Oct 15, 2019

MGM agrees to sell Bellagio for $4.25 billion

Photo: George Rose/Getty Images

MGM Resorts International on Tuesday announced it will sell its Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas to the Blackstone Group, and then lease back the property, in a $4.25 billion deal.

By the numbers: It also agreed to an $825 million sale for Circus Circus with real estate mogul Phil Ruffin.

The bottom line: MGM has been under investor pressure to cut its debt, although earlier reports suggested that its Blackstone talks were for a larger deal that also would have included MGM Grand Las Vegas.

Go deeper... Earlier: Blackstone prepares to bet again on Vegas

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Sara Fischer

23 mins ago - Technology

Snapchat will no longer promote Trump's account in Discover

Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Snapchat will no longer promote President Trump's account on its "Discover" page of curated content, a spokesperson tells Axios, after Trump tweeted comments that some suggested glorified violence amid racial justice protests.

Why it matters: Snapchat is taking action on the president's account for comments he made elsewhere. That's going farther than other big tech firms and signals a commitment to aligning content served to users with core values, rather than making moderation decisions based narrowly on each post made on its own platform.

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Axios

Updated 1 hour ago - Politics & Policy

Esper catches White House off guard with opposition to military use, photo op

Defense Secretary Mark Esper said at a press briefing Wednesday that he does not support invoking the Insurrection Act, an 1807 law that permits the president to use active-duty troops on U.S. soil, in order to quell protests against racial injustice.

Why it matters: President Trump threatened this week to deploy military forces if state and local governments aren't able to squash violent protests. Axios reported on Wednesday that Trump is backing off the idea for now, but that he hasn't ruled it out.

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Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian, Zach Dorfman of the Aspen Institute

1 hour ago - World

Chinese coronavirus test maker agreed to build a Xinjiang gene bank

Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios

A leading Chinese gene sequencing and biomedical firm that said it would build a gene bank in Xinjiang is supplying coronavirus tests around the world.

Why it matters: U.S. officials are worried that widespread coronavirus testing may provide an opportunity for state-connected companies to compile massive DNA databases for research as well as genetics-based surveillance.

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