Sep 22, 2019 - Politics & Policy

Alaska Republican Party cancels 2020 primary in support of Trump

President Trump during a news conference in the White House Friday. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images

The Alaska Republican Party has become the latest state GOP to cancel its 2020 presidential primary in a show of support for President Trump, the Anchorage Daily News first reported Saturday.

The big picture: The Republican parties in the key early nominating states of Nevada and South Carolina voted this month not to hold contests, as did Kansas and Arizona.

  • Trump has a near-90% approval rating within the GOP. But he faces challenges for the party's nomination from former congressman Joe Walsh, ex-Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld and former congressman and South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford.

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Axios
Updated 59 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Supreme Court clears way for first federal execution since 2003

Lethal injection facility in San Quentin, California. Photo: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation via Getty Images

The Supreme Court ruled early Tuesday that federal executions can resume, reversing a lower court decision and paving the way for the first lethal injection since 2003 to take place at a federal prison in Indiana, AP reports.

The big picture: A lower court had delayed the execution, saying inmates had provided evidence the government's plan to carry out executions using lethal injections "poses an unconstitutionally significant risk of serious pain."

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Sam Baker
2 hours ago - Health

More Republicans say they're wearing masks

Data: Axios/Ipsos poll; Chart: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios

Nearly two-thirds of Americans — and a noticeably increasing number of Republicans — say they’re wearing a face mask whenever they leave the house, according to the latest installment of the Axios-Ipsos Coronavirus Index.

Why it matters: A weakening partisan divide over masks, and a broad-based increase in the number of people wearing them, would be a welcome development as most of the country tries to beat back a rapidly growing outbreak.

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Joann Muller
2 hours ago - Economy & Business

Buildings are getting tested for coronavirus, too

Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios

Testing buildings — not just people — could be an important way to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Why it matters: People won't feel safe returning to schools, offices, bars and restaurants unless they can be assured they won't be infected by coronavirus particles lingering in the air — or being pumped through the buildings' air ducts. One day, even office furniture lined with plants could be used to clean air in cubicles.

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