Good morning. In today’s edition:

• 🤝 The Trump admin's approach to Russia-Ukraine
• 📝 January's inflation numbers
• 💥 Cage match: Drone vs. robotic dog

… and more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~3.94-minute read (1,049 words).

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"Respect and acceptance stem from simple acts such as remembering a person’s name and using it whenever appropriate.”

Dale Carnegie (1888-1955)

The Trump administration signaled a significant shift in US policy towards Ukraine yesterday.

• In a social media post, President Trump revealed he and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to open immediate negotiations on ending the yearslong Russia-Ukraine war following an hour-plus long phone conversation.
• Trump’s announcement came hours after his new Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivered a speech in which he said potential NATO membership for Ukraine is an unrealistic inclusion in any negotiated settlement with Russia, and called the prospect of Ukraine returning to its pre-2014 borders “an unrealistic objective.”

The strategy is changing

The Biden administration had long refused to hold peace talks without Ukraine at the table – something Trump was noncommittal about yesterday.

Biden officials also largely held the view that Ukraine joining NATO was “inevitable” following Russia’s February 2022 invasion, and had pushed for Russia to give back the ~20% of Ukraine that’s been seized in recent years.

Looking ahead…Trump directed VP JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday to start discussing peace talks with Russia. The US president also said he’ll likely soon meet with Putin in Saudi Arabia to discuss a Ukraine peace deal.

🤝 In related news: Ukraine is currently negotiating with the Trump administration over a deal that would grant the US government access to hundreds of billions of dollars worth of rare earth metals located in Ukraine, in exchange for continued military aid for Kyiv in its war against Russia. Over the past three years, America has provided Ukraine with ~$66 billion in military support, though funds have slowed significantly since Trump regained the Oval Office.

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If the economy was a dinner party, inflation is the one guest that – despite frequent cues to leave – sticks around long after everyone else has left.

January’s CPI was released yesterday. The numbers:

• Inflation rose a seasonally adjusted 0.5% for the month, putting the annual inflation rate at 3% (vs. 2.9% in December), both higher than expected.
• The core CPI, which excludes often-volatile food and energy categories, came in at 0.4% (its largest monthly increase in nearly two years) and 3.3% respectively – also above forecast.

Areas on the rise: Housing, prescription drugs, energy, car insurance, used vehicles, and groceries – largely driven by egg prices, which have risen 15% over the past four weeks (their largest monthly increase since June 2015) and 53% over the past year.

Looking ahead: Markets now expect the Fed’s policy handbook for most of 2025 to read: “Just chillin’ bro.” Traders are only pricing in one quarter-point rate cut this year, vs. two before the CPI was released.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell indicated as much in congressional testimony this week, saying: “We are close, but not there on inflation…. So we want to keep policy restrictive for now.”

🖐️ But…Powell also said it’s possible new Trump admin policies could prompt the central bank to alter interest rates, pointing to potential changes on tariffs, immigration, fiscal policy, and regulation.

A contentious docuseries about Prince will no longer see the light of day – but a new project has emerged to take its place.

This week, Netflix announced a deal with the late music superstar’s estate to pull the six-part series, which Oscar-winning director Ezra Edelman (O.J.: Made in America) began working on five years ago, and replace it with a new Prince-focused project controlled by the estate.

• Prince’s reps say the now-cancelled series was full of falsities and over-dramatizations, after Edelman included interviews of past lovers accusing Prince of abuse and sexual misconduct.
• Edelman has pushed back against the estate’s claims, saying documentaries where the subject is involved in the creation process typically end up heavily biased and inaccurate.

It was an uphill battle from the start: Nearly all of the people initially set to work on the Prince docuseries – including the original director, the estate's point of contact, and former Netflix VP Lisa Nishimura – dropped out or were let go mid-production.

👀 Looking ahead…As part of its deal with Netflix, the Prince estate plans to develop and produce a new documentary featuring exclusive content from its archives, known as “The Vault.” It’s currently unclear what will happen to the nine hours of completed footage for Edelman’s docuseries.

