News Wrap: China’s COVID-19 restrictions raise concerns over trade disruptions

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• Judy Woodruff:

  In the day's other news: There is word that Pfizer will seek authorization this week for an additional COVID booster for people 65 and over. That would make a fourth shot in the Pfizer vaccine regimen.

  Also, the second gentlemen, Doug Emhoff, tested positive for COVID-19. His team announced it just moments ago, Vice President Kamala Harris tested negative.

  Meanwhile, officials in China tighten anti-virus controls at ports today amid an accelerating outbreak. The move raised fears of further trade disruptions.

  In Washington, Sarah Bloom Raskin withdrew from consideration today for a spot on the Federal Reserve Board. Democratic Senator Joe Manchin had announced his opposition, dooming her chances for confirmation in the evenly divided U.S. Senate. Manchin and Republicans cited Raskin's support for factoring climate change into banking regulation decisions.

  President Biden won a separate confirmation fight, as the Senate approved Shalanda Young to head the Office of Management and Budget. She will be the first Black woman to lead the Cabinet-level agency. The vote was 61 to 36.

  In Australia, an appeals court has overturned a landmark ruling on climate change. A lower court found the environment minister had a duty to protect young people from damage done by global warming. Today, the appeals panel called the complaints by eight teenagers unfounded.

  Outside the court in Sydney, the activists said they are disappointed, but they insisted there is still a moral obligation to act.

• Anjali Sharma, Student Activist:

  All around you, you are surrounded by young people who are not fooled by empty, useless rhetoric, by excuses and empty promises. You are surrounded by young people who are demanding to be heard on climate change, and who will keep fighting for strong climate action in Australia.

• Judy Woodruff:

  Australia is one of the largest exporters of coal and liquid natural gas. It faces mounting pressure to cut carbon emissions.

  Prosecutors in Russia are asking that opposition leader Alexei Navalny spend another 13 years in prison, this time for fraud and contempt of court. They spoke at a hearing in the prison colony where Navalny is already serving 2.5 years for parole violations. He says the charges are bogus.

  A court in Southern India has upheld a ban on Muslim head scarves in schools and colleges. The top court in Karnataka state ruled wearing the hijab is not an essential religious practice. The ruling comes as tensions have been rising between Muslims and Hindu nationalists.

  Thousands of doctors and nurses in Haiti were on strike today, protesting gang-related kidnappings. The three-day walkout began Monday in the impoverished Caribbean country, after recent abductions of two doctors. A number of hospitals were closed, with only emergency rooms staying open.

  Back in this country, police interrogated a suspect in the fatal shootings of two homeless people and wounding of three others in New York and Washington, D.C. The man was arrested early today in Washington.

  This afternoon, the D.C. police chief said detectives have not found a clear motive.

• Robert Contee III, Metropolitan Police Department Chief:

  We believe that it's random. You know, I don't know that he knew these guys in New York. Definitely, here in Washington, D.C., it's really hard to say specifically that he actually knows these individuals, or there was something that happened before this. And we're not aware of anything like that.

• Judy Woodruff:

  Police say the suspect, Gerald Brevard, once spent time in a psychiatric facility and has a criminal record.

  Puerto Rico's government formally exited bankruptcy today, after nearly seven years. The U.S. territory had faced more than $70 billion in debt. It underwent the largest public debt restructuring in American history.

  The U.S. Senate voted today to make Daylight Savings Time permanent starting in 2023. Supporters argued that it would promote economic activity and reduce seasonal depression, among other things. The House of Representatives is considering a similar bill.

  The U.S. Labor Department has issued a sobering new set of inflation numbers. It says that wholesale prices jumped again in February, leaving prices at 10 percent over what they were a year earlier.

  But on Wall Street today, inflation worries faded, as oil prices fell back under $97 a barrel. The Dow Jones industrial average gained nearly 600 points, 1.8 percent, to close at 33544. The Nasdaq rose 367 points. That's almost 3 percent. The S&P 500 added 89 points. That's 2 percent.

  And public tours of the White House resume next month, after more than a year's hiatus. The free tours were suspended when President Biden took office and increased pandemic protocols. Officials said today that face masks will be optional, but those who test positive should stay home.