Joe Biden Wins South Carolina, and Rides Into Super Tuesday as Bernie Sanders’ Chief Rival

Backed overwhelmingly by African American voters, former Vice President Joe Biden’s sweeping victory in South Carolina’s Democratic presidential primary on Saturday has made him the leading alternative to frontrunner Sen. Bernie Sanders on Super Tuesday and put fresh pressure on other contenders to drop out.

It is just as Biden’s campaign promised after a disappointing fourth-place finish in Iowa and an even worse fifth place in New Hampshire: When the election moved to more diverse states, Biden started to fare better, starting with a second-place finish in Nevada, and now a decisive win in South Carolina.

Biden’s triumph in South Carolina, years in the making, was the first time he has won a contest outside his home state of Delaware in his three runs for the Democrats’ presidential nomination. It was a show of grit and grind, made possible in no small measure by the endorsement of the state’s longtime kingmaker, Rep. James Clyburn, earlier in the week. More than half of South Carolinians said Clyburn’s backing was an important factor in their vote, according to exit polls, and black voters chose Biden over Sanders by a 4-to-1 margin.

But Clyburn was also pragmatic about the prospects of his old friend, who struggled to meet expectations in this race once voting began. “We will have to sit down and get serious about how we retool this campaign,” he said in a CNN interview on Saturday. The campaign announced Clyburn will go to North Carolina on Sunday to help the campaign regroup there.

They will have to act fast. On Tuesday, 14 states from Maine to California vote, plus Guam and Democrats living abroad, and Sanders is expected to come out of the mega contest swinging. That means to stay in the game, Biden will have to dominate the other Southern states voting next week, and continue to keep putting away enough cash to keep going through a marathon calendar with several other important contests coming up in March.

“Thanks to all of you, the heart of the Democratic Party, we just won, and we won big,” Biden said in South Carolina, hours after he dipped into North Carolina, which votes on Super Tuesday, for his own campaign rally. “The decisions that Democrats make all across America in the next few days will determine what this party stands for, what we believe and what we can get done.”

The pro-Biden super PAC added cash to some of the Southern states that are up on Super Tuesday: North Carolina, Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee and Virginia, plus Texas. Biden has basic operations in those states and is now scrambling to build operations in states that vote on March 10, particularly places that may be ideological matches for his working-class message like Michigan and Missouri and conservative states where Sanders’ progressive message may be a poor fit like Idaho, Mississippi and North Dakota. If the race comes down to delegates, Biden is working to pick up victories in places where the electorate may be inclined to reject Sanders’ agenda, or places where the electorate is more diverse. Separately, an anti-Sanders super PAC has booked $2.6 million in digital ads for Super Tuesday states.

Saturday’s contest now leaves Senators Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar, as well as former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, fighting for relevance. Each has failed to demonstrate that they can build the kind of broad coalition Democrats will need in November, including voters of color. Pressure from party insiders, activists and donors will now intensify for them to exit the race, lest a fractured field of contenders will arrive in the Democratic Convention in Milwaukee this summer without a settled nominee. Warren and Klobuchar will vote in their home states on Tuesday and are favored to add to their delegate tally. But catching up to Sanders and Biden might now be impossible for any of the three.

Meanwhile, Mike Bloomberg, the media mogul and former Mayor of New York City, has been dumping piles of cash into states that start voting on Super Tuesday. Bloomberg entered the race too late to compete in the traditional early-nominating states so his shotgun start comes in just a few days. With Sanders leading the delegates and Biden with a rush of momentum behind him, it’s unclear whether Bloomberg will be able to put up roadblocks to both candidates. Another billionaire, Tom Steyer, had opened his checkbook wantonly in South Carolina, but struck out at the polls and then dropped out Saturday evening.

That’s not to say Biden’s path will be an easy one. He hasn’t faced a real pile-on since a very bad September debate, when he was polling as the clear frontrunner in the upcoming race. It’s not clear whether anti-Sanders Democrats would spare him in next Sunday’s debate and in advertising; Biden may be their only hope of derailing the Vermont Senator, who is a self-described Democratic Socialist. The easiest path to move from the bottom tier to the top is to knock someone down, but that tactic could end up souring voters who are simply seeking any alternative to Sanders.

Sanders’ appeal is undeniable among his fervent and very-online supporters, but many Democrats rightly caution that Twitter is not reality. Centrist and establishment Democrats have spent weeks warning that a Sanders nomination would translate into a guaranteed loss against President Donald Trump’s re-election. Clyburn went so far as to invoke George McGovern: a liberal favorite who didn’t appeal widely in his party — let alone in his country — who went on to lose 49 states in President Richard Nixon’s 1972 re-election bid. Biden is leaning into that rhetoric. “We have the option to win big or lose big,” he said, celebrating with his supporters at the University of South Carolina on Saturday. “That’s the choice.”

The Biden campaign is sharpening its attacks on Sanders as someone who won’t stand up to the National Rifle Association and on Bloomberg as having been insufficiently supportive of the Obama-Biden campaigns. In an effort to cast the pair as uninvited interlopers in the Democratic primary, Biden read the teleprompter carefully Saturday night at his victory party. “If the Democrats want a nominee who is a Democrat…” he said to loud cheers, as the audience remembered that Sanders serves in the Senate as an independent and only has identified as a Democrat when he is seeking the party’s nomination and Bloomberg is a former Republican. “I’m a proud Democrat! An Obama-Biden Democrat!”

It’s a simple line. But as Democrats beyond the first four states start to weigh in, it’s one that may prove devastating to both Sanders and Bloomberg. Now, with clear standing as the leading alternative to both, Biden is riding it into Super Tuesday with new credibility. His will be a challenge to deliver that sharpened message to open ears, to build a campaign machine in upcoming states in short order and to keep the cash flowing. Given his confidence — and success — this week, Biden isn’t one to be ruled out.

The Bad Economics of the U.S. Health Care System Shows Up Starkly in its Approach to Rare Diseases

If you ever end up in an emergency room, the first thing that happens is a doctor or nurse will check your “critical” vitals: your temperature, blood pressure, respiratory rate, and pulse. If those indicate your life is at risk, your care is prioritized over others who have already been waiting or who have been seen by a doctor but require additional testing (e.g. an x-ray or blood test) or a specialist to review their symptoms. This process, called “triaging,” is the global standard for allocating resources in emergency care.

