Apr 2, 2020 - Health

PepsiCo Foundation to distribute 50 million meals amid coronavirus outbreak

Mike Allen, author of AM

The PepsiCo Foundation announced Thursday the largest grant in its 62-year history — a $45 million program that includes 50 million nutritious meals for at-risk people amid the coronavirus outbreak, distributed by food banks and other partners around the world.

The state of play: Among the recipients are students whose schools are closed. Meals have already been shipped to Alaska, the Bronx, the Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma, and many other places, a company official told Axios.

PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Ramon Laguarta said in a statement: "Food is at the heart of what PepsiCo does."

  • The foundation is also supporting Children’s Health Foundation vans that are providing mobile coronavirus testing in New Rochelle, N.Y., and collecting blood from recently recovered patients whose plasma will be used to boost others' immunity.

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Zachary Basu
Updated 25 mins ago - World

Protests erupt in Belarus after "Europe's last dictator" claims election win

Protesters and riot police clash in Minsk, Belarus, on Sunday during a demonstration against President Alexander Lukashenko's claim of a landslide victory. Photo: Misha Friedman/Getty Images)

Riot police clashed with protesters in Belarus overnight after a government exit poll predicted Sunday President Aleksander Lukashenko, an authoritarian who has ruled the Eastern European country since 1994, had overwhelmingly defeated a pro-democracy opposition candidate.

Why it matters: It's a precarious moment for the former Soviet republic, where decades of repression and a complete disregard for the coronavirus pandemic threaten to topple "Europe's last dictator." Rights groups said at least one protester was killed and dozens more wounded in a "police crackdown," per AP.

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Axios
Updated 39 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 11 a.m. ET: 19,909,062 — Total deaths: 732,128 — Total recoveries — 12,138,271 — Map.
  2. U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 11 a.m. ET: 5,053,123 — Total deaths: 163,047 — Total recoveries: 1,656,864 — Total tests: 61,792,571 — Map.
  3. Business: Richer Americans are more comfortable eating out.
  4. Public health: How America can do smarter testing.
  5. Sports: The cost of kids losing gym class — College football is on the brink.
  6. 🎧 Podcast: Indoor air is the next hotspot.
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Kia Kokalitcheva
2 hours ago - Economy & Business

Twitter jumps into the fray for TikTok

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Twitter is the latest to join the cast of the ongoing spectacle that is TikTok’s battle to stay open for business in the U.S., per a new report from the Wall Street Journal.

Why it matters: The saga to keep TikTok available to U.S. users is getting more complicated, with the company already in a President Trump-imposed time crunch and juggling a number of options.

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