Dec 16, 2018

Putin urges cultural advisers to crack down on rap music

Photo: Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that cultural advisers need to find a way to control rap music, as it grows in popularity with Russian youth, the Associated Press reports.

Details: Putin said rap is "based on three pillars: sex, drugs and protest," and that "if it is impossible to stop, then we must lead it and direct it." He told advisers on Saturday in St. Petersburg that the theme of drugs in rap music is "a path to the degradation of the nation."

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Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Global: Total confirmed cases as of 3 a.m. ET: 786,291 — Total deaths: 37,820 — Total recoveries: 166,088.
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.
Federal government latest: The White House will extend its social distancing guidelines until April 30.
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.
Business latest: Ford and General Electric aim to make 50,000 ventilators in 100 days.
In photos: Navy hospital ship arrives in Manhattan.
What should I do? Answers about the virus from Axios experts — What to know about social distancing — Q&A: Minimizing your coronavirus risk.
Other resources: CDC on how to avoid the virus, what to do if you get it.

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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 deaths.

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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 surpassed 3,000 late Monday.

The state of play: There were more than 164,000 confirmed cases in the U.S. early Tuesday — more than any other country in the world, per Johns Hopkins data. The COVID-19 death toll stood at 3,170. The number of recoveries had risen to more than 5,900.

Go deeperUpdated 6 hours ago - Health