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Biden orders release of Trump visitor logs to Jan. 6 committee
Photo: Sean Rayford/Getty Images
President Biden has ordered the National Archives to hand over White House visitor logs from the Trump administration to the Jan. 6 select committee.
Driving the news: White House counsel Dana Remus said in a letter dated Tuesday that Biden rejected former President Trump's claim that he could assert executive privilege to block the visitor logs' release.
If Putin invades Ukraine, the whole world will feel it
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
A war in Ukraine — even a short one, even with no U.S. troops on the ground — would ripple throughout the global economy and challenge the international order the U.S. spent decades constructing and defending.
Why it matters: Every time Vladimir Putin provides the slightest hint of his intentions toward Ukraine, markets move and heads of state scramble. An invasion could have enormous implications for the U.S.
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The pandemic is giving Americans an economics crash course
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
“Future expectations” used to be a tough economic concept for students to grok, said Morgan Taylor, an economics professor at University of Georgia in Athens. It was hard to grasp a situation in which, say, you would expect a shortage of something, and that would change your demand for a good.
Then came the great toilet paper rush of 2020. We all hoarded TP, expecting supply to run out. These days, students get the idea pretty easily.
Google to phase out cross-app ad tracking on Android devices
An Android statue on Google's campus in Mountain View, Calif. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Google announced Wednesday it will phase out cross-app ad trackers on Android smartphones, a move aimed at increasing data privacy for consumers using its operating system.
Why it matters: It's a major upheaval to how advertising and data collection will work on Android devices and comes after Apple last year placed new restrictions on apps that track behavior to tailor ads to users.
NATO sees no signs of Russia's troop withdrawal near Ukraine
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaking in Brussels on Feb. 16. Photo: Valeria Mongelli/Bloomberg via Getty Images
NATO has not seen signs of Russian troops pulling back near Ukraine, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday, after Moscow had announced it was returning some troops and weapons to their permanent bases.
Why it matters: Stoltenberg said that Russia is instead continuing its military buildup near Ukraine's border, echoing similar skepticism conveyed by President Biden on Tuesday.
Olympics dashboard
Alexander Hall of Team USA performs a trick during the Men's Freestyle Skiing Freeski Slopestyle Final on Day 12 of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou, China. Photo: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
🎿 Team USA wins Olympic gold and silver in men's freeski slopestyle
🏒 U.S. men's hockey team out of Winter Olympics
📷 In photos: Winter Olympics Day 12 highlights
Child care squeeze fuels Great Resignation
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
There's a gender gap in the Great Resignation, with women quitting their jobs at higher rates than men.
Between the lines: That gender gap is widest in the states with the most child care disruptions, according to a new report from the payroll company Gusto.
Study finds coastal workers are trickling into Heartland states
The metro areas analyzed by Heartland Forward. Go here for an interactive version. Image courtesy of Heartland Forward
In the continuous battle for human capital, middle America is gaining ground. Though it may only be inches.
What's happening: A new report by Bentonville, Arkansas-based Heartland Forward found that between 2010 and 2019, workers were slowly migrating from the coasts to the 20 central states that make up the heartland.
Your next job interview could be with a robot
Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios
A growing number of companies are using chat bots and AI-led video interviews to assess job candidates before a human recruiter even meets them.
Why it matters: Automated interviews vastly expand the job candidate pool and are designed to ensure consistent hiring practices by rooting out ways that bias seeps into interviews, recruiters say. But job applicants complain they're dehumanizing and stressful.
Patients are coming after hospital monopolies
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
A group of citizens in Connecticut is suing Hartford HealthCare, alleging the large hospital system has amassed monopoly power "to extract higher prices from insurers, employers, and patients."
Why it matters: This is another class-action lawsuit arguing hospital consolidation has crushed everyone's bank accounts and has led to the rise of anti-competitive contracts that force insurers and employers to accept take-it-or-leave-it terms.
CDC lowers pandemic travel warning for cruise ships
Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lowered its pandemic travel health alert for cruise ships from "very high" to "high" on Tuesday.
Driving the news: CDC spokesperson Caitlin Shockey said in a statement that the agency lowered the travel health notice to Level 3 due to decreasing COVID-19 cases on cruise ships operating in the U.S., per the Washington Post.
U.S. men's hockey team crashes out of Winter Olympics
Matt Knies #67 of Team USA and Martin Gernat #28 of Team Slovakia fall pursuing the puck in overtime during the men’s Ice hockey quarterfinal match on Day 12 of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games at National Indoor Stadium in Beijing, China. Photo: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
The top-seeded American hockey team is out of Beijing Winter Olympic Games medal contention after losing 3-2 to Slovakia in a shootout on Wednesday.
Details: The Americans came from behind in the second period to lead 2-1, but Slovakia's Marek Hrivik scored with 43.7 seconds left in regulation to force the game into overtime at Beijing's National Indoor Stadium.
Team USA wins Olympic gold and silver in men's freeski slopestyle
Team USA silver medallist Nicholas Goepper (L) embraces gold medalist teammate Alex Hall during the men's freestyle skiing freeski slopestyle final on Day 12 of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at Genting Snow Par in Zhangjiakou, China. Photo: Patrick Smith/Getty Images
Alex Hall won an Olympic gold medal and Nick Goepper silver for Team USA in the freeski slopestyle on Day 12 of the 2022 Beijing Winter Games.
By the numbers: Hall scored 90.01 on his first run, while Goepper secured second, with 86.48. Sweden's Jesper Tjader won the bronze medal with a score of 85.35.
Exclusive: Biden's new power player on broadband and Big Tech
Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The new leader of a little-known agency within the Commerce Department starts the job tasked with connecting every American to the internet, but also has ambitions to tackle Big Tech issues on the horizon.
Why it matters: Alan Davidson, the newly confirmed head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), will manage tens of billions of federal spending on broadband — but he's also talking about helping set administration policy around app stores and privacy.
CNN marketing chief Allison Gollust resigns following Jeff Zucker's exit
Former CNN President Jeff Zucker. Photo: Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images
CNN EVP and chief marketing officer Allison Gollust has resigned from her role after an independent investigation, WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar said Tuesday in a memo to staff, per the network's media correspondent.
Why it matters: Former CNN President Jeff Zucker was ousted earlier this month after it was found that he failed to properly disclose his relationship with Gollust.
Biden's inflation Catch-22
Photo illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Photo: Max Mumby/Getty Images
President Biden and his top advisers are caught in a loop: They know inflation wounds them politically and hurts their voters, but scrapping some inflationary policies would wound them politically — and hurt their voters.
Why it matters: The president remains committed to the core elements of his economic program, even as price hikes threaten to wipe out Democrats in November's midterms.
U.S. clears way for automakers to install smart headlights
Heavy traffic moving eastbound on the Long Island Expressway in East Hills, New York at the start of a snowstorm on Dec. 16, 2020. Photo: J. Conrad Williams, Jr./Newsday RM via Getty Images
The Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued a rule Tuesday to allow adaptive driving beam headlights, or smart headlights, in the U.S.
Why it matters: The technology, which relies on sensors and LED light, will help prevent crashes by allowing better illumination of pedestrians, animals and objects without impairing the visibility of drivers in other vehicles, NHTSA said.