Triaging is a marvel of modern healthcare if it is abundantly clear that you are on death’s door. But if there’s no textbook description of your condition, it can leave you needlessly suffering while the experts try to figure it out. That’s often the case for those with rare diseases, a group of conditions that are not individually common, but combined, affect an estimated 10% of the global population, some 475 million people. An estimated 80% of the 7,000 identified rare diseases are caused by DNA mutations that occur during pregnancy, meaning most of those with this category of illness are born with it. In many cases, these babies emerge from the womb with life-threatening conditions that doctors—working the triage system—will immediately address. However, this also tends to lead doctors to then ignore the underlying rare disease—an “unnecessary medical expenditure,” in the triage system framework.

I am one of the people living with a rare disease.

I was born with a number of symptoms and signs that put my life at risk a collapsed lung, a premature exit from my mother’s body after only six months, and malnutrition from a hole in my amniotic sac. These problems were all treated and resolved over a multiple month stay in the hospital dictated by the triage system. I was allocated hospital resources for my life-threatening conditions until I was deemed stable enough to go home: the point at which I wouldn’t die if I left the care of the hospital.

But there was another problem that was overlooked, and which wasn’t diagnosed until I was five years old.

Every bone in my body was bent and every muscle atrophied or non-existent. I couldn’t move my neck away from shoulder; I couldn’t straighten my legs, knees, arms, wrists, ankles, toes, hands, or fingers beyond fixed, fully bent positions.

The triage system worked at saving my life, but never addressed how I would live day to day or even physically move from a single location by myself. It never addressed the underlying issue and root of the problem: a rare orthopedic genetic disease.

The “life or death” triage standard is one of the primary reasons that it takes, on average, seven years for people with a rare disease to get a diagnosis in the U.S.—and

I am one of the lucky ones. Serendipitously, a Because of these surgeries, and additional ones I’ve had since, I could feed myself, live free from a wheelchair, go to school through the post-graduate level, and hold a full-time job.

The orthopedic surgeries I needed—over 29 of them in less than 30 years—have cost millions of dollars. And these costs grow each year as I undergo additional exploratory surgery in the absence of any cure. However, these costs are still lower than what I would have incurred had I been left as the triage system deemed “stable” as an infant. I would have required 24-hour in-home care my entire life. I would never have been able to use the bathroom alone, to get dressed alone or to even leave the house alone. The lifetime value of a working individual according to the US Office of Management and Budget is on average $7 million to $9 million. The cost of a full-time caregiver is on average $40,320 a year; if a rare-disease patient reaches the average US life expectancy of 78 years old, the lifetime cost of full-time care is at least $3 million.

Our healthcare system needs to weigh the long-term costs of leaving behind people with rare disease, and, more specifically, evaluate the economic consequences that follow at a global scale.

Even more so, we need to weigh the costs of creating a pipeline to fill the treatment gap facing people with rare disease., Using genomic sequencing, clinicians can holistically understand the genetic roots of rare disease and even potentially cure rare disease through gene therapy, which modifies and permanently ‘fixes’ abnormal genes that cause a specific rare disease at birth.

Nonetheless, identifying the root genetic cause of rare disease is the only way to begin to cure a rare disease rather than just treating the symptoms in an ad hoc fashion. While certain pharmaceutical drugs can be developed from the findings in a genomic sequence to help mitigate or lessen symptoms, the science suggests the only way to cure a rare disease is to administer an even newer science called gene therapy—which modifies and permanently ‘fixes’ genes that are abnormal. Considered to be the most expensive option, a However, this nascent science is costly: gene therapy costs around $2 million for current US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved options.

Insurance plans in the US rarely pay for clinical-grade whole-genomic sequencing (which can carry a price tag of up to $9,000)—let alone gene therapies. Yet if the most expensive cost to cure a rare disease is $2 million, that’s still far less than $3 million for a lifetime of full-time care (which excludes additional expenses). And new studies, like one the World Economic Forum released in the lead up to this year’s International Rare Disease Day, show that we can ultimately save money in the long term by funding more treatments and, as an added benefit, potentially develop more cures by learning when treatments work and when treatments don’t work.

We can’t create clinical pathways for the more than 7,000 rare diseases overnight, but we need a standard of care that goes beyond using death as the primary barometer of focus, over-simplifies the complexity of what it means to be “healthy,” and only considers short term costs. An economically effective, new model could center on allocating resources with the end goal to allow people to reach a level of health that provides basic mobility or basic independence—a level of health allowing economic productivity. We are living in a time of unprecedented medical innovation, and our system of coverage needs to catch up. We can do better than just keeping people alive.

When a Teenager Reportedly Invented a Fake Congressional Candidate, Twitter Verified the Made Up Politician’s Account

Twitter verified an account for a fake Republican Rhode Island congressional candidate named Andrew Walz that was actually run by a teenager, CNN Business first reported on Friday. The account has since been permanently suspended in violation of Twitter’s rules, a spokesperson confirmed to TIME.

The 17-year-old high school student — who agreed to speak with CNN Business on the condition that his name not be used — reportedly lives in upstate New York. He told CNN Business he made a website for the fake candidate in “around 20 minutes” and the Twitter account in “maybe five minutes.” He said he got the fake candidate’s picture from a website called This Person Does Not Exist, which uses machine learning to generate realistic yet fake faces.

Why’d he do it? Because he was “bored” and wanted to test Twitter’s “election integrity efforts,” CNN Business reports.

The teen told CNN Business that he then submitted both the Twitter account and website to Ballotpedia, a nonprofit that bills itself as a “digital encyclopedia of American politics and elections.” Twitter has partnered with Ballotpedia to help identify political candidates to verify as the 2020 election swiftly approaches. Ballotpedia sends Twitter a list of candidates once a week to help with their verification process, and Twitter also reportedly investigates each candidate.

The fake candidate Andrew Walz was both listed on Ballotpedia and verified on Twitter, per CNN Business. The teen reportedly said that neither Twitter nor Ballotpedia asked for documentation to prove the candidate was real.

