What happened last week? The House held its GameStop hearing, Texans lost power, NASA's Mars Rover landed, and Ted Cruz went to Cancun.

Advertisement
What happened last week? The House held its GameStop hearing, Texans lost power, NASA's Mars Rover landed, and Ted Cruz went to Cancun.
NASA's Perseverance rover.NASA/JPL-Caltech/Handout via Reuters
  • What happened last week? Robinhood's CEO testified in a House committee.
  • A winter storm cut off power to millions in Texas.
  • Senator Ted Cruz faced criticism for the timing of his family trip to Mexico.
Advertisement

What happened last week?

NASA's Perseverance rover landed safely on Mars last week. Mission control hosted a live broadcast during the landing. The rover started beaming back photos, and, in the coming days, it plans to launch a small helicopter to study the Red Planet. You can read all about the biggest space stories of the year here.

Here's what else happened last week.

Robinhood and Reddit went (virtually) to Washington

What happened last week? The House held its GameStop hearing, Texans lost power, NASA's Mars Rover landed, and Ted Cruz went to Cancun.
Keith Gill testifies during a House subcommittee virtual hearing.House Committee on Financial Services/Handout via Reuters

The House Committee on Financial Services last week held its hearing on the GameStop saga, which included an appearance from investor Keith Gill, a.k.a. Roaring Kitty and u/DeepFuckingValue.

Gill told the committee: "I am not a cat. I am not an institutional investor. Nor am I a hedge fund."

Advertisement

Robinhood CEO, Vlad Tenev, also appeared. He apologized to the family of a 20-year-old trader who died by suicide after the Robinhood app showed a negative balance of about $730,000.

Texans lost power during a winter storm

What happened last week? The House held its GameStop hearing, Texans lost power, NASA's Mars Rover landed, and Ted Cruz went to Cancun.
Icicles hang off the State Highway 195 sign in Killeen, Texas.Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

A winter storm hit Texas, cutting power to millions, and causing as much as $50 billion in damage. The storm brought such unusual cold that it confused weather satellites.

As the storm hit, António Guterres, UN secretary-general, said it was clear climate change was making storms worse.

"If you look at hurricanes, if you look at storms, but also if you look at heat waves and cold waves, they are becoming more extreme because of climate change," Guterres said.

Senator Ted Cruz went to Mexico

What happened last week? The House held its GameStop hearing, Texans lost power, NASA's Mars Rover landed, and Ted Cruz went to Cancun.
Sen. Ted Cruz checking into Cancun International Airport on Thursday.MEGA/GC Images via Getty Images

As a winter storm knocked out power for millions of Texans, senator Ted Cruz boarded a plane headed to Cancun, the Mexican resort town.

Advertisement

The forecast called for low 80s and sun, according to The Weather Channel. But Cruz headed back to Texas a day after arriving, amid mounting criticism about the timing of his trip.

"With school cancelled for the week, our girls asked to take a trip with friends," Cruz said on Thursday in a statement.

Here's a timeline of how senator political rivals Ted Cruz and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez reacted to the disaster.

ICYMI

What happened last week? The House held its GameStop hearing, Texans lost power, NASA's Mars Rover landed, and Ted Cruz went to Cancun.
Tim Cook.Courtesy of Comparably

Although recent reports said Apple held brief talks with Nissan about developing electric cars together, Nissan repeatedly denied it had been in talks with the company.

The week before last, South Korean manufacturer Hyundai denied being in talks with Apple over the vehicle.

Advertisement

Here's what happened the week before last. See you next week.

{{}}