Axios

IAC, the internet holding company led by media mogul Barry Diller, has agreed to acquire Meredith Corp.'s National Media Group for $2.7 billion, the companies said Thursday.

Why it matters: The deal creates one of the largest food, home and lifestyle media companies in the world.

The pace of strikes slowed when the pandemic hit. Now there are signs picket lines are bouncing back amid fresh worker angst.

• What's new: Production has been halted at Kellogg cereal plants across America after 1,400 workers walked off the job in a bid for better benefits (and worries about job outsourcing).

The Los Angeles City Council approved a new ordinance that will require proof of COVID-19 vaccination to enter indoor venues, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Why it matters: The ordinance would require people to be fully vaccinated to enter indoor public spaces including restaurants, bars, gyms and sports arenas. It is one of the nation’s strictest mandates as vaccination rates have stagnated and cases persist in Los Angeles.

Congress "missed an opportunity" to include autonomous vehicle (AV) regulations in the infrastructure bill, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), the top Republican on the House Energy & Commerce Committee, said at an Axios event Wednesday.

Why it matters: Though widespread adoption of AV technology is still years away, members of Congress have made long-shot efforts to get ahead of self-driving vehicles and regulate them for cybersecurity, safety and other standards, but no strict federal standards have been put in place.

Over 100 prominent figures in Latin America are urging The New York Times' publisher to not stop publishing Spanish-written opinion journalism, according to a letter shared exclusively with Axios.

Driving the news: The Times has not published any op-eds that were originally written in Spanish since Sept. 28. The newspaper had been publishing from five to seven such pieces a week.

General Motors plans to double its revenues over the next decade as it transitions to an all-electric future, tapping into software and subscription services that enable new vehicle experiences and connect customers' digital lives, the company told reporters on Wednesday.

Why it matters: It's an extraordinary target for a lumbering industrial giant that is trying to transform itself from automaker to "platform innovator."

Five former Secretaries of Defense — who served under both Republican and Democratic presidents — pressed congressional leadership in a letter Wednesday to raise the debt ceiling in order to "avoid catastrophic consequences" for the military and weaken America's position in the world.

Why it matters: If Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling by October 18th, Secretary of Treasury Janet Yellen warned that the U.S. would default on its loans for the first time in history, which would have devastating consequences for the national and global economy.

Bitcoin crept above $50,000 on Tuesday for the first time since Sept. 7 — when El Salvador became the first country to use the cryptocurrency as legal money.

Driving the news: Bank of America initiated research coverage of cryptocurrency this week, saying the category is "too large to ignore."

Facebook’s resiliency is being tested — again — amid a new firestorm.

What's new: Frances Haugen, the whistleblower who shared thousands of pages of internal Facebook documents with regulators, lawmakers and the Wall Street Journal, testified in front of Congress on Tuesday.

It's not too often that a multi-billion dollar merger gets signed despite the best efforts of both Warren Buffett and Carl Icahn.

Driving the news: Southwest Gas (NYSE: SWX) agreed to acquire Questar Pipeline Co. for nearly $2 billion in cash from Dominion Energy (NYSE: D). The purchase price includes around $430 million in assumed debt.

CoinSwitch Kuber, an Indian crypto exchange, raised $260 million at a $1.9 billion valuation co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and Coinbase Ventures.

Why it matters: All crypto investments are done against the backdrop of regulatory uncertainty, but the situation is even more fraught in India, where there's been government talk of a total ban on both trading and holding.

New analysis from the International Monetary Fund puts some helpful context around the surge in climate-focused investment funds.

The big picture: While climate funds are growing very fast, it's still a "small fraction" of the investment universe.

CarbonBuilt, a Los Angeles startup with tech to embed CO2 in concrete, just raised $10 million in Series A funding.

Why it matters: It's among several startups attracting capital to make climate-friendly concrete and cut the massive emissions from the production of cement, a key concrete component.

Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), a noted friend in Congress of the cryptocurrency industry, introduced a new bill Tuesday that aims to provide a framework for nascent digital token networks.

State of play: The bill would allow the networks to fundraise before they’re sufficiently decentralized — without being at risk of violating securities laws.

Two more measures of economic activity released Tuesday showed expansion during the month of September. But growth was held back by the macro themes of the moment: continuing supply shortages and weak employment gains.

Driving the news: The Institute for Supply Management’s Services PMI Index (which measures all non-manufacturing activity) increased — barely — to 61.9 from 61.7 in August. Consensus expectations were for the index to decline to 60.

Women still make up less than a quarter of corporate boardrooms around the world despite global governance efforts to improve gender and cultural diversity within businesses.

