North America

Washington, Mar 3 (PTI) The number of deaths in the US from the deadly coronavirus rose to six on Monday while the total number of confirmed cases in the country crossed 90, Vice President Mike Pence has said, as the novel virus continues to spread around the world despite travel restrictions.

All the six deaths in the US are from the Washington state with 43 domestic cases and 48 cases of the individuals who returned to the US, officials said on Monday.

WASHINGTON/BEIJING (Reuters) - The United States on Monday said it was slashing the number of Chinese nationals permitted to work at the U.S. offices of major Chinese state-owned media outlets to retaliate against Beijing’s “long-standing intimidation and harassment of journalists.”

Describing the latest U.S. move as political oppression of the Chinese media, Beijing on Tuesday signaled that it intends to respond to the measures which it said have seriously harmed bilateral relations.

WASHINGTON, March 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Colombia will have to restart aerial spraying of the herbicide glyphosate in order to destroy crops of coca, the chief ingredient of cocaine, US President Donald Trump said during a meeting with his Colombian counterpart Ivan Duque.

The South American country aims to eradicate 130,000 hectares of coca by using a range of tools, including the possible re-introduction of aerial fumigation with glyphosate.

UNITED NATIONS, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council will hold a debate on multilateralism with the attendance of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on March 19 during the presidency of China.

Briefing the press on the monthly program of work on Monday, Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the UN and president of the council for March, said the rise of unilateralism has shaken the international order, shaken the rule of international law and shaken the central role played by the UN.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Warning that it will be a “long, windy, bumpy road” to peace in Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Monday he has approved the start of an American troop withdrawal even as the Taliban said it would continue attacks against Afghan forces.

DENVER (AP) — Tuesday is the biggest day of the primary calendar, when 14 states from the Atlantic to the Pacific vote on the Democratic presidential nominee. The roster includes the nation’s two most populous states, California and Texas, and nearly one-third of all the delegates at July’s Democratic National Convention are up for grabs.

Here are some key questions ahead of Super Tuesday:

CAN SANDERS RECAPTURE THE NARRATIVE?

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — President Donald Trump gloated about the stock market roaring back Monday, while throwing sharp barbs at the thinning Democratic presidential field on the eve of Super Tuesday’s big round of primaries.

Trump’s spirits were high after the Dow Jones Industrial Average soared nearly 1,300 points, or 5%, clawing back from a seven-day rout in which it dropped more than 3,500 points. Stocks rose Monday on hopes that central banks will take action to shield the global economy from the effects of the coronavirus outbreak.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The dizzying fight for the Democratic presidential nomination reaches a critical juncture on Tuesday as millions of voters from Maine to California head to the polls. Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has energized liberals and young voters, is seeking to pull away from the rest of the field, while Joe Biden hopes to ride a wave of momentum and establish himself as the standard-bearer for the party’s moderate wing.

02 Mar 2020; MEMO: Advocates for the state of Israel have suffered an embarrassing defeat in a decade-long legal battle to sue Olympia Food Co-op over its decision to boycott Israeli goods. The US grocery store, which campaigns for ethical food consumption, was fully vindicated by a Washington appeals court on 20 February in a legal case that is likely to have positive ramifications for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (

02 Mar 2020; MEMO: Israel’s Ambassador to the UN said on Sunday that the US will punish those who boycott companies and individuals on the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) blacklist of those which profit from the occupation of the West Bank.