Sep 26, 2019 - Health

Tobacco giants Altria and Philip Morris ditch merger plans

Photo: FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images

Altria (NYSE: MO) and Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM) said they are no longer in talks for an all-stock merger, which would have reunited the two cigarette makers after more than a decade apart.

Why it matters: It reflects tobacco industry tumult over the Trump administration's proposal to ban flavored vaping products, although the two companies still plan to launch a joint, FDA-approved, "heat-not-burn" vaping product called IQOS.

The bottom line: The deal's death raises new questions about if either company will make a distressed takeover play for Juul, whose newly-installed CEO K.C. Crosthwaite previously led IQOS for Altria (which already holds a 35% Juul stake).

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Axios

Updated 9 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios

Global: Total confirmed cases as of 5 a.m. ET: 12,051,561 — Total deaths: 549,735 — Total recoveries — 6,598,230 — Map.
U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 5 a.m. ET: 3,055,144 — Total deaths: 132,309 — Total recoveries: 953,420 — Total tested: 37,532,612 — Map.
2020: Houston mayor cancels Texas Republican convention.
Public health: Deaths are rising in hotspots — Déjà vu sets in as testing issues rise and PPE dwindles.
Travel: United warns employees it may furlough 45% of U.S. workforce — How the pandemic changed mobility habits, by state.
Education: New York City schools will not fully reopen in fall — Harvard and MIT sue Trump administration over rule barring foreign students from online classes.

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Sam Baker, Andrew Witherspoon

29 mins ago - Health

Coronavirus cases rise in 33 states

Data: The COVID Tracking Project, state health departments; Map: Andrew Witherspoon, Sara Wise, Naema Ahmed, Danielle Alberti/Axios

The coronavirus pandemic keeps getting worse, all across the country. Thirty-three states saw their caseloads increase this week, continuing a scary nationwide trend that’s been getting worse since mid-June.

Why it matters: The U.S. is right back in the situation we were afraid of earlier this year, with a rapidly spreading outbreak, strained hospitals, and projections of more than 200,000 deaths by the end of the year.

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Rashaan Ayesh

11 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

Photo: Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.