Driving the news: Since 2015, the percentage of female board members across 3,000 companies globally has grown by 8.9 percentage points, to reach an average of 24%, according to a Credit Suisse study.

The Department of Education announced Wednesday that it would temporarily relax rules governing a student loan forgiveness program, making it easier for service members, teachers, nurses and other public servants to qualify for debt relief.

Why it matters: In total, the department estimates that its overhaul of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program will bring over 550,000 borrowers closer to debt forgiveness.

Put that instant packet away. Des Moines' burgeoning ramen scene offers umami-rich broths that leave you slurping for the last bits.

• And these hidden gems don't advertise themselves as ramen joints. Your favorite sushi spot likely offers it, but you'll have to search the corners of the menu.

Below are some of our favorite spots to chew on some noodles and satiate our jammy egg cravings.

Ifeoma Ozoma, who raised pay discrimination and other issues before leaving Pinterest last year, today launched the Tech Worker Handbook — a new web site aimed at providing resources and information for other potential tech whistleblowers.

Why it matters: It's not easy for workers to understand all the things they have to do and not do when calling attention to problems they see at their companies, particularly when they are obligated to protect their employers' trade secrets.

Rent prices are rising rapidly across the country, and the number of people seeking rental apartments has returned to pre-pandemic levels or higher, according to home-search websites.

Why it matters: As COVID-era restrictions expire — including moratoriums on evictions — and available housing stock continues to dwindle, expect once-desperate landlords to sit in the catbird seat as renters fork up.

South Dakota has become the world's foremost tax haven — right up there with the Cayman Islands, and ahead of old-fashioned locations like Switzerland. That's one of the clear messages from the Pandora Papers leak of confidential financial information about the world's richest individuals.

Why it matters: The hundreds of billions of dollars sequestered in South Dakota trusts generate no taxes and are effectively off limits to anybody who might have a legitimate claim on them.

Ford is working with neuroscientists to develop brain-scanning technology that can more quickly detect when drivers are getting tired or distracted.

Why it matters: It's crucial that drivers stay engaged behind the wheel, even as cars become more automated. But there's mounting evidence that people get complacent using driver-assistance features like Tesla Autopilot, which is why federal safety regulators are investigating the systems.

• “The brain processes huge amounts of information when we are driving, but that may change as driver assistance technologies do some of the driving for us," said Stefan Wolter, research engineer, Research and Advanced Engineering, Ford of Europe.
• "Drivers also get tired and their minds can wander. Identifying more quickly when this happens could be of critical importance," he added.

Driving the news: Ford scientists in Europe are working with medical researchers at Uniklinik RWTH Aachen in Germany to map brain patterns to driver’s reactions.

• Ford hopes that by identifying the brain responses that reveal lapses in concentration, it may then be possible to match the scans to physical changes in heart rate or breathing, for example.
• A change in heart rate detected via wearable technology, for example, could then trigger an alert for the driver to pay attention.

How it works: Study participants complete a driving simulation while their brain activity is scanned by an MRI machine. A mirror allows them to see the simulation on a screen inside the MRI machine.

• The scenario, designed using gaming technology, involves a three-lane highway at night where a vehicle in the middle lane brakes suddenly and the participant has to take over and move the car to the left or right, using a handheld device.
• The MRI machine scans the brain before and during these actions, while the researchers measure how quickly the participant reacts and if they make the right decision.
• They also monitor changes to heart rate, breathing rate and other physiological measures.

What they're saying: "We believe that by capturing this data we could one day be able to generate unique physiological driver fingerprints so that drivers of the vehicles of the future can be prepared to react and to intervene immediately in case it is required," said Professor Klaus Mathiak M.D. Ph.D., head of Psychoneurobiology and lead consultant for Psychosomatic Medicine, Uniklinik RWTH Aachen.

Some 1,400 Kellogg Company workers went on strike at all of the company's U.S. cereal plants Tuesday.

The big picture: The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union said in a statement it's seeking a "fair contract" for workers in negotiations with the company after the previous one expired at midnight Monday.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg took to his own platform to reject claims made by a former employee in testimony before Congress on Tuesday.

Why it matters: Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen urged Congress earlier Tuesday to regulate the tech giant, accusing Facebook of putting profit before user well-being.

In the days before the Pandora Papers exposed details of his foreign real estate holdings, King Abdullah II of Jordan retained a white-shoe law firm from the U.S. with an eye toward potential defamation claims, records show.

Why it matters: The records provide a glimpse into how some of the world's most powerful people have braced for fallout from a massive media investigation. It's exposed the ways the ultra-wealthy manage — and, in some cases, conceal — their substantial assets.