DIGEST ELECTION 2020 US strikes at Taliban forces ......assault on Afghan government forces in...
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NATION & WORLD STEVE PEOPLES AND BILL BARROW Associated Press WASHINGTON — His front-runner status slipping, Ber- nie Sanders refocused his Demo- cratic presidential campaign on surging rival Joe Biden on Wednes- day as the Vermont senator’s allies grappled with the fallout from a Super Tuesday stumble that raised internal concerns about the direc- tion of his White House bid. Sanders targeted Biden’s record on trade, Social Security and fund- raising just hours after billionaire Mike Bloomberg suspended his campaign and Elizabeth Warren confirmed she was privately re- assessing her future in the race. The dramatic shifts signaled that the Democrats’ once-crowded nomination fight had effectively come down to a two-man race for the right to face President Donald Trump in November. Sanders declared himself “neck and neck” with Biden as he faced reporters in his home state, Ver- mont, one of just four states he captured on the most consequen- tial day of voting in the party’s 2020 primary season. Biden won 10 states, assembling victories that transcended geography, race and class. “What this campaign, I think, is increasingly about is, which side are you on?” Sanders said. The progressive candidate lobbed familiar attacks against the former vice president’s re- cord but ignored supporters’ calls to be more aggressive and in- sisted his campaign would avoid any “Trump-type effort” that in- cluded personal criticism. “I like Joe. I think he’s a decent human being,” Sanders said. “Joe and I have a very different vision for the future of this country.” Biden told reporters he would unify the country and, without naming Sanders, knocked the sen- ator’s frequent contention that he is beholden to an elite party estab- lishment. Elected officials and leading donors rallied around Biden af- ter his Super Tuesday romp. Top Democrats have long been skep- tical of the 77-year-old lifelong politician’s political strength but raced to unite behind him to blunt Sanders’ rise. After suspending his campaign, Bloomberg became the fourth failed Democratic presidential contender this week to endorse Biden. Like the growing chorus of Democratic officials, Bloomberg called Biden the best chance to de- feat Trump in the general election. A resurgent Biden, meanwhile, was poised to finish Super Tuesday with more delegates than Sanders — a stunning shift. Sanders’ team had hoped he would finish the night more than 100 delegates ahead of his next closest compet- itor. He’ll likely finish dozens of delegates behind once all the votes are counted. Bloomberg ends run; Warren reevaluates her future in race ASSOCIATED PRESS SEATTLE — The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus climbed to 11 on Wednesday with a patient dying in California — the first reported fatality outside Washington state — as federal authorities announced an investigation of the Seattle-area nursing home where most of the victims were stricken. Officials in California’s Placer County, near Sacramento, said an elderly person who tested positive after returning from a San Fran- cisco-to-Mexico cruise had died. The victim had underlying health problems, authorities said. Washington also announced an- other death, bringing its total to 10. Most of those who died were resi- dents of Life Care Center, a nursing home in Kirkland, a suburb east of Seattle. At least 39 cases have been reported in the Seattle area, where researchers say the virus may have been circulating undetected for weeks. California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a statewide emergency. Washington and Florida had al- ready declared emergencies. In the nation’s capital, the Dem- ocratic-controlled House passed an $8.3 billion measure Wednesday to battle the outbreak. The swift and sweeping bipar- tisan vote was a relative rarity in a polarized Washington and came just nine days after the president outlined a $2.5 billion plan that both Trump’s GOP allies and Dem- ocratic critics said was insufficient. The 415-2 vote came after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi beat a tacti- cal retreat on vaccine price guar- antees and followed a debate that lasted only a few minutes. “The government’s greatest re- sponsibility is to keep Americans safe,” said House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey, D-N.Y. “This emergency supplemental addresses the coro- navirus and takes critical steps to protect the American people from this deadly and expanding out- break.” The Senate is likely to pass the measure Thursday and send it to the White House for Trump’s signature. The legislation came together in little more than a week — and more than triples Trump’s request — sped along by fears of the outbreak’s growing threat. In Los Angeles, a contract med- ical worker who was conducting screenings at the city’s