Axios

President Biden announced Tuesday that he plans to nominate Julie Su, a longtime advocate for workers' rights, to lead the Labor Department.

Why it matters: If confirmed, Su, who currently serves as the department's No. 2, will replace outgoing labor secretary Marty Walsh, making her the first Cabinet-level secretary of Asian heritage in the Biden administration.

Talented Black artists are still underrepresented in the wider art world. A recent study showed that only 6.3% of exhibitions across 29 museums were dedicated to Black American artists.

Why it matters: Even though pieces by big names like Mark Bradford continue to be popular, acquisitions for contemporary Black artists remains low, making up 2.2% of all acquisitions across 29 museums nationwide. While this list is by no means comprehensive, it is meant to serve as an introduction to some lesser-known contemporary Black artists making waves in the art world.

Looking for more? Be sure to check out photographs by Tyler Mitchell, Alanna Fields, and Ivan McClellan; the paintings of Kayla Mahaffey and Kadir Nelson; and the embroidered fabric canvases of Bisa Butler.

Go deeper into Axios' coverage for Black History Month.

Over 300 companies including Nike, IBM, and Airbnb have signed on to a corporate pledge to hire and engage more Hispanics.

Why it matters: U.S. Latinos' purchasing power and share of the population keeps growing, but they're severely underrepresented in corporate America.

Former FTX engineering director Nishad Singh pleaded guilty in court on Tuesday to six charges relating to his role in the cryptocurrency platform's dramatic collapse. The CFTC and SEC also filed charges against him.

Why it matters: Prosecutors are moving to strengthen the case against Sam Bankman-Fried, also known as SBF. FTX's disgraced founder is now facing a range of accusations, with the government unveiling four new criminal charges just last week.

The path to arresting inflation in the United States might be more zigzag and not the straight, neat line some may have thought heading into 2023. The same looks increasingly true across the Atlantic.

• Hot new inflation readings from France and Spain underscore that risk.

Why it matters: In both the U.S. and Europe, the latest readings suggest interest rates will have to go higher, and possibly stay there longer, with effects that will ripple around the globe.

The National Basketball Association has purged itself of two toxic owners in recent years, via team sales in Los Angeles and Phoenix that garnered record valuations. Now, however, it's got with dodgy actors on the buyside.

Driving the news: Jimmy and Dee Haslam have agreed to acquire around a 25% stake in the Milwaukee Bucks at around a $3.5 billion franchise valuation, as first reported by ESPN and confirmed by Axios with multiple sources.

Paratus Sciences, a Massachusetts drug discovery startup leveraging bat biology, has raised $100 million in venture capital funding.

Why it matters: This has been a winning week for bats, long maligned for spreading disease and general creepiness.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky exhorted American businesses to begin investing in the country's reconstruction, even before its war with Russia is over.

Driving the news: Zelensky made his remarks Tuesday morning to the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) board in a live speech listened to exclusively by Axios.

One year in, attention to stories around the war in Ukraine has mostly flatlined in the U.S., suggesting Americans are no longer gripped by the storylines that shocked them at the war's outset last February.

Why it matters: The interest from Americans mirrors the progress on the ground in Ukraine, where Russian forces continue to bombard the eastern part of the country, but to no clear end.

Sixty-three percent of countries around the world provide guaranteed paid parental leave for fathers, according to a report out Tuesday morning from the World Policy Analysis Center.

Why it matters: Though support is growing for paternity leave, there's still a stigma attached to men who take time off to care for their children. Yet, studies find numerous benefits for the economy, for fathers, and for their partners.

Jonathan Capehart quit the Washington Post editorial board after a dispute over an editorial about 2024 politics, leaving the paper with an all-white editorial board, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: Capehart left the board at a time when the Post — based in a city where nearly half the population is Black — is swirling in internal discontent over the paper's leadership.

President Biden is preparing to run for re-election with a relentless, aggressive focus on the economy — convinced the data cuts in his favor, even as vast swathes of the public remain skeptical that conditions have improved.

Why it matters: It’s a high-risk, high-reward strategy.

One of the last remaining major COVID relief programs — the expansion of SNAP benefits, aka food stamps — ends this month, pushing about 32 million Americans off a "hunger cliff."

Why it matters: Since 2020, massive expansions of funding for programs that serve low-income Americans have meaningfully lowered poverty rates for adults and children. That era is mostly ending.

The White House has mandated that federal agencies remove TikTok from phones and systems in a bid to keep U.S. data safe, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced Monday.

The big picture: The ban follows similar actions from Canada, the EU and Taiwan, notes Reuters, which first reported the news.

Here’s a trick that can brighten a dark day: Keep a compliments folder.

• Why it matters: Numerous studies show that we tend to remember bad experiences better than good ones. But revisiting the nice things people in our lives have said to us is empowering.