For: February 5, 2026
>>Watching Wall Street
(New York, NY) -- The opening bell rings this morning after stocks closed mixed yesterday on Wall Street. At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 260 points to 49-501. The S&P 500 dropped 35 points to 68-82. The Nasdaq lost 350 points to 22-904.
>>Washington Post Announces Widespread Layoffs
(Washington, DC) -- The Washington Post is announcing mass layoffs. Executive Editor Matt Murray and human resources chief Wayne Connell sent an email to staffers on Wednesday instructing them to "stay home today" and attend a Zoom meeting where leadership would announce "significant actions across the company." The outlet will make cuts to its sports, book and international coverage in addition to restructuring its Post's Metro desk and daily Post Reports podcast. Widespread layoffs have been expected for several weeks following an internal memo that the Post would no longer send reporters to the Winter Olympics, but the decision was later reversed.
>>Hearing On Autonomous Vehicle Safety
(Washington, DC) -- New rules for self-driving car companies are coming. Senators on Wednesday took up a plan to create national regulations for the growing industry. During yesterday's hearing, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas said a confusing mix of state laws make it more difficult to bring advanced autonomous vehicles to market. At the same time, there are growing questions about safety. There have been at least 19 incidents of Waymo's cars driving past stopped school buses in Austin.
>>Concerns About Gas Supplies In California
(Benicia, CA) -- With Valero shutting down its refinery in Benicia, California, there are concerns about gas supplies in a state that already faces sky-high gas prices. Valero Energy announced its plans last spring to close down its 145-thousand-barrel-per-day refinery by April. The closure ended up happening over the weekend, driving up speculation that fuel prices may now skyrocket. Republican State Assemblyman Stan Ellis says he's also worried about the ability of California refineries to supply jet fuel to the military.
>>Amazon Makes A.I. Alexa Available To All U.S. Users
(Seattle, WA) -- Amazon is making its Alexa Plus A.I. assistant available to everyone in the U.S. The company said Wednesday that it will start charging about 20 dollars a month for new users to access Alexa Plus. The service will remain free for Amazon Prime subscribers. Amazon says the new A.I. version of Alexa can handle multiple queries at a time, and take actions on behalf of the user like booking an Uber.
>>YouTube Generates More Revenue Than Netflix
(San Bruno, CA) -- YouTube is reportedly generating more revenue than their streaming competition. The website made more than 60-billion-dollars in revenue for 2025, including both advertising and subscriptions. Meanwhile, Netflix reported that they made over 45-billion-dollars in revenue, its first time being below YouTube. CEO of Google Sundar Pichai said that the company now has "over 325-million paid subscriptions across consumer services, including YouTube Premium, YouTube TV and Google One." This as YouTube has partnered with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for exclusive global rights to the Oscars beginning in 2029.
>>Pizza Hut Closing 250 Restaurants
(Louisville, KY) -- Pizza Hut is closing hundreds of its restaurants. The owner of the pizza chain made the announcement in an earnings call Wednesday and said 250 of its U.S. restaurants will be closing in the first half of 2026 for "underperforming." That's reportedly about three percent of all Pizza Huts across the country. The company didn't say which locations would be closing their doors.