main air- port has tested positive for the virus. The person wore protective equipment while on the job so it was unclear how the worker con- tracted the virus, Homeland Secu- rity officials said. US death toll rises to 11 people California reports first fatality; lawmakers agree on $8.3B plan Sanders resets on Biden ELECTION 2020 STAN CHOE AND ALEX VEIGA Associated Press The Dow Jones Industrial Aver- age soared more than 1,100 points, or 4.5%, Wednesday as govern- ments and central banks around the globe took more aggressive measures to fight the virus out- break and its effects on the econ- omy. The gains more than recouped the market’s big losses from a day earlier as Wall Street’s wild, vi- rus-fueled swings extend into a third week. Stocks rose sharply from the get-go, led by big gains for health care stocks after Joe Biden solid- ified his contender status for the Democratic presidential nomina- tion. Investors see him as a more business-friendly alternative to Bernie Sanders. The rally’s momentum acceler- ated around midday after House and Senate leadership reached a deal on a bipartisan $8.3 billion bill to battle the coronavirus out- break. The House passed the bill Wednesday. Investors are also anticipating other central banks will follow up on the Federal Reserve’s surprise move Tuesday to slash interest rates by half a percentage point in hopes of protecting the econ- omy from the economic fallout of a fast-spreading virus. Canada’s central bank cut rates Wednesday. The S&P 500 rose 126.75 points, or 4.2%, to 3,130.12. The Dow gained 1,173.45 points to 27,090.86. The Nasdaq climbed 334 points, or 3.8%, to 9,018.09. MARK SHERMAN Associated Press WASHINGTON — A seem- ingly divided Supreme Court struggled Wednesday with its first major abortion case of the Trump era, leaving Chief Justice John Roberts as the likely decid- ing vote. Roberts did not say enough to tip his hand in an hour of spirited arguments at the high court. The court’s election-year look at a Louisiana dispute could re- veal how willing the more con- servative court is to roll back abortion rights. A decision should come by late June. The outcome could have huge consequences at a time when several states have passed laws, being challenged in the courts, that would ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, as early as six weeks. The justices are weighing a Louisiana law requiring doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. A federal judge found that just one of Louisiana’s three abortion clinics would remain open if the law is allowed to take effect. The federal appeals court in New Orleans, though, upheld the law, setting up the Supreme Court case. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg noted, as she had before, that “among medical procedures, first trimester abortion is among the safest, far safer than childbirth.” Perhaps the biggest question is whether the court will overrule a 2016 decision in which it struck down a similar law in Texas. Stocks rebound on stimulus hopes Justices seem divided with abortion case Roberts appears to be the swing vote, doesn’t tip his hand Dow rockets 1,173 points; central banks believed to follow Fed DIGEST US strikes at Taliban forces KABUL, Afghanistan — The U.S. on Wednesday conducted its first airstrike against Tali- ban forces in Afghanistan since signing an ambitious peace deal with the militant group. U.S. military spokesman Col. Sonny Leggett said in a tweet that the “defensive” strike was the first U.S. attack against the militants in 11 days. He said the attack was to counter a Taliban assault on Afghan government forces in Nahr-e Saraj in the southern Helmand province. Leggett added that Taliban forces conducted 43 attacks on Afghan troops on Tuesday in Helmand. Later Wednesday, top defense leaders told Congress that the results of the peace deal signed on Saturday have been mixed, but the insurgent group is abid- ing by much of the accord. Singaporean to head UN agency GENEVA — A Singaporean of- ficial defeated a candidate from China in a leadership contest for the U.N.’s intellectual property body, which was swept into a rift between Washington and Bei- jing over claims of Chinese theft of technological know-how. Daren Tang, 47, the CEO of Singapore’s intellectual prop- erty office, won a crucial nom- ination to become the next director-general of the World Intellectual Property Organiza- tion over China’s Wang Binyang, a veteran at the agency. The fight over the post pit the United States against Wang, prompting the Chinese ambas- sador to criticize an “attack” against a “competent” civil servant. She would have become the agency’s first woman chief at a time when the U.N. is promot- ing gender parity in high office. BRIEFLY PUBLIC LANDS: Senate leaders and the Trump administration reached an election-year deal to double spending on a popular conservation program and de- vote more than a $1 billion a year to clear a growing maintenance