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1. European Parliament suspends US trade deal vote
The European Parliament halted a ratification vote for the trade deal it negotiated with the U.S. last summer, Bloomberg reports. The move is in response to President Donald Trump's push to take control of Greenland, a self-governing territory that belongs to Denmark.
The parliament's trade committee decided to postpone its vote on the trade deal indefinitely. The trade deal cannot move on to receive a final vote while it remains in the committee.
In a story about how global markets were preparing for such a move, the BBC reports the trade deal would have lowered tariffs on imported European goods from 30% to 15%. It also would have led to more investment by European nations into the U.S. and an increase in U.S. exports.
2. Supreme Court to hear arguments in Fed firing case
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments Wednesday over a president's authority to fire a Federal Reserve governor, the Wall Street Journal reports. No president has tried to remove a Fed governor in its 112-year history.
Trump attempted to remove Fed governor Lisa Cook in August over mortgage-fraud allegations, and no criminal charges have been filed against her.
"At the Supreme Court, the case will likely hinge on the meaning of two vague words: 'for cause,'" the newspaper reports. "Federal law says the president can fire Fed board members only 'for cause,' a phrase that isn’t formally defined but has traditionally been understood to mean serious malfeasance in office."
3. What to know about 2026 calendar shifts
With each new year, hoteliers look ahead to see what's on the calendar to plan out their revenue strategies. STR's Brannan Doyle provides a cheat sheet on what calendar shifts from year to year can mean for hoteliers and breaks down what to expect in 2026.
CoStar News Hotels' Trevor Simpson reports that U.S. hoteliers are seeing favorable calendar shifts this year, with major holidays moving closer to weekends, meaning less interruptions for business travel and longer weekends for leisure trips.
4. United Airlines provides optimistic outlook
During the company's latest earnings call, executives at United Airlines shared an optimistic outlook for 2026, pointing to demand from higher-income and corporate travelers, Reuters reports. Premium revenue grew 9% year over year in December, and loyalty revenue increased by 10%.
The airline expects to receive more than 100 narrowbody jets and approximately 20 Boeing 787 widebody planes in 2026, the news agency reports. It also plans to make upgrades at its hubs in Washington, D.C., and Houston.
5. Forecasters warn of disruptive winter storm
Meteorologists say a major winter storm will hit major parts of the southern and eastern U.S. this week, the New York Times reports.
Arctic air is expected Thursday to drop temperatures lower than they are currently, but on top of that, this weather system will pull moisture-rich air from the Gulf of Mexico by Friday. Bob Oravec, a meteorologist at the Weather Prediction Center, said that will create a "large slab" of snow and ice that will reach from the Southern Plains to the Southeast and up into the Mid-Atlantic through the weekend.
“We’re highly confident it’s going to be a really impactful event,” Oravec said. “Typically as we get closer to the event, the finer details do tend to become more certain.”