🎵 Woah, We’re Halfway There

🏫 Boko Haram Attacks

Islamist terrorist organization Boko Haram claimed responsibility Tuesday for the kidnapping of more than 300 students from a boarding school in Katsina, a small town in northwestern Nigeria (we covered the kidnapping Monday – it involved motorcycles and a forest gun battle). The group’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, said the attack was carried out “to promote Islam” and was motivated by the school’s Western style of education.

More: Boko Haram is also responsible for a similar mass kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls from a secondary school in Chibok, Nigeria, six years ago. (The story of their rescue.)

Even More: What is Boko Haram?

Yesterday, the FDA…

• 👍 Granted emergency use authorization to the first at-home COVID-19 antigen test that doesn’t require a prescription, produced by Ellume.
• 🌐 Posted online documents analyzing the safety and effectiveness of Moderna’s vaccine ahead of tomorrow’s advisory committee meeting to vote on a recommendation to the agency.
• 📝 Issued a guidance that advises monitoring people who receive Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna’s vaccine for potential cases of Bell’s palsy. Seven people developed the condition out of 73k combined participants in the companies’ large-scale trials.

🇲🇽 Mexico Amends National Security Law

Mexico's lower house voted to amend its national security law to restrict foreign law enforcement's presence in the country on Tuesday, despite objections from the U.S. The move comes after U.S. officials arrested Mexico's former defense minister, Gen. Salvador Cienfuegos, in October on drug trafficking and corruption charges. AG Bill Barr later dropped the case due to foreign policy concerns.

☝️ 1 Last Thing…

⚖️ Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygård was arrested in Canada on Monday and extradited to the U.S., where he appeared in court Tuesday facing charges of racketeering and sex trafficking. The nine-count indictment accuses Nygård of using his influence and businesses to “recruit and maintain” victims in the U.S., Canada, and the Bahamas to sexually gratify himself and his associates since 1995.

📱 Facebook Adds Ads

Facebook will lift its temporary ban on political advertising this morning in Georgia only. The move comes ahead of the state’s two upcoming Senate runoff elections that will determine which political party controls a majority in the chamber.

More: Facebook plans to maintain its temporary nationwide ban on political ads (outside of Georgia, obviously), which came into effect after polls closed in November. The company has not provided an official end date.

LEFT CENTER → NYT

RIGHT CENTER → Forbes

📈 Taking Stock

The major U.S. stock indexes rose more than 1% yesterday, with the Nasdaq surging 1.25% to close at an all-time high (Dow: +1.13% | S&P: +1.29%). Apple was the top boost to all three U.S. benchmarks, with its share price closing up 5% on the day after announcing plans to increase iPhone production by 30% in the first half of 2021.

More: The four majority and minority leaders of Congress (Sen. McConnell (R), Rep. Pelosi (D), Sen. Schumer (D), & Rep. McCarthy (R)) met in-person yesterday evening to discuss a potential coronavirus stimulus measure for the first time in months. No formal agreement was reached.

👀 Private Eyes

Ireland’s Data Protection Commission issued a $547k fine to Twitter for failing to quickly declare and properly document a personal data breach under the General Data Protection Regulation, the EU’s online privacy law. The move marks the first time a financial penalty was imposed on a U.S. company under the GDPR (which the EU adopted in 2016).

More: Twitter is shutting down Periscope - which it acquired in 2015 - due to declining usage and high support costs. The streaming app will be removed from app stores by March 2021.

🎨 Paint by Number$

Guy Philoche, a 43-year-old painter from NYC, is a successful artist – often fetching up to $120,000 for his paintings. However, he spent nearly two decades struggling to make ends meet.

Recognizing the pandemic has strained up-and-coming artists’ ability to sell his work, Guy spent ~$65,000 purchasing pieces from craftspeople worldwide over the past nine months so that they can continue to afford necessities.

🏠 Build a Better Future

Patricia and Tony Walsh, owners of Walsh Colour Print in County Kerry, Ireland, employ almost 120 people. With housing options limited in the region, in 2017, the Walshes found that many of their employees could not afford to pay rent.

So Patricia and Tony built a complex of not-for-profit homes on the land by their headquarters, offering housing to their workers for ~$36,500 below market value. This month, the first three families will move into their new homes.

🚛 Sanitation Inspiration

Malachi Stohr, a two-year-old from Seattle, loves to watch local sanitation workers collect the trash in his neighborhood every Tuesday morning. Born with spina bifida – a congenital disability causing the spine to not develop correctly – Malachi spends these special mornings mesmerized by the garbage collectors’ work.

The area’s waste management team surprised Malachi during a route last month, greeting their fan with a personalized sign and a basket of toys.

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