backlog at national parks. The deal, announced Wednesday by senators from both parties, would spend about $2.2 billion per year on conservation and outdoor recreation projects and park maintenance across the country. SHOCK DEVICES: Federal officials on Wednesday banned electrical shock devices used to discour- age aggressive, self-harming behavior in patients with mental disabilities. For years, the shock devices have been used by only one place in the U.S., the Judge Rotenberg Educational Cen- ter of Canton, Massachusetts, a residential school for people with psychiatric, developmental or mental disabilities. IMMIGRATION: Greece coun- tered accusations from Turkey on Wednesday that it was re- sponsible for the death of a mi- grant, as its border authorities strove for a sixth day to keep thousands of migrants out by using tear gas, stun grenades and water cannons. ELECTION: Prime Minister Ben- jamin Netanyahu fell short of capturing the majority needed to form a government, near-fi- nal election results showed Wednesday, deepening a year of political deadlock and appearing to dash the long-serving lead- er’s hopes for a decisive victory as his trial on corruption charges nears. SESSIONS: President Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at his former attorney general Jeff Sessions as the Alabama Republican advanced to a pri- mary runoff in his quest to win back his old Senate seat. Sessions held the seat for two decades, but was forced into a runoff with a political new- comer after being wounded by Trump’s prior criticisms of his recusal in the Russia investiga- tion. NUCLEAR WATCHDOG: Iran says requests from the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog for information and access to Iran’s nuclear sites must have a legal basis, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported Wednesday. — Associated Press VIRUS OUTBREAK ASSOCIATED PRESS TURKEY, SYRIA AND TURKISH LAWMAKERS DO BATTLE Legislators push each other as a brawl breaks out Wednesday in Turkey’s parliament in Ankara, Turkey. Lawmakers from opposing parties fought during a tense discussion about Turkey’s military involvement in northwest Syria. Two more Turkish soldiers were killed Wednesday in a Syrian government attack in Syria’s northwest, the country’s Defense Ministry said, as steady clashes between the two national armies continued to rack up casualties. Turkey has sent thousands of troops into the area to support Syrian insurgents holed up there, but hasn’t been able to stop a Russian- backed Syrian government offensive to retake Idlib province. THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2020
Transcript of DIGEST ELECTION 2020 US strikes at Taliban forces ......assault on Afghan government forces in...
NATION&WORLD
STEVE PEOPLES AND BILL BARROWAssociated Press
WASHINGTON — His front-runner status slipping, Ber-nie Sanders refocused his Demo-cratic presidential campaign on surging rival Joe Biden on Wednes-day as the Vermont senator’s allies grappled with the fallout from a Super Tuesday stumble that raised internal concerns about the direc-tion of his White House bid.
Sanders targeted Biden’s record on trade, Social Security and fund-raising just hours after billionaire Mike Bloomberg suspended his
campaign and Elizabeth Warren confirmed she was privately re-assessing her future in the race. The dramatic shifts signaled that the Democrats’ once-crowded nomination fight had effectively come down to a two-man race for the right to face President Donald Trump in November.
Sanders declared himself “neck and neck” with Biden as he faced reporters in his home state, Ver-mont, one of just four states he captured on the most consequen-tial day of voting in the party’s 2020 primary season. Biden won 10 states, assembling victories that transcended geography, race and class.
“What this campaign, I think, is increasingly about is, which side are you on?” Sanders said.
The progressive candidate lobbed familiar attacks against the former vice president’s re-cord but ignored supporters’ calls to be more aggressive and in-sisted his campaign would avoid any “Trump-type effort” that in-cluded personal criticism.
“I like Joe. I think he’s a decent human being,” Sanders said. “Joe and I have a very different vision for the future of this country.”
Biden told reporters he would unify the country and, without naming Sanders, knocked the sen-ator’s frequent contention that he is beholden to an elite party estab-lishment.
Elected officials and leading donors rallied around Biden af-ter his Super Tuesday romp. Top Democrats have long been skep-
tical of the 77-year-old lifelong politician’s political strength but raced to unite behind him to blunt Sanders’ rise.
After suspending his campaign, Bloomberg became the fourth failed Democratic presidential contender this week to endorse Biden. Like the growing chorus of Democratic officials, Bloomberg called Biden the best chance to de-feat Trump in the general election.
