• 👆 The Savannah Bananas – aka the Harlem Globetrotters of baseball – drew a sold-out crowd of 65,000 in their first game at an NFL stadium (the Buccaneers’ Raymond James Stadium in Tampa).

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 📈 US markets rose yesterday (S&P: +0.6%; Dow: +0.9%; Nasdaq: +0.3%).
• 🏬 Fashion retailer Forever 21's operator filed for bankruptcy for the second time in six years. | 🥤 Pepsi is officially acquiring prebiotic soda brand Poppi for ~$2 billion.
• 🏘️ Some condo owners can’t sell their properties because of a fast-growing and mostly secret mortgage blacklist, the Wall Street Journal reports.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

in partnership with Kanguro

• ⚾ The MLB regular season officially begins early this morning in Japan; the Dodgers and Cubs play today (6:10 am ET) and tomorrow at the Tokyo Dome, with the wider MLB Opening Day set for March 27.
• 🎤 Will Smith’s first album in 20 years will drop on March 28.
• 🏈 The Cincinnati Bengals extended their top two wideouts: Ja'Marr Chase (4 yrs, $161 million) and Tee Higgins (4 yrs, $115 million); Chase is now the highest-paid non-QB in the NFL. | ⚽️ Gotham FC forward Mak Whitham, 14, became the youngest player to ever appear in a National Women's Soccer League match.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🦎🌊 Iguanas undertook the longest-known transoceanic trip of any terrestrial species ~34 million years ago, per a new study; researchers say they sailed one-fifth of the way around the world from North America to Fiji on rafts made of vegetation.
• 💧⚡ “Microlightning” inside individual water droplets may have sparked the chemical reactions that first created life on Earth, per a new Stanford study.
• 🦠 A strain of E. coli bacteria can be engineered to create biodegradable plastics far more sustainable than current options, per a new study.

MISCELLANEOUS

in partnership with The Knowledge

• 🏛️ Bryan Bedford, the president and CEO of Republic Airways, was nominated by President Trump to lead the Federal Aviation Administration.
• 🇺🇸🇷🇺🇺🇦 President Trump will speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin via phone today to discuss ending the war in Ukraine; the call comes a week after the US backed a 30-day ceasefire that Russia later rejected. | 💥 The Gaza ceasefire has shattered: Israel’s military carried out a series of deadly airstrikes in Gaza early this morning as PM Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to use “increasing military strength” against Hamas; Israeli officials accused Hamas of “repeatedly” refusing to release hostages and rejecting all offers.
• ✍️ Trump, in a social media post, declared many last-minute pardons granted by former President Biden are “void, vacant, and of no further force of effect, because of the fact that they were done by Autopen." (The post | From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)

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CLICKBAIT

• 🗣️ Stop saying ‘I think’ – to sound confident and influence people, use this ‘subtle but powerful’ swap