 The miles-long convoy of Russian troops and vehicles that stalled on its way to Kyiv has split up and dispersed into surrounding areas, moving artillery pieces into firing positions. The U.S., the EU, and the G7 will today announce the revocation of Russia's "most favored nation" trade status, which will allow countries to introduce import tariffs on Russian products. More: - Satellite images showed the convoy spreading out into the woods outside of Kyiv after a week in which it barely moved.
- A senior U.S. defense official said that Russian forces are 95% intact and still aim "to encircle and force the surrender of Kyiv."
- Russian President Vladimir Putin hinted at the possibility of nationalizing the assets of foreign businesses that ceased their operations in Russia.
- Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said that more than 1,300 people have died during the 10-day siege of Mariupol, where residents have no heat or phone service and limited electricity.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russian attacks on evacuating civilians would lead to war crimes prosecutions in the future.
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 Leaked emails from Meta (formerly known as Facebook) revealed that the company is allowing some violent rhetoric toward Russian leaders and soldiers on its platforms in some countries. Users in several eastern European and central Asian countries will be allowed to call for the death of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, or "Russian invaders," provided that the threats are not deemed to be legitimate. More: - The emails were leaked to Reuters, which reported on them yesterday.
- Meta later issued a statement saying that it has temporarily allowed phrases that would normally violate the company's violent speech rules such as "death to the Russian invaders."
- However, Meta said that it won't allow calls for violence against Russian civilians.
- The policy changes will apply in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, and Ukraine.
- The rules also allow some mild praise of the Neo-Nazi Azov Regiment, provided the praise is made "strictly in the context of defending Ukraine, or in their role as part of the Ukraine National Guard."
- Last week, the Russian government banned Facebook and Twitter.
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 A message from FINIX Software companies have a unique opportunity to turn payments processing into a profit center, but they don’t do it alone - most work with a partner. Finix is a thought leader in the payments space, and we want to share our knowledge in this (somewhat daunting) area. When you download our guide you’ll learn what to look for in a payments processing company, including: - How they understand the unique payments needs (and opportunities) for software companies
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- The payments fee structures available and which rate types will increase your revenue from payments
- The technology end of payments integration, from the importance of APIs to merchant onboarding and underwriting processes
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- What to look for in back office operations
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 Major League Baseball (MLB) reached a deal with the players union that will allow the delayed MLB season to start on April 7. Thursday's agreement ends a 99-day owner-imposed lockout of players that started after both sides failed to reach a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA). More: - MLB owners voted 30-0 to ratify the new CBA, while the executive committee of the Players Association, and player representatives also voted in favor.
- The season was scheduled to begin on March 31, but MLB owners last week postponed the start due to the protracted lockout.
- Doubleheaders and a three-day extension to the season will allow the league to make up for lost games.
New CBA, New Rules: - Under the new CBA, 12 teams will play in the playoffs instead of 10.
- The National League will adopt the designated hitter rule long used by the American League, allowing another player to bat for a pitcher.
- Starting in 2023, a pitcher's clock will be added to speed up the game.
- The MLB will also introduce advertisements on jerseys, a move that could be worth up to $11M annually per MLB team.
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 A new study indicates that spending time with therapy dogs can help reduce pain in hospital patients. The findings provide insight into the value of using therapy dogs with hospitalized patients. More: - The study asked more than 200 patients in the emergency room to report their pain on a scale of 1 to 10.
- Some of the patients were allowed to spend 10 minutes with a therapy dog, while the control group received no pain intervention.
- The self-reported pain scores revealed that "more cases in the therapy dog team group had a strong response [to the intervention] and more cases in the control group had no change."
- Dr. Colleen Dell, the lead author of the study, said: "There is research showing that pets are an important part of our health in different ways. They motivate us, they get us up, (give us) routines, the human-animal bond."
