📅 Happy Friday Eve

💵 COVID Relief Update

The White House and Senate Democrats yesterday agreed to restrict eligibility limits for stimulus checks included within the Biden-backed $1.9T COVID-19 relief package.

• Under the new proposal, individual Americans earning less than $75K will still get the full $1,400.

However, instead of restricting payments at the $100K income threshold, as in the previous COVID-19 relief bill, the Senate plan will cut off individual payments at the $80K threshold ($160K for couples filing jointly).

More: The Senate’s consideration of the bill - initially planned for Wednesday night - was pushed back one day as lawmakers wait for a nonpartisan estimate of its total cost, per USA Today.

🇮🇶 Airstrike on Base in Iraq

The Pentagon confirmed approximately 10 rockets struck a military airbase in Anbar province yesterday morning, where some of the 2,500 U.S. troops in Iraq are based.

• Officials said a U.S. civilian contractor died after suffering a heart attack while sheltering during the strike. There were no reported casualties among U.S. or coalition troops.

No organization has claimed responsibility for the strike (as of late Wednesday).

⚖️ ICC War Crime Investigation

The International Criminal Court (ICC) opened a formal investigation into alleged war crimes committed by Israel and Palestinian militants during the 2014 war in Gaza.

• The U.S. and Israel denounced the move, saying Israel is not a party to the ICC and has not consented to the court’s jurisdiction
• The decision was welcomed by Palestinian leaders, who initially requested the investigation.

⏰ Catch Up Quick:

👷 The American Society of Civil Engineers gave the U.S. a ‘C–’ on its infrastructure report card, saying the country must drastically increase spending to upgrade roads, bridges, and other transit systems. (U.S. got a D+ in 2017; report is released every four years.)

🌕 Promise the Moon

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa announced he will choose eight members of the public to join him on SpaceX's Starship rocket for a free trip around the Moon. The flight is scheduled for 2023.

• "dearMoon" will take three days to fly to the moon, then loop behind it in orbit and spend three days returning.

More: “Pre-registration” is available on the dearMoon website until March 14.

Even More: SpaceX conducted a test of its SN10 Starship prototype yesterday, which landed successfully for the first time (out of three tries) before exploding on the landing pad minutes later. (Video)

📱 A Bundle of Laughs

Netflix launched “Fast Laughs” yesterday, a TikTok-esque feed of comedy clips from the site’s vast library of stand-up specials, TV series, and movies.

• The mobile feature is initially only available on iOS devices in English-speaking countries - including the U.S., UK, Canada, and Australia - though Netflix plans to start testing an Android version later this year.

More: Netflix’s last few earnings reports have specifically referenced TikTok as a major competitor. (Though our CEO compares this feature more to Quibi... his words, not ours.)

🌐 Off the Beaten Track

In a blog post yesterday, Google explicitly stated it “will not build alternate identifiers to track individuals as they browse across the web” after ending support for third-party cookies.

• In January 2020, the tech giant announced it would stop supporting third-party cookies - a tool used by advertisers to track and target users across the web - in its Chrome browser within two years.

More: The blog post cited a Pew Research poll that found 72% of Americans feel almost all of what they do is tracked online, and 81% say the potential risks they face because of data collection outweigh the benefits.

⏰ Catch Up Quick:

📉 Shares of Rocket Companies fell 32.7% yesterday, giving up nearly all of its gains from Tuesday’s session (when the stock soared over 70%).

💰 Walmart announced plans to spend an additional $350B on products made, assembled, or grown in the U.S. over the next decade. | FedEx will invest an initial $2B toward sustainable energy initiatives as part of its new goal to become carbon neutral by 2040.

☝️ 1 Last Thing…

Image: Aston Martin

• Aston Martin unveiled the AMR21, its first Formula One vehicle in over 60 years. It will compete in the 2021 F1 World Championship starting March 28.

🔎📱 Solving the Mystery

“About 15 years ago I found this family portrait in a book I brought home from a used bookstore in NYC. I look at it every few years and wish I could find the girls and return it. I love this picture. Maybe Twitter could figure out who they are.”

Image: @VSJohnsonNYC

Victoria Johnson was doubtful she would be able to find the family in the 1960s-era photo she had been holding onto for over a decade.

• Over the next 48 hours, however, her tweet was shared by thousands eager to help in her search.

When user @ciaogirl9 stumbled upon the photograph, she quickly replied to Victoria, believing herself to be the great-niece of the father in her picture.

Image: @ciaogirl9

Elizabeth Rattray (a cousin of the young girls in the photograph) confirmed the photo featured Sheldon, Margaret, Valeria, and Sharon Suddith at their home in Topeka, Kansas.

• “This picture is such a gift, it really is,” Elizabeth said to CNN. “As a culture, we lose so much, we have lost so much. So any pieces that you can find and validate and verify it just makes it that much richer.”

Victoria has since posted a twitter thread of everything she has learned about the family since. “It’s a deeply American story, full of long struggles & great joy.”