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Gaza’s border crossing with Egypt formally reopens today to limited crossings after almost two years of near-complete closure. The move allows some Palestinians who fled the Israel-Hamas war to begin returning home.
The reopening of Rafah is part of the second phase of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, which began in October and was threatened by ceasefire violations (see timeline). Israel, which controls the Gaza side of the border, says it will allow 50 patients (and up to two relatives each) to leave daily for medical evacuation. Roughly 50 Palestinians will be allowed to reenter daily, with Israel and Egypt vetting people upon exit and entry. European Union border patrol agents will assist with supervision. Israel says it will ramp up travel as the system succeeds.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians fled Gaza amid the war (Israel puts the figure at 42,000; Palestinians put the figure at over 100,000). Palestinian officials say roughly 20,000 Palestinians seek to exit the enclave for medical care. |
The 68th annual Grammy Awards were held last night, with Bad Bunny taking home album of the year for "Debí Tirar Más Fotos" ("I Should Have Taken More Photos"). The win makes the 31-year-old Puerto Rican rapper and singer—whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio—the first Latin artist to win the event's top prize.
Kendrick Lamar won five awards, surpassing Jay-Z to become the most-awarded rapper in Grammy history. His wins included best rap album for "GNX" and record of the year alongside SZA for "Luther." Other winners included Lady Gaga, who won best pop vocal album ("Mayhem"); Billie Eilish, who won song of the year ("Wildflower"), and Olivia Dean, who won best new artist. See the full list of winners here.
The awards were hosted by former "Daily Show" comedian Trevor Noah for the sixth year in a row. See photos from the red carpet here and a list of the biggest snubs and surprises here. |
The nation's attention turns to western Pennsylvania this morning to watch the country's most famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, determine whether 2026 will bring an early spring or a longer winter. The prescient land-beaver will pick one of two scrolls (just past 7 am ET), each containing separate wintry prophecies.
As is tradition, the slumberous whistle-pig will join his top-hatted crew to see whether he'll spot his shadow (foretelling six more weeks of winter) or relax a bit with his admiring fans (predicting an early spring). Phil is right about 35% of the time (see visualization)—or an impressive 65% if you flip the somewhat arbitrary rules.
The ceremony was originally conceived by a local newspaper editor in 1886, but has its roots in Eastern European celebrations of the midway between the winter solstice and spring equinox—and also falls on the lesser-known Christian holiday, Candlemas.
Historical accounts suggest farmers used the appearance of hibernating mammals to signal spring. In reality, science suggests the salacious marmot likely appears to check for mates.
Editor's note: Much like Phil, our preview has become a tradition at 1440—and after eight years, we've run out of ways to describe the critter. Know a different name for groundhogs? Let us know at [email protected]! |
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In partnership with NativePath |
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What Your Nighttime Urges Really Tell You |
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Read the report and discover a simpler way to take back your nights + Receive up to 56% Off for 1440 Reader today! |
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Sports, Entertainment, & Culture |
> Carlos Alcaraz defeats Novak Djokovic to win Australian Open, becoming ninth man in history—and youngest player ever—to complete career Grand Slam (More) |
> NFL regulators approve ESPN's multibillion-dollar purchase of NFL Network, other core NFL media assets; deal gives NFL 10% stake in Disney-owned network (More) |
> "Melania" documentary earns over $7M at the domestic box office, biggest nonmusic documentary debut in over a decade; comes after Amazon spent $75M to buy and promote the film (More) |
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> Recently launched Moltbook, a social network exclusively for AI agents, passes 150,000 active agents interacting with each other after one week; site largely populated by OpenClaw—previously known as Clawdbot and then Moltbot—agents (More) | What is Clawdbot? (More) |
> Jeff Bezos-owned Blue Origin pauses its New Shepard space tourism program for at least two years, citing a need to focus on its New Glenn program for lunar exploration (More) | What we learned about space tourism (1440 Topics) |
> New nasal vaccine shows efficacy in protecting rodents against H5N1 bird flu; treatment may help prevent an eventual jump of the virus from animals to humans (More) |
🧬 What we learned about DNA: From its first identification in 1869 to how it replicates before cell division, tomorrow's 1440 Science & Technology newsletter explores the science behind the molecule encoding our genetic information. Join 125,000+ science enthusiasts here! |
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> US stock markets close Friday down (S&P 500 -0.4%, Dow -0.4%, Nasdaq -0.9%), with the S&P 500 ending January on three-day losing streak (More) | Gold and silver prices plunge after monthslong surge; gold drops 9%, silver falls 25% (More) |
> Elon Musk reportedly considering merging SpaceX with either xAI or Tesla ahead of planned SpaceX initial public offering this year; Tesla and SpaceX have both invested $2B in xAI already (More) |
> OPEC+ to continue pause on raising oil production levels in March as tensions between the US and Iran push oil futures above $68 per barrel; 22-member group accounts for about 40% of global oil output (More) | What we learned researching oil markets (1440 Topics) |
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In partnership with SmarterAuto |
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Why You Should Cancel Your Car Insurance |
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> House reconvenes today after recess, could vote on Senate bill to end partial government shutdown impacting Homeland Security, Transportation, Defense departments, among others (More) | Democrat Christian Menefee wins special election for House seat in Texas (More) |
> Five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father are released from immigration detention in Texas, board plane to Minnesota (More) | Federal judge declines temporary block of immigration crackdown in Minnesota (More) |
> Bomb cyclone hits the Carolinas, delivering roughly 1 foot of snow in some parts (More) | What is a bomb cyclone? (More) |
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Stop Waking Up Throughout the Night |
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Historybook: City of Buenos Aires, Argentina, is founded (1536); Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is signed, ending the Mexican-American War (1848); First Groundhog Day celebrated (1887); First Groundhog Day celebrated (1887); First Groundhog Day celebrated (1887); NYC's Grand Central Terminal opens (1913); James Joyce's "Ulysses" published (1922); Actor Paul Mescal born (1996) |
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"A man of genius makes no mistakes. His errors are volitional and are the portals of discovery." |
- James Joyce, from "Ulysses" |
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