“We’ve put into place a rigorous process to ensure that, through our partnership with Ballotpedia, we accurately identify and verify candidates’ legitimate Twitter accounts,” a Twitter spokesperson said in a statement to TIME. “Sometimes, this thorough process can cause a short delay between when candidates qualified for the primary ballot and when candidates are verified.”

“Unfortunately, an individual found loopholes in our process by submitting a fake candidate and a fake account for verification,” she continued. “As soon as we discovered this, we took action on the account.” Creating a fake candidate account violates Twitter’s rules, and the account has been permanently suspended, per the spokesperson.

While Ballotpedia did not immediately respond to TIME’s request for comment Geoff Pallay, Ballotpedia’s editor in chief, issued a response to CNN Business that said, “Ballotpedia definitely made a mistake here.”

CNN Business reports that Pallay explained how the candidate was approved for the site without having filed official campaign documents. “Many candidates generate campaign activities, such as establishing an online presence, far in advance of their states’ filing deadlines. Because of that, we have observed a category of ‘declared candidate’ versus an ‘officially filed candidate,'” Pallay reportedly said. He added that Ballotpedia had been sending Twitter a list of candidates who had both declared and officially filed without distinguishing the difference, and Ballotpedia will make that distinction in the future, per CNN Business.

While Walz’s Ballotpedia page still exists, it now only includes a statement that says, “Ballotpedia was notified on Feb. 27, 2020, at 12:29 p.m. EST that Andrew Walz was not a legitimate candidate for office… Upon investigating this claim, we removed his entry from our database on Feb. 28, 2020. We have updated our declared candidate policy as a result of this situation.”

When a Teenager Reportedly Invented a Fake Congressional Candidate, Twitter Verified the Made Up Politician’s Account

Twitter verified an account for a fake Republican Rhode Island congressional candidate named Andrew Walz that was actually run by a teenager, CNN Business first reported on Friday. The account has since been permanently suspended in violation of Twitter’s rules, a spokesperson confirmed to TIME.

The 17-year-old high school student — who agreed to speak with CNN Business on the condition that his name not be used — reportedly lives in upstate New York. He told CNN Business he made a website for the fake candidate in “around 20 minutes” and the Twitter account in “maybe five minutes.” He said he got the fake candidate’s picture from a website called This Person Does Not Exist, which uses machine learning to generate realistic yet fake faces.

Why’d he do it? Because he was “bored” and wanted to test Twitter’s “election integrity efforts,” CNN Business reports.

The teen told CNN Business that he then submitted both the Twitter account and website to Ballotpedia, a nonprofit that bills itself as a “digital encyclopedia of American politics and elections.” Twitter has partnered with Ballotpedia to help identify political candidates to verify as the 2020 election swiftly approaches. Ballotpedia sends Twitter a list of candidates once a week to help with their verification process, and Twitter also reportedly investigates each candidate.

The fake candidate Andrew Walz was both listed on Ballotpedia and verified on Twitter, per CNN Business. The teen reportedly said that neither Twitter nor Ballotpedia asked for documentation to prove the candidate was real.

“We’ve put into place a rigorous process to ensure that, through our partnership with Ballotpedia, we accurately identify and verify candidates’ legitimate Twitter accounts,” a Twitter spokesperson said in a statement to TIME. “Sometimes, this thorough process can cause a short delay between when candidates qualified for the primary ballot and when candidates are verified.”

“Unfortunately, an individual found loopholes in our process by submitting a fake candidate and a fake account for verification,” she continued. “As soon as we discovered this, we took action on the account.” Creating a fake candidate account violates Twitter’s rules, and the account has been permanently suspended, per the spokesperson.

While Ballotpedia did not immediately respond to TIME’s request for comment Geoff Pallay, Ballotpedia’s editor in chief, issued a response to CNN Business that said, “Ballotpedia definitely made a mistake here.”

CNN Business reports that Pallay explained how the candidate was approved for the site without having filed official campaign documents. “Many candidates generate campaign activities, such as establishing an online presence, far in advance of their states’ filing deadlines. Because of that, we have observed a category of ‘declared candidate’ versus an ‘officially filed candidate,'” Pallay reportedly said. He added that Ballotpedia had been sending Twitter a list of candidates who had both declared and officially filed without distinguishing the difference, and Ballotpedia will make that distinction in the future, per CNN Business.

While Walz’s Ballotpedia page still exists, it now only includes a statement that says, “Ballotpedia was notified on Feb. 27, 2020, at 12:29 p.m. EST that Andrew Walz was not a legitimate candidate for office… Upon investigating this claim, we removed his entry from our database on Feb. 28, 2020. We have updated our declared candidate policy as a result of this situation.”

President Trump Says He’s Considering Closing Southern U.S. Border as More COVID-19 Cases ‘Likely’

WASHINGTON — The U.S. is banning travel to Iran in response to the outbreak of the new coronavirus and elevating travel warnings to regions of Italy and South Korea.

Vice President Mike Pence announced the new restrictions and warnings as President Donald Trump said 22 people in the U.S. have been stricken by the new coronavirus, including four deemed “very ill” and that additional cases are “likely.” Trump added that he was considering additional restrictions, including closing the U.S. border with Mexico in response to the virus’ spread.

“We’re thinking about all borders,” Trump said.

Trump provided an update on the virus from the White House press briefing room for the second time this week after the first reported U.S. death Saturday, of a woman he described as being in her late 50s and having a high medical risk. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there was “no evidence of link to travel” in the case of the woman who died.

On Friday, health officials confirmed a second case of coronavirus in the U.S. in a person who didn’t travel internationally or have close contact with anyone who had the virus. The U.S. has a total of about 60 confirmed cases. Trump’s tally appeared to exclude cases of Americans repatriated from two cruise ships in Asia.

Trump said healthy Americans should be able to recover if they contract the new virus, as he tried to reassure Americans and global markets spooked by the virus threat.

He encouraged Americans not to alter their daily routines, saying the country is “super prepared” for a wider outbreak, adding “there’s no reason to panic at all.”

He added he wasn’t altering his routine either. “You’re talking about 22 people right now in this whole very vast country. I think we’ll be in very good shape.”

Trump spoke a day after he denounced criticism of his response to the threat as a “hoax” cooked up by his political enemies. Speaking at a rally in South Carolina he accused Democrats of “politicizing” the coronavirus threat and boasted about preventive steps he’s ordered in an attempt to keep the virus that originated in China from spreading across the United States. Those steps include barring entry by most foreign nationals who had recently visited China.

