Good Morning! Today’s edition is 1,039 words, a 4-minute read.

What’s on tap: 

• Australian Open finals

• Netherlands heist

• Skiing accident rescue

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Big Story

International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

• The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial & Museum in Poland is honoring the 80th anniversary of Soviet forces liberating the German Nazi camp. As survivors age, this may be the last major anniversary that Holocaust survivors can attend in person. The event will be live-streamed for those who can’t join. (Livestream link here)

• The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial & Museum, located at the former concentration camp site where Nazis murdered more than 1.1 million people (mostly Jews), now serves as an important educational center. It receives over 1.6 million visitors annually.

• The US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., is also holding a Remembrance Day Commemoration today.

• This year’s Remembrance Day anniversary comes as antisemitism rises worldwide. Reports show that anti-Jewish hate crimes in major US cities increased by 48% in 2023.

• International Holocaust Remembrance Day was instituted to bring awareness to the Holocaust that killed 6 million Jews.

Big Story

Trump vs. Colombia

President Trump announced retaliatory measures against Colombia after President Gustavo Petro rejected two US deportation flights.

• Petro refused the flights due to concerns about the treatment of migrants, specifically citing footage of deportees in restraints. Colombia had previously accepted 475 deportation flights from 2020-2024.

• Trump ordered several punitive measures in response: 25% tariffs on Colombian imports (increasing to 50% in a week), visa restrictions on Colombian government officials and their supporters, and enhanced customs inspections for all Colombian travelers. He warned these actions were "just the beginning."

• Before this incident, Colombia was the fifth-largest recipient of US deportation flights and had been accepting US-funded deportation flights from Panama. Petro said Colombia would still accept returned migrants, but only via civilian aircraft and without criminal-style treatment.

Big Story

Australian Open

Jannik Sinner defeated Alexander Zverev 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-3 to win his second straight Australian Open title.

• Sinner dominated throughout the match. He is the youngest man to win back-to-back Australian Open titles since Jim Courier in 1992-93. He's also the first man since Rafael Nadal to win his first Grand Slam and then defend it at the same tournament immediately after.

• Sinner has been on a heater since the start of the 2024 season; he has won three of the last five major tournaments, boats an 80-6 record with nine titles, and holds a 21-match winning streak. Meanwhile, Zverev remains winless in Grand Slam finals, falling to 0-3 in major championship matches.

• On the women’s side, American Madison Keys won her first Grand Slam title at age 29 by defeating defending champion Aryna Sabalenka 6-3,2-6, 7-5. Keys, ranked 14th and seeded 19th, became the oldest first-time women's Grand Slam champion since Flavia Pennetta in 2015.

• The match was extremely close, with Keys winning just one more point than Sabalenka (92-91). Keys dominated the first set, Sabalenka controlled the second, and the decisive third set remained tight until Keys broke through in the final game.

Quick Stories

US News

• The Senate confirmed South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem as Secretary of Homeland Security with a 59-34 vote. She is tasked with implementing stricter immigration policies. (More)

• The CIA changed its position on Covid-19's origins, now stating with low confidence that it’s more likely that a lab leak caused the pandemic than an infected animal that transmitted the virus to humans.  (More)

• Spirit Airlines has updated its dress code policy to explicitly ban inadequate clothing, including see-through garments, exposed private parts, and items with lewd or offensive content. (More)

World

• Thieves used explosives to break into the Drents Museum in Assen, Netherlands, stealing valuable gold artifacts including a Romanian helmet and three Dacian royal bracelets that were on loan for a special exhibition. (More)

• Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko appears to have won a seventh term as president with 87.6% of votes in an election that Western nations said couldn’t be free or fair due to Belarus's ban on independent media and imprisonment or exile of opposition figures. (More)

• South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was formally indicted on insurrection charges for briefly imposing martial law in December 2024, when he claimed the opposition Democratic Party was paralyzing the government and sympathizing with North Korea. (More)

Business & Economy

• US stock markets closed lower on Friday (S&P -0.29%, Nasdaq -0.50%, Dow -0.32%). All three major averages posted their second straight positive week. (More)

• Costco's food courts will bring back Coca-Cola products to pair with their $1.50 hot dogs. It has served Pepsi products since 2013. (More)

• Perplexity AI has offered to merge with TikTok and create a new company that would be up to 50% owned by the US government after going public. (More)

Sports & Entertainment

• The Kansas City Chiefs advanced to their fourth Super Bowl in five years after beating the Buffalo Bills 32-29. They will face Philadelphia as they aim to be the first NFL team to win three consecutive Super Bowls. (More)

• Dawn Staley has become women's college basketball's highest-paid coach after signing a $25 million contract extension with South Carolina through 2030, including a $4 million annual salary plus bonuses. (More)

• The Eagles secured their spot in Super Bowl LIX by defeating the Commanders 55-23 in the NFC Championship. They set a new scoring record for a conference title game. (More)

Science, Health, & Tech

• Flash radiotherapy could revolutionize cancer treatment by delivering radiation in under a second and targeting tumors more precisely than traditional longer treatments. The method could reduce damage to healthy tissue. (More)

• Researchers from the University of Duisburg-Essen have developed a method to purify chemically polluted water using fossil remains of diatoms (a type of algae). (More)

• Scientists analyzing fossils discovered in China in the 1970s have proposed a new early human species called Homo juluensis, notable for having much larger skulls than modern humans. (More)

Extra Credit

🧀 A big list of 2025’s best cheeses.

⛷️ Skiers rescued from 1,000-foot ball after SOS alert from Apple Watch.

🦇 Why do bats hang upside down when they sleep?

🍩 Woman gives birth at a Krispy Kreme.