| 1. BERNIE SANDERS CANCELS CAMPAIGN EVENTS TO UNDERGO HEART SURGERY: Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has canceled his upcoming campaign events after undergoing a heart stent procedure. Sanders’s campaign said he experienced chest pain at an event on Tuesday and will be recovering for the next few days. Washington Post: “Sanders was in the midst of a busy campaign swing that took him from New Hampshire to Nevada this week. He had planned to be in California in the coming days. Sanders has kept up an aggressive travel schedule in recent months, regularly holding multiple events per day and sometimes campaigning in more than one state. The senator had scheduled three public campaign stops for Wednesday in Las Vegas, including a gun safety forum that other White House hopefuls were slated to attend.” 2. TRIPADVISOR ENDS SALES TO ATTRACTIONS WITH DOLPHINS AND WHALES IN CAPTIVITY: TripAdvisor will no longer sell tickets to attractions that breed dolphins and whales, including SeaWorld. The new policy is the company’s latest action for its 2016 animal welfare policy, which banned ticket sales to events where travelers physically touch captive wild animals, which includes elephant riding. The New York Times: “The policy, which includes the TripAdvisor subsidiary, Viator, comes a year after the company banned sales of tickets to performances and shows considered demeaning to animals, and it comes as concerns increase over animal tourism and animal welfare. … The new policy also focuses on improving the lives of the animals already in captivity. In order to be eligible for ticket sales on the platform, attractions must have a permanent seaside living environment.” 3. VICE MEDIA ACQUIRES REFINERY29: Vice Media has acquired Refinery29, the media company for young women known for launching the immersive event 29 Rooms. The deal values the combined company at $4 billion. Variety: “The new company will be called Vice Media Group; Refinery29 will continue to operate as an independent brand. It’s not clear at this point how many layoffs will result from the combo. However, the companies said that together, they will increase their investment in premium content production across all platforms by 20 percent on a year-over-year basis.” | 