“They tried the impeachment hoax. … This is their new hoax,” Trump said of Democratic denunciations of his administration’s coronavirus response.

Trump said Saturday he was not trying to minimize the threat of the virus.

“Again, the hoax was used in respect to Democrats and what they were saying,” he said.

Some Democrats have said Trump could have acted sooner to bolster the U.S. response to the virus. Democratic and Republican lawmakers also have said his request for an additional $2.5 billion to defend against the virus isn’t enough. They’ve signaled they will provide substantially more funding.

Trump said Democrats want him to fail and argued that steps he’s taken so far have kept cases to a minimum and prevented virus deaths in the U.S.

As global markets plunged this week, Trump predicted they will come back, and encouraged the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates.

“The markets will all come back,” he said. “I think the Fed has a very important role, especially psychological. If you look at it, the Fed has a massive impact.”

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Girlfriend Carrie Symonds Are Expecting a Baby

LONDON — The patter of tiny feet is coming to Downing Street.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson revealed Saturday that he and his girlfriend, Carrie Symonds, are engaged to be married and expecting a baby in the early summer.

A wedding date wasn’t announced.

Johnson, 55, and Symonds, 31, made history as the first unmarried couple to openly live together at the British prime minister’s official London residence when they moved in last year.

Symonds, a conservationist and former communications chief for the Conservative Party, which Johnson now leads, was romantically linked to Johnson when Theresa May still served as prime minister.

Johnson has four children with his second wife, Marina Wheeler, a lawyer he married in 1993. They announced their separation in September 2018 and said they planned to divorce. Johnson has fathered at least one other child.

The wives of two of the last four British prime ministers, David Cameron and Tony Blair, had babies while their husbands were in office.

Pete Buttigieg is Not Optimistic About South Carolina. But He’s Pushing On.

Pete Buttigieg was only half joking on the eve of the South Carolina primary when he wondered aloud to a crowd if it wasn’t “too late” to make another hire to help his struggling campaign. His aides sitting in the back of an American Legion hall in Sumter, S.C., audibly groaned, and one threw up his hands in open frustration.

No campaign staffer wants their boss to admit defeat in a contest before the polls even open, particularly if the campaign is in a precarious position. Though the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, had a strong early start as a presidential contender in the predominantly white states of Iowa and New Hampshire, he has failed to garner support among black voters.

And so Saturday’s contest in South Carolina, where roughly two-thirds of the Democratic electorate is African American, is not expected to be a good day for Buttigieg. Only 6% of black voters in the state’s Democratic primary support him, according to the last Emerson College poll. Looking ahead to the 14 states that will vote in three days on Super Tuesday, his odds aren’t much better as the electorate grows even more diverse.

That mood of impending defeat imbued Buttigieg’s performance on stage on Friday in Sumter, a military town that is fighting lead in its drinking water like Flint. It was a potentially uncomfortable setting for Buttigieg, a gay veteran in a state where sexual orientation and gender identity are legal causes for dismissal. The invite-only crowd was friendly enough, but Buttigieg appeared exhausted. It was not the same candidate on stage who electrified hotel ballrooms on the way to victory in Iowa.

“I’m actually surprised he is still in the race,” says Ken Knops, a 66-year-old retiree who supported Andrew Yang until he dropped out. Now Knops is shopping around, including a skeptical visit to Buttigieg’s event. “I don’t know what [states] he wins on Super Tuesday.”

As Democratic presidential candidates head into the crucial Super Tuesday contest, the wide field of contenders is becoming a bigger and bigger problem. Bernie Sanders remains the frontrunner after the first three contests, and former Vice President Joe Biden is expected to do well in South Carolina and could potentially head into Super Tuesday with the second-largest bucket of delegates.

But no one else is ready to quit. Like Buttigieg, Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar are vowing to fight onward as the contests hit their backyards, and billionaire Mike Bloomberg is set to join the balloting this week. The wide field of moderates is divvying up the majority of votes not going to Sanders, paving the way for the Vermont Senator’s continued ascension in the race. If things continue at this pace, no one will secure the nomination before Democrats arrive in Milwaukee for their convention, meaning anything can happen.

Campaigning in South Carolina has not gone smoothly for Buttigieg. On Friday, his campaign abruptly canceled an event with small-town, African American mayors at a soul food restaurant in Fairfax, S.C., because so few of them were willing to attend. Rep. James Clyburn — a kingmaker in the state — threw his support behind Biden, effectively icing out any opening for the former mayor.

Hours later, Buttigieg stumbled when he was asked about his faith.

“Evangelists have historically voted Republican in thinking that’s where their morality lies. What are you doing to engage Christians across the country — especially white Christians — who normally will vote Republican against the concepts of compassion, against the concepts of humanity,” self-identified poet laureate of the Vote Common Good movement Genesis Be asked of Buttiegieg.

Buttigieg, who has been canceling events as he fights a nasty illness and isn’t campaigning as his best self, veered into an answer that was inarticulate at beset. “I love the idea that your movement has a poet laureate. Really exciting,” he said to applause. “I wonder if it’s too late to think up a way to have a poet laureate for our campaign. That’s a great idea.”

Still, Buttigieg has no plans to step aside, at least for now, as he heads on Sunday to Georgia with former President Jimmy Carter, then head to Texas, Oklahoma and Idaho in the coming days. Buttigieg plans to continue his campaign preaching compassion and civility, a vision that can be hard to compete with Sanders’ promise of a revolution.

He may be losing among black voters, but he remains committed to winning over the slice of the electorate he describes as “future former Republicans” like Marc Warren, a 49-year-old architect from Columbia, S.C., who joined Buttigieg’s primary-eve rally in the state’s capital city. A Republican who dislikes Trump, Warren says he plans to vote for Buttigieg even though he has zero expectations he can win. “He has a really big hill to climb, but we can’t sit on our hands because it will be tough,” he says.

Other supporters who came out to support Buttigieg in South Carolina said they were hoping that once the wide field of moderates narrowed, Buttigieg would have a better chance of staying in the game.