A resurgent Biden, meanwhile, was poised to finish Super Tuesday with more delegates than Sanders — a stunning shift. Sanders’ team had hoped he would finish the night more than 100 delegates ahead of his next closest compet-itor. He’ll likely finish dozens of delegates behind once all the votes are counted.
Bloomberg ends run; Warren reevaluates her future in race
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SEATTLE — The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus climbed to 11 on Wednesday with a patient dying in California — the first reported fatality outside Washington state — as federal authorities announced an investigation of the Seattle-area nursing home where most of the victims were stricken.
Officials in California’s Placer County, near Sacramento, said an elderly person who tested positive after returning from a San Fran-
cisco-to-Mexico cruise had died. The victim had underlying health problems, authorities said.
Washington also announced an-other death, bringing its total to 10. Most of those who died were resi-dents of Life Care Center, a nursing home in Kirkland, a suburb east of Seattle. At least 39 cases have been reported in the Seattle area, where researchers say the virus may have been circulating undetected for weeks.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a statewide emergency. Washington and Florida had al-ready declared emergencies.
In the nation’s capital, the Dem-ocratic-controlled House passed an $8.3 billion measure Wednesday
to battle the outbreak.The swift and sweeping bipar-
tisan vote was a relative rarity in a polarized Washington and came just nine days after the president outlined a $2.5 billion plan that both Trump’s GOP allies and Dem-ocratic critics said was insufficient.
The 415-2 vote came after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi beat a tacti-cal retreat on vaccine price guar-antees and followed a debate that lasted only a few minutes.
“The government’s greatest re-sponsibility is to keep Americans safe,” said House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey, D-N.Y. “This emergency supplemental addresses the coro-navirus and takes critical steps to
protect the American people from this deadly and expanding out-break.”
The Senate is likely to pass the measure Thursday and send it to the White House for Trump’s signature. The legislation came together in little more than a week — and more than triples Trump’s request — sped along by fears of the outbreak’s growing threat.
In Los Angeles, a contract med-ical worker who was conducting screenings at the city’s main air-port has tested positive for the virus. The person wore protective equipment while on the job so it was unclear how the worker con-tracted the virus, Homeland Secu-rity officials said.
US death toll rises to 11 peopleCalifornia reports first fatality; lawmakers agree on $8.3B plan
Sanders resets on BidenELECTION 2020
STAN CHOE AND ALEX VEIGAAssociated Press
The Dow Jones Industrial Aver-age soared more than 1,100 points, or 4.5%, Wednesday as govern-ments and central banks around the globe took more aggressive measures to fight the virus out-break and its effects on the econ-omy.
The gains more than recouped the market’s big losses from a day earlier as Wall Street’s wild, vi-rus-fueled swings extend into a third week.
Stocks rose sharply from the get-go, led by big gains for health care stocks after Joe Biden solid-ified his contender status for the
Democratic presidential nomina-tion. Investors see him as a more business-friendly alternative to Bernie Sanders.
The rally’s momentum acceler-ated around midday after House and Senate leadership reached a deal on a bipartisan $8.3 billion bill to battle the coronavirus out-break. The House passed the bill Wednesday.
Investors are also anticipating other central banks will follow up on the Federal Reserve’s surprise move Tuesday to slash interest rates by half a percentage point in hopes of protecting the econ-omy from the economic fallout of a fast-spreading virus. Canada’s central bank cut rates Wednesday.
The S&P 500 rose 126.75 points, or 4.2%, to 3,130.12. The Dow gained 1,173.45 points to 27,090.86. The Nasdaq climbed 334 points, or 3.8%, to 9,018.09.
MARK SHERMANAssociated Press
WASHINGTON — A seem-ingly divided Supreme Court struggled Wednesday with its first major abortion case of the Trump era, leaving Chief Justice John Roberts as the likely decid-ing vote.
Roberts did not say enough to tip his hand in an hour of spirited arguments at the high court.
The court’s election-year look at a Louisiana dispute could re-veal how willing the more con-servative court is to roll back abortion rights. A decision should come by late June.
The outcome could have huge consequences at a time when
several states have passed laws, being challenged in the courts, that would ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, as early as six weeks.
The justices are weighing a Louisiana law requiring doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. A federal judge found that just one of Louisiana’s three abortion clinics would remain open if the law is allowed to take effect. The federal appeals court in New Orleans, though, upheld the law, setting up the Supreme Court case.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg noted, as she had before, that “among medical procedures, first trimester abortion is among the safest, far safer than childbirth.”
