Mar 22, 2018

State Department approves $1 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia

Haley Britzky

President Donald Trump meets Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Photo: Kevin Dietsch-Pool / Getty Images

The Trump administration has approved three possible Foreign Military sales to Saudi Arabia, worth slightly over $1 billion. The sale includes more than 6,500 missiles, helicopter maintenance support, additional parts for land vehicles, and more.

Why it matters: This comes the same day Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and days after Prince Mohammed bin Salman met with the president. The Senate recently voted down a resolution that would have pulled U.S. military support from the Saudi coalition in Yemen.

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Coronavirus kills 2 Diamond Princess passengers and South Korea sees first death

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins, the CDC, and China's Health Ministry. U.S. numbers include Americans extracted from Princess Cruise ship.

Two elderly Diamond Princess passengers have been killed by the novel coronavirus — the first deaths confirmed among the more than 600 infected aboard the cruise ship. South Korea also announced its first death Thursday.

The big picture: COVID-19 has now killed more than 2,200 people and infected over 75,465 others, mostly in mainland China, where the National Health Commission announced 118 new deaths since Thursday.

Go deeperArrowUpdated 3 hours ago - Health
Ina Fried

SoftBank to cut its stake to get T-Mobile's Sprint deal done

Illustration: Rebecca Zisser/Axios

T-Mobile and Sprint announced a revised merger agreement that will see SoftBank getting a smaller share of the combined company, while most shareholders will receive the previously agreed upon exchange rate. The companies said they hope to get the deal as early as April 1.

Why it matters: The amended deal reflects the decline in Sprint's business, while leaving most shareholders' stake intact and removing another hurdle to the deal's closure.

Go deeperArrow6 hours ago - Technology
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Keep ReadingArrowUpdated 6 hours ago - Politics & Policy