With voters grumbling and midterm elections looming, governors and state legislators are scrambling to attack the inflation crisis.
At least 22 governors have proposed cutting or suspending gas taxes, seven states are considering measures to alleviate food costs, and about a dozen are maneuvering to reduce income taxes, research firm Strategas told Axios.
Spotify announced Friday that it is suspending its services in Russia after the Kremlin passed a law cracking down on free press and speech.
Driving the news: "Unfortunately, recently enacted legislation further restricting access to information, eliminating free expression and criminalizing certain types of news puts the safety of Spotify’s employees and possibly even our listeners at risk," a Spotify spokesperson said.
Figure1, a sort of Instagram for doctors, believes that its medical knowledge-sharing platform is “purpose-built” for the crisis unfolding in Ukraine, CEO Josh Wildstein tells Axios.
Why it matters: In war-torn nations, health care professionals can’t always get feedback or second opinions, nor do they typically have access to specialists. Figure1’s mobile app lets them quickly obtain insights and guidance from their peers in real time.
Chick-fil-A and Restaurant Brands International (RBI), the owner of Burger King, Tim Hortons and Popeyes, pledged this week to eliminate the use of "forever chemicals" in food packaging.
Why it matters: These extremely durable synthetic chemicals, which can last for hundreds of years without breaking down, are used in hundreds of consumer goods and have been linked to adverse health effects in humans and animals by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Phantom Neuro, a startup building a system to help people control robotic limbs, raised $3.26 million in seed funding led by LionBird Ventures, CEO Connor Glass tells Axios exclusively.
Why it matters: For years, the majority of funding and public interest in robotic limbs has gone to companies focused on devices implanted in the brain that allow people to control devices with their thoughts. Phantom's focus on muscle is unique.
Instacart, the on-demand grocery delivery service, announced that it's cutting its valuation down to $24 billion.
What to know: This is the 409a valuation, an internal accounting measure used to price employee stock, not equal to an outside investment valuation. According to public filings, Instacart's prior 409a valuation was around a 5% discount to its venture capital valuation, which hit $39 billion in March 2021.
Elizabeth Holmes tried to convince jurors that she didn't defraud Theranos investors. But, were they to disagree, then she argued coercion by former business partner and boyfriend Sunny Balwani.
The jury disagreed, in January finding Holmes guilty. Now a different San Jose, California, jury is getting a crack at Balwani.
College-educated motherswere stressed and under extreme pressure at home and at work during the pandemic. But that didn't lead them to leave the job market in greater numbers than men, new research finds.
Why it matters: The findings, from Harvard economics professor Claudia Goldin, debunk one of the storylines that came out of the pandemic — the idea that droves of well-educated women left or would leavethe labor force.
The Moscow Stock Exchange reopened yesterday — kind of — after a monthlong closure that followed the start of the war in Ukraine. The benchmark ruble-denominated index, known as the Moex, rose 4.4% yesterday, and then fell 3.7% today.
The big picture: The reopening was heavily managed by Russian authorities.
Americans under 50 are bullish on the future of cryptocurrencies, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday.
Driving the news: "That signals the marketing is working as crypto companies target sports advertising in a push to go mainstream," Quinnipiac finance professor Osman Kilic said.
In new U.S. census data showing migration from July 2020 to July 2021, five of the top 10 counties in numeric growth were in Texas — Collin, Fort Bend, Williamson, Denton and Montgomery counties.
The others were in Arizona (Maricopa County) ... California (Riverside County) ... Florida (Polk and Lee counties) ... and Utah (Utah County).
While most people are good and generous, some are real, unrepentant, unfixable jerks.
Why it matters: A good hack for leadership and life: Study the jerks, the people who do the wrong things for the wrong reasons, and do the opposite. Then, purge them from your life.
