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From: "Tyler Blint-Welsh, WSJ"
To: "[REDACTED]" <[REDACTED]>
Subject: Notes on the News: Apollo’s Black to Quit as CEO After Probe of Ties to Epstein
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 2021 11:02:45 +0000
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The Wall Street Journal.

Good morning and welcome to Notes on the News.
It's Tuesday, Jan. 26. Here's what you should
know today: Leon Black is stepping down, Moderna is
testing a vaccine booster shot as new virus strains
spread and Dominion Voting is suing Rudy Giuliani
for $1.3 billion.
Let us know what you think by replying to this email.

What's News

1. Apollo's Leon Black will exit following probe. The fund's chief executive
will cede his role by July 31 after an independent report found he had made a larger-
than-expected $148 million payment to Jeffrey Epstein for legitimate advice. Black
wasn't involved in the disgraced financier's criminal activities, the report said.

2. Senate confirms Janet Yellen as treasury secretary. The former Fed
chairwoman will spearhead President Biden’s push for a $1.9 trillion economic relief
package, which provides for another round of direct stimulus payments, extended
and enhanced jobless benefits, funding for schools and first responders and the
creation of a nationwide vaccination program.

3. Article of impeachment sent to the Senate for second Trump trial. The
case is expected to highlight the rifts within the GOP over former President Donald
Trump’s legacy and his future influence over the party. However, many aides were
skeptical that 17 Republican senators would join all Democrats and vote to convict
him.

4. Amazon continues its U.S. expansion. The tech giant is planning to add
3,000 employees in the Boston area, one of a number of expansions of technology
jobs in major American cities. The jobs will include roles in technology and software
development.

5. Saved stimulus checks are expected to help spur an economic
recovery. Many households have boosted their savings during the pandemic, and
the pent-up demand for services like travel and dining is expected to propel
economic growth once vaccines become widespread.

WSJ NEWS EXCLUSIVE
6. Business Insider's pandemic strategy paid off. Many business leaders
responded to the Covid-19 crisis with a flurry of activity and strategy shifts, but the
business-news site chose to do nothing and let the storm pass. It generated 30%
revenue growth in 2020, benefiting from a burgeoning subscription business and a
form of automated advertising.

7. Judge approves $17 million fund for Harvey Weinstein victims. Women
who have accused the former Hollywood producer of sexual misconduct are expected
on average to receive hundreds of thousands of dollars under the deal.

Compiled by Bryony Watson in London.

Latest on the Coronavirus Pandemic
• Latest: New U.S. cases stay below 200,000 for ninth day in a row.
• Delays in vaccine deliveries damp the prospect of a normal summer in Europe.
• Biden says the U.S. could be heading toward herd immunity by summer.
• Oxygen shortages are contributing to Covid-19 deaths.

By the Numbers

13% — The approximate share of the U.K.'s gross domestic product that comes
from recreation, culture and hospitality spending—a higher amount than any other
G-7 economy. As the pandemic hammered in-person businesses last year, the U.K.’s
economy shrank more than all other G-7 nations—the U.S., France, Germany, Italy,
Canada and Japan.

19.2% — The rate at which National Football League teams have attempted a
fourth-down conversion this season, the highest frequency since at least 1991. In the
NFL, such conversion attempts used to be rare, but the increased use of data
analytics in the league has seen teams increasingly realize that it can sometimes be a
savvy move. The Kansas City Chiefs and the New England Patriots both recently
advanced to the Super Bowl by using that tactic.

$20 — The value of the bill that could soon bear the face of abolitionist Harriet
Tubman. The White House said it would restart efforts to put her face on the
currency after the Trump administration postponed those plans.

The Data Point

GameStop's stock is reaching new heights. Prompted in part by a popular
Reddit forum, individual investors are buying up the videogame retailer's stock,
facing off with those on Wall Street who were holding short positions. The rally
resulted in a short squeeze, which is when rising prices prompt investors to buy back
shares they had sold short to cut their losses, pushing the stock higher still. At its
peak on Monday, GameStop’s share price surged as much as 145% to hit $159.18.

What Everyone Wants to Know

Dominion Voting Systems is suing Rudy Giuliani for $1.3 billion.
The election-equipment maker claims in a defamation lawsuit that former President
Trump’s personal lawyer and his allies spread false allegations against the company
that “foreseeably went viral and deceived millions of people into believing that
Dominion had stolen their votes and fixed the election.” Dominion's voting machines
are used by more than 40% of U.S. voters. Since November, Trump allies, right-wing
media personalities and others have targeted the company with unsubstantiated
allegations that it rigged the vote, and the company says its employees have received
death threats. Giuliani, who led Trump's legal team during his string of failed court
challenges to states' vote counts, was among the highest-profile promoters of
allegations against Dominion. He said the lawsuit was “another act of intimidation
by the hate-filled left-wing to wipe out and censor the exercise of free speech.”

The pandemic has prevented many refugees from resettling.
Nearly 1.5 million refugees were in urgent need of resettlement through the United
Nations last year, but just 22,770 people had the chance, according to the U.N.
Restrictions on international travel meant that refugees who had already waited
years for asylum requests to be granted were forced to wait months for national
borders to reopen to them. Last year saw the lowest number of refugees resettled
since at least 2003, and those entering the U.S. fell to the lowest level in the 40-year
history of its refugee program after the Trump administration capped admittances.

Moderna is developing a vaccine booster shot for the South African
coronavirus strain.
The drugmaker said its Covid-19 vaccine appeared to protect against emerging
variants of the coronavirus in lab tests. As a precaution, however, it is working to see
whether a booster shot improves immune responses, and the company said it could
develop a new vaccine targeting the strain first identified in South Africa. A variant
that also appears to be more deadly has been identified in the U.K. and the U.S. The
new strains appear to spread more easily, and if existing vaccines do produce a
weaker immune response, the virus could continue to mutate significantly as
countries inoculate more of their populations. The South African variant hasn't been
identified in the U.S., and to curb the spread of new strains, Biden restricted travel
from South Africa and re-established a ban on most travel into the U.S. from Europe,
the U.K. and Brazil.

In Case You Missed It
• Italy's prime minister is set to resign as the country battles Covid-19 and a
recession.
• AMC has secured $917 million in new financing to help it avoid bankruptcy.
• The pandemic might reshape men's fashion.
• Budweiser isn't running a Super Bowl ad this year.

Take a Break
• Go listen to: "Medicine at Midnight," the Foo Fighters’ newest album, out on
Feb. 5.

Today's newsletter was curated by Tyler Blint-Welsh in New York, in collaboration
with colleagues in New York and London.
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