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BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 📊 US markets closed mixed (S&P: -0.3%; Dow: -0.5%; Nasdaq: +0.03%). | 📉 Reddit reported weaker-than-expected Q4 user numbers largely due to a Google algorithm change, per CEO Steve Huffman; shares fell 15% on the day.
• 📲 Payments on Zelle topped $1 trillion last year, the most ever for a peer-to-peer payment platform. | 🥤 Olipop, a prebiotic soda brand, was valued at $1.85 billion in its latest funding round. 
• 🛢 Chevron plans to fire 15%–20% of its global workforce, or ~9,000 people, by the end of next year as it looks to cut $2 billion–$3 billion in costs.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

in partnership with Paleovalley

• 🤘 The 2025 Rock And Roll Hall of Fame nominees are in; the list includes Mariah Carey, Phish, Cyndi Lauper, and Chubby Checker.
• 🤖 An AI-generated viral video showing multiple Jewish celebrities wearing an anti-Kanye T-shirt was made without the celebs’ permission, they say; Scarlett Johansson published a statement objecting to deepfake video, regardless of its intentions.
• 📱 Apple now lets users migrate purchases from an old Apple account to a newer one, though the process is fairly involved.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🧠 The third known case of resistance to inherited Alzheimer’s disease was documented in a new study. | 💉🍺 The first randomized controlled trial on semaglutide and alcohol consumption found the strongest evidence yet that GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy can help curb alcohol cravings.
• ⚛️⚡ Physicists detected the highest-energy neutrino – a mysterious elementary particle with almost no mass – ever felt on Earth; the neutrino, discovered at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea, had an estimated 220 quadrillion electron volts, or 100x more energy than any previously detected.
• 🐦🔦 Many birds-of-paradise species emit light through their plumage, likely to attract mates and act as camouflage, per a new study.

MISCELLANEOUS

in partnership with The Knowledge

• 🏫 US private schools’ average annual tuition rose ~7.4% to $49,284 last year, marking the highest increase in at least a decade.
• ✅ Tulsi Gabbard was confirmed as Director of National Intelligence in a 52-48 Senate vote mostly along party lines; Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination for Health Secretary advanced to the full Senate, with a vote expected later this week.
• ⚖️ A federal judge allowed the Trump administration to move forward with its buyout offer to nearly all federal workers, rejecting an attempt by labor unions to stop its enforcement.

*From our partners: 🗞️🧠 Sharp news from sharp minds… Get crystal-clear news coverage in just five minutes daily with The Knowledge. They distill global events into stories that matter, with signature wit, commentary, and insight. Join 140k+ subscribers reading The Knowledge for free.

A growing number of Americans believe 45-minute video essays breaking down "The Pixar Theory" deserve the big-screen treatment.

In the platform’s annual letter, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan revealed that for the first time in company history, TV has surpassed mobile to become the “primary device” for YouTube viewing in the entire US.

• Overall, YouTube maintained its position as America’s most-watched streaming service on TVs for the second straight year in 2024.
• In December, YouTube captured a record-high 11.1% usage share among all TV streaming platforms in the US, outpacing Netflix (8.5%), Prime Video (4.0%), Hulu (2.5%), and Disney+ (2.1%).

☝️ A video of unknown origin that recently went viral on Chinese social media shows an intense mock battle between a robotic dog and an aerial drone, as the two shoot fireworks at each other.

🤔 Did You Know? Some racehorses and performance horses are given a beer after an event or race, as their trainers believe the carbohydrates, iron, and vitamins in beer can be useful to help the horses’ muscles recover. (Sure. That’s what we tell ourselves, too.)

📰 Worth a Read: ‘The Last of Us’ sex-aid mushrooms are fueling a multibillion-dollar market

🖱 Clickbait: I’ve been studying the brain for 15 years. If you do just one thing for sharper memory, make it this

Yesterday we covered how President Trump ordered the US Treasury to stop minting new pennies, citing the coin’s high cost of production as wasteful government spending.

❓ Our question to you: Do you think the US government should stop minting pennies?

• 👍 Yes: 66%
• 👎 No: 20%
• 🤷 Unsure/other: 14%

Click here to read some of the most thoughtful longform responses.

+Note on sample size: We received 2,818 votes and 305 longform responses.

🧶 The Homeless Memorial Blanket Project was held in Philadelphia last week; hundreds of handmade blankets were displayed in a park in honor of those who have lost their lives in the cold while facing homelessness. The donated blankets are distributed to people in need after the exhibition.

🥲 Texas dad J. Mack Slaughter took his wife and three kids out to breakfast, and was shocked when someone settled his $85 bill before he could. The waitress brought over the receipt, and the mystery patron had written on it: “thanks for being a great dad.”

🐺 Gray wolves are being credited with saving plants in Yellowstone National Park. Since the animals' introduction to the park 20 years ago, willow volume has increased 1,500%.

The Lost Sea is a large underground lake located in which US state?

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