Perhaps the biggest question is whether the court will overrule a 2016 decision in which it struck down a similar law in Texas.
Stocks rebound on stimulus hopes
Justices seem divided with abortion case Roberts appears to be the swing vote, doesn’t tip his hand
Dow rockets 1,173 points; central banks believed to follow Fed
DIGEST
US strikes at Taliban forces
KABUL, Afghanistan — The U.S. on Wednesday conducted its first airstrike against Tali-ban forces in Afghanistan since signing an ambitious peace deal with the militant group.
U.S. military spokesman Col. Sonny Leggett said in a tweet that the “defensive” strike was the first U.S. attack against the militants in 11 days. He said the attack was to counter a Taliban assault on Afghan government forces in Nahr-e Saraj in the southern Helmand province. Leggett added that Taliban forces conducted 43 attacks on Afghan troops on Tuesday in Helmand.
Later Wednesday, top defense leaders told Congress that the results of the peace deal signed on Saturday have been mixed, but the insurgent group is abid-ing by much of the accord.
Singaporean to head UN agency
GENEVA — A Singaporean of-ficial defeated a candidate from China in a leadership contest for the U.N.’s intellectual property body, which was swept into a rift between Washington and Bei-jing over claims of Chinese theft of technological know-how.
Daren Tang, 47, the CEO of Singapore’s intellectual prop-erty office, won a crucial nom-ination to become the next director-general of the World Intellectual Property Organiza-tion over China’s Wang Binyang, a veteran at the agency.
The fight over the post pit the United States against Wang, prompting the Chinese ambas-sador to criticize an “attack” against a “competent” civil servant. She would have become the agency’s first woman chief at a time when the U.N. is promot-ing gender parity in high office.
BRIEFLYPUBLIC LANDS: Senate leaders and the Trump administration reached an election-year deal to double spending on a popular conservation program and de-vote more than a $1 billion a year to clear a growing maintenance backlog at national parks. The deal, announced Wednesday by senators from both parties, would spend about $2.2 billion per year on conservation and outdoor recreation projects and park maintenance across the country.
SHOCK DEVICES: Federal officials on Wednesday banned electrical shock devices used to discour-age aggressive, self-harming behavior in patients with mental disabilities. For years, the shock devices have been used by only one place in the U.S., the Judge Rotenberg Educational Cen-ter of Canton, Massachusetts, a residential school for people with psychiatric, developmental or mental disabilities.
IMMIGRATION: Greece coun-tered accusations from Turkey on Wednesday that it was re-sponsible for the death of a mi-grant, as its border authorities strove for a sixth day to keep thousands of migrants out by using tear gas, stun grenades and water cannons.
ELECTION: Prime Minister Ben-jamin Netanyahu fell short of capturing the majority needed to form a government, near-fi-nal election results showed Wednesday, deepening a year of political deadlock and appearing to dash the long-serving lead-er’s hopes for a decisive victory as his trial on corruption charges nears.
SESSIONS: President Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at his former attorney general Jeff Sessions as the Alabama Republican advanced to a pri-mary runoff in his quest to win back his old Senate seat. Sessions held the seat for two decades, but was forced into a runoff with a political new-comer after being wounded by Trump’s prior criticisms of his recusal in the Russia investiga-tion.
NUCLEAR WATCHDOG: Iran says requests from the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog for information and access to Iran’s nuclear sites must have a legal basis, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported Wednesday.
— Associated Press
VIRUS OUTBREAK
ASSOCIATED PRESS
TURKEY, SYRIA AND TURKISH LAWMAKERS DO BATTLELegislators push each other as a brawl breaks out Wednesday in Turkey’s parliament in Ankara, Turkey. Lawmakers from opposing parties fought during a tense discussion about Turkey’s military involvement in northwest Syria. Two more Turkish soldiers were killed Wednesday in a Syrian government attack in Syria’s northwest, the country’s Defense Ministry said, as steady clashes between the two national armies continued to rack up casualties. Turkey has sent thousands of troops into the area to support Syrian insurgents holed up there, but hasn’t been able to stop a Russian-backed Syrian government offensive to retake Idlib province.
THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2020
