Dec 29, 2019 - Technology

Elon Musk hopes Boring Co. Las Vegas tunnel to be operational in 2020

Elon Musk unveils the Boring Test Tunnel in Hawthorne, Calif., in December 2018. Photo: Robyn Beck-Pool/Getty Images

Elon Musk tweeted late Friday that his startup Boring Co. will have a transportation tunnel it's building in Las Vegas "hopefully fully operational in 2020."

Why it matters: Per Axios' Joann Muller, Vegas is the first paying customer for Musk's hyperloop idea aimed at easing traffic woes in highly congested cities, which began as a joke tweet in 2016. The transit system would shorten what would be a 15-minute walk to a one-minute ride.

The big picture: Boring Co. announced in November that the convention center tunnel would be completed by January 2021. Preliminary work on the $48.7 million project, including pit construction, began in September.

  • The Vegas tunnel is the firm’s "only major project so far other than a mile-long test tunnel in Hawthorne, California," Bloomberg notes. But Musk indicated on Twitter more projects were in the works:

Go deeper: In photos: Elon Musk reveals Boring Co.'s underground tunnel

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Fadel Allassan
27 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Americans reflect on Independence Day amid racism reckoning

A Black Lives Matter banner and a United States flag on the facade of the U.S. embassy building in Seoul, South Korea. Photo: Simon Shin/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

America's leaders are rethinking how they view Independence Day, as the country reckons with the historic, unequal treatment of people of color during a pandemic which has disproportionately affected nonwhite Americans.

Why it matters: The country’s legacy of racism has come into sharp focus in the weeks of protests following the death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody. From Confederate statues to Mount Rushmore, Americans are reexamining the symbols and traditions they elevate and the history behind them.

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Axios
Updated 3 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 2 p.m. ET: 10,945,600 — Total deaths: 523,035 — Total recoveries — 5,797,206 — Map.
  2. U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 2 p.m. ET: 2,767,669 — Total deaths: 128,951 — Total recoveries: 781,970 — Total tested: 33,462,181 — Map.
  3. Public health: The states where face coverings are mandatory — Fauci says it has been a "very disturbing week" for the spread of the coronavirus in the U.S.
  4. Economy: The economy may recover just quickly enough to kill political interest in more stimulus.
  5. States: Florida reports more than 10,000 new coronavirus cases, and its most-infected county issues curfew.
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Rashaan Ayesh
5 hours ago - Sports

Washington Redskins to review team name amid public pressure

Photo: Patrick McDermott/Getty Images

The Washington Redskins have announced they will be conducting a review of the team's name after mounting pressure from the public and corporate sponsors.

Why it matters: This review is the first formal step the Redskins are taking since the debate surrounding the name first began. It comes after weeks of discussions between the team and the NFL, the team said.

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