Thursday briefing: Elizabeth Warren rips into Bloomberg

Top story: Mogul attacked over women, policing

Good morning – Warren Murray with you after a dramatic night in the news.

Michael Bloomberg has been fiercely attacked at his first Democratic debate appearance for being an architect of racist policing policies, indulging in sexist comments and silencing aggrieved female employees. Elizabeth Warren led the assault on a disastrous night for the former New York mayor and multi-billionaire.

Bloomberg stumbled in his response to a series of questions about stop-and-frisk in New York, saying he was “embarrassed” by the racially charged tactic and had apologised. Warren also challenged Bloomberg to release women at his company from non-disclosure agreements they signed while settling lawsuits.

Bloomberg defended his record on women: “In my company, lots and lots of women have big responsibilities.” Warren countered: “I hope you heard what his defence was: ‘I’ve been nice to some women.’”

The debate at the Paris Theater in Las Vegas came one week after Sanders won the New Hampshire primary and ahead of a primary in Nevada in which Bloomberg is not competing. Here are five key takeaways as observed by our Guardian US team.

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11 die in Germany shootings – At least 11 people have been killed and several others seriously injured after shooting sprees at two shisha bars in the German town of Hanau, 25km east of Frankfurt, according to local police. Nine people died in the attacks on the two bars at around 10pm on Wednesday, police said. A hunt was launched for the perpetrators and police said at around 5am local time that officers had stormed the home of the alleged suspect where they found him dead along with another body. Police said they had no confirmed information on the background of the two attacks and appealed for witnesses to come forward. Hanau’s federal MP, Katja Leikert, called it a “horrific scenario” while the Hanau mayor, Claus Kaminsky, lamented the “worst evening imaginable”. It comes a few days after one person was shot dead and four more were injured outside a Berlin music venue that was hosting a Turkish comedy show.

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Coronavirus cruise deaths – Two elderly Japanese passengers from the Diamond Princess cruise ship have died of the Covid-19 virus, according to reports. An evacuation flight of Britons from the ship is now expected to depart Japan on Friday. The death toll in China stands at more than 2,100. Experts worldwide have signed a statement of support for their Chinese colleagues who are being attacked on social media and even threatened with violence as false rumours circulate about the origins of the virus. There are warnings that the haranguing could destroy the cooperation between Chinese scientists and their western counterparts to find treatments and vaccines. We have the latest developments at our live blog.

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Men who kill women – More than half the women killed by men in the UK in 2018 died at the hands of a current or former partner, according to the fourth Femicide Census. In half the cases perpetrators had previous histories of violence against women, with three found to have killed before. The census says 149 women were killed by 147 men in 2018, 10 more than the previous year and the highest number since the census began. Of the victims, 91 (61%) were killed by a current or former partner. There were cases of women being killed by a son, stepson, son-in-law or former son-in-law. Only 6% were killed by a stranger. Karen Ingala Smith, from domestic violence charity Nia, said many died despite expressing their fear to police, other services and friends and family, and they had few options to find help due to under-resourcing of crisis services. Julie Bindel writes today: “As a feminist campaigner, I am often asked why women are still targeted by male rage. Our successes have been significant … but why has this not led to fewer women dying?”

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‘High-risk’ Huawei barred – Huawei has been excluded from participating in £65m worth of pilot 5G projects for businesses and communities. They include a flood warning scheme in Yorkshire, a coastal search and rescue experiment in Dorset and an electric vehicle project involving Ford and Vodafone. “None of the winning projects, or future projects, will use equipment from high risk vendors,” the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said. In January the government announced limits on the use of the Chinese supplier’s equipment in the 5G networks being rolled out across the UK.

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‘Prevent has got to go’ – Rebecca Long-Bailey would commit Labour to scrapping the anti-extremism programme Prevent if elected party leader. The candidate said: “The Prevent programme has alienated the Muslim community, set back our freedoms and not made us safer. The evidence is clear: it’s got to go.” Long-Bailey said she would replace it with a government-funded system involving Muslim leaders. Labour members will be balloted in the party leadership contest from Friday.

