Feb 3, 2017 - Politics & Policy

Ivanka and Jared were the keys to protecting Obama’s LGBTQ order

Alex Brandon / AP

Politico reports that two sources close to Ivanka and Jared Kushner said that the couple worked to get Trump to release a statement clarifying that he'd uphold Obama's 2014 executive order protecting LGBTQ rights. He did just that in a statement Tuesday night.

White House officials said that the draft that is circulating now would never have reached Trump's desk, as it was one of some 200 orders that were considered during the transition and was never meant to be signed into law.

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Barak Ravid, author of from Tel Aviv
13 mins ago - World

Scoop: Secret Israel-Sudan contacts paved the way for deal sealed by Trump

Trump on the phone with the leaders of Sudan and Israel. Photo: Alex Edelman/AFP via Getty

While the U.S. officially brokered the Israel-Sudan normalization deal, it was Israel that facilitated talks between the U.S. and Sudan on the broader deal that included Sudan’s removal from America’s state sponsors of terrorism list.

Why it matters: Israel’s secret contacts with Sudanese officials paved the way for a deal that was nearly a year in the making.

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Axios
Updated 15 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

  1. Politics: Biden ahead in Wisconsin, Michigan as cases surge in the Midwest.
  2. Health: Surge "is real" and not just caused by more tests, Trump's testing czar says — Mask mandates help control the rise in hospitalizations.
  3. Business: Surge is sinking consumer confidence — Testing is a windfall.
  4. Media: Pandemic causes TV providers to lose the most subscribers ever.
  5. World: Putin mandates face masks.
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Orion Rummler
38 mins ago - Health

Trump's testing czar: COVID surge "is real" and not just caused by more tests

Assistant Secretary of Health Adm. Brett Giroir, who leads the federal government's coronavirus testing response, pushed back on Wednesday against President Trump's continued claims that rising coronavirus cases are a product of increased testing.

The big picture: Every available piece of data shows that the pandemic is getting worse again across the country. Hospitalizations are on the rise — and some hospitals are warning that they could soon be overwhelmed — while 13 states set new highs last week for coronavirus infections recorded in a single day.

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