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Pence trumps Azar

QuickTake Tonight
Bloomberg

Greetings, QuickTake readers! In this edition: Deaths in India's street clashes climb, Sharapova steps aside, and Scotland paves the way for period pride.

Pence to run point on coronavirus

For the first time since the outbreak began, more coronavirus cases were reported outside of China in the past 24 hours, marking a significant turn in COVID-19's global spread. The geo-shift in infections came a day after virus anxiety soared around the U.S. when a CDC official warned Americans that coronavirus would likely spread within the country and possibly lead to major disruptions. On Wednesday, President Trump tapped Vice President Pence to oversee efforts to prevent a widespread outbreak, replacing HHS Secretary Alex Azar, and again downplayed federal health officials' recommendations, saying, "I don't think it's inevitable" that the virus spreads in the U.S.

Meanwhile, officials in major cities around the country began bracing for an outbreak. Four cities in California have declared a state of emergency, officials in Dallas have set up potential quarantine sites and war rooms to track the global spread of the disease, and in New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo pledged $40 million in emergency aid to prepare for a potential outbreak but urged the public to remain calm.

$ignificant figures

27. The death toll in New Delhi, with at least 189 people injured, after three days of street clashes that coincided with Trump's first state visit to India, stemming from protests against a controversial citizenship law.

$40 million. That much in emergency aid will be appropriated to New York's health department to fight coronavirus, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said, as 83 Long Island residents were monitored for potential exposure.

27. At least how many people who said they were sexually harassed or witnessed inappropriate behavior by opera superstar Placido Domingo, who said in a statement: "I accept full responsibility for my actions."

Highly quotable

"I'm not able to participate." Facing extradition to the U.S., WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange told a judge he's unable to confide in his lawyers due to "a whole series of people sitting there and there's microphones."

"Finally bring justice." Sixty-five years after 14-year-old Emmett Till was lynched in Mississippi, the U.S. House passed a bill designating lynching as a federal hate crime by a vote of 410-4.

"Tennis—I'm saying goodbye." Five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova announced her retirement from the sport at age 32 upon realizing her "body had become a distraction" due to past injuries.

This is not normal

Eco-commerce. Driving to a store to shop is better for the environment than buying online, says a new report, which found consumers' internet spending habits create more packaging waste and greenhouse gasses.

The future is now

Lie-flat seats...in coach? It's a go, says Air New Zealand, which plans to install two parallel sets of bunk beds stacked three high in the economy cabin for direct flights on the new route between New York and Auckland. 

What's good

Equality win. Scotland's parliament became the first in the world to OK a bill to make sanitary products free for all at public places. MPs hailed it a "milestone moment for normalizing menstruation."

Now that you're caught up... Tell your friends to sign up to receive our newsletter five days a week. Follow QuickTake on Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook.

BTW: A Shanghai botanical garden has set up virtual tours of its cherry blossom groves so quarantined people can still experience the season in full bloom.

Thanks for reading!
-Andrew Mach

 

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