Joe Biden, Coronavirus, Abortion Law: Your Wednesday Evening Briefing

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/04/briefing/joe-biden-coronavirus-abortion-law.html

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Good evening. Here’s the latest.

1. Joe Biden energized his campaign with Super Tuesday victories in nine states.

He also gained the endorsement of Mike Bloomberg, who withdrew from the race today. Mr. Biden’s lead in delegates is small, but could be hard to beat.

Bernie Sanders, the other front-runner in the Democratic presidential race, acknowledged that the youth turnout on Tuesday was disappointing. But he declined to call on Elizabeth Warren, who occupies a similar progressive lane, to drop out.

On Wall Street, gyrating stocks ended with a 4 percent gain — a recovery at least partly attributed to Mr. Biden’s strong showing.

2. The U.S. death toll from coronavirus rose to 11, as California recorded its first death.

Los Angeles County announced six new cases and declared a local state of emergency. Above, Eric Garcetti, the mayor of Los Angeles.

Nationally, the C.D.C. loosened the guidelines for coronavirus testing, allowing anyone who has symptoms to get tested with a doctor’s approval. The move greatly increases the number of patients who qualify, but it’s not clear there are enough tests available.

The House resoundingly approved $8.3 billion in emergency aid to combat the coronavirus, hours after congressional leaders reached a deal on the funding. The Senate is also expected to approve the funding, sending the measure to the White House.

On the personal side, six Americans who have had the virus shared their tales.

3. Virus repercussions, large and small.

Hundreds of millions of students are out of school because of the epidemic, with classes shuttered in Italy, China, South Korea, Iran, Japan, France, Pakistan and elsewhere. It is a grand experiment with little parallel — and unknowable repercussions for children.

Among more modest adjustments, the London Book Fair was canceled; artists are playing to empty concert halls and theaters, above; and the newest James Bond movie was delayed.

And Steven Soderbergh’s 2011 movie, “Contagion,” a fictional account of a pandemic that kills millions, has become one of the hottest movies in the Warner Bros. library.

4. The European Union proposed a climate law that would set a target of net zero carbon emissions across the bloc by 2050.

But that is decades later than what many activists say is needed, and not enough for Greta Thunberg, the 17-year-old Swedish activist, who told the European Parliament that the proposal amounted to “giving up on the Paris Agreement.”

In Australia, scientists confirmed what had been widely suspected: Human-caused climate change had an impact on the wildfires, like the one above, that ravaged the country, killing at least 34 people.

5. Tennessee is still searching for tornado victims and tallying the damage.

Rescue teams, the police and volunteers continued efforts to track down at least 22 missing people a day after a series of tornadoes tore across the central part of the state, killing two dozen people.

In Nashville, several of the restaurants and bars that suffered extensive damage are central players in its nationally renowned culinary scene.

6. “This betrayal of country and colleagues will be punished.”

That was John Demers, the assistant attorney general for national security, talking about a Minnesota woman who was charged with providing classified information to an Iran-backed militia group.

Prosecutors said the woman worked as a translator for the military in Iraq and revealed the names of foreign informants, among the government’s most closely held secrets. Officials called it one of the most serious recent counterintelligence cases they had seen.

7. A Supreme Court hearing in a major abortion case yielded few clues about how the justices might rule.

The arguments were over a Louisiana law that its opponents say would leave the state with only one doctor in a single clinic authorized to provide abortions. Above, outside the Supreme Court.

It was the first sustained consideration of abortion since President Trump’s appointments of Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh shifted the court to the right. A ruling is expected in June.

8. Harvey Weinstein expanded his payroll.

During his trial, the film producer was surrounded by advisers: a jury selection expert, a crisis manager, a spokesman, even someone to make sure his court-ordered ankle monitor was functioning correctly.

But even before a jury found Mr. Weinstein guilty of two felony sex crimes, another paid professional was added: prison consultant.

The consultant’s firm, Inside Outside Ltd., was created to help new inmates understand the details of “the journey” — the passage from an ordinary life to living behind bars.

9. Ronan Farrow and Woody Allen have the same publisher. One of them is not happy about it.

Mr. Farrow, the journalist and author of the best-selling book “Catch and Kill,” said he would cut ties with his publisher after it announced that one of its divisions was publishing Mr. Allen’s autobiography next month.

Mr. Farrow is Mr. Allen’s son with the actress Mia Farrow, and his adopted sister, Dylan Farrow, has long accused Mr. Allen of molesting her when she was a child. Mr. Allen has denied the allegations.

Separately, Simon & Schuster, the publisher of Stephen King, Judy Blume and Hillary Clinton, was put up for sale by its parent, ViacomCBS.

10. And finally, hit men for hire? Not quite.

On a site called Azerbaijani Eagles, you can commission a murder for $5,000. On Slayers Hitmen, a beating goes for $2,000. But don’t expect someone to get the job done.

Experts and law enforcement officers who have studied these sites on the dark web say they are scams — no known murder has been attributed to any of them. And a number of men and women are now sitting in jail after they tried to use one of the services, only to be caught by the police.

Have a good evening.

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