Mar 12, 2018

Israeli government to sell Uzi maker

Photo by Sven Nackstrand/Getty Images

Israel's Elbit Systems has agreed to buy IMI Systems, a weapons maker known for Uzi submachine guns, for around $523 million from the Israeli government (which announced plans to privatize IMI back in 2013).

Why it matters: Because it likely would create Israel's largest defense contracting company.

Go deeper at Haaretz: "The deal will create a company with a heavy emphasis on research and development, and whose product range will extend from IMI’s shoulder-launched missiles, precision-guided mortar munitions and rocket-propulsion systems to Elbit’s portfolio of avionic systems, drones and intelligence and cybertechnology."

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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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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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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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