“It’s time for some people to get out. It’s time to consolidate,” says Caroline Keene, a 46-year-old teacher from Camden, S.C., who planned on voting for Buttigieg the next day. “It’s time for us to pick one person who isn’t Bernie and rally behind that person.”

 

France Bans Gatherings, Frowns on Kissing, to Fight COVID-19

PARIS — France is banning all indoor public gatherings of more than 5,000 people to slow the spread of coronavirus cases and recommending that people no longer greet each other with kisses.

The cancellation of large gatherings in confined spaces was announced by Health Minister Olivier Veran after special government meetings Saturday that focused on responses to the epidemic.

Having previously recommended that people avoid shaking hands, the minister said they should also cut back on “la bise,” the custom in France and elsewhere in Europe of giving greetings with kisses, or air kisses, on the cheeks.

The tightened restrictions on public gatherings had an immediate impact. A major four-day trade show in Cannes for property investors was postponed from March to June.

A half-marathon that was scheduled for Sunday in Paris also was cancelled, as was a carnival in the Alpine town of Annecy, Veran announced.

He said other outdoor events and gatherings that might lead to a mixing of people from infected areas could also be canceled.

Public gatherings are being banned completely in the Oise region north of Paris that has seen a cluster of cases, and in a town in the foothills of the Alps that has also seen infections, he said.

As of Saturday, France had registered a total of 73 people infected with the coronavirus, up from 57 on Friday. Of those, 59 people remain hospitalized, two have died and 12 have recovered, the minister said.

Garth Brooks Honored Football Player Barry Sanders and Many Confused It With a Bernie Endorsement

Well, it’s definitely an election year. Just look in the comments on country singer Garth Brooks‘ Instagram.

After preforming in Detroit on Feb. 22, the renowned musician posted a photo of himself wearing a Barry Sanders jersey. Sanders is a retired Hall of Fame running back who played for the Detroit Lions.

Not all of his followers understood that the jersey was a reference to the football player and an homage to the city where Brooks performed. It appears that many thought it was an endorsement of Democratic presidential-hopeful Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. And many were not pleased.

View this post on Instagram

Detroit You carried me all night long But you always have I’m in love with you! love, g #GARTHinDETROIT

A post shared by Garth Brooks (@garthbrooks) on Feb 22, 2020 at 8:17pm PST

“You just lost a fan. Can’t believe you’d ever support Sanders,” one commenter wrote. “So disappointing. Hey, Garth, why haven’t you shared your money with all of us?” reads another. Others in the comments were quick to point out that Brooks was referencing the football player, not the democratic socialist. The Instagram post has over 14,000 comments so far.

Brooks wore the jersey while playing at Ford Field, in front of a crowd of roughly 70,000 people. According to Michigan Live, during the concert he told the crowd that he wore the jersey not only because he was preforming where the Lions play, but also because both he and Sanders went to Oklahoma State University.

“I was lucky enough to be an athlete and to wear the same uniform as this guy wore in college,” Brooks reportedly said during the concert. “I was lucky to go to school with him. You guys got the greatest player in NFL history in my opinion in this jersey. I love this man.”

Looks like news of the mix-up got back to Barry Sanders himself, who tweeted on Friday, “Hey @garthbrooks, want to be my VP? #Number20for2020″

Hey @garthbrooks, want to be my VP? #Number20for2020 https://t.co/qPhw0lSFCD

— Barry Sanders (@BarrySanders) February 28, 2020

Brooks responded, “Hey @BarrySanders I would run any race with you! #Number20for2020 HA!!! love you pal, g.” He hasn’t commented on the incident beyond the tweet.

Hey @BarrySanders I would run any race with you! #Number20for2020 HA!!! love you pal, g https://t.co/1a5d0CiwSP

— Garth Brooks (@garthbrooks) February 28, 2020

However, the Detroit Lions decided to weigh in.

He’s got our vote. 🐐 pic.twitter.com/V7P96uLjtG

— Detroit Lions (@Lions) February 28, 2020

Brooks doesn’t usually make his personal politics public. In 2017, he said he would have preformed at President Donald Trump’s inauguration had he not had a scheduling conflict.

“It’s always about serving. It’s what you do,” he said at the time. “Can’t thank the Obamas enough for serving this country, and may God hold Trump’s hand in the decisions that he makes in this country’s name as well,” he continued.

Garth Brooks Honored Football Player Barry Sanders and Many Confused It With a Bernie Endorsement

Well, it’s definitely an election year. Just look in the comments on country singer Garth Brooks‘ Instagram.

After preforming in Detroit on Feb. 22, the renowned musician posted a photo of himself wearing a Barry Sanders jersey. Sanders is a retired Hall of Fame running back who played for the Detroit Lions.

Not all of his followers understood that the jersey was a reference to the football player and an homage to the city where Brooks performed. It appears that many thought it was an endorsement of Democratic presidential-hopeful Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. And many were not pleased.

View this post on Instagram

Detroit You carried me all night long But you always have I’m in love with you! love, g #GARTHinDETROIT

A post shared by Garth Brooks (@garthbrooks) on Feb 22, 2020 at 8:17pm PST

“You just lost a fan. Can’t believe you’d ever support Sanders,” one commenter wrote. “So disappointing. Hey, Garth, why haven’t you shared your money with all of us?” reads another. Others in the comments were quick to point out that Brooks was referencing the football player, not the democratic socialist. The Instagram post has over 14,000 comments so far.

Brooks wore the jersey while playing at Ford Field, in front of a crowd of roughly 70,000 people. According to Michigan Live, during the concert he told the crowd that he wore the jersey not only because he was preforming where the Lions play, but also because both he and Sanders went to Oklahoma State University.

“I was lucky enough to be an athlete and to wear the same uniform as this guy wore in college,” Brooks reportedly said during the concert. “I was lucky to go to school with him. You guys got the greatest player in NFL history in my opinion in this jersey. I love this man.”

Looks like news of the mix-up got back to Barry Sanders himself, who tweeted on Friday, “Hey @garthbrooks, want to be my VP? #Number20for2020″

Hey @garthbrooks, want to be my VP? #Number20for2020 https://t.co/qPhw0lSFCD

— Barry Sanders (@BarrySanders) February 28, 2020

Brooks responded, “Hey @BarrySanders I would run any race with you! #Number20for2020 HA!!! love you pal, g.” He hasn’t commented on the incident beyond the tweet.

