Oct 17, 2018

House Democrats denounce Trump's claims of Chinese election meddling

Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

Democrats on several House committees, including Homeland Security and Armed Services, said in a joint statement Wednesday that a briefing from the Department of Homeland Security last week does not support President Trump and Vice President Pence's statements that Chinese interference in U.S. elections surpasses that of Russia.

Why it matters: This provides insight into the kinds of information the White House has access to on Chinese interference, which the administration has been publicly discussing since Trump claimed China was meddling in U.S. elections without offering evidence. The Democrats — Reps. Bennie Thompson, Elijah Cummings, Jerrold Nadler, Adam Smith and Robert Brady — claim the White House is "driven by partisan politics" in pushing this narrative forward "rather than the facts."

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Axios

Updated 49 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Global: Total confirmed cases as of 2 p.m. ET: 6,325,303 — Total deaths: 377,460 — Total recoveries — 2,727,679 — Map.
U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 2 p.m. ET: 1,820,523 — Total deaths: 105,644 — Total recoveries: 458,231 — Total tested: 17,340,682 — Map.
Public health: Protests against police brutality threaten coronavirus response — Controlling the virus in nursing homes won't be easy.
Business: More than 1 in 6 black workers lost jobs between February and April.
Climate: The alarm over climate financial risk gets louder because of coronavirus.
Media: Interest in the George Floyd protests has soared past the coronavirus.

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Rebecca Falconer

Updated 1 hour ago - Politics & Policy

Updates: George Floyd protests nationwide

Police officers wearing riot gear push back demonstrators outside of the White House on Monday. Photo: Jose Luis Magana/AFP via Getty Images

Protests over the death of George Floyd and other police-related killings of black people continued across the U.S., inciting a federal response from President Trump, the National Guard, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection.

The latest: Immigration agents have been deployed to assist federal, state and local law enforcement. The U.S. Secret Service closed the streets immediately on all four sides of the White House Tuesday, until "riots become peaceful, or stop."

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Miriam Kramer

1 hour ago - Science

NASA passes the torch

Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios

With the historic crewed SpaceX launch last weekend, NASA passed the torch to private companies that will need to step up to build the economy the space agency envisions in orbit.

Why it matters: This new era of spaceflight will likely be marked by new conflicts — possibly including product placement (like the Tesla that drove the astronauts to the pad on Saturday), safety concerns and cultural differences between companies, the space agencies and people they serve.

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