Bloomberg Businessweek

● Kansas voted on Aug. 2 not to strip the right to abortion from the state’s constitution. Massive turnout in the traditionally conservative state drove the “no” tally to a lopsided 59% to 41% victory. The same day, the US Department of Justice sued Idaho over its law banning abortion after six weeks, saying that federal law requires doctors and hospitals to perform abortions when necessary to preserve a pregnant person’s health. ▷ 40 ● Worldwide, there have been 580 million Covid-19 cases, more than 6.4m people have died, and 12.4 billion vaccine doses have been administered. Meanwhile, with the global monkeypox outbreak continuing to accelerate, President Joe Biden named Robert Fenton, a FEMA administrator, to coordinate the White House response. ● The EPA says climate change has shrunk the mountain snowpacks in…

From Day 1, President Joe Biden’s immigration policy has been largely incoherent. It’s now verging on a crisis. In June authorities recorded 191,898 apprehensions at the border, after more than 222,000 in May. Would-be migrants have been processed after crossing the southwestern border more than 1.7 million times so far this year, already exceeding last year’s record. Distinctive catastrophes—such as the deaths of 53 migrants in June in an abandoned tractor-trailer in San Antonio—have only punctuated these grim figures. With this influx has come a host of related problems. Human trafficking has surged. Huge amounts of illegal weapons and drugs—in particular, fentanyl—have turned up. So far this year, 56 migrants have been flagged by the Terrorist Screening Database, up from 15 last year. More than 15,000 unaccompanied children were picked up…

▶ On Aug. 12, Russia publishes its quarterly GDP. High commodities prices may offer some lift, but Yale economists say sanctions have caused its economy to shrink up to 40%. ▶ Aramco, the world’s most valuable company, releases its quarterly earnings on Aug. 14. BP, Shell, and other big oil companies have already reported bumper earnings. ▶ Kenya elects new leaders and legislators on Aug. 9. All the presidential candidates except Deputy President William Ruto have chosen a woman as their running mate. ▶ Mexico’s central bank makes its latest interest-rate decision on Aug. 11. Banxico has signaled it will effect further hikes to help the country battle inflation, which has been running near 8%. ▶ London’s Heathrow reports July traffic figures on Aug. 10. Beset by cancellations and chaos, the UK’s busiest airport…

Let’s say you come home and there’s a gorilla sitting on the couch in your nicely appointed living room. You are partly to blame for leaving the door unlocked, but world events have also conspired to let him in the door. You are carrying a baseball bat. But you know that getting into a fight with an unruly 300-pound beast is going to wreck the house. You try nudging him out the door without creating a lot of collateral damage, but that doesn’t work. So now it’s clear that some furniture is going to get broken. This is the situation Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell finds himself in today. The gorilla, of course, is the US inflation rate, which hit a punishing 9.1% in June, pumped up by higher energy costs and…

For fans of professional sports, the overtures from the crypto industry have become almost impossible to miss: The names of exchanges and blockchain companies are emblazoned on team jerseys, plastered on stadiums, and beckoning from halftime TV commercials. They’re talked up by star players who enjoy lucrative endorsement deals. This nascent band of businesses has moved aggressively since last year to match the advertising muscle of beer brands, carmakers, telecom service providers, and other stalwart sports sponsors. Binance Holdings Ltd., based in the Cayman Islands, has signed contracts with soccer icon Cristiano Ronaldo and the Africa Cup of Nations tournament. Coinbase Global Inc. has struck agreements with the National Basketball Association and top star Kevin Durant. FTX in the Bahamas has arrangements with Major League Baseball and franchises ranging from the NBA’s…

Matt Damon Actor The Good Will Hunting star gained infamy as the face of the “Fortune Favors the Brave” campaign for the exchange Crypto.com. His ad made its debut on Oct. 28, 2021. ● PRICE ACTION Bitcoin’s price dropped more than 60% between the ad’s first airing and July 29. ● THE LATEST Damon has been pilloried for promoting a risky investment to his fans, with ridicule coming from South Park and Stephen Colbert’s Late Show. Tom Brady Football player The seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback announced his equity stake in a crypto trading platform in June 2021, appearing in an ad saying: “I’m getting into crypto with FTX. You in?” In several spots he appeared with his wife, the model Gisele Bündchen. ● PRICE ACTION Fans who got in when the ads made their debut have so far seen Bitcoin plummet…