end to the war in Ukraine; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he hasn’t yet been invited to participate. | 🏛️ A DOGE-affiliated government employee is seeking broad access to IRS data systems that contain private tax data for individuals and businesses, per multiple reports.

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CLICKBAIT

• 🛶🐋 A humpback whale briefly swallows a kayaker in Chile (video included).