Good morning and happy Friday! News broke in a Vanity Fair piece yesterday that Grimes and Elon Musk had a second child via a surrogate in December 2021; they named the baby girl Exa Dark Sideræl Musk, but call her “Y.”

The couple’s first child is named X Æ A-12, or “X” for short.

So we put on our statistician hats, crunched the numbers and came up with some betting odds: 

• 3 to 1: There’s another baby coming nicknamed “3” (a nod to Tesla)
• 1 to 1: There’s another baby coming nicknamed “Z” (a nod to the alphabet)
• 4 to 1: There’s not a third baby coming

Any takers?

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news takes 4.07 minutes to read.

"Life is a succession of lessons, which must be lived to be understood."

–Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

🇺🇦 Moscow ramped up its assault on the southern city of Mariupol yesterday, a day after one of its planes bombed a maternity hospital and killed at least three civilians.

• Russia’s foreign minister said the hospital was a legitimate target because it was held by “local radical militias,” while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the airstrike “proof of a genocide.”
• Talks in Turkey between the foreign ministers of Ukraine and Russia concluded without any progress on a cease-fire or humanitarian corridors for civilians to evacuate.
• US officials now estimate Russia has lost 5,000 to 6,000 troops, while between 2,000 and 4,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed.
• The president of Poland, where nearly 1.5 million Ukrainian refugees have fled, asked VP Kamala Harris and the US for assistance to avoid a "refugee disaster." Harris also called for an international war crimes investigation into Russia.

How the invasion is impacting…

⚽ Sports: The UK froze the assets of Russian oligarch and Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich, who was in the process of selling the team; he’ll now need government approval to move forward with any deal, which Abramovich isn’t allowed to profit from.

🐭 Entertainment: Disney is pausing all operations in Russia after previously suspending new film releases in the country; the company said its Russian workers will remain employed.

+The latest news: From the Left | From the Right

Major League Baseball reached a collective bargaining agreement with its Players’ Association yesterday afternoon, ending a 99-day lockout.

⚾ The deets... Players and owners agreed on dozens of alterations to the sport for at least the next five years, most notably:

• Expanding the playoffs from 10 teams to 12.
• Instituting a universal DH for the upcoming season and beyond.
• Eliminating Covid-inspired rules like 7-inning doubleheaders and teams starting with a runner on second base in extra innings.
• Granting a special MLB committee the ability to implement rule changes like a ban on defensive shifts, a pitch clock, larger bases and automated balls/strikes (all potentially starting in 2023).
• Raising the minimum MLB salary and the Competitive Balance Tax – baseball’s equivalent of a salary cap.
• Introducing a draft lottery intended to discourage teams from tanking.
• Adopting a new system to prevent alleged service-time manipulation of prospects.

👀 Looking ahead… Players can report for Spring Training as early as today. Opening Day for the full 162-game season will be pushed back eight days to April 7.

💵📈 The Consumer Price Index, the most widely used measure of inflation, saw its highest annual gain in 40 years last month, increasing 7.9% compared to a year ago.

• Excluding volatile food and energy components, prices rose 6.5% year-over-year, including the largest-ever increase in new cars and trucks (12.4%).
• The index for used vehicles was one of the only categories to see a monthly decrease, though it's still up more than 41% on the year.
• Gas prices jumped 6.6% from January to February, accounting for almost ⅓ of the CPI’s monthly increase; they’re expected to rise even further in the March report following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
• The average national price of gas has risen over 19% this month to reach $4.32 per gallon, the highest in US history (not adjusted for inflation).

👀 Looking ahead… The Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point after its two-day meeting next week, ending two years of near-zero rates. 

+Dig deeper: How does raising interest rates impact inflation?

🤯 Believe it or not… The man pictured above was 54 years old in this photo.

Chuando Tan is a photographer and model who went viral for his age-defying looks

While genes play a part in our appearance, Chuando believes what we do every day is most important.

🤔 How does he do it?...

• Healthy diet
• Daily exercise
• Lots of sleep
• He takes care of his skin!

But to take care of his skin, he knows he needs SPF & moisturizer. To get both in one product, our #1 recommendation is The Daily.

The Daily is dermatologist developed using a swiss-army-knife approach, designed to save you time.

⚙️ How it works…

• Saporia firms the skin and fights signs of aging
• Protects: The Daily uses ultra-fine non-nano zinc oxide to ensure non-oily, daily coverage from UVA & UVB rays
• Soothes: includes niacinamide and essential nutrients as a perfect solution for post-shaving

All in one product. 👌

Female and family-founded, Get Mr. uses cruelty-free, non-toxic ingredients to ensure you have your healthiest skin. They’ve been featured in Men’s Health, Forbes, and Rolling Stone Magazine for their innovative approach to helping you on your skincare journey.

Use the code DONUT for 25% off your first order!

Today marks the two-year anniversary of the WHO declaring Covid a global pandemic. 

As it sits, the omicron wave has nearly subsided in the US. Are we near the light at the end of the tunnel, or is the virus primed to make a resurgence?

🔢 By the numbers... New daily cases in the US have dropped 95+% since peaking in mid-January. As of Thursday, the seven-day moving average was 37,879, per CDC data – its lowest number since last July.

• Daily Covid deaths, a metric that lags behind cases and hospitalizations, have fallen 34% over the last two weeks to reach the lowest total so far this year.
• More than 81% of eligible Americans have received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine, which translates to nearly 77% of the entire population.

✋ Yes, but… Many health experts still warn of the potential for a new Covid variant to emerge, especially given that nearly three billion people haven’t yet received a vaccine.

• So far, new variants of concern have not evolved from the previous dominant strain – meaning there’s no guarantee that a potential new variant will come from omicron, which is relatively mild compared to other strains.

