In The NEWS

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> FireAid benefit concert for Los Angeles wildfires takes place tonight, featuring Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, Lady Gaga, and Stevie Wonder (More) | Magic Johnson among business and civic leaders tapped to head wildfire recovery philanthropy LA Rises (More)

> William E. Leuchtenburg, renowned US presidential historian, dies at age 102 (More) | Temple University student, 18, dies after falling from light pole while celebrating Philadelphia Eagles NFC Championship victory (More)

> Harvey Weinstein's New York City retrial on rape charges set for April 15 (More) | Rapper A$AP Rocky's trial on felony assault charges is ongoing in Los Angeles (More)


Science & Technology
> OpenAI accuses Chinese AI startup DeepSeek of using its models to train its own chatbots; recent announcement of DeepSeek's cheap-but-powerful R1 model caused shockwaves in Silicon Valley (More) | See previous write-up (More)

> Lab-grown muscle patch developed from stem cells helps patient with heart failure survive until transplant; roughly 6 million people worldwide currently experience advanced heart failure, with demand outstripping organ supply (More)

> Researchers reveal first map of the ice-free land area of Antarctica, which makes up less than 0.5% of the continent; survey expected to aid in future conservation measures (More)


Business & Markets
> US stock markets close lower (S&P 500 -0.5%, Dow -0.3%, Nasdaq -0.5%); Federal Reserve holds interest rates steady (More) | Global arabica coffee prices reach record high above $3.60 per pound (More)

> IBM shares rise 9% in after-hours trading after topping Wall Street earnings and revenue expectations (More) | Tesla reports lower-than-expected Q4 earnings and revenue (More) | Meta beats Q4 earnings and revenue forecasts (More)

> Frontier Airlines makes second bid for Spirit Airlines three years after first attempt; comes after JetBlue's failed $3.8B bid to buy Spirit (More) | Trump Media to invest up to $250M in financial services venture with Charles Schwab (More)


Politics & World Affairs
> Hamas expected to release eight hostages today—three Israelis and five Thai nationals who were abducted in Oct. 7, 2023, attack (More) | Ahmad al-Sharaa, leader of rebels who toppled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December, is named country’s interim president (More)

> At least 30 people killed, 60 injured from crowd surge at India's Maha Kumbh Mela festival, considered one of the largest religious gatherings in history (More) | See previous write-up (More)

> Average reading scores for both US fourth and eighth graders dropped five points from 2019 to 2024, per results of latest exam known as the nation's report card (More) | See reading scores (More) | See math scores (More)

SOURCE:  1440 NEWS