Mar 21, 2018

Bombing in Kabul kills at least 31

An Afghan woman speaks to a soldier after the attack. Photo: SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images

A suicide bomber struck a group of people who had been celebrating the Persian new year near a Shiite shrine in Kabul, Afghanistan. ISIS has claimed responsibility.

The bigger picture: The past few months have been particularly bloody in the Afghan capital, with the Taliban also carrying out attacks. The local ISIS affiliate has targeted Shiites in the past, per the NY Times.

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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.

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Margaret Talev

Axios-Ipsos Coronavirus Index: The virus hits home

Data: Ipsos/Axios poll; Chart: Danielle Alberti/Axios

The share of Americans who know someone who's tested positive has more than tripled in just a few weeks, to 14%, according to the latest installment of our Axios-Ipsos Coronavirus Index.

It's still highest in the Northeast, but last week alone it doubled in the South — and it's becoming most pronounced among people who still must leave home to work.

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