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Kendall Baker, author of Sports
Updated 4 hours ago - Sports

Looking ahead to Super Bowl LVI

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Super Bowl LVI is a homecoming of sorts, as the NFL's marquee event returns to La La Land 55 years after its birth.

The backdrop: The first Super Bowl was played at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum in 1967, a 35-10 win for the Packers over the Chiefs. It was last there in 1993, when the Cowboys beat the Bills, 52-17, at the Rose Bowl.

Updated 4 hours ago - World

Canadian judge grants order allowing removal of protesters blocking border bridge

Farmers block Highway 402 to protest against vaccine mandates near Sarnia, Ontario, on Feb. 10. Photo: Geoff Robins/AFP via Getty Images

A Canadian judge on Friday granted an injunction that gives law enforcement more power to remove vaccine mandate protesters from the Ambassador Bridge following a five-day blockade at the U.S.-Canada border, AP reports.

The latest: Truckers, farmers and other protesters have blocked roads and portions of U.S.-Canada border crossings for days as part of the demonstration, cutting off key delivery routes. Factories facing a shortage of parts have been forced to stop production on both sides of the border, Axios' Joann Muller reports.

Listen to “Axios Today”
Consumer prices are up 7.5% over the past year.
Updated 4 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Omicron dashboard

Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios

  1. Health: FDA authorizes new antibody treatment for Omicron — Unlocking the mystery of the "never COVID" cohortCases are plummeting, and deaths could decline soon.
  2. Vaccines: Pfizer postpones FDA request for COVID vaccine for kids under 5 — What it takes to persuade the unvaccinated.
  3. Politics: Supreme Court rejects request to block vaccine mandate for NYC teachers — Nevada governor rescinds indoor mask mandate — Republican lawmakers target GoFundMe over Canadian mandate protests.
  4. Business: Major American banks lift mask mandates in U.S. offices — Pandemic pushes teachers to pivot careers.
  5. World: Canadian judge grants order allowing removal of protesters blocking border bridge — Boris Johnson signals early end to U.K. restrictions.
  6. Variant tracker
Hope King, author of Closer
7 hours ago - Economy & Business

Canadian protests lead to auto factories shutting down

Street near Canadian Parliament buildings Feb. 10 in Ottawa, Ontario. Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

"Freedom Convoy" protests are hurting workers in the auto sector.

Why it matters: Demonstrations have blocked the flow of commerce on one of the most important corridors between the U.S. and Canada, leading factories to shut down due to supply shortages.

Biden's Indo-Pacific strategy homes in on China's "sphere of influence"

President Biden at a virtual summit with China's President Xi Jinping. Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

The Biden administration on Friday released its official Indo-Pacific strategy, which warns that there is only a narrow window of time remaining to prevent China from transforming the region into its own sphere of influence.

Why it matters: Biden is the third consecutive president to classify Asia as a top geostrategic priority, hoping to complete the "pivot to Asia" initiated under former President Obama.

10 hours ago - World

U.S. warns threat of Russian invasion of Ukraine is "immediate"

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Friday that all Americans in Ukraine should leave within the next 48 hours, warning that the risk of a Russian invasion is now "high" and "immediate."

Why it matters: Sullivan denied an explosive PBS report that the U.S. believes Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided to invade, but said there is "a credible prospect that a Russian military action would take place even before the end of the Olympics."

Updated 11 hours ago - World

Satellite images show increased Russian military buildup near Ukraine

New troops and military equipment, including tents, near an airfield in central Crimea on Feb. 10. Satellite image: ©2022 Maxar Technologies

Satellite images recently captured by Maxar Technologies show that Russia is continuing to deploy troops and military equipment, likely including field hospitals, near Ukraine's borders in Crimea, Belarus and western Russia.

The big picture: U.S. officials warned Friday that a Russian invasion of Ukraine could begin at "at any time."

