Dec 23, 2018

Trump pushes out James Mattis sooner than expected

Axios

Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan will become the acting secretary on January 1, President Trump tweeted on Sunday.

Why it matters: This is two months earlier than Secretary James Mattis announced last week, a delay meant to ensure a smooth transition. While Trump initially praised Mattis after announcing his exit, the secretary's stark letter seems to have turned Trump, who has since publicly criticized Mattis.

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Axios

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 3 a.m. ET: 786,291 — Total deaths: 37,820 — Total recoveries: 166,088.
  2. U.S.: Leads the world in confirmed cases. Total confirmed cases as of 3 a.m. ET: 164,620 — Total deaths: 3,170— Total recoveries: 5,943.
  3. Federal government latest: The White House will extend its social distancing guidelines until April 30.
  4. State updates: Rural-state governors say testing is still inadequate, contradicting Trump — Virginia, Maryland and D.C. issue stay-at-home orders to residents, joining 28 other states.
  5. Business latest: Ford and General Electric aim to make 50,000 ventilators in 100 days.
  6. In photos: Navy hospital ship arrives in Manhattan.
  7. What should I do? Answers about the virus from Axios experts — What to know about social distancing — Q&A: Minimizing your coronavirus risk.
  8. Other resources: CDC on how to avoid the virus, what to do if you get it.

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Keep ReadingArrowUpdated 29 mins ago - Politics & Policy
Axios

World coronavirus updates: World Bank warns economic pain unavoidable

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins, the CDC, and China's Health Ministry. Note: China numbers are for the mainland only and U.S. numbers include repatriated citizens and confirmed plus presumptive cases from the CDC

The novel coronavirus has caused a "global shock" and significant economic pain "seems unavoidable in all countries," the World Bank said in an economic update for
East Asia and the Pacific on Monday.

The big picture: COVID-19 cases surged past 786,000 and the death toll exceeded 37,800 early Tuesday, per Johns Hopkins data. Italy reported more than 11,500 total deaths.

Go deeperArrowUpdated 1 hour ago - Health
Rebecca Falconer, Orion Rummler, Marisa Fernandez

U.S. coronavirus updates: Death toll tops 3,000

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins; Map: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios

The U.S. death toll from the novel coronavirus has now surpassed 3,000, per Johns Hopkins data.

The state of play: The U.S. had by Monday night recorded more than 163,000 positive cases — more than any other country in the world, per Johns Hopkins. The COVID-19 death toll stood at 3,008. The number of recoveries had risen to more than 5,800.

Go deeperArrowUpdated 5 hours ago - Health