AP News in Brief at 11:04 p.m. EST
Bloomberg, Sanders under attack at Democrats' Nevada debate
LAS VEGAS (AP) - From the opening bell, Democrats unleashed an aggressive verbal assault on New York billionaire Mike Bloomberg and raised new questions about Bernie Sanders' take-no-prisoners politics in a contentious debate Wednesday nightthat threatened to scramble even further the party's urgent quest to defeat President Donald Trump.
The former New York City mayor was forced to defend his divisive record on race, gender and Wall Street in his debate-stage debut, while Sanders, appearing in his ninth of the 2020 primary season, tried to beat back pointed questions about his healthand his embrace of democratic socialism.
Fierce exchanges throughout the two-hour affair marked the most aggressive sustained period of infighting in the Democrats' yearlong search for a presidential nominee, reflecting rising urgency in a 2020 primary season that is already deep into its voting phase. Nevada votes Saturday. South Carolina the week after. And more than a dozen states host a series of Super Tuesday contests in less than two weeks.
In a fight for her political life, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren was a leading aggressor against Bloomberg. She was on the attack throughout the night followinga sharp slide in the polls, calling Bloomberg "a billionaire who calls people fat broads and horse-faced lesbians."
She wasn't alone.
___
The Latest: Sanders: Democrat with most delegates should win
LAS VEGAS (AP) - The latest on the 2020 presidential campaign and Democratic debat e (all times local):
8 p.m.
Bernie Sanders is the only Democratic candidate on the debate stage who thinks the candidate with the most delegates should win the party's presidential nomination even if he or she doesn't have a majority.
His rivals on Wednesday night in Las Vegas say the party should follow its rules at the Democratic convention rather than handing the nomination to someone without 50% of delegates.
It sets up a clash should the primary season end without a clear winner, giving way to a contested convention. Delegates are picked up through state parties and caucuses, and party rules state a candidate needs a majority to become the nominee.
___
Police say 8 killed in shootings in the German city of Hanau
HANAU, Germany (AP) - Eight people were killed in shootings in and outside two hookah lounges in a southwestern German city late Wednesday, and authorities were searching for the perpetrators.
The shootings in Hanau also wounded about five people. Police said a dark vehicle was spotted leaving the location of the first attack about 10 p.m. (2100 GMT), and another shooting was reported at a second site.
Police officers swarmed central Hanau, cordoning off the area of one of the shootings as a helicopter hovered overhead. A car covered in thermal foil also could be seen, with shattered glass next to it. Forensic experts in white overalls collected evidence.
A short police statement gave no information on the identity or nationality of the victims and said a motive was not immediately known.
Police later said shots were fired inside and in front of two hookah lounges, news agency dpa reported. Three people were killed and at least one seriously hurt in central Hanau. At the second site, about 2 1/2 kilometers (1 1/2 miles) away, five people were killed.
___
AP FACT CHECK: Examining claims from the Democratic debate
WASHINGTON (AP) - Six Democratic presidential candidates sparred in a spirited debate in Las Vegas that included for the first time billionaire Mike Bloomberg as President Donald Trump held a rally in Phoenix.
A look at how some of their claims on Wednesday stack up with the facts:
MIKE BLOOMBERG, on the stop-and-frisk policing policy when he was New York mayor: 'œWhat happened, however, was it got out of control and when we discovered - I discovered - that we were doing many, many, too many stop and frisks, we cut 95% of them out.'ť
THE FACTS: That's a distortion of how stop and frisk declined. That happened because of a court order, not because Bloomberg learned that it was being overused.
In Bloomberg's first 10 years in office, the number of stop-and-frisk actions increased nearly 600% from when he took office in 2002, reaching a peak of nearly 686,000 stops in 2011. That declined to about 192,000 documented stops in 2013, his final year as mayor.
___
China's new virus cases, deaths rise but increase is lower
BEIJING (AP) - New virus cases in China rose by just 394 from the previous day, with a rise in the death toll of 114, the government said Thursday, as health inspectors went door-to-door to find every infected person in the worst-hit city.
Mainland China has now reported 2,118 deaths and 74,576 total cases. While the overall spread of the virus has been slowing, the situation remains severe in Hubei province and its capital, Wuhan, where the new coronavirus was first detected in December. More than 80% of the country's cases are in Hubei and 95% of the deaths, according to data from China's National Health Commission.
The new daily figure is a notable drop from the 1,749 cases recorded the previous day.
Inspectors in protective suits went door-to-door Wednesday in Wuhan to try to find every infected person. 'œThis must be taken seriously," said Wang Zhonglin, the city's newly minted Communist Party secretary.
Cities in Hubei with a combined population of more than 60 million have been under lockdown since the Lunar New Year holiday last month, usually China's busiest travel period. Authorities halted nearly all transportation and movement except for quarantine efforts, medical care, and delivery of food and basic necessities. 'œWartime'ť measures were implemented in some places, with residents prevented from leaving their apartments.
___
Trump picks pardon requests from wealthy pals and GOP donors
WASHINGTON (AP) - There's a common thread among the 11 felons who found favor with President Donald Trump this week - all who were pardoned or set free had advocates among the president's wealthy friends and political allies.
