POLITICS 🏛️

Schumer and McConnell agree to Senate power-sharing agreement

• On Wednesday, the Senate approved an organizing resolution to establish how to share power in the 50-50 split Senate. Democrats will now be able to take control of Senate committees 
• The move signals the official transfer of Senate power to the Democrats after Democrats won the two Georgia Senate seats in January, leading to the 50-50 Senate, but power-sharing disagreements between the two parties left Republicans still in control of committees

WORLD 🌎

Canada designates Proud Boys as a terrorist group

• On Wednesday, Canada named the far-right Proud Boys and 12 other extremist groups as terrorist entities, placing the groups on the same list as al-Qaeda and ISIS
• Canada’s Department of Public Safety noted the group’s role in the attack on the US Capitol in January and “serious and concerning escalation of violence” as reason for its decision
• The terrorist designation means that Canadian banks and other financial institutions must freeze any assets connected to the group and doing business with them is illegal

BUSINESS 💰

American Airline sends furlough notice

• On Wednesday, American Airlines warned 13,000 employees that they could be furloughed in the coming weeks as federal payroll aid is set to expire next month and travel demand remains low
• Last Friday, United Airlines sent a similar furlough warning to 14,000 employees
• Airline labor unions are now asking Congress for $15 billion in federal payroll support to keep jobs in the industry through September 30

TECH 📱

Embracer Group acquires Gearbox in $1.3 billion deal

• On Wednesday, it was announced that the American video game developer Gearbox will now be a part of Embracer Group– the parent group of development studios THQ Nordic, Saber Interactive, and Koch Media
• Gearbox founder and CEO Randy Pitchford stated the deal was “a propellent for the exciting future we have planned”

US 🦅

San Francisco sues its own school district to reopen schools

• On Wednesday, the city of San Francisco filed a lawsuit against its own school district demanding that in-person teaching resumes for more than 52,000 students, which has been paused for almost a year
• While city attorneys and politicians highlight the need to reopen schools for student academics and well-being, teacher unions say they won’t go back to classrooms until they are vaccinated

EDUCATION 📚

Justice Department drops discrimination lawsuit against Yale

• On Wednesday, the Department of Justice dropped a case brought on by the Trump administration against Yale University, in which it alleged the university was discriminating against white and Asian American applicants during the admissions process
• The decision to drop the case marks a reversal from the Trump administration's stance discouraging affirmative action and the use of race in considering higher education admissions. In contrast, the Biden administration has vowed to make racial equity a priority

EXTRA BLING ✨

• Entertainment ⭐️. 2021 Golden Globes nominations released
• Science 🧬. New Jersey man becomes first to successfully undergo a face and double hand transplant
• Sports 🏀. East Carolina University upsets No. 5 Houston
• Social Media 📱. Parler CEO John Matze terminated by Parler board
• Cute 🐼. Ten panda cubs debut at Chinese panda reserve to celebrate Lunar New Year

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