Good morning. In this edition:

• ✈️ Southwest Airlines makes another historic move
• 🇷🇺🇺🇦 Russia-Ukraine 30-day ceasefire?
• 🤯 Sound + mass

… and more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~4.71-minute read (1,252 words).

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“Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.”

–Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890)

Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia student who helped lead pro-Palestinian protests, was arrested and had his green card revoked this weekend.

In a social media post, President Trump said Khalil is “the first arrest of many to come” as his administration targets students who “engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity.”

Quick background: Several US universities saw large-scale pro-Palestinian protests last spring in response to the Gaza war. Columbia in particular was a major flashpoint for student activism, with protesters occupying buildings, disrupting classes, and clashing with police.

• Khalil, a Columbia graduate student from Palestine and green card holder, was one of the most visible activists in those protests, acting as student negotiator.

Breaking down the arrest

While Khalil isn’t accused of any crime, the White House says he faces deportation because his actions during the Columbia protests violate President Trump's recent executive order banning antisemitism. The decision to revoke Khalil’s green card was approved by Secretary of State Marco Rubio following a review of his public and private activities.

Is the move legal? Short answer: it’s unclear. Typically, any of America’s ~13 million green card holders must break the law to have their permanent immigration status revoked. But certain US laws allow the government to block entry or remove a non-citizen for “terrorist activities.” And the secretary of state can deport a green card holder whose activities “would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences.”

Many free-speech advocates are sounding the alarm. Critics of Khalil’s arrest frame it as a clear violation of the First Amendment – which analysts say extends to green-card holders – since the Trump administration hasn’t pointed to any national-security concerns beyond political speech.

• They also accuse Trump of trying to silence campus protesters who support topics with which he doesn’t agree.

Looking ahead…A federal judge has blocked any attempt to deport Khalil while a lawsuit filed on his behalf plays out, with the next court hearing scheduled for later today.

📊 Flash poll: Do you agree with the Trump admin’s decision to revoke Columbia protest leader Mahmoud Khalil’s green card?

• Yes
• No
• Unsure/other

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The struggle bus airplane-riding Southwest Airlines yesterday said it will start charging passengers to check bags for the first time in its history, in a bid to open up another line of revenue.

• Pricing hasn’t yet been announced, but a single bag costs $35 to check on Delta, American, and United.
• In total, airlines generated $5+ billion from bag fees last year, according to federal data.

Change is in the air

The bags-now-won’t-fly-free switch follows a prolonged battle with activist investor Elliott Management (who now has six board seats), and comes as Southwest is trying to boost its profitability.

This profit-push involves ditching its longstanding free-for-all seating method for assigned seating and adding redeye flights to squeeze more use out of its planes. The company also announced its first mass layoffs in company history last month, and put an end to team-building “rallies,” a company tradition that dated back to 1985.

But…Analysts say some of these moves – like the one announced yesterday – are a bit of a gamble. Southwest last year said “rigorous research” found it would lose that much in market share if it started charging bag fees; its previous policy had set the airline apart from its competitors for decades.

✈️ In other travel news: Within the past 48 hours, three of the biggest US airlines – Delta, American, and JetBlue – dimmed their outlooks for early 2025, citing softer demand for domestic air travel.

Win Or Lose, Pixar’s first original TV series, hit Disney+ last month.

The show follows a co-ed middle school softball team preparing for its championship game, and focuses on a different character each episode – from a lovesick umpire to helicopter parents to braces-wearing-and-hormone-filled pre-teens.

One such character has drawn specific attention: Win Or Lose’s first episode introduces Laurie, a middle schooler with anxiety and an outwardly strong Christian faith. In one of her first scenes, Laurie begins with a prayer asking her Heavenly Father to give her help and strength before her turn at bat.

• Laurie marks Disney’s first openly Christian character since the 2007 film Bridge to Terabithia.
• While the presence of a Christian character isn’t necessarily head-turning news, it’s drawn backlash from some critics following Disney’s decision to cut a transgender storyline from the same show.

🏢 Zoom out: Disney last month announced plans to pull back its DEI practices and focus more closely on business goals, echoing similar moves seen across the US business landscape following President Trump’s election victory.

