Good morning and welcome to your weekday morning roundup of the top stories you need to know.
For more daily and weekly briefings, sign up for our newsletters here.
What's going on today:
- Blumenthal busts on Facebook. Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal says Facebook is "proffering more talk & crocodile tears" after executive defends the company following whistle blower report. "More bromides & platitudes from Facebook on the Sunday shows. Their aim should be protecting kids, not winning PR," Blumenthal said.
- The sticky spy. A Navy nuclear engineer is accused by the DOJ of trying to pass intel to foreign agents using a peanut butter sandwich. Jonathan Toebbe is accused of attempting to conceal an SD card containing classified intel in the sandwich. He was nabbed by an FBI agent posing as a foreign spy, according to charging documents.
- The lockdown lifts down under. Sydney just opened to vaccinated individuals after more than 100 days of lockdown, and some businesses opened their doors at midnight became demand was so high. Hairdressers, gyms, and bars in Australia's biggest city reopened to fully vaccinated customers on Monday for the first time in more than 100 days.
- Toys for everyone. California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs bill requiring large retailers to provide gender-neutral toy sections by 2024. Retailers like Target moved away from gender-based signage to prevent customers from feeling frustrated or limited by the way a product is displayed.
- Evergrande execs on notice. Evergrande punishes 6 execs who cashed out early on the company's investment products while it faces a $300 billion debt. The executives redeemed wealth management products while the company said it couldn't repay retail investors on time, but have since returned the money.
- That's all for now. See you tomorrow.