 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin gave competing "Victory Day" speeches on Monday. Zelenskyy released a video where he is shown walking alone in downtown Kyiv – he said he is confident that Ukraine will be victorious against Russia, and compared Putin to Adolf Hitler. Meanwhile, Putin likened his invasion of Ukraine to his country's defeat of the Nazis in World War II and said that his actions were "the only correct decision." Victory Day is a national holiday in Russia commemorating the Nazi defeat in World War II. More: - Though Putin used defiant rhetoric in his speech, he did not use Victory Day to either declare victory or announce an escalation in Ukraine.
- Meanwhile, U.S. officials say they have seen "anecdotal reports" of Russian soldiers ignoring orders and refusing to move forward in their offensive in eastern Ukraine.
- The descriptions of Victory Day programming on Russian Smart TVs are believed to have been hacked with an anti-war message. The program titles had been changed to: "On your hands is the blood of thousands of Ukrainians and their hundreds of murdered children. TV and the authorities are lying. No to war."
- U.S. First Lady Jill Biden made an unannounced visit to Ukraine on Sunday. She visited a school in western Ukraine which had been converted into a center for citizens fleeing violence.
- At a ceremony in Warsaw, Russia's ambassador to Poland was covered with red paint thrown by anti-war protesters.
| |
 Ferdinand Marcos Jr. appears poised to win the presidential election in the Philippines, taking a massive 11 million vote lead with two-thirds of eligible ballots counted. Marcos, known popularly as Bongbong, is the son of former Philippines dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr., who served as president from 1965 to 1986, with many of those years under martial law. According to the unofficial tally, Marcos has 21.7 million votes, compared to 10.3 million votes for Leni Robredo, his major challenger and the nation's current vice president. More: - Though Marcos Sr. was overthrown in 1986 and exiled to Hawaii before dying in 1989, the rest of his family continued to find success in politics. Marcos Jr. has been a governor and congressman in the Philippines. His sister Imee is a senator and his mother Imelda served for years in the nation's Congress.
- Marcos has "no real policy platform," according to Reuters, though he's expected to largely continue the policies of outgoing strongman leader Rodrigo Duterte.
- Duterte can't run for another term because of constitutional limits and, though he hasn't endorsed a candidate, his daughter Sara is Marcos' running mate.
- According to polls, Filipinos are dissatisfied with the nation's recent shift toward closer relations with China. It is unclear what position Marcos will take.
| |
 A message from EQUITYBEE While 2021 was a record year for companies going public through SPAC mergers, this vehicle is getting much more scrutiny in 2022. This makes being ready for any scenario more important. Equitybee can help you get funding to exercise your stock options – without any out-pocket payment, and without having to worry about the future of your company: - Our investors are competing to provide funding to startup employees.
- You don’t pay us back anything if your company fails.
- We take care of everything.
- We offer a free funding offer. Take this opportunity and let us get back to you.
Sign up now to get an offer
| |
 The Broadway musical "A Strange Loop" earned 11 Tony nominations on Monday, the most of any production. Michael R. Jackson's meta-musical about a Black gay man trying to break into professional theater with a show about a Black gay man already won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for drama, and immediately becomes the frontrunner for the top 2022 Tonys. It will face off for Best Musical against "Mr. Saturday Night," "Paradise Square," "MJ: The Musical," "Six," and "Girl from the North Country." More: - "MJ: The Musical," a biographical jukebox production following pop star Michael Jackson as he embarks on a world tour, was nominated for 10 Tonys, as was "Paradise Square."
- The nominees for Best Play are "Clyde's," written by Lynn Nottage, "Hangmen," by Martin McDonagh, "The Lehman Trilogy," by Stefano Massini and Ben Power, "The Minutes," written by Tracy Letts, and "Skeleton Crew," by Dominique Morisseau.
- Newcomer Jaquel Spivey is nominated for Lead Actor in a Musical for "A Strange Loop." He faces off against Myles Frost for "MJ: The Musical," Hugh Jackman for "The Music Man," Rob McClure for "Mrs. Doubtfire," and Billy Crystal for "Mr. Saturday Night."
- The nominees for Lead Actress in a Musical are Sutton Foster for "The Music Man," Mare Winningham for "Girl from the North Country," Joaquina Kalukango for "Paradise Square," Sharon D. Clarke for "Caroline, or Change," and Carmen Cusack for "Flying Over Sunset."
- Tony Awards for the 2019-2020 season were handed out in September 2021, as Broadway was shut down for large parts of the pandemic.
- This year's awards will be handed out on Sunday, June 12. The ceremony will be hosted by Oscar winner Ariana DeBose.
| |
 GOOD NEWS: Remote working does not appear to have a negative effect on productivity, according to a new study. Researchers at Texas A&M started looking into remote work productivity before the pandemic, analyzing employees at a Houston-based oil and gas company before, during, and after Hurricane Harvey, which necessitated remote work for a brief period in August 2017. They found that computer use declined briefly during the disaster, but that productivity soon returned and continued after employees had returned to the office. More: - The researchers believe their data has strong relevance to companies now initiating a hybrid work model in the mid-to-post-pandemic environment.
