Good morning and welcome to a new week. On Friday, Peloton’s stock went up 30% after news broke that the connected fitness company is considering a sale. Nike, Apple, Netflix, Google, and Amazon are reportedly amongst its potential suitors.

If you ask us, HBO Max should throw its hat into the ring. Sex and the City + Peloton… what could go wrong?

On today’s docket:

• Russia and China are teaming up
• The Queen celebrated her Platinum Jubilee
• And we take a 360° look at the pandemic vs. endemic debate

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news takes 3.48 minutes to read. Then get ready to put your detective hat on.

"When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete, everybody will respect you."

–Lao Tzu (b. 571 B.C.)

🇨🇳🤝🇷🇺 Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin ahead of the Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing on Friday. In a joint statement, the two countries announced a partnership to collaborate more against the West, vowing to work together on space travel, climate change, AI, control of the internet, and more.

• Beijing committed to supporting Russia's demand that Ukraine shouldn’t be admitted into NATO, as the Kremlin gathers 100,000+ troops at its neighbor’s border. For its part, Moscow agreed to oppose any form of independence for Taiwan.
• The partnership marks China’s strongest show of support for Russia to date in its dispute with Ukraine. Still, the deal “falls short of the full-fledged treaty alliances that the US enjoys with Europe, Japan, Australia and others,” per the WSJ.
• The Biden administration on Thursday accused Putin of ordering covert operatives to create a “very graphic” fake propaganda video depicting an attack that Russia could use as a pretext to invade Ukraine.
• Two US officials on Saturday said Russia has deployed ~70% of the forces it would need for a full-scale invasion. They also estimated that peak weather conditions for an invasion would begin around February 15 and last until the end of March.

+Go deeper: From the Left | From the Right

Jobs: January’s jobs report was released on Friday and came in better than expected, with US employers adding 467,000 jobs vs. the 125,000 predicted. The government also announced that it undercounted the number of jobs added in November and December by more than 700,000.

Markets: The S&P 500 and Nasdaq posted their best week of 2022 last week. Also last week: 

• Amazon set the record for the biggest one-day gain in Wall Street history ($191 billion)
• Meta set the record for the biggest one-day drop in stock market history (more than $250 billion)

Supply chain issues. Any headway? Short answer: not really. Longer answer: maybe. From Europe to the US and China, production and transportation have stayed bogged down in the early days of 2022 by labor and parts shortages, in part because of the fast-spreading omicron variant, Supply Chain Brain reports. Models like the New York Fed’s Global Supply Chain Pressure Index and Morgan Stanley’s Supply Chain Index indicate that issues may have peaked and could get better from here, while others like Citigroup’s are less optimistic.

Oil: US oil prices topped $90 a barrel last week for the first time since 2014. “The prevailing expectation is that the market, despite some downward blips caused by pandemic demand scares, will continue to trade high on oil as real supply shortages exist both in the short and long-term view,” Louise Dickson, senior oil markets analyst at Rystad Energy, told CNBC.

Gas prices, in turn, are also at their highest level in more than seven years.

👀 Looking ahead... January's inflation report drops on Thursday.

☝️🏅 Olympic recap… This weekend’s action featured medals given out in moguls, cross-country skiing, short track, speed skating, ski jumping, and biathlon. Here’s what you may have missed:

• Viewership for Friday’s opening ceremony was down 43% from 2018. Its 14 million TV viewers made it one of the least-viewed opening ceremonies in Olympic history.
• The US women's hockey team shut out both Russia and Switzerland, setting up a final preliminary round matchup with fellow gold medal hopeful Canada tonight at 11:10 pm ET.
• Legendary snowboarder Shaun White will retire after this year's Games. The 35-year-old three-time gold medalist is currently competing for a fifth time.
• Chinese authorities made headlines by interrupting a Dutch journalist’s live report on Friday and dragging him off-camera. The reporter later tweeted that, “When asked, they couldn’t say what we had done wrong.”
• China is leaving much of the Olympic meal prep and cooking for journalists and athletes up to machines, including intricate robotic roadways that deliver "noodles from the sky." (Watch them in action)

🏈 Inside the NFL: The AFC defeated the NFC in Sunday’s Pro Bowl by a score of 41-35.

