Grand Slam Club, Grammys, & Mermaid Creatures

News without the noise

Adam Rogers
February 02, 2026

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Carlos Alcaraz became the youngest man in history to complete a career Grand Slam, defeating Novak Djokovic 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-5 in the Australian Open final on Sunday. At 22 years and 272 days old, Alcaraz broke the record set by Don Budge in 1938. The victory is his seventh Grand Slam title.
Djokovic, seeking a record 25th major title, won the first set in 33 minutes but couldn't maintain his dominance. Alcaraz rallied from the deficit just 48 hours after a grueling 5.5-hour semifinal where he suffered severe cramping. Djokovic had been 10-0 in Australian Open finals and 93-2 at the tournament when winning the first set.
Elena Rybakina won the women's title Saturday, defeating top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. Rybakina rallied from 3-0 down in the deciding set to win her second Grand Slam title, avenging her loss to Sabalenka in the 2023 Australian Open final.

Bad Bunny made history at the 68th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, winning Album of the Year for "DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS" - the first Spanish-language album to win the category in Grammy history. The Puerto Rican artist, who took home three awards, is headlining next weekend's Super Bowl halftime show.
Kendrick Lamar broke the record for most-awarded hip-hop artist in Grammy history with 27 total awards, surpassing Jay-Z. K-pop received its first-ever Grammy as "Golden" from "KPop Demon Hunters" won best song written for visual media.
Several artists used their acceptance speeches to criticize Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Bad Bunny proclaimed "ICE out" onstage, while Billie Eilish, who wore an "ICE OUT" pin on the red carpet, called on people to "keep fighting," saying "no one is illegal on stolen land."

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Saturday that Democrats will not join Republicans in expediting passage of the Senate-approved funding package, meaning the partial government shutdown that began Saturday will last longer than initially expected.
Jeffries said Democrats need "a full and complete debate" and want an "ironclad path forward" for ICE reforms before voting. The standoff follows two recent killings by federal agents in Minneapolis. The House was expected to vote Monday under suspension of rules requiring a two-thirds majority, but will now route the package through the Rules Committee on Monday at 4 p.m. before a floor vote expected Tuesday.
The Senate voted 71-29 Friday night to fund most of the government through September while extending DHS funding for two weeks. Only five Republicans voted against: Sens. Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, Ron Johnson, and Rick Scott. Democrats demand an end to roving patrols, masks off, and body cameras on for ICE agents.

The weekend’s winter storm dumped 18 inches of snow in North Carolina, brought Florida its coldest weather since 1989 with falling iguanas, and caused 4,500 flights to be canceled. (More)

A 5-year-old boy and his father were released from a Texas immigration facility Saturday after their arrest outside the boy's Minnesota preschool sparked international outrage and viral photos online. (More)

Democrat Taylor Rehmet flipped a Republican Texas state Senate seat Saturday, winning by over 14 points in a Fort Worth district that Trump carried by 17 points in 2024. (More)

Mexico banned vape sales with up to eight-year prison sentences, driving the $1.5 billion market to drug cartels that already seize shops and mark products with their logos. (More)

Separatist militants dressed as civilians killed 48 people in coordinated attacks across Pakistan's Balochistan province Saturday before security forces killed 145 attackers in a 40-hour battle. (More)

Egypt will partially open its Gaza border crossing today to let sick and injured Palestinians get medical care. (More)

US stock markets closed lower on Friday (S&P -0.43%, Nasdaq -0.94%, Dow -0.36%). Stocks fell as tech shares continued struggling, but the S&P finished out green for the month. (More)

Gold and silver crashed on Friday, with silver plunging 31% for its worst day since 1980, after Trump picked Kevin Warsh to run the Federal Reserve, sending the dollar soaring. (More)

Nvidia invested $2 billion into CoreWeave, boosting its stake to 11.5% in the AI data center company that rents computing power back to Nvidia and other tech giants. (More)

Justin Rose became the first wire-to-wire winner at Torrey Pines in 71 years, closing with a 70 to break the tournament record at 23-under and beat Tiger Woods' 1999 mark. (More)

Amazon's documentary "Melania" made $7 million in its opening weekend, the biggest debut for a non-music documentary in over a decade. (More)

Philadelphia's Paul George got a 25-game suspension for breaking the NBA's anti-drug rules after taking improper medication while getting mental health treatment. (More)

Genetics controls about 50% of how long you live, double what scientists thought, after researchers filtered out deaths from accidents and disease to focus on aging itself. (More)

Earth's population could be billions higher than the reported 8.2 billion if rural areas are undercounted by up to 84%, a new study claims. (More)

SpaceX asked federal regulators for permission to launch up to 1 million solar-powered satellites that would work as data centers for artificial intelligence in space. (More)

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