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Here are the main news of the week and a look to the future.
1. The first known death in the United States of the coronavirus was reported in Kirkland, Wash., near Seattle.
The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there was no evidence that the person had recently traveled or had contact with someone known to have the virus, which increases the signs that the virus is spreading in the United States. Above, EvergreenHealth Medical Center, where the patient had been treated.
The number of confirmed cases worldwide rose from 85,000 on Saturday, according to a tracker maintained by Johns Hopkins University, and more than 2,900 infected people died. Although the growth of the virus seemed to slow in China last week, it was accelerating elsewhere, with many new cases linked to an outbreak in Italy.
How prepared is the US for an outbreak? It is better positioned than most countries, according to experts, although there may be a shortage of fans and protective equipment. The most important thing you can do: Wash your hands frequently.
Subscribe to our new coronavirus newsletter, which will have the latest developments and expert advice on prevention and treatment.
2. Joe Biden won the South Carolina primary with 49 percent of the votes, a victory that could give his candidacy a much-needed shock after disappointing results in previous contests.
Bernie Sanders finished in a distant second with 20 percent, followed by Tom Steyer, who dropped out of the presidential race on Saturday night. Steyer, a billionaire hedge fund executive, spent considerable resources in South Carolina and pinned his campaign hopes on the state.
He said on Saturday night: “I said that if I didn’t see a way to victory, I would suspend my campaign. And I honestly don’t see a way. “
Pete Buttigieg finished fourth and Elizabeth Warren fifth. See the full results here.
South Carolina’s Democrats were the first predominantly black constituency to vote in the race. Many said they were eager to send a message to the Democratic Party: that their views on eligibility – which candidate is best suited to defeat President Trump – would not be shaped by the results in overwhelmingly white states like Iowa and New Hampshire.
3. The US signed an agreement with the Taliban on Saturday, which set a timetable for the final withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, setting the stage for ending America’s longest war.
“When historians look back at the moment,” writes David Sanger in an analysis of the news, “they may well conclude that Washington ended up much like other great powers that entered Afghanistan’s rugged mountains and punitive deserts: frustrated, immobilized, no longer willing to bear the enormous costs. “
The deal opens up a difficult but crucial next step: negotiations between the Taliban and other Afghans, including the government, which the Taliban refused to recognize. Here are four lessons.
4. Stock markets suffered their worst week since 2008, with the S&P 500 index dropping 11.5% amid fears that the coronavirus outbreak could become a global pandemic.
The Federal Reserve and other central banks are ready to respond, suggesting that they may cut interest rates as early as next month. But their efforts can go so far: rates are historically low in advanced economies, and it is doubtful whether a cut in rates could do much to restart production lines hampered by quarantined workers.
“If a potential reduction in coronavirus were a fire,” writes Neil Irwin in The Upshot, “recession fighters would be like a fire brigade with few supplies, fighting each other and probably without the right chemicals to put out the flames.”
5. For migrants on the Mexican border, Friday was a day of high hopes and then quickly dashed.
A federal appeals court ruled that the so-called Stay in Mexico policy – which forced asylum seekers to wait months while their cases are examined – was legally invalid, leading to applause and hugs at the Good Samaritan shelter in Ciudad Juárez. But at the end of the day, nothing changed, as the court suspended the decision to give the government time to appeal.
And in Turkey, thousands of migrants trying to reach Europe clashed with the riot police on the border with Greece on Saturday morning, signaling a new and potentially volatile phase in the migration crisis.
6. The richest state in the country it doesn’t feel that way.
California’s unsustainability crisis – large-scale homelessness, poverty and the stress of surviving – has emerged as a key issue as the state prepares to vote for Super Tuesday’s primary.
Almost 150,000 homeless people sleep on sidewalks, alleys, vacant lots and vehicles. “I pay the bills and I have nothing extra,” said Mark Marquez, above.
7. In memoriam: Joseph Coulombe, the founder of Trader Joe’s, died on Friday at age 89.
In the mid-1960s, when he started the supermarket chain, he thought that the increase in international travel could lead Americans to become more interested in exotic foods. Soon he was emphasizing organic foods and launched Trader Joe’s label for several products, many of them at low prices.
In 2011, he told The Los Angeles Times that he imagined stores as “for people with overly educated and underpaid people, for all classical musicians, museum curators, journalists”.
8. Get to know South Korea’s “spoons”.
In Seoul, many of the urban poor live in semi-basements, a reality captured in the Oscar-winning film “Parasite”. As in the film, elevating someone’s home in a congested city often reflects wealth and status.
“They keep climbing higher and higher, so they don’t have to smell it down there,” said a 63-year-old taxi driver. “Those who live there must despise people like me as pigs.”
Now she has a new set of fans, a new studio album on the way and a favorite candidate who is helping to elect the next president (his name is Pete).
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