• A Houston business owner known as “Mattress Mack” traveled across the border to Louisiana on Friday to place the largest legal mobile sports bet in history, wagering $4.5+ million on the Bengals to win the Super Bowl straight-up on Sunday. 
• He stands to walk away with more than $12 million if correct.

🍿 Box office roundup: Paramount’s Jackass Forever beat out Lionsgate’s Moonfall as the no. 1 movie at the domestic box office, earning $23.5 million on a mere $10 million budget. Spiderman: No Way Home clocked in at third with $9.6 million, inching closer to eclipsing Avatar as the third-biggest North American movie ever (not counting for inflation).

Us too, Anna. Us too.

🤔 We’ve all heard the saying, “Look good, feel good”. Well, what if we told you there was a way to look good, feel good, and be cozy?

Usually, the cozy part doesn’t apply, but our friends at Sub_Urban Riot are making that a thing of the past (thankfully!).

Sub_Urban Riot offers affordable, yet sustainable clothing that’s anchored in comfort while being stylish.🔥

• We’re talking silky-soft sweatshirts, super-stylish loose tees, cozy thermals, and more – in other words, all your comfortable and casual-yet-sexy needs.

It’s not going to cost an 💪 and a 🦵, and won’t wear out after two washes (or contribute to an environmental crisis!).

And to be frank, we expect nothing less than exceptional from the brand that brought us the Kale sweatshirt worn by Queen 🐝 herself, hilarious tees worn by the gang on It’s Always Sunny, and the Favorite Daughter design.

👚 Sub_Urban Riot isn’t just for around the house either. Whether it’s the gym, the office, or a road trip, they have what you need to look and feel your cozy best!

Use code DONUT and receive 30% off your order.

Get cozy (and sexy) with Sub_Urban Riot.

💬 Quoted… "[It] is my sincere wish that, when that time comes, Camilla will be known as Queen Consort as she continues her own loyal service.”

• Context: Queen Elizabeth laid out her vision for the monarchy in a message commemorating the 70th anniversary of her accession to the throne (the Platinum Jubilee).

+Royal mess-up: A Chinese company accidentally manufactured more than 10,000 teacups, mugs, and plates commemorating the Queen's “Platinum Jubbly” instead of “Platinum Jubilee.” Wholesale Clearance UK bought the full set and is trying to flip it for $130,000, pitching a potential resale profit of ~$300,000.

🔢 Fact of the day: Road traffic fatalities are on the rise. The US recorded 31,720 deaths in the first 9 months of last year, a 32% rise over the last decade and a 12% rise over 2020 (which saw more fatalities than 2019 despite fewer people being on the roads).

🤯 Did you know?… Only five Olympic athletes have ever won more than eight total gold medals. See the full list.

📖 Worth a read… Hot Air Balloon Launch Riot! → (JSTOR Daily)

• 👆 The Coast Guard rescued 18 people left stranded yesterday when a sheet of floating ice broke away while they were snowmobiling on Lake Erie.
• 🥃✈️ Southwest Airlines flights are (almost) boozy again.
• 🗳 The Republican National Committee voted to formally censure Reps. Liz Cheney (WY) and Adam Kinzinger (IL) for serving on the January 6 committee. (From the Left | From the Right)
• 🙅‍♀️ The “Tinder Swindler” has been banned from Tinder. (Go deeper | Read the full background… and then go watch the documentary on Netflix)

+Clickbait: The best and worst airlines of 2021, according to the WSJ.

+Update: Joe Rogan’s situation keeps evolving.

Monday: Olympic medal events in speed skating, biathlon, luge, and more (full schedule)

Tuesday: Academy Award nominees released; Shaun White’s halfpipe qualifying run (coverage begins 11:30 pm ET)

Wednesday: Disney, Uber, Toyota, CVS, Fox, and more report earnings

Thursday: Olympic halfpipe final (if White advances it’ll be his last-ever run; begins 8:30 pm ET)

Friday: National Make a Friend Day; New York Fashion Week kicks off

P.S. It's Super Bowl week.

