Jul 12, 2017 - Politics & Policy

State Dept. booked rooms at Trump Vancouver hotel for grand opening

Evan Vucci / AP

The State Department booked 19 rooms at the Trump International Hotel Tower in Vancouver at a cost of more than $15,000 during the grand opening of the complex in February that was attended by the Trump children, per a FOIA request by The Washington Post.

The reason: The documents obtained showing the expenditure were highly redacted, but State told WaPo that generally "[e]mbassy and consulate personnel work with the Secret Service to provide assistance on security matters as necessary for conditions in the particular host country."

Worth noting: The Trump hotel in Vancouver isn't actually owned by The Trump Organization — it simply got its name and branding via a management and licensing deal, and Trump earns royalties from the arrangement.

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Axios

Updated 4 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios

Global: Total confirmed cases as of 9:30 p.m. ET: 20,207,011 — Total deaths: 738,910— Total recoveries: 12,452,222 — Map.
U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 9:30 p.m. ET: 5,140,512 — Total deaths: 164,502 — Total recoveries: 1,714,960 — Total tests: 63,252,257 — Map.
States: Georgia reports 137 coronavirus deaths, setting new daily record — Florida reports another daily record for deaths.
Health care: Trump administration buys 100 million doses of Moderna's coronavirus vaccine.
Business: Moderna reveals it may not hold patent rights for vaccine.
Sports: Big Ten scraps fall football season.
World: Anthony Fauci "seriously" doubts Russia's coronavirus vaccine is safe

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Axios

Updated 46 mins ago - Health

World coronavirus updates

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins; Map: Axios Visuals

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said it's too early to say whether next month's elections will be postponed after she announced Tuesday four people had tested positive for COVID-19 after no local cases for 102 days.

Zoom in: NZ's most populous city, Auckland, has gone on lockdown for 72 hours and the rest of the country is under lesser restrictions.

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Rashaan Ayesh

3 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Voters cast ballots in Minnesota, Georgia, Connecticut, Wisconsin and Vermont

Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Primary elections are being held on Tuesday in Minnesota, Georgia, Connecticut, Vermont and Wisconsin.

The big picture: Georgia and Wisconsin both struggled to hold primaries during the coronavirus pandemic, but are doing so again — testing their voting systems ahead of the general election. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) is facing a strong challenger as she fights for her political career. In Georgia, a Republican primary runoff pits a QAnon supporter against a hardline conservative.