Good morning. In today’s edition:

• 🤝 The Israel-Hamas ceasefire
• 🚀 Blue Origin finally reaches orbit
• 🐱🐶 Hungry cats and dogs

… and more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~4.19-minute read (1,115 words).

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P.S. We’ll be off on Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

“Don't try to be young. Just open your mind. Stay interested in stuff.”

–Betty White (1922-2021)

The Israeli government and leaders of Hamas on Wednesday agreed to a preliminary ceasefire deal, in a step that could mark the beginning of the end for the 15+-month war in Gaza.

The details: The current draft of the deal is divided into three phases.

• The first calls for a 42-day ceasefire to begin this Sunday, during which all Israeli forces will be moved out of buffer zones toward the edges of the Gaza Strip, and Hamas will release 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for the hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israel.

The second and third phases of the ceasefire aren’t guaranteed, and still have to be negotiated during the first.

• According to Israeli and Hamas officials, the second phase is designed around the release of the remaining living hostages and Israeli forces leaving Gaza entirely.
• The third phase would involve exchanging the bodies of all deceased Israeli hostages for some Palestinian prisoners, then carrying out a 3-to-5-year reconstruction plan for Gaza under international supervision.

The current situation: Hamas still holds 94 of the 251 hostages taken in its surprise October 7 attack, according to the Israeli government, which believes at least 34 of them are dead. Israel currently holds close to 10,000 Palestinian prisoners, according to the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories.

Looking ahead…Israel delayed a cabinet vote on the ceasefire deal until Friday at the earliest, after PM Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas of reneging on parts of the agreement. Within Israel, the deal also faces resistance from hard-line politicians who want Israel to stick to its original stated war aim of eliminating Hamas.

• Hamas officials denied Israel’s claims, saying the group remains committed to the agreement.
• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday said he’s “confident” the ceasefire will begin on Sunday as planned, despite the need to tie up a “loose end” at the last minute.

📊 Flash poll (long-form): What are your thoughts on the preliminary Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal? The most thoughtful and insightful responses will be featured in Monday’s newsletter.

• Click here to leave a response.

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One giant leap for Blue Origin = one small step forward in the billionaire space wars.

Early Thursday morning, Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket took off from its Cape Canaveral launchpad. Thirteen minutes later, Jeff Bezos’ space company had achieved a monumental milestone – its first time reaching orbit since its founding in 2000 (two years before Elon Musk’s SpaceX).

• The launch’s only snafu involved Blue Origin failing to catch the rocket’s reusable booster, nicknamed “So You’re Telling Me There’s a Chance” – since experts say it was unlikely the company would succeed on its first try; SpaceX required 19 launches before pulling it off.

New Glenn, we have liftoff

The rocket, measuring 320+ ft. tall, is designed to conduct regular flights using reusable boosters. Blue Origin aims for it to compete with SpaceX's Falcon 9, the world's first orbital-class reusable rocket.

• New Glenn is eventually meant to launch astronaut crews and satellites – including Amazon's Project Kuiper internet satellites (a potential Starlink competitor) – into orbit.

Big picture: Blue Origin’s customers include NASA, various US government agencies, and some telecom companies, who are eyeing New Glenn as a potential way to reduce dependency on SpaceX. Of the record 145 launches reaching orbit last year (5x as many as 2017), Musk’s space company was responsible for 134.

🚀 Speaking of SpaceX…The company conducted the seventh test flight of its Starship rocket yesterday evening.

Portable gaming must’ve driven into a question mark box – because it’s about to get a power up. Nintendo announced its long-awaited Switch 2 gaming console yesterday morning, in a short video showcasing some of its details.

What we know so far: The new console will closely resemble its predecessor, featuring similar detachable controllers with a slightly larger screen.

• The console will be backward-compatible, so it can play both existing Switch games and Switch 2-specific titles (including a new Mario Kart title shown in the video).
• It will remain a hybrid console, allowing users to play while docked to a TV or as a portable device. A second USB-C port on the top of the device also makes it easier to plug in accessories while the console is docked.

Nintendo is looking to replicate its previous success. As of last fall, the original Switch had sold 143 million units, ranking as the third best-selling video game console of all time (behind only the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo DS).

👀 Looking ahead…Nintendo says further details on the Switch 2 will come at a showcase on April 2. The company has yet to reveal a more specific release date outside of sometime in 2025, though analysts predict it’ll come in June.

