Bernie Sanders Tops His Rivals in Use of Outside Money – The New York Times

Mr. Sander’s unlikely rise to super PAC pre-eminence is, in part, the story of an unusual alignment of strategies by different outside groups, including Republican ones eager to bloody Mrs. Clinton and lift Mr. Sanders, whom conservatives believe will be easier to defeat in a general election. While the nurses’ super PAC is the biggest left-leaning outside spender in the Democratic primary, conservative organizations have also spent at least $4.3 million attacking Mrs. Clinton in recent months.One recent online ad from the Republican super PAC American Crossroads has assailed Mrs. Clinton for her Wall Street speaking fees — echoing an argument Mr. Sanders often makes against her. Another conservative group, Ending Spending, bankrolled by the Wyoming billionaire Joe Ricketts, has begun a $600,000 campaign in Iowa highlighting Mr. Sanders’s promises to raise taxes on the rich and provide free public college tuition, calling him “too liberal for Iowa.” But the ad’s language and imagery, including a contented-looking superrich couple hugging in front of a mansion and expensive cars, has led some Democrats to believe it is actually meant to bolster Mr. Sanders.AdvertisementContinue reading the main storyBut the super PAC spending by the nurses’ union also underscores an aspect of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision that Mr. Sanders rarely dwells on in his campaign speeches attacking the ruling. The same decision that gave corporations the ability to “buy and purchase the United States government” — as Mr. Sanders put it on a visit to Grinnell College on Monday — bestowed the same rights on labor unions, freeing them to spend unlimited money from their treasuries on election advertising

Source: Bernie Sanders Tops His Rivals in Use of Outside Money – The New York Times

Zika virus spreading in Latin America

The Zika virus has spread rapidly across Latin America, transforming from a little-known, mild ailment to an international public health concern. The illness is transmitted through the Aedes aegypti mosquito and until recently was believed to only cause mild symptoms. There is now evidence linking Zika to a spike in cases of pregnant women giving birth to babies with microcephaly, a birth defect in which a baby is born with a smaller than normal head, and Guillain-Barre syndrome. The CDC expects the virus to continue to spread and has urged pregnant women to avoid the two dozen countries where the virus is present so far and to take extra precaution to avoid mosquito bites.

By Emily Z. Fortier
391b2b04eedd41819208cd9f739ac040-c222f80
Gleyse Kelly da Silva, 27, holds her daughter Maria Giovanna, who was born with microcephaly, outside their house in Recife, Pernambuco state, Brazil, Wednesday, Jan. 27. Brazilian officials still say they believe there is a sharp increase in cases of microcephaly and strongly suspect the Zika virus, which first appeared in the country last year, is to blame.
(Felipe Dana/Associated Press)