Bad Bunny's Super Bowl pushback from MAGA influencers is the latest chapter in a long history of Latino artists facing heat on America's most significant sports events.
The big picture: These flashpoints underscore how Latino performers frequently bear the weight of cultural politics, identity debates, andrepresentation battles on some of the country's most prominent stages.
America's pullback from the global information war has left an opportunity for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to ramp up investments in state-backed propaganda.
Why it matters: A domestic political agenda to cut government spending and prioritize free speech has led to the gutting of several U.S. programs that for decades slowed China's ability to spread its communist agenda.
U.S. sanctions and national security concerns have pushed China to double down on its own technology industry, while America continues to be heavily reliant on Chinese consumer apps.
Why it matters: Today, six of the top 100 most downloaded apps in the U.S. are based in China or Hong Kong, per Apptopia, up from three in 2021.
The majority of downloads for ByteDance-owned apps in the U.S. this year haven't been of the main TikTok app, according to data from Apptopia.
Why it matters: President Trump's latest executive order outlining an agreement to sell TikTok's U.S. arm does reference other ByteDance-owned apps, but it's unclear how data and content security measures would carry over for those entities.
In just over a decade, China has proven it can sustain its box office with domestic productions and compete with Hollywood globally.
Why it matters: The strategy has reshaped the global movie business and could grow even more complicated as the Trump administration threatens new tariffs on foreign films.
China's digital ad industry continues to expand globally, fueled by mobile platforms that are innovating in live shopping and short-form entertainment.
Why it matters: China is no longer just a massive domestic market, given how its platforms are shaping the future of global ad formats and retail media.
The surprise ascendance of DeepSeek is forcing the U.S. to reckon with a narrowing tech advantage over China.
Why it matters: "We are in a new form of Cold War, and that war will be won by the country that can develop and maintain the greatest lead in artificial intelligence," Robin Feldman, director of the AI Law and Innovation Institute at UC Law, tells Axios.
MAGA activists have launched a crusade against two of the nation's most storied civil rights watchdogs, accusing them of smearing conservatives as extremists.
Why it matters: For decades, the Anti-Defamation League and Southern Poverty Law Center have shaped America's understanding of hate. MAGA leaders — backed by the Trump administration and Elon Musk — are now trying to strip them of that influence.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon are adding to the chatter among investors that markets are getting overheated due to an AI bubble.
Why it matters: The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq are up 10%, 14% and 18%, respectively, so far this year as bullish investors have piled into AI stocks.
Sean "Diddy" Combs was sentenced Friday to four years and two months in prison for prostitution charges, according to multipleoutlets.
The big picture: The prison term shows prosecutors can still secure punishment against celebrities even when juries toss the most serious counts, and the convictions give plaintiffs usable evidence and leverage in Combs' pending civil suits.
Taylor Swift's 12th studio album, "The Life of a Showgirl," marks a moment in her career where she steps back and examines what it's like to be in the spotlight.
Why it matters: And what a career it's been — setting records, piling up awards and becoming one of the biggest pop stars of all time.
The U.S. may mint a $1 coin bearing President Trump's image for the 250th anniversary of America's independence, a Treasury spokesperson told Axios Friday.
Why it matters: The Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020, passed in anticipation of the nation's 250th anniversary, prohibits portraits of living people on the reverse (or "tails" side) of such coins, and it's unclear whether a design of Trump pumping his fist complies with that rule.
New research shows that for all the hype, AI hasn't reshaped the job market yet.
Why it matters: Companies are spending big on chips, data centers and talent, but hiring weakness owes more to economic conditions and government actions than automation.
After years of behind-the-scenes work, a pollution-trading initiative is publicly launching on Friday that works in India and plans expansion to other developing nations, the group tells Axios exclusively.
Why it matters: TheEmissions Market Accelerator sees openings, based on its on-the-ground work to date, to cost-effectively cut pollution and CO2 using emissions trading on a very large scale.
Debt is the canary in the coal mine for market bubbles. Housing debt fueled the global financial crisis. Corporate debt led to dotcom bust. Now, the tech companies driving today's bull market are quietly levering up, sometimes through private lenders that make their debt less visible to shareholders.
Why it matters: That debt — and how it is getting structured — is "almost an acknowledgement that this is getting out of hand," Dario Perkins, managing director of global macro at TS Lombard, tells Axios.
Why it matters: Swift and Travis Kelce's forthcoming "I do" could light up the wedding business, according to the pros — pouring billions into an already lucrative industry.
President Trump and top aides are enlisting powerful business and labor groups to push Senate Democrats to end the government shutdown, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: Trump, while threatening mass firings of government workers, is also playing an inside game by cultivating support from influential D.C. interests — a tactic he typically dismissed during his first administration.
President Trump needs the Supreme Court to validate some of his most sweeping exercises of presidential power — and to stretch or outright overturn some of its own precedents in order to do so.
The big picture: The rulings standing in Trump's way are conservative ones. The right's long, successful campaign to curtail presidents' domestic powers is on a collision course with a Republican president who's shattering historical precedents at every turn.
Apple is removing from its App Store apps that alert the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in people's local areas, the tech giant announced Thursday evening.
The big picture: The move comes as the Trump administration's crackdown on undocumented immigrants shows no signs of abating and follows Attorney General Pam Bondi contacting Apple on Thursday "demanding they remove the ICEBlock app from their App Store," per a statement shared with Axios and other outlets.
