Yahoo News US briefing: Nevada caucuses, John Bolton and Paris-style nature deal
Good morning, I’m Tim Walker with today’s essential stories.
Nevada scrambles to avoid Iowa-style caucus chaos
Bernie Sanders leads the Democratic presidential pack in Nevada, which is preparing to hold its bellwether “first in the west” caucus on Saturday. The most recent poll of the state shows the Vermont senator on 25%, followed by Joe Biden at 18%. Meanwhile, Michael Bloomberg, who is not competing in Nevada, is being dogged by more controversial remarks from his past, this time an apparent attack on the intelligence of US factory and farm workers.
Tech support. Nevada appears to have abandoned plans to use the same smartphone app that caused chaos at the Iowa caucuses, but the state’s Democratic party has not yet made clear what it has planned as an alternative.
Bolton breaks silence after Trump impeachment trial
Donald Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton has made his first public comments since the president’s impeachment trial, reportedly telling an audience at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, that he “knew what [he] was getting into” when he went to work in the Trump White House. Bolton also teased the forthcoming publication of his book, saying those keen to know what he thought of Trump’s infamous 25 July call with the president of Ukraine “will love chapter 14”.
Roger Stone. The judge in the case of the Trump ally Roger Stone has reportedly ordered both sides to join a conference call on Tuesday, after all four prosecution lawyers quit last week in protest at being overruled on sentencing by the justice department.
Top Wuhan doctor dies from Covid-19 coronavirus
A senior doctor in Wuhan has died after contracting the Covid-19 coronavirus, as authorities in the Chinese city at the centre of the outbreak started going house-to-house to “round up” suspected patients. In Japan, where the number of cases has reached more than 500, the government is planning to trial HIV antiretroviral drugs to treat people with the virus. Meanwhile the World Health Organization has said Covid-19 appears to cause only mild disease in four out of five of those infected.
Apple shares. Shares in Apple fell by 5% on Tuesday, after the company warned that the coronavirus would cause iPhone shortages due to the temporary closure of its Chinese factories in response to the outbreak.
Former foreign ministers call for Paris-style deal on nature
A group of 23 veteran diplomats, including the former US secretary of state Madeleine Albright, has issued a statement urging world leaders to step back from “the precipice” of irreversible ecological ruin and embrace a draft UN agreement designed to protect almost a third of the world’s oceans and land. “We must rise above politics and ideology to unite the global community around the urgent cause of protecting our planet and way of life,” reads the statement, released through the non-profit Aspen Institute thinktank.
Rome summit. The statement comes ahead of next week’s meeting of governments to begin negotiations on the Paris-style agreement. The summit is being held in Rome after being moved from Kunming, China, due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Cheat sheet
The seven men and five women who comprise the jury at Harvey Weinstein’s rape trial will begin their deliberations on Tuesday, with the disgraced film producer facing a maximum sentence of life in prison if he is found guilty.
The Boy Scouts of America has filed for bankruptcy protection as it grapples with lawsuits from thousands of men who say they were molested as scouts by scoutmasters or other leaders.
Supporters of Reality Winner, an NSA whistleblower jailed in 2018 for leaking classified information about Russia’s meddling in the US presidential election, have petitioned Trump for her early release from prison.
The app HQ Trivia has hosted its final quiz broadcast – with prize money of just $5, split between 523 contestants – after investors pulled the plug on a bid to buy the company, which at its peak attracted millions of players.
Must-reads
The next threat to bees is … organised crime?
The plight of the world’s bees has been an environmental concern for years. But now the unfortunate insects are facing a new threat: beehive thefts, an unusual crime that has become particularly prevalent in California, as Oliver Milman discovers.
Kidnappers preying on migrants trapped at the border
Under the Trump administration’s “Remain in Mexico” rule, asylum seekers who cross into the US are sent back south of the border to await their fates. There, reports Ed Vulliamy, staggering numbers are falling victim to mafia kidnappings, violence and violation.
Are e-cigarettes saving smokers or creating new addicts?
In the US, there is national panic about a teenage vaping crisis, which has led to an outright ban on e-cigarettes in San Francisco and talk of similar rules elsewhere. But in the UK, the medical establishment still endorses vaping as an aid to giving up smoking. The Guardian’s health editor, Sarah Boseley, asks where the truth lies.
The torture of an Iraqi protester
Thousands of young Iraqis took to the streets last year to protest against government corruption and demand better services. The authorities soon turned to intimidation and violence to try to quell the uprising. One protester who was kidnapped and tortured tells his story to Ghaith Abdul-Ahad.
Opinion
The Iraq war has been a divisive and decisive issue in recent presidential elections. If that remains so in 2020, it could prove fatal to Joe Biden’s faltering campaign, writes Mark Weisbrot.
Biden did vastly more than just vote for the war. Yet his role in bringing about that war remains mostly unknown or misunderstood by the public.
Sport
Denny Hamlin has won his third Daytona 500 by just 0.014sec from Ryan Blaney, in the second-narrowest finish in the history of the race. But the moment of victory was coloured by a horrific crash in the final lap, which left Ryan Newman hospitalised.
Manchester City has been banned from the Champions League by Uefa for two seasons. It is not a punishment that the club’s fans – and especially not its owners in Abu Dhabi – are likely to take lying down, says Jonathan Liew.
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