Good morning and welcome to Wednesday. On today’s docket:

• 🇺🇦 Our customary Russia/Ukraine update
• 🦈 The story behind how sharks got their name
• 🏕 A survival rule of thumb in case of an emergency

… and more. Find you another NEWSletter that does all that.😉😎

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news takes 4.27 minutes to read.

"Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work."

–Stephen King (b. 1947)

🇺🇦 After several hours of peace talks in Istanbul, Turkey, yesterday, Russia said it will scale back fighting near Kyiv to "increase mutual trust."

• Russian President Vladimir Putin also agreed to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for the initialing of a peace treaty once negotiations are complete.
• Ukrainian officials offered some potential concessions in negotiations – including neutrality and a willingness to discuss the eastern Donbas region – in exchange for international security guarantees along the lines of NATO’s military alliance.
• Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Russia’s moves following its announcement appear to be “a repositioning, not a real withdrawal… we all should be prepared to watch for a major offensive against other areas of Ukraine.”

How the invasion is impacting…

📈📉 Markets: Stocks rose across the board yesterday, as all three major US indexes moved closer to finishing a month in the green for the first time this year. (Dow: +1.0% | S&P: +1.2% | Nasdaq: +1.8%)

• Oil prices neared their lowest levels in almost two weeks before rebounding to close at $110 per barrel. The average price for a gallon of gas in the US has barely moved over the past week, hovering around $4.24.

🪙 Crypto: The price of bitcoin has risen 24% since Russia invaded Ukraine, reaching ~$47,500 yesterday. The world’s most popular crypto has now erased nearly all of its losses in the year to date (-0.5%).

The Taliban continues to impose its version of Islamic Sharia law on Afghanistan after retaking control of the country last summer.

• Their latest moves – both official and unofficial – include restrictions that prevent men from grooming, women from traveling solo or attending school (after previously saying it would be allowed), and all citizens from accessing international media.

🇦🇫 A deeper dive… Roughly two-thirds of Afghans are under the age of 25, and nearly all of them grew up in an era of relative freedom post-2001.

• But the Taliban has promised to return Afghanistan to the “traditional” values of the late ‘90s, when music and TV were banned, men were forbidden from trimming their beards and women were required to wear head-to-toe burkas, among other things.
• Afghan women held mass protests in the weeks and months following the Taliban’s takeover to advocate for continued equal rights, despite a ban on demonstrations without government permission.

🌍 Zoom out: A decade after the anti-government Arab Spring protests – led mostly by younger generations – the Middle East is still dealing with social unrest stemming in-part from high rates of youth joblessness.

• Nearly 30% of young people in the Arab states and North Africa are unable to find work, more than double the international average, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO).

Some 4.35 million workers quit their jobs in February, according to a Labor Department report published yesterday.

✌️💼 Words of the year: “The Great Resignation”… The number of people quitting topped 4 million last June for the first time ever…. and now it’s happened nine months in a row.

• Prior to the pandemic, the number of people quitting jobs averaged fewer than 3 million per month.
• The quitting rate peaked in November and December 2021, when 3% of all non-farm workers quit each month.
• Job openings fell slightly to 11.27 million in February, but remained near a record high (11.4 million). As it sits, there’s almost two open jobs for every unemployed person, and wages are rising at their fastest pace in decades.

✋ Yes, but: Record-high inflation has impacted or leveled out some of those wage gains. About 17% of Americans list the high cost of living and inflation as the most important problems facing the country today, up from 8% in January.

📊 The bottom line: Inflation is still high, and the labor market is still tight (i.e., lots of job openings, low number of layoffs).

If your profession or hobby requires creativity in any capacity, you often live and die by your ideas. 💡

Stop letting the great ones fade into the darkest corners of your mind, right next to lyrics of 2000’s hip hop songs and quotes from The Office. 🙅‍♂️

✊ Take control of your destiny today and get into the habit of jotting things down!

And our pals at Baronfig have the perfect tools for everything creative:

• Planners, notebooks, and journals 📒
• Pens and writing sets 🖊
• Backpacks and carrying bags 💼
• Desk organizers and more!

🧠 Made by thinkers, for thinkers… The Baronfig team consists of designers, mechanical engineers and writers. They know what it means to be creative. As a result, they make higher quality products at a better price than competitors.

🌳 And for every single notebook purchased, Baronfig plants one tree! 👏

Get started today with the Idea Toolset.

Earlier this week, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced plans to reinstate its requirement that students provide their ACT/SAT scores for future admission.

📝 A deeper dive… Like many other colleges and universities, MIT made reporting those scores optional at the start of the pandemic, when many high schoolers were unable to take the tests.

• But unlike most colleges, MIT has decided to bring them back. The school’s dean of admissions explained that the tests “help us better assess the academic preparedness of all applicants.”
• He also said the scores help identify socioeconomically disadvantaged students who may lack access to advanced coursework or other opportunities to show their readiness for MIT.