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 A message from CHECKR 1 in 3 Americans have criminal records. During this time of historically high unemployment numbers, getting a job with any kind of record is harder than ever before. Fair chance hiring plays a key role in placing people with a difficult past on a path to a better future. One of the ways businesses can implement fairer hiring practices is to use Checkr to run their background checks. Checkr is built on the belief that everyone, regardless of their background, has the right to be fairly assessed for a role they are qualified for. On Wednesday, March 23rd at 10pm EST, Cheri Garcia—Founder of a second chance staffing agency,—joins Checkr to share her wisdom on how to implement unbiased and fairer hiring practices. Attend the webinar How to Get Started in Fair Chance Hiring to learn about: - The benefits of fair chance hiring
- How to create an intentional fair chance hiring plan
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 Actor Jussie Smollett was sentenced to 150 days in jail and 30 months of felony probation for staging a hate crime against himself in January 2019. A judge also ordered that Smollett pay $120,106 in restitution to the city of Chicago and a $25,000 fine. More: - Reports of the alleged hate crime attracted national attention and started years of legal drama that led to the judge's sentence yesterday.
- A jury convicted Smollett on five of six counts of disorderly conduct in December for filing a false police record.
- Prosecutors alleged that Smollett paid two actors he knew to stage a fake attack on him, telling them to shout racist and homophobic slurs.
- Smollett declined to make a statement before the sentencing judge but shouted, "I am innocent!" as he was being led from the courtroom.
- After the hearing, special prosecutor Dan Webb said that Smollett's conduct "denigrated hate crimes."
- Smollett's legal team said they plan to appeal both the verdict and the sentence.
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 Officials in the U.S. military asked the White House to deploy commandos in Somalia to combat the spread of al-Shabaab, an Islamist group and al Qaeda affiliate in East Africa. Shortly before leaving office, President Trump withdrew American forces from Somalia, a move that some officials want to reverse. More: - In 2007, then-President George W. Bush deployed special forces to Somalia, and President Obama used drone strikes to target Al-Shabaab in the country during his time in the White House.
- During the Trump Administration, the U.S. presence in Somalia consisted of ~500 special forces soldiers.
- A month before he left office, Trump withdrew U.S. forces from the country and deployed them to nearby bases in Djibouti and Kenya.
- U.S. intelligence officials told the Washington Post that there has been an "uptick in al-Shabaab activities" since then.
- U.S. troops still visit Somalia from nearby bases to train local soldiers, but some military officials argue that a permanent U.S. presence will be more effective against al-Shabaab.
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QUICK HITS - The Path to AI Maturity provides insights from the C-suite on current levels of AI investment, priorities by stage of AI maturity, and more.*
- The EU and the U.K. opened a formal antitrust investigation into whether Alphabet (Google) and Meta (Facebook) illegally coordinated their digital advertising businesses.
- Ohio State college football player Harry Miller said he is retiring from football due to mental health issues. He explained why in a heart-wrenching Twitter post that discussed a suicide attempt and his struggles with depression.
- Actor Emilio Delgado, who played shop owner Luis on "Sesame Street" for 45 years, died yesterday. He was 81 years old.
- Jailed Russian dissident Alexei Navalny called for anti-war protests in Russia this Sunday, saying: "Putin will most quickly be stopped by the people of Russia now if they oppose the war."
- Are you leaving revenue from payments processing on the table? Find out in our guide to payments for software companies.*
*This is sponsored content.
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 Little Girl in a Blue Armchair by Mary Cassatt. 1878
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UPCOMING EVENTS - March 15 - Venturing in VC - Episode #11 with David Thacker (Greylock Partners) (Register Here)
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- March 17 - Understanding Million Dollar Virtual Real Estate with Neil Mandt (Metaverse Rights) (Register Here)
- March 23 - Need to Know NoCoder: Nichole Bestman (Bubble) (Register Here)
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- April 04 - Blockchain and the Law (Register Here)
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- April 14 - Shopping In The Metaverse (Register Here)
- April 28 - Alternative Investments 2: Crypto Safety Standards (Register Here)
- May 11 - Understanding Fractionalization (Register Here)
* This is a sponsored event.
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 |  | Daniel Smith is an Inside Analyst who currently resides in Miami, Florida. A native of Brooklyn, New York, Daniel spent the last four years as a PhD candidate in Politics and International Studies at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom. He is fascinated by tech, business, politics, venture capital, and everything in between. When he’s not writing for Inside he can be found kicking a ball on the nearest rugby pitch. Follow him on Twitter @DanSmithInside. |  | | Editor | Eduardo Garcia is a writer and editor based in New York. He is writing an illustrated book about climate change that will be published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Bylines in The New York Times, The Guardian, Slate, Scientific American, and others. In one of his previous lives, Eduardo worked as a Reuters correspondent in Latin America for nearly a decade. | |
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