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Worthy of note – The new polymer £20 note featuring the artist JMW Turner is to go into circulation as the Bank of England begins replacing the most popular banknote in the country. At least two billion have been printed and half of the country’s cash machines should have switched over within the next fortnight.

In Scotland, Bank of Scotland and Clydesdale will launch their polymer £20 notes on 27 February, with Royal Bank of Scotland following on 5 March. Banks in Northern Ireland will also change over in 2020 but there is no specific date.

Today in Focus podcast: Flooded Britain – a new normal?

A series of storms have lashed Britain in the past two weeks resulting in widespread floods that have left residents and businesses devastated. But as the climate heats up and towns expand into floodplains, is this the new normal? Also today: Richard Partington on the government’s plans for Britain’s new immigration rules.

Lunchtime read: Modi’s way tearing India apart

For seven decades, India has been held together by its constitution, which promises equality to all. But Narendra Modi’s BJP is remaking the nation into one where some people count as more Indian than others, writes Samanth Subramanian.

Sport

José Mourinho refused to write off Tottenham’s hope of reaching the Champions League quarter-finals after their defeat by RB Leipzig, insisting that his team’s spirit will give them a chance of overcoming their selection crisis in attack. Pep Guardiola said after Manchester City’s 2-0 win over West Ham that he was confident in the club’s ability to defend its position following alleged breaches of Uefa’s financial fair play regulations.

Deontay Wilder controversially taunted his rival Tyson Fury about his mental health battles in a fiery press conference in readiness for Saturday’s WBC heavyweight title rematch. Kim Clijsters tasted defeat after her latest tennis comeback but the former women’s world No 1 has found returning to training transformative. Formula One team McLaren are adhering to a strict policy in an attempt to safeguard their personnel from the coronavirus. Jemma Reekie’s extraordinary start to the season continued with yet another victory – this time over 800m against the reigning world champion Halimah Nakaayi in Lievin, France. And Rory McIlroy has delivered what may well prove to be a fatal blow to plans for a breakaway golf tour by stating he has no interest in taking part.

Business

The world-renowned Axminster Carpets has gone into administration. The Devon-based company has provided carpets for prestigious buildings such as the US Capitol in Washington but has collapsed with the possible loss of 80 jobs. The FTSE100 is set to dip 0.25% at the opening this morning. The pound is on $1.29 and €1.196.

The papers

The Guardian moves the flooding coverage along to new homes and the fact that since 2003, one in 10 has been built on “land at high risk of floods”. It potentially leaves tens of thousands of people in greater danger from extreme winter storms – one expert, Prof Robert Wilby, of the University of Loughborough, argues the government should review its housebuilding target: “We’re compounding the existing risk by continuing to build on the floodplain.” In the Mirror it’s “Heroes and a zero” as the paper contrasts a flood rescuer’s feat with Boris Johnson’s failure to visit affected areas.

Others stay with the Conservatives’ border control plans. “Immigration backlash over British carers” says the i – at issue is Priti Patel’s claim that we have an untapped workforce of 8.5 million – when most of those are actually carers, students, sick or retired. The Metro repeats Patel’s claim that “8m Brits can fill low-skill jobs gap” though its subheading points out that most of them actually can’t. The secretary of state also comes under fire in the Times: “Home Office at war after staff accuse ‘bully’ Patel” saying she is at war with her own permanent secretary.

The Mail celebrates “House prices surging all over Britain” (a shame if you’re trying to buy one) and claims it as evidence of a “Boris bounce”. “Ofsted fears schools will ‘squander’ extra cash” – that’s the Telegraph, covering the not-new-to-controversy chief inspector, Amanda Spielman, saying school budgeting procedures should be tightened up before they share in a £14bn funding boost. The Express joins the “Battle for new wonder drug to save lives” – it’s called Tritafka and holds promise in treating cystic fibrosis. The FT has what sounds like a good idea: “EU aims to loosen big tech’s grip by forcing groups to share data” – the likes of Amazon and Google that enjoy near-monopolies would have to open up their databases to smaller competitors.

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