National News
Election 2016: Super Tuesday Awards Trump and Clinton Large Victories
People in 11 states voted Tuesday night for the Democratic and Republican Party nomination for president. Donald Trump picked up 237 delegates for a total of 319, Ted Cruz got 209 for a total of 226 and Marco Rubio gained 94 for a total of 110. Neither of the other two republican candidates still in the race managed to get a single delegate. On the democratic side, Hillary Clinton gained 504 delegates bringing her total to 1,052, and Bernie Sanders won 340 for a total of 427. The Republican Party needs 1,237 delegates to secure the nomination and the Democratic Party will need 2,383. nytimes.com
South Dakota Governor Vetoes Transgender Bathroom Bill
Dennis Daugaard, Republican Governor of South Dakota, vetoed a bill Tuesday that would have restricted access to bathrooms for transgender students. According to Daugaard, the bill would put unnecessary burden on schools and would disagree with federal interpretations of civil rights laws, leading to more conflict over an issue he says isn’t a major state issue. Daugard said he will leave the situation up to local authorities, who can deal with it as it arises in local schools. Proponents of the bill said the bill would protect all students in the state, but opponents said the bill would have put an additional stigma on transgender pupils. nytimes.com
Scott Kelly Touches Down on Earth After Nearly One Year in Space
American astronaut Scott Kelly returned to Earth on Tuesday after spending 340 days in space aboard the International Space Station. Kelly launched into space almost a year ago as part of NASA’s twin experiment. His identical twin brother and retired astronaut Mark Kelly stayed on Earth while Scott Kelly was in space, and now NASA will compare their bodies, observing for the first time the true impact long-term space travel can have on the human body. They will use Mark Kelly as a benchmark in their analysis of the changes Scott Kelly’s body experienced during his time in space. According to recent reports from NASA, Scott Kelly grew two inches while in space. Further analysis will provide insight into the conditions humans face in NASA’s most ambitious projects, such as landing humans on Mars. cnbc.com
International Spotlight
U.N. Security Council Adopts Harshest Sanctions on North Korea in 20 Years
In response to North Korea’s nuclear program, the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Wednesday to increase sanctions on the country to the harshest they’ve been in over two decades. The new sanctions require that all cargo going in or out of the country must be inspected, ban all weapons trade and expand the list of individuals directly facing sanctions. This shows increased cooperation between American officials, who pushed for the sanctions, and Chinese officials, as China remains North Korea’s only ally. The sanctions are meant to restrict the resources available to North Korea to expand its nuclear capability. nytimes.com
Possible Piece of Flight MH370 Found Near Mozambique
Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai announced Wednesday that a piece of debris found on a sandbank near Mozambique came from a Boeing 777, the same model as the aircraft that mysteriously disappeared mid-flight in March 2014. Currently, the aircraft from flight MH370 and all 239 of its passengers remain missing. If confirmed as part of that aircraft, it will be the second confirmed piece of debris found from the flight. The first piece was found off the coast of Madagascar on the French island of Reunion in July 2015. The routine flight from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Beijing, China crashed in the Indian Ocean according to satellite data. bbc.com
Facebook Executive Released by Brazilian Government
Diego Dzodan, the Vice President for Latin America’s Facebook, was released Wednesday after being detained for refusing to share messages sent by alleged drug dealers using the popular Facebook-owned messaging app, WhatsApp. Brazilian judge Ruy Pinheiro overturned the ruling of a lower court to detain him, calling the decision extreme and an example of unlawful coercion. Facebook has condemned the detainment of its executive and maintains it is unable to acquire the information the Brazilian government has asked for because WhatsApp operates separately from Facebook. bbc.com
A version of this story appeared on p. 4 of the Thursday, March 3, 2016 print edition of the Daily Nexus.