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Less than two weeks after the contentious White House meeting between Zelensky/Trump/Vance, the magnets surrounding the US-Ukraine relationship have flipped polarity.

Kyiv has "expressed readiness to accept" a US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire on the land, sea, and sky with Russia, according to a joint statement released yesterday following seven hours of negotiation between high-level US and Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia.

The Trump administration also yesterday lifted its suspension of military aid and intelligence sharing for Ukraine.

• “Ukraine is ready to start talking and stop shooting…the ball is now in [Russia’s] court,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.
• As of late last night, Russia had yet to issue a response.

Zoom out: The news comes as three men were killed yesterday in the Moscow region in what’s being described as the largest drone attack on the Russian capital since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine (which just passed the three-year mark). Russia’s defense ministry said 337 drones were intercepted over Russia, with 91 of them shot down over/around Moscow.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 📉 US markets fell across the board (S&P: -0.8%; Dow: -1.1%; Nasdaq: -0.2%); five of the 11 S&P 500 sectors are in correction territory. | 📝 February's inflation report is due today.
• 🏎️ McLaren is moving to add luxury SUVs and sedans to its model lineup.
• 🏗️ President Trump said yesterday he plans to double tariffs on steel and aluminum from Canada to 50%, then reversed course hours later; the switch came after a Canadian official also backed off his own plans for a 25% surcharge on electricity exports to the US.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

in partnership with The Assist

• 💰 Othello, starring Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal, had the highest-grossing one-week preview performance in Broadway history ($2.8+ million); the show runs from late March to early June.
• 🏌️ Tiger Woods is all but certain to miss this year’s Masters after undergoing surgery yesterday for a ruptured Achilles tendon suffered while training at home.
• 📺 John Mulaney's new Netflix show, Everybody’s Live, debuts tonight. | 🌊 Disney didn’t steal the idea for Moana from an animation screenwriter, per a jury ruling resolving a $100 million copyright lawsuit.

*From our partners: 💼✉️ Why 201k+ women professionals love this exec-written newsletter… They're getting insider leadership strategies and productivity hacks typically reserved for the C-suite in their inbox 4x/week. Subscribe free to The Assist.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🤫🛬 The US military's X-37B, a top-secret space plane, returned from a mysterious 434-day mission in orbit.
• 🌿 Stanford and WashU researchers developed a compound that mimics a natural molecule found in marijuana to deliver the same pain-blocking effects as the drug, without side effects.
• 🪐🌕 Saturn has gained 128 new moons to bring its total to 274, according to recent astronomer observations. | 🌒 A rare total lunar eclipse – the first since 2022 – will be visible in the sky tomorrow night; find out how and when to watch.

MISCELLANEOUS

in partnership with The Knowledge

• 🚫🚰 Utah is poised to become the first US state to ban fluoride in drinking water.
• 🏛️🎓 The Education Department is firing over one-third of its workforce (1,315 staffers); another 600+ workers have agreed to resign or retire in recent weeks; a department official said the reductions won’t affect operations regarding student aid or other areas. | 🏛️💰 The House, in a mostly party-line vote, approved a bill to fund the federal government for six months and avoid an impending shutdown; the bill now heads to the Senate.
• 🇵🇭 Ex-Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte was arrested on an International Criminal Court warrant for alleged crimes against humanity that occurred during his war on drugs. | 🇸🇾 Syria’s transitional government, which overthrew the Bashar al-Assad regime last year, signed a landmark deal to integrate territory controlled by a US-backed Kurdish-led militia.

*From our partners: 🌍🗞️ Clever news bites for busy schedules…Your daily world news delivered right to your inbox. Discover surprising perspectives and fascinating facts – designed to keep you informed without disrupting your busy life. Join 140k+ subscribers reading The Knowledge free.

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🤔 Did You Know? Scientists have found evidence that sound waves carry tiny amounts of mass, meaning sound is slightly affected by gravity and can produce its own small gravitational fields.

📰 Worth a Read: How a stuffed possum tried – and failed – to replace the teddy bear as America’s national toy

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🚑 Ten-year-old Jack Dawson has rightfully earned his nickname "The Mini Medic.” The youngster has been training in first aid since he was three, and now teaches CPR classes to groups of up to 100 adults.

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Which individual has won the most Oscars in history?

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