Apr 15, 2020 - Technology

Pentagon watchdog says White House didn't influence $10B Microsoft contract

President Trump with Microsoft CEO Stya Nadella and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in 2017. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The Pentagon's inspector general reported Wednesday that the White House did not influence the Defense Department's decision to award a $10 billion cloud-computing contract to Microsoft over Amazon, CNBC reports.

Why it matters: Amazon sued the department last year, claiming that President Trump influenced the decision by repeatedly and publicly criticizing the company and its CEO, Jeff Bezos.

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Axios
Updated 31 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

  1. Politics: Fauci: Trump hasn't been to a COVID task force meeting in months — Trump claims COVID "will go away" during debate.
  2. Sports: The youth sports exodus continues — Big Ten football is back.
  3. Health: How to help save 130,000 lives — FDA approves Gilead's remdesivir as treatment — How the pandemic might end — Many U.S. deaths were avoidable.
  4. Retail: Santa won't greet kids at Macy's this year.
  5. World: Spain and France exceed 1 million cases.
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Shawna Chen
47 mins ago - Health

Fauci: Trump hasn't been to a COVID task force meeting in months

Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

President Trump has not attended a White House coronavirus task force meeting in “several months,” NIAID director Anthony Fauci told MSNBC on Friday.

Why it matters: At the beginning of the pandemic, the task force, led by Vice President Mike Pence, met every day, but in the "last several weeks," members have held virtual meetings once a week, Fauci said, even as the number of new cases continues to surge in the country.

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Axios
1 hour ago - Health

How to help save 130,000 lives

People wear face masks outside Grand Central Terminal in New York City. Photo: Noam Galai/Getty Images

Nearly 130,000 fewer people will die of COVID-19 this winter if 95% of Americans wear face masks in public, according to research published Friday.

Why it matters: “Increasing mask use is one of the best strategies that we have right now to delay the imposition of social distancing mandates," Dr. Christopher Murray of the University of Washington told the N.Y. Times.

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