A handful of countries, including Denmark and Sweden, have lifted all Covid restrictions in recent weeks and are shifting to an ‘endemic’ response to the virus.

We’ve previously covered what it might take for the pandemic to be considered endemic in the US, but in light of recent news (and a new Covid variant), we’ve decided to revisit the topic.

🤿 A deeper dive… Simply put, an endemic disease is a sickness that’s always present within a population but considered to be “manageable”, such as herpes or the common flu.

• One metric that’s key to transitioning to an endemic disease is the amount of Covid-related hospitalizations. In the US, that number has fallen steadily over the past two weeks but remains above this summer’s delta peak. 👇

• The average number of new cases in the US has fallen more than 60% since the peak of omicron infections in mid-January, and deaths appear to have plateaued at ~2,500 per day (remember, they usually lag cases and hospitalizations).

🦠 No longer a “socially critical sickness”... When Denmark dropped all Covid restrictions nationwide last week, it led the world in per capita infections.

• But health officials attributed their decision to falling ICU admissions and shorter hospital stays, as well as the country’s 81% vaccination rate.
• Likewise, Swedish health authorities lifted all virus restrictions starting this week. The reasons were similar – a manageable hospital situation and high vaccination rate (74%).

✋ Yes, but… The US is lagging behind its European counterparts in vaccination rate (64%), which experts say could explain why our omicron death toll is far higher than other wealthy countries. Plus, there’s still the possibility that a new, more severe variant will unseat omicron as the dominant strain worldwide.

• WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus last month said, “It is dangerous to assume that omicron will be the last variant… On the contrary, globally the conditions are ideal for more variants to emerge.”
• The health agency has warned the next variant to emerge on a global scale will be more contagious than omicron – the real question is whether it’ll be more deadly.

Lunch began just as it usually did in the cafeteria of Robinson Middle School in Plano, TX... but as you probably guessed, we wouldn't be writing a Dose of Positive about just any typical day.

On this particular day, a sixth-grader named James accidentally swallowed a small piece of plastic wrapping from his lunch. It lodged in his throat, obstructing his airway and causing him to start choking. 

• "It felt sharp in my throat," the middle schooler shared with CBS Dallas/Fort-Worth. "I was like, 'Oh shoot; I’m gonna die. I'm gonna choke'.”

😵 A friend in need... James' classmate Arad walked by and noticed his face and hands around his neck were turning purple. 

• Arad remembered a book his mom had bought that explained the Heimlich maneuver, so he quickly ran over and got to work. After a few seconds the plastic was dislodged, and James took a deep breath of air. 

🤝 ... is a friend indeed: While the boys had never been close before, they've since become friends and share a special bond. “The whole choking situation, you know, made our friendship quite better,” said Arad.

We took a break from binge-watching Murderville over the weekend to find this riddle just for you. Put your detective hat on… 🕵️‍♀️

Nicole went to the police to report that someone had stolen her vintage ring. When the police got to her house, they noticed that the window was broken, there was a total mess inside, glass everywhere outside, and dirty footprints all over the carpet. But there were no other signs of a break-in.

The next day, the police arrested Nicole for fraud. Why?

(answer at the bottom of the email)

What’s the largest country in Africa by total area?

A) Sudan

B) Libya

C) Democratic Republic of the Congo

D) Algeria

(keep scrolling for the answer)

Check out our referral prizes you can get just for introducing people you know to this newsletter. 👇

Here’s your unique link to copy & send to anyone you think would like the DONUT:

Dose of Knowledge:

D) Algeria

Measuring 919,600 square miles in area, Algeria narrowly beats out the Democratic Republic of the Congo (905,600 sq. mi) as the largest country in Africa.

Detective riddle:

The glass from the broken window was outside of the house, meaning that it had been broken from the inside. 

+Go deeper: Test your mettle on some other brain teasers from Reader’s Digest.