The race for the U.S. Democratic presidential nomination has narrowed to two competitors - resurgent former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, a self-declared democratic socialist.
Biden was the big winner in the coast-to-coast voting on so-called Super Tuesday, capturing 10 states in a show of voter strength that extended from Maine to Texas. The former vice president said Wednesday his campaign aims to bring together all portions of the electorate.
"... and this is a movement we're building. It is a movement. And we need that movement to beat Donald Trump and build a future we all know is possible."
Bernie Sanders won four states - his own small state in the Northeastern U.S. and the country's biggest state, California as well as Utah and Colorado in the West.
Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has withdrawn from the presidential race and thrown his support behind former Vice President Joe Biden. AP's Rita Foley has more.
Bloomberg had pinned his hopes for the nomination on the Super Tuesday states but won only the territory of American Samoa.
"Well, after yesterday's results, the delegate math has become virtually impossible and a viable path to the nomination just no longer exists. And I will not be our party's nominee. But I will not walk away from the most important political fight of my life and I hope you won't walk away, either."
Bloomberg had poured more than $500 million of his own fortune into the campaign. But voters ultimately rejected his argument that he was the candidate best positioned to defeat President Trump, who called him "Mini Mike" because he is short.
I'm Rita Foley.
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Four more countries have confirmed their first coronavirus cases while Italy is shutting down all schools for 10 days.
Chile, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia all reported their first cases on Wednesday. The Hungarian cases are in two Iranian students while the one in Slovenia is a patient who had traveled through Morocco and Italy.
Italy has Europe's largest number of coronavirus cases - 2,700, with 100 deaths. Its government has made what it calls the "prudent" decision to close all schools through March 15.
The United States is reporting its 11th coronavirus death, an elderly man near Sacramento, California.
Meanwhile Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed an $8.3 billion emergency spending bill to tackle the virus, including research on a vaccine. AP's Jackie Quinn has more.
Just nine days after President Trump requested emergency funding to fight the coronavirus, the House passed a bill almost unanimously devoting three times more than what he asked.
"The yeas are 415, the nays are 2."
More than $3 billion will go to developing vaccines, diagnostic testing, medicines for treatment and supplies.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tried to get a guarantee that vaccine prices would be kept affordable but gave in to opposition from the GOP, choosing a bipartisan agreement instead.
Jackie Quinn, Washington.
The spread of the coronavirus has even affected the Hollywood premier of the new James Bond film. We get more from Margie Szaroleta of AP.
"No Time To Die" was supposed to come out in April but now it will come out in November because of coronavirus, according to the filmmakers.
James Bond movies make huge profits in Asian markets. Publicity plans for the film have already been canceled in China, Japan and South Korea.
It's the latest Hollywood production to be affected by the virus.
The next "Mission: Impossible" film has halted production in Italy and the Chinese release of the "Sonic the Hedgehog" movie was postponed.
That's Margie Szaroleta reporting.
On Wall Street, stocks rebounded after former Vice President Joe Biden's wins on Super Tuesday and some good news on employment from the payroll processor, ADP.
The Dow Jones Industrials added 4.53 percent, the S&P gained 4.22 while the NASDAQ gained 3.85 percent.
For more on these stories and the rest of the day's news, be sure to log on to our website voanews.com. I'm David Byrd, VOA news.
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