Hey @BarrySanders I would run any race with you! #Number20for2020 HA!!! love you pal, g https://t.co/1a5d0CiwSP

— Garth Brooks (@garthbrooks) February 28, 2020

However, the Detroit Lions decided to weigh in.

He’s got our vote. 🐐 pic.twitter.com/V7P96uLjtG

— Detroit Lions (@Lions) February 28, 2020

Brooks doesn’t usually make his personal politics public. In 2017, he said he would have preformed at President Donald Trump’s inauguration had he not had a scheduling conflict.

“It’s always about serving. It’s what you do,” he said at the time. “Can’t thank the Obamas enough for serving this country, and may God hold Trump’s hand in the decisions that he makes in this country’s name as well,” he continued.

Turkey’s President Erdogan Says Borders Are Open as Refugees Gather to Enter Greece

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday that his country’s borders with Europe were open, as thousands of refugees gathered at the frontier with Greece.

Migrants played a cat-and-mouse game with Greek border patrols throughout the night and into Saturday, with some cutting holes in the fence only to be turned back by tear gas and stun grenades. Greek authorities also fired tear gas to repulse attempts by the crowd to push through the border.

The move by Turkey to open its border, first announced Thursday, was seen in Greece as a deliberate attempt to pressure European countries. It comes as tensions ratcheted up between Turkey and Syria. More than 55 Turkish troops have been killed since Turkey began sending further reinforcements into areas of northwest Syria under the control of rebels, which are backed by Turkey.

“We will not close the gates to refugees,” Erdogan said in a speech in Istanbul. “The European Union has to keep its promises.”

If Erdogan really has opened the border, it would be a dramatic departure from Turkey’s current policy. Under a 2016 deal, Turkey agreed to stem the tide of refugees to Europe in return for financial aid. It has since protested that the EU has failed to honor the agreement.

Erdogan was speaking for the first time since 33 Turkish soldiers were killed in air strikes in northwest Syria on Thursday, the largest single loss of life for Turkish forces since their country became involved in Syria in 2016.

The Turkish troop deaths led officials to declare Turkey would not impede refugees seeking to enter Europe.

Turkey currently hosts more than 3.5 million Syrian refugees, and many fleeing war and poverty in Asia, Africa and the Middle East use it as a staging post and transit point to reach Europe, usually through neighboring Greece.

On Saturday, small groups managed to get across into Greece clandestinely. The vast majority were from Afghanistan, and most were men, although there were also some families with young children. They took shelter during the night in abandoned buildings or small chapels in the Greek countryside before starting to walk towards northern Greek.

Erdogan has frequently threatened to “open the gates” and allow refugees and migrants to head to Europe unless more international support was provided, particularly at times of tension with European countries.

Thursday’s deaths were the most serious escalation between Turkish and Russian-backed Syrian forces. The development has raised the prospect of an all-out war with millions of Syrian civilians trapped in the middle.

Syrian government forces have been on a weekslong offensive into Idlib province, the country’s last rebel stronghold, which borders Turkey. Thousands of Turkish soldiers are deployed inside rebel-controlled areas of Idlib province, which is dominated by al-Qaida-linked militants.

The Idlib offensive has pushed nearly 950,000 displaced civilians toward the Syrian-Turkish border amid cold winter weather.

“We learnt the border was open and we headed there. But we saw it was closed, and we found a hole in the fence and went through it,” said Ali Nikad, a 17-year-old Iranian who made it into Greece overnight with a group of friends.

Nikad said he had spent two months in Turkey but couldn’t make ends meet, and was hoping to find his uncle who was already in Greece.

Many of those who made it across the land border were seen being arrested and driven away in white vans.

A police officer told The Associated Press there was pressure along the 200-kilometer (125-mile) land border from migrants trying to force their way through overnight, and groups were being constantly repulsed. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak on the record.

Others were making their way to Greek islands in dinghies from the nearby Turkish coast.

Greece and Bulgaria increased security at their borders with Turkey. In Athens, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis convened an emergency meeting of top cabinet, military and coast guard officials Saturday morning on the issue.

In Syria, Turkey’s Defense Ministry said one of its soldiers was killed and two were injured by Syrian government shelling, the latest fatality after the deadly airstrike that killed 33 earlier this week.

The announcement late Friday also said Turkish forces hit Syrian government targets and a number of Syrian troops were “neutralized.”

It remained unclear whether Syrian or Russian jets carried out the airstrike, but Russia denied its aircraft were responsible.

Erdogan had given the Syrian government until the end of the month to pull back from areas captured in Idlib, threatening large-scale military action if they didn’t. But any large scale Turkish military action risks more loss of life among Turkish soldiers. He had kept unusually silent since the 33 deaths.

NATO envoys held emergency talks Friday at the request of Turkey, a NATO member. While urging deescalation in Idlib, NATO offered no further assistance.

Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by telephone Friday and discussed implementing agreements in Idlib, the Kremlin said. Fahrettin Altun, Erdogan’s director of communications, said they had agreed to meet “as soon as possible.”

Erdogan also spoke with other world leaders, including President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an immediate cease-fire in Idlib. He warned that “without urgent action, the risk of even greater escalation grows by the hour, and as always, civilians are paying the gravest price.”

___

Kantouris reported from Kastanies, Greece. Elena Becatoros in Athens contributed to this report.

She’s Known for Casting Doubt on Women’s Claims of Abuse. Now She’s Reconsidering That Position—But Only for Herself

Katie Roiphe has long been an easy target for feminists, despite claiming the mantle herself. The writer’s philosophical argument with mainstream feminism, articulated in books like The Morning After (1993) and dozens of essays, boils down to this: If we admit that men have physical and structural power over women, then women must be powerless. Roiphe has repeatedly asserted women’s agency — even to the point of casting the stories of college students who said they were raped as fantasies born from regret. She sealed her fate as persona non grata in feminist corners of the internet in 2018 when she called the #MeToo movement into question in a controversial essay for Harper’s. Before it was published, that piece stirred up rumors of plans to out the creator of a document where women in media listed allegations against their male colleagues (which Roiphe denies intending to do), and challenged women’s descriptions of hostile workplace cultures: “The idea of this ubiquitous, overwhelming fear is repeatedly conjured and dramatized by Twitter feminists.”