In at least some cases, including former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and '~80s junk-bond king Michael Milken, Trump has personal relationships with those he granted clemency. In three others he drew on the recommendations of a Tennessee grandmother he'd previously granted clemency at the urging of reality-TV star Kim Kardashian West.
'œI rely on recommendations, very importantly," Trump said Tuesday as he announced his decisions.
But, as with other aspects of Trump's presidency, the president has veered from institutional norms. Historically, those recommended for presidential pardons are vetted through a formal process in which their petitions are reviewed by a team of Justice Department lawyers. In those past cases, typically there has been either strong evidence of wrongful conviction or the offenders have expressed remorse for their crimes and spent decades making amends.
Tuesday's announcement from the White House instead often sought to minimize the severity of the crimes that had been committed, and listed the names of GOP mega-donors, celebrities and Fox News personalities who had advocated for the felons to get a break.
___
Lawyer: Assange was offered US pardon if he cleared Russia
LONDON (AP) - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange plans to claim during an extradition hearing that the Trump administration offered him a pardon if he agreed to say Russia was not involved in leaking Democratic National Committee emails during the 2016 U.S. election campaign, a lawyer for Assange said Wednesday.
Assange is being held at a British prison while fighting extradition to the United States on spying charges. His full court hearing is due to begin next week.
At a preliminary hearing held in London, lawyer Edward Fitzgerald said now-former Republican congressman, Dana Rohrabacher, visited Assange at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in August 2017.
Fitzgerald said a statement from another Assange lawyer, Jennifer Robinson, recounted "Mr. Rohrabacher going to see Mr. Assange and saying, on instructions from the president, he was offering a pardon or some other way out, if Mr. Assange ... said Russia had nothing to do with the DNC leaks.'ť
Responding to the the lawyer's claims, White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said, "This is absolutely and completely false."
___
Plaintiffs' attorneys take aim at Boy Scouts' `dark history'
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Like millions of other Americans in the 1950s and '60s, Duane Ruth-Heffelbower spent his formative years learning to tie knots, build campfires and pitch tents with the Boy Scouts, whose wholesome, God-fearing reputation was burnished by Normal Rockwell's magazine-cover paintings of fresh-faced Scouts, brave, courteous and cheerful.
Though he's no longer involved in Scouting, the 70-year-old Mennonite minister from Fresno, California, has followed the slow deterioration of the Boy Scouts of America from afar and cringes to think what this week's bankruptcy filing over a blizzard of sex-abuse lawsuits might mean for an organization already grappling with a steep decline in membership.
'œIt's really sad. I'm afraid that people are going to be more skeptical than they were once about the organization and will be more inclined to look for other alternatives to Scouting,'ť said Ruth-Heffelbower, who grew up in Kansas. 'œTheses days there are so many things pulling at kids.'ť
With its finances and its vaunted reputation for moral rectitude damaged by scandal, the Scouts resorted to Chapter 11 bankruptcy Tuesday in hopes of pulling through the crisis by setting up a victims' compensation fund for thousands of men who were molested as boys by Scout leaders over the decades.
The fund could top $1 billion, but to raise the money, the national organization could be forced to sell some of its real estate holdings, which include its headquarters in Irving, Texas, and a huge campground in New Mexico.
___
UN: Thousands fleeing Syrian offensive, kids dying in cold
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Hundreds of thousands of people fleeing a Russian-backed Syrian offensive are being squeezed into ever smaller areas near Turkey's border 'œunder horrendous conditions'ť in freezing temperatures that are killing babies and young children, the U.N. humanitarian chief said Wednesday.
Mark Lowcock told the U.N. Security Council that 'œthe unfolding humanitarian catastrophe'ť in northwest Idlib province, which is the last major rebel stronghold, has 'œoverwhelmed'ť efforts to provide aid.
He said nearly 900,000 people have been displaced since Dec. 1 when the government offensive began, more than 500,000 of them children.
'œMany are on foot or on the backs of trucks in below-freezing temperatures, in the rain and snow,'ť Lowcock said. 'œThey are moving into increasingly crowded areas they think will be safer. But in Idlib, nowhere is safe.'ť
Lowock, the undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said almost 50,000 people have taken shelter under trees and in open spaces. 'œI am getting daily reports of babies and other young children dying in the cold,'ť he added.
___
Label: Rapper Pop Smoke slain in Hollywood Hills shooting
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Pop Smoke, a rising Brooklyn rapper who had a breakout year of hit songs and albums that made some of the biggest names in hip-hop his fans and collaborators, was fatally shot during a break-in Wednesday at a Hollywood Hills home, his label said.
'œWe are devastated by the unexpected and tragic loss of Pop Smoke,'ť said a statement from Republic Records, the label of the 20-year-old whose legal name was Bashar Barakah Jackson. 'œOur prayers and thoughts go out to his family, friends and fans, as we mourn this loss together.'ť
Los Angeles police did not immediately confirm the identification and have not announced any arrests.
Police officers found a victim shortly before 5 a.m. after responding to a 911 call from someone who reported intruders, including one armed with a handgun, were breaking in, police Capt. Steve Lurie said.
Public listings show that the home is owned by Edwin Arroyave and his wife Teddi Mellencamp, daughter ofRock & Roll Hall-of-FamerJohn Mellencamp and a star of 'œThe Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.'ť