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BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 📉 US markets fell across the board (S&P: -0.2%; Dow: -0.2%; Nasdaq: -0.9%). | 📉 Apple shares closed down 4%, the company's worst day since August 5, following reports of lackluster China demand and AI struggles.
• 🏡 The average US 30-year mortgage rate rose to 7.04% this week, per Freddie Mac; it's the highest level since May 2024.
• 💰 American Express will pay $230 million to settle US criminal and civil probes into alleged deceptive sales practices.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

in partnership with Sunlighten

• 🏌️📺 LIV Golf announced a multi-year media rights deal with Fox Sports to broadcast the pro golf tour to US viewers starting next month. | 😆🏆 Conan O'Brien will receive the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
• ⚖️🎭 Justin Baldoni filed a $400 million defamation and extortion lawsuit against Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds over allegations they hijacked his film It Ends With Us and falsely accused him of sexual harassment. | 🚫📲 The US TikTok ban takes effect Sunday, barring any extension, SCOTUS intervention, or last-minute sale.
• 🙏 David Lynch, the visionary filmmaker, artist, and musician who wrote/directed Twin Peaks and more, passed away at 78. | 🙏 Bob Uecker, the longtime Hall of Fame Milwaukee Brewers announcer who also starred in Major League, passed away at 90.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🎗️ Women under the age of 65 are now more likely to develop cancer than men, reversing a previous decades-long trend of younger men having higher cancer rates, per the American Cancer Society. | 📉 The overall US cancer mortality rate declined by 34% from 1991–2022, preventing ~4.5 million deaths.
• 🛰️ India became the fourth country to successfully achieve an unmanned docking in space.
• 🚬 The FDA cleared flavored Zyn nicotine pouches to stay on the US market, ruling their benefit as a smoking alternative for adults outweigh the potential risk to young Americans.

MISCELLANEOUS

in partnership with Tuft & Needle

• 🔥 LA wildfires update: The larger Palisades and Eaton Fires were 22% and 55% contained, respectively, as of yesterday; the extreme winds driving the ongoing fires are forecast to calm through the weekend, but could pick up early next week.
• 🏛️ Florida AG Ashley Moody was selected by Governor Ron DeSantis to fill the vacant US Senate seat left by Marco Rubio, President-elect Trump’s nominee for Secretary of State.
• 🇸🇩 Sudan’s military has used chemical weapons on at least two occasions against the paramilitary group it’s battling for control of the country, per US officials.

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More and more Americans are rockin’ down to Electric Avenue. Sales of hybrid and all-electric vehicles reached 20% of new car and truck sales in the US for the first time last year. Of the 3.2 million “electrified” vehicles sold, 1.9 million were hybrids and 1.3 million were all-electric models, according to Motor Intelligence.

When it comes to pure EV sales, Tesla is still the king, with its Model 3 and Model Y clocking in as last year’s best selling EVs. But the king’s crown is slipping – the Musk-led automaker’s US EV market share fell to 49% in 2024 vs. 55% in 2023.

This drop comes as the market is getting more competitive: Of the 68 mainstream EV models tracked by Cox’s Kelley Blue Book, 24 posted year-over-year sales increases; 17 were new to the market; and 27 decreased in volume, CNBC reports.

It also comes amid uncertainty about the future of EV sales, pending potential actions by the incoming Trump administration. Cox Automotive projects “electrified” vehicle sales will grow to comprise 1 in 4 new cars sold in the US in 2025.

☝️ Large parts of the US will see temperatures 25-35 degrees colder than typical mid-January averages over the weekend and into next week.

🤔 Did You Know? Dogs and cats consume ~25% of all total calories derived from meat in the US, per UCLA geography professor Gregory Okin.

📰 Worth a Read: “A man of deeds, not words”: How Vladimir Putin rose to power in Russia

🖱 Clickbait: Even Harvard MBAs Are Struggling to Land Jobs

❤️ A team of UK scientists is preparing to track the heart rates of concertgoers. The researchers aim to study how live music and performance events affect the human body and our psyche, in the hope the results will encourage people to attend more live events in the future.

😮🧊 The Minnesota Ice Festival's 18,150-square-foot ice maze has been officially certified by Guinness World Records as the largest in the world.

🐶 Today marks the first year of a new Austin, TX, holiday: Matilda Day. The holiday honors Matilda, a beloved (and Insta-famous) local rescue dog who passed away in 2023. The holiday aims to raise funds for the nonprofit Austin Pets Alive! and its work to support and care for senior animals.

Our weekly news quiz is live. How well did you pay attention this week? Let’s find out.

📻 Internet augmented the radio star: Listen to any radio station in the world.

♟️ Need for speed: Play the ultimate form of speed chess – where turns don’t matter and the points aren’t made up.

🍿 That’s cool: With this website you can input a film and it'll give you similar ones.

🤔 Just in case: How to store something for 100 years.

💻 Click Here: Meet TLDR – your techy BFF dishing out free, bite-sized news on startups, coding, and gadgets.*

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*A message from our partners.

Below are three lists of ingredients. Your job is give us the completed dish they make.

☝️ Recipe #1:

• Eggs
• Light brown sugar
• Greek yogurt
• Canola oil
• Zucchini
• Vanilla extract
• Salt
• Flour
• Cocoa powder
• Baking powder
• Chocolate chips

✌️ Recipe #2:

• Cabbage
• Juniper berries
• Caraway seeds
• Mustard seeds
• Pickling salt
• Water

3️⃣ Recipe #3:

• Onion
• Carrot
• Celery stalk
• Garlic
• Butter
• Flour
• Chicken or vegetable broth
• Milk
• Salt & pepper
• Broccoli
• Sharp cheddar
• Parmesan

☝️ Recipe #1: Chocolate zucchini bread

✌️ Recipe #2: Homemade German sauerkraut

3️⃣ Recipe #3: Broccoli cheddar soup