In The Power Notebooks, a new series of essays that blend memoir and biography, to be published on March 3, Roiphe comes dangerously close to admitting she was wrong about the power dynamics between men and women. The 70-some chapters, written in a muddled stream-of-consciousness style, deal primarily with Roiphe’s relationships with a series of toxic men. She intersperses personal stories with musings on successful women writers, like Sylvia Plath and Simone de Beauvoir, and how they long maintained submissive and abusive relationships of their own. But even after years spent poring over their letters and diaries, Roiphe seems unable to reconcile the passivity of her literary heroes in the face of cruel romantic partners — and makes little progress in determining her own place in that lineage.

The book will leave readers in search of a cogent feminist philosophy wanting, though those eager to better understand Roiphe as an individual may appreciate the growth she shows over the course of the essays. As the writer grapples with a lifetime of troubling experiences, she offers a new generosity to herself. Unfortunately, that’s as far as she extends it.

The most compelling moments in The Power Notebooks come when Roiphe analyzes her own stories of abuse. Roiphe avoids using that label herself, as is her right as the author of her own narrative — but as they are written, these incidents read as just that. She begins her story with a jarring scene in which her then-husband randomly stops their car and orders Roiphe to get out with their baby, leaving her to walk a mile home with the child in her arms. She goes on to detail how this partner used to yell at her so loudly that the neighbors would call in concern, and her child would be left shaken and unable to eat.

When a friend, in passing, calls her own ex “abusive” in a later scene, Roiphe stops to admire what is, from her perspective, the friend’s boldness. “I find that word difficult to use,” she writes, “in part because of its moral clarity, a clarity I don’t at all feel in relation to my own life.” She adds, “It’s easier to think that a crazy thing happened between us a long time ago and that it is no one’s fault.”

Later in the book, Roiphe reveals the formative experience that has colored her view of men, women and power. She writes that when she was 15 years old, she engaged in a sexual relationship with a 30-something rabbi. The rabbi was an adult and she was a child. He held an institutional position of authority over her, offering life advice to her and other young people in her community, and used that power to seduce her. But again, when Roiphe reflects on her experiences, she struggles with the question of whether she was a victim. “To what degree was he in power, abusing power? To what degree was the 15-year-old me in control of the situation, the way I remember?” Watching her try to litigate the power dynamics of this situation may be puzzling or even frustrating for readers who view it as so obviously corrupt.

Still, the desire not to be perceived as vulnerable is understandable. Women and men who have experienced abuse react in many different ways, and it’s common not to admit experiencing abuse for years or even decades. And Roiphe teeters on the revelation that she cannot blame herself for the abuse she’s suffered. “I have so long and so passionately resisted the victim role because I was not purely a victim, not purely traumatized,” she writes, “but I am beginning to realize that this does not mean I was not also or very complexly those things. Because I was not purely powerless does not mean I was not facing a man who was twisting or distorting his power.”

Roiphe’s articulation of that sentiment might be read as a breakthrough, if only she applied it to anyone aside from herself. This is the most striking problem with the book. In the very next chapter, Roiphe turns her attention to her teenage daughter, who has written a poem about harassment. The girl writes she has learned from experience to wear a sweatshirt so men on the street won’t leer at her, to quickly change train cars when a drunk stranger asks her to sit next to him. Roiphe’s reaction? “The dawning of her power over men is simultaneous with her growing vulnerability. She discovers her power to attract men as a burden, a danger.”

That Roiphe thinks of her daughter as being in a position of power while being catcalled is startling. The harassment that women experience walking down the street each day is not a reflection of some kind of sexual liberation or sway they hold over men. It’s a way for men and boys to demonstrate their dominance over the women and girls who happen to exist near them — the harassers can do or say whatever they want, and those in their path can do little about it.

Even outside the realm of abuse, Roiphe seems unable to draw a connection between her own experiences and those of other women. She spends an entire chapter bemoaning the decisions by feminist writers — including Roxane Gay, Joan Didion and Zadie Smith — to admit their vulnerabilities in their work. She recalls their small stories of throwing up before teaching a first class, crying in public or rushing barefoot to meet the babysitter, respectively, and deems them “performances of weakness” designed to make them (and their feminist philosophies) more “relatable” and “likable.” Roiphe does not entertain the idea that these women might present genuine, human moments without a political agenda. Nor does she acknowledge that she herself spends much of The Power Notebooks sharing stories that evoke the reader’s sympathy.

Roiphe has truly suffered in life, and to work through her trauma so publicly is an act of bravery. At moments, readers may want to hug her. And how a person who has experienced trauma chooses to tell her story is her decision alone. But Roiphe’s choice to disclose stands separately from the way she imposes her own lessons on other women. It’s impossible to ignore the fact that this writer has built a career on attacking her peers — women who have suffered the same kinds of hurt that she has, who share details about their lives to connect with readers just as she is doing. In The Power Notebooks, Roiphe is finally making room for herself to express weakness and to feel pain. Hopefully, someday, she will do the same for the rest of us.

Here’s Everything New on Amazon Prime Video in March 2020

This month, Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn are once again searching for the world’s next best fashion designers — but not on Project Runway. Amazon’s Making the Cut, hosted and executive produced by Klum and Gunn, will air two episodes weekly, starting March 27. The contestants featured on the show will visit Paris, New York and Tokyo to face challenges of their skills as both entrepreneurs and designers.

Amazon is also rolling out an adaptation of Agatha Christie’s 1961 mystery novel The Pale Horse, with the full season available for streaming on March 13.

Here are all the original series and movies, as well as other licensed content, available on Amazon Prime Video this month.

