Feb 15, 2018

Appeals court rules Trump's latest travel ban unconstitutional

People at a protest against President Donald Trump's third travel ban last October. Photo: Samuel Corum / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images

President Donald Trump’s latest travel ban targeting people from six Muslim-majority countries violates the Constitution, a Virginia federal appeals court ruled on Thursday.

Why it matters: This ruling will not have any immediate effect. The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear the travel ban case this coming spring, and said the policy can by fully implemented while appeals made their way through the lower courts.

The backdrop: The third iteration of the ban seeks to block immigrants and temporary visitors from Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen, as well as North Koreans and certain Venezuelan government officials. A Maryland federal district court ruled against the ban last October, prompting the Trump administration to file an appeal.

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Kim Hart, Sara Fischer

Coronavirus breaks the telecom bundle

Reproduced from Park Associates "Broadband Services in the U.S." report; Note: 2019 survey was conducted in Q3, with 10,059 respondents and a ±1% margin of error; Chart: Axios Visuals

Consumers are adopting stand-alone broadband services at a much higher rate than just two years ago, and analysts predict that the economic downturn prompted by the COVID-19 outbreak will accelerate the trend.

Why it matters: With a recession looming, consumers may look to cut pay TV service in favor of more robust standalone internet packages once they're free to leave their homes.

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Erica Pandey

America's funeral homes buckle under the coronavirus

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

Morgues, funeral homes and cemeteries in hot spots across America cannot keep up with the staggering death toll of the coronavirus pandemic.

Why it matters: The U.S. has seen more than 10,000 deaths from the virus, and at least tens of thousands more lives are projected to be lost. The numbers are creating unprecedented bottlenecks in the funeral industry — and social distancing is changing the way the families say goodbye to their loved ones.

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Jonathan Swan, Margaret Talev

Navarro memos warning of mass coronavirus death circulated in January

Image from a memo to President Trump

In late January, President Trump's economic adviser Peter Navarro warned his White House colleagues the novel coronavirus could take more than half a million American lives and cost close to $6 trillion, according to memos obtained by Axios.

The state of play: By late February, Navarro was even more alarmed, and he warned his colleagues, in another memo, that up to two million Americans could die of the virus.

Go deeperUpdated 2 hours ago - Health