US briefing: Wuhan on lockdown, Trump's travel ban and Bezos hack
Good morning, I’m Tim Walker with today’s essential stories.
Panic in Wuhan as China bars 11m residents from leaving
Supermarket shelves are bare and the sense of panic is palpable in Wuhan after the Chinese city of 11 million people was put on lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Public transport out of the city has been suspended in response to the outbreak, which has now killed 17 people and infected almost 600 in China and spread to three other Asian countries and the US. However, the World Health Organization has so far refrained from declaring it a public health emergency of international concern.
US case. Doctors have been using a robot to treat the first person diagnosed with the disease in the US, a man in his 30s who recently returned from China and who is said to be in “satisfactory condition” at a hospital in Everett, Washington.
‘Warm meat’. A market where animals are freshly slaughtered rather than chilled has been identified as the source of the virus. Experts say the Chinese appetite for so-called “warm meat” has long hampered efforts to prevent such disease outbreaks.
Schiff warns of dim future in opening impeachment argument
The Democrats’ lead impeachment prosecutor, congressman Adam Schiff, used appeals to constitutional history and warnings about future US decline as he strove to persuade Republicans of his opening argument in Donald Trump’s impeachment trial on Wednesday. But there appeared to be little shift in the partisan battle lines, and some frustration at the strictures of the trial format, while the GOP Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, conspicuously nodded off several times during Schiff’s presentation.
Trump tweets. Trump tweeted and retweeted 131 times about his impeachment trial as he travelled home from the Davos summit on Wednesday, setting a record for his most active day on the social media platform since he became president.
Florida swing voters. In Florida’s I-4 corridor, a famously key election battleground, swing voters tell Richard Luscombe they are barely paying attention to the impeachment battle.
Trump announces plan to expand travel ban
Donald Trump on Wednesday revealed a raft of new policy proposals, including adding “a couple of countries” to his controversial travel ban, as he prepared to return to Washington from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. On Thursday his administration is expected to unveil new visa restrictions targeting so-called “birth tourism”. The president also indicated his willingness to make cuts to social security and Medicare – a marked shift in policy between his 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns.
Anti-abortion march. Trump has said he will speak at an anti-abortion demonstration in Washington on Friday, organised by the group March for Life. He will be the first president ever to attend the annual event in person.
BP lobbying. US government documents show BP successfully lobbied the Trump administration to weaken a major environmental law, making it easier for infrastructure projects such as pipelines to move forward.
UN demands US inquiry into claims of Saudi Bezos hack
UN experts have demanded a US inquiry into claims that the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who owns the Washington Post, was hacked with spyware secreted in a May 2018 WhatsApp message from the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman. In November of the same year, after the murder by Saudi agents of the Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, Bezos received an “intimidating” message from the same sender, apparently referring to the Bezos’s then secret extramarital affair.
US VIPs. Bin Salman met dozens of prominent Americans during the same 2018 tour on which he met Bezos. It is not clear how many he exchanged WhatsApp messages with, though there are unconfirmed reports that he used the messaging platform to chat with Jared Kushner.
Cheat sheet
One person was killed and seven injured in a mass shooting in Seattle on Wednesday afternoon, the third shooting incident in the city’s downtown area in two days.
Three American firefighters have died after their waterbombing air tanker crashed while battling bushfires in Australia’s New South Wales on Thursday.
A report produced by more than 70 scholars, union leaders, economists and activists has called for an overhaul of America’s labor laws, saying the best way to combat inequality in the US is to strengthen unions and empower workers.
The numbers of western monarch butterflies wintering on the coast of California are critically low for the second year in a row, with an estimated population of 29,000 – down from 4.5 million in the 1980s.
Must-reads
Will Harry and Meghan monetise their social media brand?
Now that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been relieved of their official royal responsibilities, a new empire stretches before them, writes Elle Hunt: the realm of sponsored content. So will they make their living as social media influencers?
How the NRA shaped policy at the interior department
In 2017, the National Rifle Association lobbyist Benjamin Cassidy took up a job at the US interior department. His appointment epitomises the deep influence the gun group has at the agency, as a raft of previously unreleased emails reveal. Jimmy Tobias reports.
Will The Witcher’s success start a game-to-TV boom?
According to Netflix, its new fantasy show The Witcher is on course to be the platform’s most popular opening season ever. Based on a series of fantasy novels but commissioned off the back of a hit game, its success suggests TV is a better fit for game adaptations than the big screen, writes Keith Stuart.
The Mormons standing up to Mexico’s drug cartels
When nine Mormon women and children were shot dead by cartel members in Mexico last year, many of their community fled north to the US. But two of their cousins stayed to launch a quixotic campaign for justice. “We have to overcome our fears and do whatever we can,” they tell David Agren.
Opinion
A man with far-right views who attacked the Guardian columnist Owen Jones outside a pub in London last year has been convicted. But, Jones asks, is a lengthy prison sentence the best way to deal with an extremist?
Conceding there are no easy solutions can surely not detract from the basic fact that there is no judicial solution to fascism. My attacker, James Healy, is likely to go to prison a far-right thug and leave much the same way, perhaps even more entrenched in his belief system.
Sport
Zion Williamson began to deliver on his considerable promise in his NBA debut for the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night, scoring 22 points that briefly gave his team the lead in the fourth quarter. But the Pelicans ultimately went down to a 121-117 defeat against the San Antonio Spurs.
Rising star Coco Gauff and defending champion Naomi Osaka will face each other in the third round of the Australian Open on Friday. The pair light up the women’s game like few of their contemporaries, writes Kevin Mitchell, and their clash ought to bring much-needed excitement to a tournament overshadowed by the off-court drama of the nearby bushfires.
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