Updated 11 hours ago - Health

Pfizer postpones FDA request for COVID vaccine for kids under 5

Photo: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Pfizer and BioNTech announced Friday that they are postponing their application to the Food and Drug Administration for the companies' COVID-19 vaccine for children between the ages of six months and four years old.

The big picture: The companies said they "will wait for the three-dose data" because they "believe it may provide a higher level of protection in this age group."

13 hours ago - Sports

Ukrainian Olympian holds up "No War" sign after race

Vladyslav Heraskevych after a skeleton heat at the Winter Olympics on Friday. Photo: Adam Pretty/Getty Images

A Ukrainian skeleton athlete on Friday displayed a small sign that read "No War in Ukraine" after he finished his race at the Winter Olympics, AP reports.

Driving the news: "It’s my position. Like any normal people, I don’t want war," Vladyslav Heraskevych told AP after his competition. "I want peace in my country, and I want peace in the world. It’s my position, so I fight for that. I fight for peace."

Updated 13 hours ago - Economy & Business

#MeToo bill only scratches surface of secretive courts

Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios

Congress passed landmark workplace legislation on Thursday, prohibiting companies from forcing certain kinds of employee lawsuits into arbitration, or private courtrooms outside public view.

The big picture: Don't expect companies to abandon this practice — widely criticized for favoring employers, and for depriving workers and consumers of their right to a jury trial. The bill, which President Biden is expected to sign, leaves a lot out.

16 hours ago - World

Biden to split frozen Afghan assets between possible aid and 9/11 families

A child sits outside in the cold in Kabul on Dec. 27. Photo: Mohd Rasfan/AFP via Getty Images

President Biden signed an executive order on Friday to help enable $7 billion in frozen Afghan assets to be divided between humanitarian relief for the people of Afghanistan and the families of 9/11 victims.

Why it matters: Biden has come under significant pressure to release the U.S.-held assets, which belong to Afghanistan's central bank and were frozen after the Taliban's takeover in August. Afghanistan is facing an extreme humanitarian crisis, with more than 23 million people suffering from acute hunger.

17 hours ago - World

Blinken warns Russia could invade Ukraine during Winter Olympics

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a press conference in Melbourne on Feb. 11. Photo: Kevin Lamarque/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

Russia continues to move troops and military equipment toward the Ukrainian border, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Friday. He warned that Russia could invade Ukraine soon, even during the Beijing Winter Olympics set to end Feb. 20.

Why it matters: Blinken said that American citizens in Ukraine should leave immediately, echoing a State Department advisory that said the U.S. will not be able to evacuate Americans from the country "in the event of Russian military action anywhere in Ukraine."

Extreme weather whiplash hits California with record heat and wildfires

Illustration: Megan Robinson/Axios

An extraordinary example of weather whiplash is under way in California, where one of the state’s wettest months of December was followed by a bone-dry January into the first part of February.

Why it matters: The state entered the wet season with extraordinary precipitation deficits from a multi-year "mega-drought," and a dry winter could result in severe water restrictions and another devastating fire season.

Shoplifting reaches crisis proportions

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Shoplifting has gotten so bad nationally that chains like Rite Aid are closing hard-hit stores, sending terrified employees home in Ubers and locking up aisles of seemingly mundane items like deodorant and toothpaste.

Why it matters: Retailers are already reeling from the pandemic, supply chain woes and the labor shortage. Now they're combating systematic looting by organized crime gangs — which are growing more aggressive and violent.

Mike Allen, author of AM
19 hours ago - Politics & Policy

First look: Harvard wave for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson

In a 1996 photo (from left), Antoinette Coakley, Nina Coleman, Lisa Fairfax and Ketanji Brown Jackson. Photo: Lisa Fairfax

A group of about 175 Black alumni of Harvard today will deliver a letter to the White House supporting Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who sits on the powerful U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and is one of President Biden's top prospects for the Supreme Court.

What they're saying: "We come from the South, North, East, and West. We are civic and corporate leaders, scientists, artists, entrepreneurs, public school teachers, professors, doctors, lawyers, and stay-at-home parents, among others," the letter says.

