📰 Extra! Extra!

🚢 Suez Canal Blocked

Image: Instagram

A more than 200k-ton container ship leased by Taiwan's Evergreen Corp. became wedged across Egypt’s Suez Canal yesterday, blocking all traffic on the waterway through which ~10% of world trade flows.

• Officials reportedly warned it could take at least two days to clear the canal, which is particularly essential for the transport of oil.
• Evergreen said the ship was overcome by strong winds as it entered the canal.

More: However, it remains unclear how yesterday's winds - with gusts up to 30 MPH - could have affected the fully-laden vessel.

🇩🇪 Germany Reverses Lockdown

German Chancellor Angela Merkel reversed plans yesterday for a COVID-19 lockdown that would have seen all shops and churches close over Easter.

• The plans, announced on Tuesday, extended Germany’s current lockdown measures through April 18 and banned public gatherings from April 1-5.
• During an impromptu video conference with state leaders yesterday, Merkel said the Easter lockdown “was a mistake” after closer analysis found the shutdown risked doing more harm than good.

More: The extension of Germany’s current lockdown measures will continue to apply until April 18.

💵 Oakland Launches UBI Program

Oakland announced a privately-funded program to provide guaranteed income to low-income families of color.

• The Oakland Resident Families program will give qualifying families $500 per month, with no rules on how to spend it. The initiative has raised $6.75M thus far from private donors including Blue Meridian Partners, a national philanthropy group.

⏰ Catch Up Quick:

✅ The Senate confirmed Dr. Rachel Levine as assistant secretary of health at HHS, making her the first openly transgender federal official confirmed by the legislative chamber. (From the Left | From the Right)

🗽 New York legislators reached a deal to approve a bill legalizing recreational marijuana, according to sources. (From the Left | From the Right)

⚖️ Virginia abolished the death penalty yesterday, becoming the 23rd state, and first southern state, to do so. (From the Left | From the Right)

☝️ 1 Last Thing…

💉 AstraZeneca issued revised Phase 3 trial data for its COVID-19 vaccine, now saying it's 76% effective against symptomatic cases (down from 79% previously).

🚘 Hail to the Technoking

Elon Musk announced Tesla is now accepting bitcoin as payment for its vehicles from buyers in the continental U.S.

• Musk said people outside the U.S. will be able to buy Teslas with bitcoin “later this year.” He also noted that “Bitcoin paid to Tesla will be retained as Bitcoin, not converted to fiat currency.”

The company’s refund policy notes that should buyers seek to return their vehicle, Tesla reserves the right to refund them in bitcoin or USD at the exact price bitcoin was worth at the time of purchase.

More: Tesla revealed last month it purchased $1.5B worth of bitcoin.

🎮 New Game Plan

Eight members of GameStop’s 13-member board will leave the company after its annual meeting in June, according to a new SEC filing.

• The planned exits include Reggie Fils Aimé, the long-time president of Nintendo’s American division, and former Activision executive Kathy Vrabeck.

More: Remaining board members include Chewy co-founder Ryan Cohen, who joined in January. Earlier this month, the board appointed him as chairman of a special committee to help the brick-and-mortar retailer transition to e-commerce.

💰 Raise the Roof

• Blockchain.com, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency wallet providers, raised $300M in a funding round valuing the company at $5.2B (one month after raising $120M at a $3B valuation).
• Fanatics, a sports merchandise company, raised $320M from investors - including Major League Baseball - valuing the company at $12.8B (up from $6.2B last August).
• Digital delivery service goPuff raised $1.15B from investors - including SoftBank’s Vision Fund 1 - valuing the company at $8.9B (up from $3.9B last October).

🧠 In the Know:

🏛️ The CEOs of Facebook, Twitter, and Alphabet will testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee later today. (Livestream here – starts at 12 p.m. ET)

📹 YouTuber Mr. Beast, real name Jimmy Donaldson, launched a $2M investment fund as part of a new company called Creative Juice that will offer creators up to $250K in exchange for a stake in their channels.

☝️ 1 Last Thing…

“Look, you have a former president in Trump, who is a racist, a sexist, a homophobe, a xenophobe, a pathological liar, an authoritarian, somebody who doesn’t believe in the rule of law. This is a bad news guy.

But if you’re asking me, do I feel particularly comfortable that the president, the then president of the United States could not express his views on Twitter? I don’t feel comfortable about it.” 

–Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on the NYT podcast The Ezra Klein Show ($). (From the Left | From the Right)

🥦 More Than Just Broccoli…

“When I’m on my deathbed, I want to have that broccoli.”

In December, Brandon Jones’ mother-in-law, who prefers to remain anonymous, was diagnosed with cancer.

• Last week, as Brandon and wife prepared to visit possibly for the last time, he desperately wanted to fulfill his mother-in-law’s wish to have her favorite food one last time.

Images: Instagram

It was in Baltimore, Maryland, where Brandon’s mother-in-law fell in love with the dish: tempura broccoli from a local restaurant called Ekiben.

• Brandon knew the broccoli dish wouldn’t survive the six-hour drive to Vermont, so he went out on a limb and emailed the owner asking for the recipe.
• To his surprise, Ekiben’s two owners and co-founders offered to meet them in Vermont to cook the dish themselves.

When Brandon replied making sure they knew it was a six-hour trip, the chefs simply said: "No problem. You tell us the date, time and location and we’ll be there."

Ekiben co-founders Steve Chu and Ephram Abebe.

Setting up a make-shift kitchen in the back of their truck, Steve and his team made it to Vermont and cooked enough broccoli for the family to enjoy for days.

“My mom cried later about their generosity... It’s something we’ll never forget — I’ll carry that positive memory with me, always.”