Pete Buttigieg's uncertain next phase, how coronavirus cases are counted, your weekend longreads
Housekeeping note: Good morning, friend. Starting next week, I will be off on leave (to finish this project), and will return at the end of May. I will miss you while I'm gone! You're in good hands, though — Tom Gara will take over writing this newsletter, starting Monday. Drop by, don't be a stranger. - Elamin THE BIG STORY
Pete Buttigieg is winning. But can he survive the next phase?
Unlike other Democratic presidential hopefuls who hoped to win in the Iowa caucus, Pete Buttigieg needed to win in Iowa. Not only that, but he needed to have a strong showing in New Hampshire's primary, too.
He did those things in stunning fashion, topping Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden in both states — when just weeks ago, the pair were considered frontrunners. Buttigieg has had an extraordinary couple of weeks.
He's also got a problem: from here on out, he doesn't have a clear path to the presidency.
Last year, Buttigieg raised tens of millions of dollars. But as it stands, his campaign is facing unusual financial pressures having spent much of that money on Iowa, leaving some of his organizing staff uncertain if they still have jobs.
In the coming battles, he will compete against two well-funded opponents, a steady Bernie Sanders and a strengthening Michael Bloomberg, as he faces an imminent test of his greatest vulnerability: support from voters of color.
Henry Gomez, Ruby Cramer and and Molly Hensley-Clancy give an in-depth overview of Buttigieg's campaign at a critical time.
Win McNamee / Getty Images STAYING ON TOP OF THIS Coronavirus case numbers jumped overnight. It's because we changed how we count them.
You might have seen the headlines about the significant jump in the number of coronavirus cases. But the reason for that isn't a giant spike in the number of people who have been infected.
Instead, the sharp rise is due to how the cases are being counted. Until now, cases had only been confirmed by lab tests finding the virus in swab samples. But in Hubei province, patients with lung scans showing the signature pneumonia seen in this virus were just added to the case totals, causing the overnight jump.
The World Health Organization has been warning that the jump was coming for a few days, in anticipation of a change in the diagnosis criteria. So far, more than 1,300 people have died in the outbreak, which is still just over a month old.
SNAPSHOTS The world just experienced its hottest January on record. One month after the end of the hottest decade on record, scientists said the world experienced the hottest January on record, with temperatures measuring about 2 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th-century average.
The Senate voted to block Donald Trump from attacking Iran. The war powers resolution, which had support from both parties, would force Trump to seek congressional approval before launching new attacks on Iran. The president is expected to veto the resolution because of course he is.
Harvey Weinstein's lawyer urged the jury to make an "unpopular decision" to acquit him of rape. In her closing arguments, Weinstein lawyer Donna Rotunno told jurors that they were the last line of defense from an "overzealous" media and prosecution.
An astronaut spent 328 days in space and then posted a video of her reunion with her dog. Christina Koch broke the record for the longest spaceflight ever by a woman — and one of the first things she did after her return to Earth was reunite with her very good dog. The video is so, so wholesome.
UNDER THE INFLUENCE They're trusted to protect animals. But "they" include trophy hunters.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is one of the world's largest and most influential conservation organizations. Its huge network of 15,000 experts advise national governments on what endangered species deserve protection.
But a new BuzzFeed News investigation reveals that trophy hunters and luxury fashion brands have been working for years to influence the IUCN, to expand the billion-dollar trade in endangered animal species.
In this explosive investigation, we spoke to conservation experts worried about the influence trophy hunters have on IUCN policies, and tracked flows of money from big game hunters to organizations with links to IUCN members.
All of this while trophy hunting thrives. In the past decade, 1.7 million hunting trophies were traded worldwide — 200,000 of those are believed to have come from endangered species.
TIME TO UNWIND Your long weekend longreads, because you earned it
The Oscars needed Parasite to win. The highly-acclaimed movie made history, becoming the first foreign-language film to ever be awarded Best Picture. Michael Blackmon writes about the shocking feeling that the Academy did what it was supposed to do: reward a movie that was actually good.
Grace And Frankie Is A Great Show That I Find Deeply Disturbing. Have you watched the Netflix show? It centers on the friendship between two women, expertly played by Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda. Kate Ryan wonders, "If two wealthy women over 70 can't get their act together, what hope is there for the rest of us?"
High Fidelity Replaces A White Man With A Black Woman And It Actually Works. A new series from Hulu, starring Zoë Kravitz, offers a fresh take on the movie and book. Tomi Obaro writes that the new version "retains the arch charm of the movie — even replicating some shots and lines word for word — while nixing the creepy undercurrents of misogyny and entitlement."
Anchor your day in gratitude, Elamin 👉P.S. I'm touched by the people who kindly reached out to wish me luck with my short leave. Thank you for that, and for letting the sign-offs resonate with you. Don't withhold kindness from yourself. See you in May ❤️ BuzzFeed, Inc.
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