Good morning. In today’s edition:

• 🌍 Russia-Ukraine stalemate
• 👑 Former Prince Andrew arrested
• 🤔 The honest truth on lie detectors

…and much more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~3.70-minute read (983 words).

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“An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.”

–Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

The third round of Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations kicked off in Geneva, Switzerland, this week, with the talks starting days ahead of the fourth anniversary of Russia’s large-scale invasion in 2022.

The renewed diplomacy was short-lived, however, ending abruptly on Day 2 as both sides remained far apart on the central issue: control of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.

Some quick background: Donbas is made up of two smaller regions: Donetsk and Luhansk. Moscow moved to annex the Donbas region following its 2022 invasion, and currently controls all of Luhansk and ~75% of Donetsk.

The Donbas region carries significant economic and strategic importance:

• It’s historically one of Ukraine’s main industrial centers, and is rich in coal and metal deposits.
• It also creates a land corridor linking Russia to Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014, making it an attractive target for Russia’s military.

Both sides remain at odds over Donbas. Despite holding just over 10% of the region, Ukraine has consistently maintained that all of Donbas is sovereign territory and refused to cede any land. Meanwhile, Russia's central demand is for Ukraine to hand over all of Donbas, including the areas not currently occupied by Russian forces.

More broadly, Moscow is also seeking assurances that Ukraine won’t join NATO, and wants to retain control over the country’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant—both of which are sticking points for Ukraine.

A potential compromise?

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky this week indicated he would support freezing the current front lines—allowing Russia to retain control of the land it captured—as part of a broader peace deal with Moscow, but only if Ukrainian voters approve it in a national referendum.

On the flip side, Kremlin officials have repeatedly maintained that Russia aims to secure full control of Donbas, either through negotiations or continued military action if talks fail.

Looking ahead…Both Russia and Ukraine have expressed willingness to continue peace negotiations, though a future timeline has yet to be announced. Zelensky is scheduled to meet with US and European leaders at the White House on Monday.

📊 Flash poll: In your opinion, when will the four-year-long war between Russia and Ukraine officially come to an end?

• Within 3 months
• 3-6 months from now
• 6 months to 1 year from now
• 1-2 years from now
• 2+ years from now

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Here are five stats from this past week that made our team go “whoa.” Hopefully you will, too.

💤 Americans now spend nearly 30 more minutes sleeping per day than they did two decades ago, per the US government’s annual American Time Use Survey.

🐈🐕 3 in 10 US pet owners spend more on their pet than they do on their own health and wellness needs, US News & World Report survey finds.

🏢 The top 10 biggest US companies by market cap were worth a combined $19.4 trillion in 2025, up from $3.2 trillion one decade earlier (+506%).

🎓 The share of US adults aged 25+ with a bachelor's degree or higher rose from 34% to 38% between the 2015–2019 and 2020–2024 periods, according to new Census data.

👶 Births to unmarried women aged 40 and over have doubled since 2007, rising to 1.1% of all US births in 2024, CDC data shows.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 🇺🇸 US trade deficit, or the gap between imports and exports of both goods and services, stood at $901.5 billion last year, Commerce Dept. says; that’s down slightly from $903.5 billion deficit recorded in 2024, despite President Trump’s tariffs aimed at evening the trade gap.
• 🛒 Amazon dethrones Walmart as the company with the largest annual revenue in the world (~$717 billion vs. ~$713 billion); it breaks Walmart’s 13-year streak atop the list.
• 💼 People who change jobs are seeing the narrowest average bump in pay since 2020, new ADP data shows.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🥇 Team USA women’s hockey wins gold medal after stunning Canada with last-minute comeback to win 2-1 in overtime.
• 🚀 Toy Story 5, the next chapter in Pixar’s longest-running franchise, releases official trailer ahead of June 19 release.
• 🎥 AMC Theatres opts out of screening AI-animated short film Thanksgiving Day before feature presentations; the film recently won the inaugural Frame Forward AI Animated Film Festival, which promises a two-week run in theaters as part of the pre-show before lights go down.

Even on good days, our thoughts race, and not in a good way. We're told to just be present, but that’s easier said than done.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🤖 Google introduces new AI-powered music generation feature to Gemini app, called Lyria 3; it enables users to create songs from text, video, and image prompts.
• 🚀 NASA releases results of investigation into Boeing’s bungled 2024 flight to the ISS that left two astronauts stranded there for months; it classifies the events as a “Type A mishap,” NASA’s most severe designation.
• 🏥 NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya is selected by President Trump to also serve as acting CDC director until Trump nominates a permanent replacement.

US, WORLD & POLITICS

• 👑 UK police arrest Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor—formerly Prince Andrew—on suspicion of "misconduct in public office" based on new Epstein-file revelations; police say they’re assessing reports that Andrew forwarded confidential trade documents to Jeffrey Epstein in 2010; Andrew is the first royal-born Briton to be arrested since King Charles I was beheaded in 1649; Andrew was released from custody hours later.
• 🏛️ President Trump hosts inaugural Board of Peace meeting in Washington, DC, featuring representatives of 47 countries; Trump announced $7 billion in commitments by board members for Gaza reconstruction, along with a $10 billion pledge from the US.
• 🇰🇷 Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol receives life sentenced in prison over his brief imposition of martial law in 2024.

👆You're looking at some of the winners from the Sony World Photography Awards Open Competition. The 19th annual contest saw 430,000+ submissions from 200+ countries, with the top awards to be announced April 16.

🤔 Did you know? France has 12 distinct timezones—the most of any country—thanks to its multiple overseas territories. On the flip side, China only has a single time zone, despite the country geographically spanning across five distinct zones.

📰 Worth a read: If the Winter Olympics went interplanetary, where else could you ski in the solar system?

🖱️ What we’re clicking:

• Lazy ways to eat more vegetables
• The 250 greatest songs of the 21st century so far
• AI slop is destroying the internet. These are the people fighting to save it

Outside perspective = better results… When you’re close to your own content, blind spots happen. Storyy brings fresh eyes, strategy, and editing for content that gets your brand noticed. Unlimited videos and flat monthly rates. Get a free 1:1 consultation today.

How well did you pay attention this week? Find out here.

📺 Back in my day: Explore what watching TV was like over the years.

👀 Watch: The honest truth about lie detectors.

📖 Read: Why is the “feels like” temperature different from the actual temperature?

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1. When 47 is divided by 6, what is the remainder?
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🎉 A team at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia used CRISPR to create a custom gene-editing treatment for a newborn with a rare genetic disorder. After three doses, the therapy corrected the patient's faulty gene with zero side effects, marking a major step toward personalized cures for ultra-rare diseases.

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