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WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Jewish community has voiced its support in an open letter for "their friends in the Chinese American and Chinese communities" against xenophobia over the novel coronavirus outbreak.

David Bernstein, president and CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA), delivered the letter signed by 87 Jewish organizations across America to Chinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai on Wednesday afternoon.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke over phone with Qatari Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on Wednesday over bilateral ties and regional issues, said the U.S. State Department.

The two sides discussed recent regional developments, U.S.-Qatar bilateral relations, and Iran's "destabilizing behavior" in the region, the department said in a statement.

The two also discussed the importance of Gulf unity as a critical element to regional stability, it added.

HAGATÑA, Guam (AP) — For Antonina Palomo Cross, Japan’s occupation of Guam started with terror at church. The then-7-year-old was attending Catholic services with her family when the 1941 invasion began, setting off bomb blasts, sirens and screams.

It ended with her family surrendering their home and eventually carrying the dead body of her malnourished baby sister on a forced march to a concentration camp.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday urged party unity amid Bernie Sanders’ surge in the presidential race, even as House Democrats worry about a volatile election season that could put a self-described democratic socialist atop the ticket and threaten their majority.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — U.S. Attorney General William Barr warned a group of Christian broadcasters on Wednesday that the decline of religion in America is undermining liberal democracy. In a speech at the National Religious Broadcasters convention in Tennessee, Barr said religion is necessary to provide citizens with a moral compass. Without religious morality, tyranny is necessary to control people, he said.

HONOLULU (AP) — Bail will remain at $5 million for a mother arrested in Hawaii over the disappearance of her two Idaho children, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Lori Vallow wore an orange jumpsuit in court on the Hawaiian island of Kauai for a hearing on her request to reduce bail. After the judge denied the request, her defense attorney, Craig De Costa, said she is waiving an extradition hearing, which had been scheduled for March 2.

NEW YORK (AP) — The campaign to reelect President Donald Trump sued The New York Times for defamation Wednesday, saying it was responsible for an essay by a former executive editor for the newspaper that claimed the campaign made a deal with Russian officials to defeat Hillary Clinton in 2016.

In the lawsuit in state court in New York, Donald J. Trump for President Inc. said the newspaper knowingly published false and defamatory statements when the Op-Ed piece claimed the campaign had an “overarching deal” with “Vladimir Putin’s oligarchy” to defeat the Democratic candidate.

NEW YORK (AP) — The Trump administration can withhold millions of dollars in law enforcement grants to force states to cooperate with U.S. immigration enforcement, a federal appeals court in New York ruled Wednesday in a decision that conflicted with three other federal appeals courts.

The ruling by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan overturned a lower court’s decision ordering the administration to release funding to New York City and seven states — New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Washington, Massachusetts, Virginia and Rhode Island.

WASHINGTON (AP) — One of the nation’s largest labor unions is unveiling plans to invest $150 million in a nationwide campaign to help defeat President Donald Trump, a sweeping effort focused on eight battleground states and voters of color who typically don’t vote.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Bernie Sanders’ ascendancy as Democrats’ leading presidential hopeful fueled growing unease Wednesday, as lawmakers openly expressed anxiety that the self-proclaimed democratic socialist could cost them House control and questions abounded over what party leaders should do.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., projected calm — and neutrality — as she batted away reporters’ queries about whether it was time for her to try thwarting Sanders to protect her party’s majority.