Updated 19 hours ago - Economy & Business

Populism's new inferno

Protesters block the flow of commercial traffic over the bridge into Canada from Detroit. Photo: Cole Burston/Getty Images

What began as a small-but-loud truck convoy protest against Canadian pandemic restrictions has snowballed into an international crisis that's been choking the busiest border crossing in North America all week.

Driving the news: Copycat convoys are arising in other countries, including the United States, where officials warned of a potential disruption to Sunday's Super Bowl in Los Angeles.

Updated 19 hours ago - Sports

Olympics dashboard

Shaun White of Team USA reacts during the men's snowboard halfpipe final of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou, China, on Friday morning local time. Photo: Clive Rose/Getty Images

🏂 Shaun White ends Olympic career with fourth place finish

⛸️ Russian figure skating star tests positive for banned substance

⛷️ U.S. Olympic skier Mikaela Shiffrin "grateful" for outpouring of support

🎿 Eileen Gu: A tale of two nations

📸 In photos: Winter Olympics Day 7 highlights

Dan Primack, author of Pro Rata
20 hours ago - Politics & Policy

The party that's out of power never believes the economy is strong

Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios

America's economy is booming, but many of us seem to think we're just a hopscotch away from recession. The disconnect may be systemic.

The big picture: This is the byproduct of a politics in which the economy is reflexively disparaged by those out of power.

20 hours ago - World

Global content arms race descends on India

Expand chart
Data: Parrot Analytics; Chart: Thomas Oide/Axios

Facing saturation in the U.S., media giants are looking abroad for growth, and India — the second-largest internet population globally — is ripe for disruption.

Why it matters: When it comes to monetizing attention, "India has immense room to grow," said Ravi Agrawal, editor-in-chief of Foreign Policy and author of "India Connected: How the Smartphone Is Transforming the World's Largest Democracy."

20 hours ago - Health

What it takes to persuade the unvaccinated

Expand chart
Data: CDC; Chart: Baidi Wang/Axios

Vaccine uptake is fading, but doctors and health care workers are trying to reach the tens of millions of unvaccinated Americans — one conversation at a time.

The big picture: Persuading the remaining unvaccinated takes a lot more time and effort, and health care workers who have found success are not writing off holdouts as anti-vaxxers.

Biden urges Americans in Ukraine: "Leave now"

President Biden during an event in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, earlier this month. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

President Biden said during an NBC interview broadcast Thursday that American citizens in Ukraine "should leave now" due to increasing concerns that Russian troops may soon invade the country.

Why it matters: Biden's comments came as the State Department warned in an advisory that American officials "will not be able to evacuate U.S. citizens in the event of Russian military action anywhere in Ukraine" and that this would "severely impact" regular consular services.

Updated Feb 11, 2022 - Politics & Policy

3 indicted over alleged illegal donations to Collins re-election bid

Sen. Susan Collins during a January news conference in Westbrook, Maine. Photo: Ryan David Brown/Getty Images

Three former executives of a Hawaii-based U.S. defense contractor were indicted Thursday over allegations of unlawful campaign contributions to Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and a political action committee that supported her 2020 re-election bid.

Driving the news: "Martin Kao, 48, Clifford Chen, 48, and Lawrence 'Kahele' Lum Kee, 52, all of Honolulu, were employed by a defense contractor prohibited from making contributions in federal elections," per a Department of Justice statement.

Foreign policy "Blob" backs Biden on Ukraine

Ukrainian service members conduct live-fire exercises on Thursday. Photo: Sergey Bobok/AFP via Getty Images

Republican senators and establishment columnists who brutalized President Biden for the chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal are now praising his handling of Russia's threatened invasion of Ukraine.

Why it matters: The endorsements give the president and his team more political space to pursue diplomacy. They also allow a president who ran on his competence and foreign policy experience to reclaim some of that mantle.