Here are the new Amazon Prime Video originals in March 2020

Available March 6

ZeroZeroZero: Season 1

Available March 11

The Test: A New Era for Australia’s Team: Season 1

Available March 13

Agatha Christie’s The Pale Horse: Season 1

Jessy & Nessy: Season 1A

Available March 20

Blow the Man Down

Available March 27

Making the Cut: Season 1

Here are the TV shows and movies streaming on Amazon Prime Video in March 2020

Available March 1

Abduction

Cantinflas

Chilly Dogs

Danny Roane: First Time Director

Deck The Halls

Destiny Turns On The Radio

Eyes Of An Angel

Going The Distance

Good Morning, Killer

Henry’s Crime

Hide

Hornets Nest

Innocent

Kung Fu Panda

Lady In A Cage

Man On A Ledge

Night Of The Living Dead

Night Of The Living Dead: Resurrection

Richard The Lionheart

Ricochet

Route 9

Silent Tongue

Silent Witness

Spinning Into Butter

Standing In The Shadows Of Motown

Tenderness

The Cooler

The Crazies

The Descent

The Descent: Part 2

The Skull

Wayne’s World 2

Patrick Melrose: Season 1

Available March 8

Show Dogs

Available March 13

Jay and Silent Bob Reboot

Available March 19

Pet Sematary

Available March 21

I See You

Available March 23

A Good Old Fashioned Orgy

Luther: Season 5

Available March 30

Santee

Here are the movies available for rent or purchase on Amazon Prime Video in March 2020

Available March 3

Jumanji: The Next Level

Available March 10

Little Joe

Here’s Everything New on Netflix in March 2020—and What’s Leaving

Barack and Michelle Obama are following the success of their production company’s first collaboration with Netflix, American Factory — the documentary about a Chinese company opening a factory in Ohio that won Best Documentary Feature at last month’s Oscars — with another documentary available March 25.

Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution chronicles how an upstate New York summer camp for teenagers with disabilities in 1971 led to the formation of the disability rights movement and, ultimately, the 1990 passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The documentary won the Audience Award at Sundance and is already generating a new wave of Oscar buzz for the former president and first lady.

Netflix continues its focus on the realm of documentaries with a second season of Dirty Money streaming March 11, all about the U.S. payday lending industry.

The streamer is also airing the third season of its Emmy-winning series Ozark on March 27, starring Jason Bateman, Julia Garner and Laura Linney.

On the original movie front, Netflix debuts action-comedy Spenser Confidential on March 6, directed by Peter Berg and starring Mark Wahlberg, Winston Duke, Alan Arkin and singer Post Malone.

Here is everything new on Netflix this month — and everything set to leave the streamer.

Here are the new Netflix originals in March 2020

Available TBD

ARASHI’s Diary — Voyage

The English Game

Ladies Up

Available March 1

Go! Go! Cory Carson: Season 2

Available March 3

Taylor Tomlinson: Quarter-Life Crisis

Available March 5

Castlevania: Season 3

Mighty Little Bheem: Festival of Colors

Available March 6

Guilty

I am Jonas

Paradise PD: Part 2

The Protector: Season 3

Spenser Confidential

Twin Murders: The Silence of the White City

Ugly Delicious: Season 2

Available March 8

Sitara: Let Girls Dream

Available March 10

Carmen Sandiego: To Steal or Not to Steal

Marc Maron: End Times Fun

Available March 11

The Circle Brazil

Dirty Money: Season 2

On My Block: Season 3

Available March 12

Hospital Playlist

Available March 13

100 Humans

BEASTARS

Bloodride

Elite: Season 3

Go Karts

Kingdom: Season 2

Lost Girls

The Valhalla Murders

Women of the Night

Available March 16

The Boss Baby: Back in Business: Season 3

Available March 17

Bert Kreischer: Hey Big Boy

Shaun the Sheep: Adventures from Mossy Bottom

Available March 19

Altered Carbon: Resleeved

Feel Good

Available March 20

A Life of Speed: The Juan Manuel Fangio Story

Archibald’s Next Big Thing: Season 2

Buddi

Dino Girl Gauko: Season 2

Greenhouse Academy: Season 4

The Letter for the King

Maska

The Platform

Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker

Ultras

Tiger King

Available March 23

Sol Levante

Available March 25

Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution

Curtiz

The Occupant (Hogar)

YooHoo to the Rescue: Season 3

Available March 26

7SEEDS: Part 2

Unorthodox

Available March 27

Car Masters: Rust to Riches: Season 2

The Decline

Dragons: Rescue Riders: Hunt for the Golden Dragon

Ozark: Season 3

True: Wuzzle Wegg Day

Uncorked

Here are the TV shows and movies coming to Netflix in March 2020

Available March 1

Always a Bridesmaid

Beyond the Mat

Cop Out

Corpse Bride

Donnie Brasco

Freedom Writers

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past

GoodFellas

Haywire

He’s Just Not That Into You

Hook

Hugo

Kung Fu Panda 2

Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events

Life as We Know It

Looney Tunes: Back in Action

Outbreak

Resident Evil: Apocalypse

Resident Evil: Extinction

Richie Rich

Semi-Pro

Sleepover

Space Jam

The Gift

The Interview

The Shawshank Redemption

The Story of God with Morgan Freeman: S3

There Will Be Blood

Tootsie

Valentine’s Day

Velvet Colección: Grand Finale

ZZ Top: That Little Ol’ Band from Texas

Available March 4

Lil Peep: Everybody’s Everything

Available March 11

Last Ferry

Summer Night

Available March 15

Aftermath

Available March 16

Search Party

Silver Linings Playbook

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

The Young Messiah

Available March 17

All American: Season 2

Black Lightning: Season 2

Available March 18

Lu Over the Wall

Available March 26

Blood Father

Available March 27

Killing Them Softly

There’s Something in the Water

Here’s what’s leaving Netflix in March 2020

Leaving March 3

Marvel Studios’ Black Panther

The Men Who Stare at Goats

Leaving March 4

F the Prom

Leaving March 7

Blue Jasmine

The Jane Austen Book Club

The Waterboy

Leaving March 9

Eat Pray Love

Leaving March 14

Men in Black

Men in Black II

Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection : Classic: Collection 3

Leaving March 15

Coraline

Leaving March 17

Being Mary Jane: The Series: Seasons 1-4

Leaving March 19

The L Word: Seasons 1-6

Zodiac

Leaving March 24

Disney’s A Wrinkle in Time

Leaving March 30

Batman Begins

Charlie’s Angels

Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle

Death at a Funeral

Drugs, Inc.: Season 5

Hairspray

Kill Bill: Vol. 1

Kill Bill: Vol. 2

New York Minute

P.S. I Love You

Paranormal Activity

Small Soldiers

The Dark Knight

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Wild Wild West