Morning Brief, Wednesday, March 5
2008 U.S. Elections ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images It was a great night for Hillary Clinton, who picked up wins in the Rhode Island, Ohio, and Texas primaries. Barack Obama won Vermont, and the results of the Texas caucus are not yet available. By CNN’s estimate, Clinton netted herself 23 new pledged delegates, but that number will ...
2008 U.S. Elections
2008 U.S. Elections
It was a great night for Hillary Clinton, who picked up wins in the Rhode Island, Ohio, and Texas primaries. Barack Obama won Vermont, and the results of the Texas caucus are not yet available. By CNN’s estimate, Clinton netted herself 23 new pledged delegates, but that number will likely come down when the Texas caucus results are figured in. For now, Obama still leads CNN’s pledged delegate count, 1,257 to 1,127. Next up: Wyoming (Mar. 8), Mississippi (Mar. 11), and Pennsylvania (Apr. 22).
It was also a great evening for John McCain, who wrapped up the nomination with wins in all four contests. Mike Huckabee withdrew from the race, and President Bush will reportedly endorse McCain today.
The New York Times looks at the McCain veepstakes.
Asia
Chinese PM Wen Jiabao flagged inflation as “the biggest concern of the people” in his annual speech to the National People’s Congress.
Five corruption cases against Asif Zardari, the husband of the late Benazir Bhutto, have been dropped. There is still strong sentiment in Pakistan to oust President Pervez Musharraf.
The United States says there is still time to complete the nuclear deal with India.
Middle East
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says he won’t resume negotiations with Israel until there is a ceasefire in Gaza. Israeli troops briefly reentered Gaza today. [UPDATE: Abbas now saying negotiations are back on.]
An Iranian team is in Baghdad for talks with the United States, focused on Iraqi security.
A U.S. general said that Iran remains the number one threat to Iraq.
Europe
A majority of EU members want to crack down on tax havens.
German airport workers are threatening to strike.
Ukraine’s prime minister assured Europeans that their gas supplies would not be affected by her country’s renewed spat with Gazprom.
Ian Paisley, the long-serving Northern Irish Protestant leader, is retiring.
Elsewhere
Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa is touring Latin American capitals, trying to line up support against Colombia’s cross-border attack on FARC.
As expected, OPEC voted to leave its production levels unchanged.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development reduced its economic forecast for 2008 to less than 2 percent in OECD member states.
Today’s Agenda
- Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner visits Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez in Caracas.
- Tony Blair is to be awarded Southern Methodist University’s “Medal of Freedom” in Dallas.
- U.S. President George W. Bush will welcome John McCain to the White House, where he will endorse the Arizona senator for president.
Yesterday on Passport
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