🌎 The big picture: Every three months since January 2020, the WHO has convened a panel of expert advisers to assess whether Covid still meets the threshold for a global pandemic. And every three months – most recently this past January – the panel has unanimously agreed that it does. 

But that hasn’t stopped several individual nations, like Denmark, the Netherlands and the UK, from functionally declaring an end to the pandemic in their countries.

+Flash poll: Do you consider the pandemic to be over?

Yes

No

• ☝️ Anti-war protesters formed a human peace sign in Budapest, Hungary, on Wednesday.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 🚫🏦 Goldman Sachs said yesterday that it’s suspending all operations in Russia, becoming the first major US bank to do so; JPMorgan Chase followed suit later in the day.
• 🚘🔌 Rivian reported a Q4 adjusted loss per share of $2.43 (vs. $1.97 expected) yesterday; the company also said it’ll produce 25,000 vehicles this year; shares dropped in after-hours trading; the automaker’s stock is down 60% so far this year.
• 🚲 Peloton is testing out a new pricing model starting today; customers can now pay a single monthly fee to cover the bike and a monthly subscription to workout courses.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🔴🍄🟢 Universal Studios Hollywood announced the new Super Nintendo World will open in 2023.
• 🍿 By order of the Peaky Blinders: All six episodes of the sixth and final season will be available on Netflix starting June 10.
• 🎮 Bundle for Ukraine is a collection of over 900 indie video games available for a minimum donation of $10; thus far, it’s raised more than $3 million for charities providing relief to Ukraine.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🦇 An endangered bat was spotted in Rwanda for the first time in 40 years.
• 📈 Global anxiety and depression increased 25% in the first year of the Covid pandemic, according to a scientific brief from the WHO.

BEST OF THE REST

• ⚖️ Actor Jussie Smollett was sentenced to 150 days in jail and 30 months probation yesterday for lying to police in connection to a staged hate crime.
• 🌯 Chipotle is launching pollo asado as a limited-time menu item in the US and Canada.
• 🇺🇸 The 2020 US Census undercounted the number of Hispanic, Black, and Native American people living in the US and overcounted the number of white and Asian residents, though the overall population total was accurate; the US population is now 323.2 million, up 5% from 2010. (From the Left | From the Right)
• 😷 The TSA extended its mask mandate for planes and other forms of public transportation for another month; it’s now set to expire April 18. (From the Left | From the Right)

💬 Quoted… “It was simply a lucky bet.”

Federal regulators are investigating large bets placed on Activision Blizzard by two billionaires and one of their stepsons days before its acquisition by Microsoft became public; the trio’s actions led to a $60 million unrealized profit.

🔢 Stat of the Day… Several popular VPN sites have seen Russian traffic increase 300% to 700% amidst a government crackdown on internet sites.

🤯 Did You Know?... In 1980, New Jersey’s Assembly passed a resolution honoring native Bruce Springsteen’s "Born to Run" as the state’s official rock anthem, but the measure never came to a vote in the Senate – presumably because lawmakers realized the song is actually about running away from New Jersey.

📖 Worth a Read… Exam software is booming, but is it ethical? → (The Hustle)

DONUT HQ is located in the city of Austin, which has a motto: “Keep Austin Weird.” In celebration of that sentiment, we bring you the most unusual, off-the-wall and occasionally laugh-out-loud headlines from this week…

1. NYC man rescued twice in 2 days on Arizona hikes → (AP)
2. Border authorities find 52 reptiles hidden in man’s clothing → (KWQC)
3. North Carolina woman fights to keep her 'FART' license plate → (ABC Asheville)
4. LimeWire is relaunching as an NFT marketplace → (Mashable)

Step aside pedigree pooches, here come the Marvelous Mutts. 🦸

Founded by trainers Nadja Palenzuela and Kara Gilmore, Marvelous Mutts is a travelling dog show featuring some incredibly talented rescue pups.

• The dogs perform agility courses, long-distance jumping, swimming presentations and more – wagging their tails all the way.

🐕🐶 More than a show… While the performance is entertaining to watch, its main mission is to raise awareness of the amazing hearts and talents of mixed-breed rescue dogs.

• Nadja and Kara work with shelters to identify at-risk dogs, whom they bring home and train to become stars. 🌟
• “Once we adopt a dog, we are committed to him or her… whether or not the dog ends up in the show,” shared Nadja. “Our dogs are family members for life!”

❓🍽 Back by popular demand… The Great Recipe Game, aka Hungry Hungry DONUT (it’s a working title, okay). For those who missed it the first go-round, here’s how it works: We give you a list of ingredients. You give us the completed dish they make.

Let's do this. 😎

Recipe #1:

• Chicken
• Salt
• Black pepper
• Eggs
• Panko bread crumbs
• Parmesan cheese
• All-purpose flour
• Olive oil
• Prepared tomato sauce
• Fresh mozzarella
• Fresh basil
• Provolone cheese

Recipe #2 (buckle up, it’s a long one):

• Russet potatoes
• Half-and-half
• Unsalted butter
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 egg yolk
• Canola oil
• Chopped onion
• Carrots, peeled and diced small
• Minced garlic cloves
• Ground lamb
• All-purpose flour
• Tomato paste
• Chicken broth
• Worcestershire sauce
• Freshly chopped rosemary leaves
• Freshly chopped thyme leaves
• Fresh or frozen corn kernels
• Fresh or frozen English peas

Recipe #3:

• Mayo
• Sour cream
• Dry leek soup mix
• Water chestnuts, drained and chopped
• Frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• Sourdough bread

(keep scrolling for the answers)

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:

1. Chicken parm
2. Shepherd’s pie
3. Spinach dip