Your Thursday Evening Briefing

March 5, 2020

Your Thursday Evening Briefing

By Tom Wright-Piersanti and Marcus Payadue

Good evening. Here’s the latest.

David Degner for The New York Times

1. Elizabeth Warren has dropped out of the Democratic primary race.

Ms. Warren, a progressive senator from Massachusetts, entered the contest with a flood of detailed proposals aimed at fighting corruption and changing the rules of the economy, and for much of the race she was considered one of the front-runners.

But her ideas weren’t able to generate enough excitement among the party’s working-class and diverse base. Her exit means the nominating contest is now a two-man race between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders. Ms. Warren has not yet announced whom she will support.

Mr. Sanders canceled a planned rally in Jackson, Miss., and will instead travel to Michigan, a change that suggests he will not challenge Mr. Biden for the support of black voters in the South and is instead going all in on the Midwest. Mr. Biden is ahead by about 65 delegates.

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Bill Pearce

2. Another cruise ship is being kept at sea because of the coronavirus.

The Grand Princess, a ship returning from Hawaii with thousands of people on board, is being held off the coast of San Francisco after two people who were on the vessel’s previous voyage were found to be infected with the virus.

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Test kits were flown to the ship by helicopter to screen about 100 passengers and crew members, including 21 with symptoms and 62 who had stayed on from the previous voyage. The same cruise line owns the Diamond Princess, which was ravaged by the virus while quarantined off Japan last month.

In New York, the number of confirmed cases jumped to 22 on Thursday, with officials announcing eight new cases in Westchester County, one on Long Island and two cases in New York City in which the patients are critically ill.

In Japan, critics are calling for the resignation of Shinzo Abe, the country’s longest-serving prime minister, for his controversial response to the outbreak.

Grant Hindsley for The New York Times

3. Stocks plunged again as investors struggled to gauge the economic damage of the outbreak.

The S&P 500 fell more than 3 percent. It has now climbed or fallen more than 3 percent on six different days in the past two weeks, something that had not happened even once in the previous 12 months.

Traveler anxiety and travel bans are making this a tough year for airlines — so bad that it’s “almost without precedent,” the president of the International Air Transport Association said.

Workplaces are feeling the sting, too, worrying about the health of their workers and their finances. From Seattle, above, to New York and London, offices are going through work-from-home drills, restricting travel and building up inventory.

T.J. Kirkpatrick for The New York Times

4. Senator Chuck Schumer expressed regret for saying two conservative justices could “pay the price” over an abortion case before the Supreme Court.

The case, which began in Louisiana, may result in reduced access to abortion across the country. Mr. Schumer’s comments were denounced by President Trump and Republican senators, who accused Mr. Schumer of threatening violence.

Mr. Schumer, a Democrat, said on Thursday that he “should not have used the words.” But he refused to apologize, saying Republicans would pay a political price if the court struck down abortion rights.

Aamir Qureshi/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

5. One possible winner of the potential withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan? Pakistan.

The Taliban have long been the recipients of Pakistan’s patronage, and a fragile deal brokered last weekend holds the promise of an ideal outcome for Islamabad: a weak and pliable neighbor that Pakistan can influence long into the future. Above, soldiers along the Afghan border in 2017.

But regional experts warn that Pakistan risks playing a dangerous game if the American military withdrawal leads to a further descent into chaos — fueling a full-scale civil war in which India, Russia and others back different factions and dragging Pakistan into a protracted conflict.

In Middle East peace news, Russia and Turkey announced a deal to halt fighting in the Syrian region of Idlib, where a volatile conflict had pushed the countries to the brink of war.

Whitney Curtis for The New York Times

6. The new Boeing C.E.O. largely laid the blame for the company’s 737 Max crisis on his fired predecessor.

“It’s more than I imagined it would be, honestly,” said the executive, David Calhoun, in an interview with The Times about the problems plaguing Boeing, which is still reeling from two crashes that killed 346 people. “And it speaks to the weaknesses of our leadership.”

Mr. Calhoun, who previously served on Boeing’s board and became its chairman last year, said he was focused on improving the work culture, introducing new company values and instilling discipline.

Nicolas Ortega

7. Tax Day is approaching. Sorry to remind you about April 15, but we can help you get through it as painlessly as possible.

First, we give you nine reasons to stop doing your own taxes. Chief among them are avoiding costly errors and complicated filing situations, like a recent divorce or a big gain from cashed-in stock options.

We also asked accountants and other specialists to answer the most vexing tax questions their clients bring to them.

And if you have an I.R.A., familiarize yourself with changes made last year, including a longer contribution window and new restrictions for heirs.

Rob Schumacher/USA Today Sports, via Reuters

8. Madison Bumgarner may be the best pitcher in World Series history. Now he’s working on a new title: mentor.

Bumgarner spent the early part of his career with the San Francisco Giants, where he relished the guidance he got from the left-hander Randy Johnson. After signing with the Arizona Diamondbacks this winter, he’s trying to return the favor with their young pitching staff — though it’s unclear if his advice will include becoming a secret rodeo competitor.

Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

9. How to prepare for the end of the world.

In rural Washington State, a several hours’ drive from where coronavirus cases are rapidly growing, a woman named Lynx Vilden is teaching people how to live in the wild.

“When the end comes, some will not be waiting in a bunker for a savior,” writes our reporter Nellie Bowles. “They will stride out into the wilderness with confidence, ready to hunt and kill a deer, tan its hide and sleep easily in a hand-built shelter, close by a fire they made from the force of their two palms on a stick.”

Axiom Space

10. And finally, an escape pod from planet Earth.

If you have tens of millions of dollars to spare, you could be one of three passengers on a spaceship to the International Space Station for a 10-day stay, as soon as 2021.

Axiom Space, a company run by a former manager of NASA’s part of the space station, announced on Thursday that it had signed a contract with SpaceX, Elon Musk’s rocket company, for what could be the first fully private human spaceflight to orbit. The price tag: $10 million to $20 million.

Have a wild evening.

Melina Delkic, Adam Pasick and Lara Takenaga contributed to this briefing.

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