By Julia Stalnaker
● Millions of amateur investors came together to force a ‘short squeeze’ on GameStop stock. Many of the investors came from a subreddit called Wall Street Bets, where users encouraged each other to invest in GameStop, as well as other companies such as Bed Bath & Beyond and Koss, which had lower-priced stock. The move increased the stock’s value to as high as 1.700 percent, to the detriment of Wall Street and hedge funds who had bet against the companies. Shares rose throughout the week until Robinhood and other similar apps limited trading on Thursday; after restrictions were loosened Friday, shares rose again. (The New York Times)
● Beloved actress Cicely Tyson passed away on Thursday at age 96. In addition to her work as an actress (for which she won three Emmys, a Tony, an honorary Oscar, and other awards), she was a strong civil rights advocate, taking no roles demeaning of Black people and encouraging Black American women to reject white beauty standards. (The New York Times)
● General Motors has announced a shift towards clean energy and electric vehicles. CEO Mary Barra said Thursday that by 2035, the company’s facilities will be carbon neutral and it will be selling only zero-emission cars and trucks. (NBC News)
● Dr. Anthony Fauci says the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be submitted for FDA emergency use authorization soon, possibly even next week. It is a single-shot vaccine that only requires basic refrigeration levels, making it a potentially practical, convenient option. Johnson & Johnson reported that the vaccine is 72 percent effective (but only 57 percent effective against the UK and South African variants). (NBC News)
● President Biden has begun addressing healthcare concerns in America. This includes an executive order to create a special enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act, as well as rescinding the ‘global gag rule,’ which restricted abortion access abroad and was expanded under Donald Trump. (NPR)
● Amanda Gorman, the United States’s first National Youth Poet Laureate, will be making an appearance at the Super Bowl LV. Gorman notably read her poem “The Hill We Climb” at the inauguration of President Joe Biden on January 20th of this year; she will be the first poet to ever perform during the Super Bowl. (NPR)
● A Dutch court has ruled that Shell Nigeria will be held accountable for oil spills on the land of Nigerian farmers. Being held liable for the damage, Shell Nigeria will be required to compensate the farmers for the damage caused by the oil spills; the amount the farmers will be compensated has not yet been decided. This case
has been ongoing for years, and this decision is a big win for environmentalists. (NPR)
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