Good morning, I’m Tim Walker with today’s essential stories.
Trump questions Biden’s cognition as election field narrows
Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts senator whose promise of progressive economics and policy detail briefly made her the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination, has dropped out of the race, while vowing that her “place in this fight has not ended”. With the contest now between Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden as to who will face Donald Trump in November, the president on Thursday gave a preview of one potential general election attack line, appearing to question Biden’s cognitive health.
Sexism question. With Warren out, the only woman left in the race is Tulsi Gabbard, who has a single delegate and zero chance of winning the nomination. David Smith reports on how American politics sets a “trap” for women.
Unity candidate. Democrats will have to unite if they want to beat Trump, writes Andrew Gawthorpe. But with Bernie and Biden representing opposing wings of the party, that is far from a foregone conclusion.
Administration ‘brain drain’ hampering coronavirus response
Experts have warned that the Trump administration’s purge of scientific expertise and the president’s own penchant for spreading misinformation could prevent the US from properly tackling the coronavirus. Healthcare workers on the frontline of the crisis have complained of a shocking lack of preparedness, while US markets continue their rollercoaster response to the disease. Better news from China: Hubei province had no new cases outside the city of Wuhan on Thursday, for the first time since the outbreak began.
Diplomatic crisis. Seoul has reacted with anger after Japan announced plans to quarantine all passengers arriving from South Korea. And in South Korea itself, there are complaints the authorities are sharing embarrassing information on the private lives of coronavirus patients.
Diamond Princess. As Covid-19 swept through a quarantined cruise ship, its crew had to keep on working regardless. They recall the chaos and fear on board the Diamond Princess.
Turkish military kills 21 Syrian troops despite new ceasefire
The Turkish military has killed 21 Syrian troops in retaliation for the deaths of two of its soldiers in Syria’s Idlib province, hours after a ceasefire deal for the region was agreed between the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and Russia’s Vladimir Putin. The two major powers have been engaged in hostilities in Idlib, the last remaining opposition stronghold in Syria, where Turkey supports anti-government fighters and Russia is backing the Assad regime.
Hostile mood. Turkey is home to some 3.5 million Syrian refugees. When fighting breaks out across the border, they often face the wrath of angry locals, as Bethan McKernan and Hussein Akoush report.
UK investigates Dubai ruler for abducting his own daughters
A British judge has ruled that the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, orchestrated the abduction of two of his daughters from the streets of the UK – opening the door to a police investigation of the sheikh, who is a friend of the Queen and an important regional ally to the British government. Princess Shamsa was snatched from Cambridge in 2000 when she was 19. Princess Latifa, then 32, was seized by Indian army commandos in the Indian Ocean and returned to Dubai after fleeing in 2018.
Family courts. The sheikh’s sixth wife, Princess Haya, 45, fled to London last April with their two young children. His attempts to return the children to Dubai triggered the legal action in the family courts that has shed fresh light on the past incidents.
Cheat sheet
Alabama has executed Nathaniel Woods, a man convicted of murder for the 2004 killings of three police officers, despite an outcry from activists and public figures – and his co-defendant, who admitted guilt and insisted Woods was innocent.
Five senior members of the US neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division have been arrested across several states in recent weeks, dealing a major blow to a far-right organisation associated with at least five murders.
More than a million women are set to join a protest march in Chile on Sunday, marking International Women’s Day and potentially reigniting the social unrest that has rocked the country since October.
Nasa has cultivated space-grown lettuce found to be as safe and healthy as the variety on Earth, expanding astronauts’ hitherto limited diets for a decade when they are expected to travel back to the oon – and possibly even to Mars.
Must-reads
Greg Kinnear on Bob Hope: ‘Times were changing around him’
Greg Kinnear plays Bob Hope in his new film, Misbehaviour, set in 1970 when the entertainer faced women’s liberation movement protests while hosting Miss World. Kinnear was once a TV presenter, too – but, he tells Ryan Gilbey, Hope was at work in an era which “held up in today’s light… does look, uh, slightly off”.
Why are we so complacent about existential risks?
We can now say with certainty that the coronavirus does not pose an existential threat to humanity. But the next pandemic might. As Toby Ord writes, the more technological progress humanity makes, the greater the danger that we could wipe ourselves out.
A Zodiac Killer theory that’s very close to home
The Zodiac Killer terrorised the Bay Area in the 1960s and 70s, killing seven and taunting the police and public. Decades later, Gary Stewart believes he has identified the killer: his own birth father. Stewart’s bestselling book has been made into a documentary series, as Adrian Horton explains.
The race to save Europe’s secret Amazon
Polesia is Europe’s largest wilderness, spread across four countries and home to an extraordinary array of flora and fauna. Once affected by fallout from Chernobyl, Polesia now faces another potential catastrophe: the construction of a new inland shipping route, as Phoebe Weston reports.
Opinion
The abortion rights case heard by the supreme court this week threatens the end of Roe v Wade, against the will of most Americans. Alexis McGill Johnson, president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, says the stakes for reproductive rights have never been higher.
Legal abortion means nothing if only the privileged have access. Together, alongside our reproductive justice partners on the ground, we must fight state by state to protect access where it still exists, and to expand access where we can.
Sport
Stephen Curry scored 23 points in his long-awaited return to the Golden State Warriors’ line-up, after four months out with a broken hand. The Warriors nonetheless lost to the Toronto Raptors 113-121, sending the latter into the NBA playoffs for a seventh straight season.
Hend Zaza, an 11-year-old Syrian table tennis player, is set to become the youngest athlete in competition at this year’s Tokyo Olympics, after winning last week’s West Asia Olympic qualification tournament in Jordan.
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