Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday

Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday

May 17, 2017 - Politics & Policy

What you missed during the Comey memo news

Alayna Treene, author of Sneak Peek

AP

Violence broke out during a protest outside of the Turkish embassy in D.C. following Trump's meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. 9 people were injured and 2 were arrested.
The majority of Americans told the EPA not to roll back regulations that, if cut, could return the country to a more polluted era. Their responses come after Trump's March executive order calling to repeal, replace and modify unnecessary regulations. (WaPo)
Sally Yates' interview with Anderson Cooper, in which she said the "timing and the motivation" behind Comey's firing raises "serious questions."
Federal investigators issued a subpoena for records relating to Paul Manafort, per NBC. The subpoena allegedly pertains to Manafort not paying taxes on a $3.5 million Hamptons home that he bought after leaving the Trump campaign.
New Orleans removed a statue of Confederate General Beauregard, the third of four Confederate-era monuments that officials plan to take down.

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Jennifer A. Kingson

51 mins ago - Politics & Policy

The modern way to hire a big-city police chief

Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios

When it comes to picking a city's top cop, closed-door selection processes have been replaced by highly public exercises where everyone gets to vet the candidates — who must have better community-relations skills than ever.

Why it matters: In the post-George-Floyd era, with policing under utmost scrutiny, the choosing of a police chief has become something akin to an election, with the need to build consensus around a candidate. And the candidate pool has gotten smaller.

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Felix Salmon, author of Capital

1 hour ago - Economy & Business

Speculative crypto art market takes off

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

Move over, GameStop. The newest speculative game in town is NFTs — digital files that can be owned and traded on a plethora of new online platforms.

Why it matters: Most NFTs include some kind of still or moving image, which makes them similar to many physical art objects. Some of them, including a gif of Nyan Cat flying through the sky with a pop-tart body and rainbow trail, can be worth more than your house.

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Sam Baker, Andrew Witherspoon

2 hours ago - Health

New coronavirus cases fall by 20%

Expand chart

Data: The COVID Tracking Project, state health departments; Map: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios

New coronavirus infections continued their sharp decline over the past week, and are now back down to pre-Thanksgiving levels.

The big picture: Given the U.S.’ experience over the past year, it can be hard to trust anything that looks like good news, without fearing that another shoe is about to drop. But the U.S. really is doing something right lately. Cases are way down, vaccinations are way up, and that’s going to save a lot of lives.

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