🇺🇸 Zoom out: Last week, California State University – the largest system of four-year higher education in the country (477,000 students) – said it’s permanently dropping ACT/SAT scores from its admission process, a method known as “test-blind,” citing concerns of racial and socioeconomic disparity in scores.

• Many other colleges and universities have adopted test-optional policies for at least this year's admissions cycle, including all eight Ivy League schools.
• The Common App, the nonprofit behind the standardized college application form, said only 5% of its ~850 member schools are requesting ACT/SAT scores in 2021-2022, compared to 55% in 2018–2019.

• ☝️ The world’s first space hotel is set to open by 2027. (That's just five years away.🤯)

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 💰 TV info company Nielsen agreed to sell to a group of private equity firms for $16 billion including debt.
• 🏘️ Average home prices in major US metropolitan areas rose 19.2% in the year that ended in January, per the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index.
• 🏥 UnitedHealth Group, which runs America’s largest health insurer, is buying home healthcare services company LHC Group for roughly $5.4 billion.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🏟️ The Buffalo Bills reached a deal with the state of New York to construct a new $1.4 billion stadium aided by $850 million in public funds; it’s the biggest taxpayer contribution to an NFL stadium in history.
• 🏈 The NFL will require teams to hire at least one minority coach or female coach as an offensive assistant starting this season; the league also approved new overtime rules for the playoffs that guarantee each team receives the ball at least once.
• 📱 TikTok is testing a ‘Watch History’ feature where you can see the videos you’ve already viewed.
• 📺 CNN launched its subscription streaming news service CNN+ yesterday.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🇺🇸 Nearly 30% of US adolescents and teens meet the criteria for prediabetes, a new peer-reviewed study estimates, up from 12% two decades ago.
• 💉 The FDA authorized a second Covid vaccine booster from Pfizer or Moderna for Americans aged 50 and up.
• 🤖🍔 A company called RoboBurger created a machine that will make you a burger with custom toppings in six minutes for $6.99; the first RoboBurger was installed in the Newport Centre Mall in Jersey City, NJ.

EVERYTHING ELSE

• 📊🦠 52% of Americans say they've had Covid, per a new Monmouth University poll.
• ⚖️🐷 The Supreme Court is considering new rules on the treatment of pigs.
• 🏛️ White House records turned over to the Jan. 6 committee show a gap of seven hours and 37 minutes in President Trump's phone logs from that day, per WaPo/CBS News’ Bob Woodward and Robert Costa. (The report | From the Left | From the Right)

💬 Quoted… “The message to gangs is: because of your actions, your homeboys will not be able to see a single ray of sunlight.”

• The president of El Salvador declared a national emergency after a surge of gang violence left 62 people dead on Saturday alone.

🎓 Stat of the Day: A record 37.9% of US adults over 25 now have a bachelor’s degree or higher, per Census Bureau data.

🤭 Oops of the Day: British bank Barclays accidentally sold roughly twice as many securities as it was registered to sell in the US, resulting in an estimated $592 million loss.

🤯 Did You Know?... The name ‘shark’ originally referred to a person who preys on people (e.g., a loan shark). The name was later applied to the fish due to its predatory behavior.

📖 Worth a Read: Russian Oligarchs Keep Getting Screwed Over by Yacht Selfies → (Vice)

How should colleges and universities deal with ACT/SAT scores?

Eliminate them entirely (test-blind)

Make them optional

Require them for admission

❓ Bonus question for the road: “The Slap Heard ‘Round the World” – whose side are you on?

Will Smith’s side

Chris Rock’s side

It was all staged

Who cares?

Styles 4 Kidz is a non-profit organization in Oak Park, Illinois, with one very specific mission: "To provide high-quality, compassionate hair care education and services for kids with textured hair in foster care and transracial adoptive or biracial families."

• The organization was founded by Tamekia Swint 10 years ago. Wanting to help children and parents alike feel more confident in textured hair styling, she's made it her mission to keep her lessons as accessible as possible to any family who needs it. 

💬 What she's saying: "I'm passionate... for kids to get what they need to have healthy self-esteem and confidence all over the world."

🌍 Geography: What’s the only city that straddles two continents?

A) Bucharest, Romania

B) Jerusalem, Israel/Palestine

C) Saint Petersburg, Russia

D) Istanbul, Turkey

🤔 True or False?... A pound of nickels is equal in value to a pound of pennies

✍️ Fill in the Blanks (all the same number): The Survival Rule of ___s means the average human can survive roughly ___ minutes without air, ___ hours without shelter in a harsh environment and ___ days without water.

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:

Trivia: D) Istanbul, Turkey (formerly Constantinople)

T/F: False; the equivalency only holds when using pounds of quarters and dimes.

Fill in the Blanks: Three