- The only significant drop in productivity came shortly after the disaster began, when workers were first getting acquainted with a work-from-home schedule.
- Read the full study in IOS Press.
| |
 A message from AFTERPAY Shoppers have made it clear - buy now, pay later is here to stay. Gen Z and Millennial shoppers are becoming a powerful force in the global economy, and they’re ushering in a new era of spending that favors the simplicity of buy now, pay later over traditional credit options. Afterpay’s Next Gen Index reports that BNPL spending among Gen Z has increased by a staggering 925% since January 2020. By 2030, this critical demographic of Gen Z and Millennial shoppers are projected to account for 48% of the total retail spend in the US. BNPL is just getting started, but Afterpay has already become the clear favorite among shoppers. In fact, Afterpay holds nearly 70% of the BNPL market share in the US, according to a 2020 consumer spending data from Cardify. Online and in-store brands of all sizes are winning loyalty from customers who have made BNPL a priority, and now is the time for your business to take advantage of this profound transformation. Getting started with Afterpay is simple. And for many businesses - it’s essential. Get Started
| |
 A limited number of Instagram users will be able to share NFTs on the platform this week, Instagram head Adam Mosseri and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Monday. On his Facebook page, Zuckerberg said that similar functionality would come to that platform soon, "along with augmented reality NFTs on Instagram Stories via Spark AR." Some of the creators involved in the initial test include @yungjake, @misshattan, and @cynthiaerivo. More: - Instagram will not take a fee for hosting or sharing any digital collectible.
- Ethereum and Polygon will be the only supported blockchains for NFTs at launch.
- Mosseri said the functionality will ultimately be rolled out for more users once it analyzes the results of its initial test.
- Instagram will detail the creator and owner of any shared digital collectible.
| |
 The New York Times removed the word "fetus" from the word list on "Wordle," though some users still saw it on Monday. In a statement, The New York Times said it wanted the game to remain "distinct from the news," and assured those who still saw "fetus" that it was unrelated to the recent leaked draft opinion suggesting that the Supreme Court will soon overturn Roe v. Wade and allow states to make laws banning abortion. More: - Since the NYT purchased Wordle earlier this year, there have been several instances where players could receive different words.
- Wordle uses a pre-loaded word list that assigns puzzle answers to dates ahead of time. The NYT says it is working to update this technology to ensure that everyone receives the same word on the same day.
- The NYT previously removed words it considered too obscure, as well as the words "lynch," "slave," and "wench."
- Wordle became an online sensation in late 2021; it was created by software engineer Josh Wardle earlier in the year.
- The NYT purchased Wordle for a price "in the low seven figures" in January 2022.
| |
QUICK HITS - From 5x to 10x, VC growth stage revenue multiples have doubled in the past year, according to the 2022 Pepperdine Private Capital Markets Report.*
- Queen Elizabeth II will not attend Tuesday's State Opening of Parliament due to what Buckingham Palace called "episodic mobility problems." Prince Charles is set to read her speech on her behalf.
- Around 40% of the expected baby formula supply nationwide is out of stock amid supply chain issues and the shutdown of a factory in Michigan.
- The death toll from the explosion at Havana's Hotel Saratoga last week has reached 35, with many others still missing.
- Alabama's law banning gender-affirming care for transgender youth went into effect this weekend, while a U.S. district judge weighs whether to issue a temporary hold while a lawsuit plays out.
- Nepali climber Kami Rita Sherpa successfully scaled Mount Everest for the 26th time this weekend, breaking his own world record.
- The Denver Nuggets' Nikola Jokic will be named the NBA's Most Valuable Player for the second year in a row, sources told ESPN.
- Same old marketing automation not cutting it these days? Get our eBook and power up your customer experiences.*
*This is sponsored content.
| |
| |
Upcoming Events - May 10 - Giving Voice and Intelligence to Digital Characters with David Colleen (SapientX) (Register Here)
- May 10 - Venturing in VC - Episode #18 with Nik Talreja (Sydecar) (Register Here)
- May 11 - Building Last-Mile Startups: Underground Delivery with Garrett McCurrash (Pipedream Labs) (Register Here)
- May 12 - Making Metaverse Dating a Reality (Register Here)
- May 18 - Need To Know NoCoder: Jatin Arora (Utilize) (Register Here)
- May 19 - Understanding Fractionalization (Register Here)
- May 24 - Meet Our Fund 3 (Register Here)
- May 31 - Ethereum Merge with Anthony Donofrio (Ethereum) (Register Here)
- June 01 - Selling Consumer Goods in Web3 (Register Here)
- June 09 - Empowering Content Creators with No Code (Register Here)
- June 15 - Need To Know NoCoder - Artem Harutyunyan (bardeen.ai) (Register Here)
- June 16 - Future of the Art Market (Register Here)
- June 23 - The Future of Open-Source Software Security (Register Here)
- June 30 - HR Strategies to Retain Remote Employees (Register Here)
Want to see all of our upcoming events? Visit us at https://inside.com/events
| |
 |  | Jonathan Harris is a writer and editor who lives in Los Angeles. |  | | 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. | |
| |
No application fees. Seamless setup with any e-commerce platform. It’s simple and easy to get started with Afterpay. | |
Comments
Post a Comment