First Thing: Biden and Trump breeze through Super Tuesday while Haley wins surprise Vermont victory

The presumptive nominees took shots at each other in victory statements as thoughts turn to Biden-Trump rematch. Plus, UN experts condemn Israeli ‘massacre’

Good morning,

Joe Biden and Donald Trump largely cruised to easy victories on Super Tuesday, as official confirmation of a rerun of the 2020 presidential race gets closer.

Biden and Trump captured wins in their respective primaries in California, Virginia, North Carolina, Maine, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Arkansas, Alabama, Colorado and Minnesota. Biden also won the Democratic caucus in Iowa and Vermont but lost in American Samoa, while Nikki Haley won the Republican primary in Vermont.

The US has not witnessed a primary campaign season with so little competitive tension since political primaries began to dominate the nomination process in the 1970s. Neither the current president nor the former president secured the nomination of their parties but both are likely to do so within the next two weeks.

The candidates took shots at each other in statements and speeches on Tuesday evening. Biden said Trump was focused on “revenge and retribution” and “determined to destroy democracy”. Trump’s speech attacked migrants, falsely claiming that US cities were “being overrun by migrant crime”.

When could Biden secure the Democratic nomination? Biden requires 1,968 delegates. He held 206 going into Super Tuesday, which offered another 1,420. If his sweep continues, the earliest he could secure the nomination would be 19 March, after results in Florida, Illinois, Kansas and Ohio.

When could Trump secure the Republican nomination? Trump requires 1,215 delegates. He held 273 going into Super Tuesday, which offered another 865. The earliest Trump could secure the nomination is also 19 March, after results in Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kansas and Ohio.

What does Haley’s victory in Vermont tell us? Not much. It was her second victory, after Washington DC. But the last non-Trump Republican standing no longer has a path to the nomination. She previously lost her home state of South Carolina. Haley hasn’t dropped out yet but may do so after Tuesday’s results sink in.

UN experts condemn Israeli ‘massacre’ of Palestinians collecting flour

UN experts have condemned the violence they say was unleashed by Israeli forces last week on Palestinians gathered in Gaza City to collect flour as a “massacre”.

In a statement, a group of UN special rapporteurs accused Israel of “intentionally starving the Palestinian people in Gaza since 8 October”, adding: “Now it is targeting civilians seeking humanitarian aid and humanitarian convoys.”

“Israel must end its campaign of starvation and targeting of civilians,” said the UN experts, who warned there was mounting evidence of famine in the Gaza Strip. At least 112 people died and 760 were injured on Thursday when desperate crowds gathered to collect flour.

Meanwhile, negotiations aimed at brokering a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza war appear to have stalled, days before the beginning of Ramadan, an unofficial deadline. “It is on Hamas to make decisions about whether it is prepared to engage,” the US secretary of state, AntonyBlinken, said on Tuesday.

What happened on 29 February? There are conflicting accounts. Witnesses in Gaza and some of the injured said Israeli forces opened fire on the crowd, causing panic. Israel said people died in a crush or were run over by aid lorries (although it admitted its troops had fired on what it called a “mob”). Contradicting Israel’s account, the head of a hospital in Gaza said 80% of injured people brought in had gunshot wounds.

What is the human cost of Israel’s offensive in Gaza? At least 30,717 Palestinians have been killed and 72,156 have been injured since 7 October, Gaza’s health ministry said, including 86 people killed in the past 24 hours.

What is the situation with starvation in Gaza? As hunger rises, at least 15 children have died from malnutrition at just one hospital, Kamal Adwan, in Gaza City. The UN special rapporteur on the right to food, Michael Fakhri, said last week that deliberating starving people amounted to war crimes and genocide under international law.

Ukraine says it sank Russian warship near occupied Crimea

Ukraine said it had sunk a Russian warship near the Kerch strait in occupied Crimea, in a further blow to Moscow’s naval power and its control over the Black Sea.

Kyiv’s military intelligence agency said it attacked the Sergei Kotov early on Tuesday using naval drones. The vessel, which was on patrol, took damage to the stern and both sides and then sank, claimed the agency, known as the HUR.

Dramatic video footage appeared to confirm this version of events. It shows kamikaze drones closing in on the vessel, seen in ghostly silhouette. One hits its hull and there is a large explosion. More drones then target the jagged hole caused by the first impact. There are further detonations, according to images shared by Ukraine’s Group 13 special unit.

Meanwhile, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, urged Ukraine’s allies not to be “cowards” in supporting its fight against the Russian invasion. He said he fully stood behind remarks made last week not ruling out the deployment of western troops.

What is Kyiv’s strategy in the Black Sea? Ukraine’s long-term strategic objective is to degrade Russia’s military and naval assets on Crimea, and to blow up the Kerch Bridge connecting the occupied peninsula with the Russian mainland.

What else happened on Tuesday? The international criminal court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for two top Russian commanders, Sergei Kobylash and Viktor Sokolov, who are accused of war crimes. Russia does not recognise the warrants.

How did Macron’s comments go down? Germany’s defence minister, Boris Pistorius, said Macron’s quotes were not helpful. “We don’t need really, from my perspective at least, discussions about boots on the ground or having more courage or less courage.”

In other news …

The US said it would not send troops to Haiti amid an eruption of gang violence. Coordinated gang attacks have seemingly been designed to bring down the enfeebled government and Haiti’s unpopular prime minister, Ariel Henry.

Five members of the British army’s elite special forces unit, the SAS, have been arrested by British military police on suspicion of allegedly committing war crimes while on operations in Syria.

Rain and snow are expected in parts of the Texas panhandle starting on Thursday, bringing possible respite to the state as firefighters continue to battle the largest wildfire in its history.

A “hypervaccinated” German man who reportedly received 217 Covid jabs had no vaccine-related side-effects. The man, 62, said he got 217 jabs in 29 months for “private reasons”.

Bitcoin reached a new record value on Tuesday, more than two years after its previous peak. It passed its previous high point of just below $69,000 before easing back to just above $64,000.

Don’t miss this: How Basquiat found inspiration in California

In December 1982, Jean-Michel Basquiat began living in Venice, California, at the invitation of the art dealer Larry Gagosian. During a prolific 18 months in the city, Basquiat would produce more than 100 artworks, including some of his most pivotal pieces. According to the art historian and Basquiat collaborator Fred Hoffman, Basquiat almost immediately found LA congenial to his personal and artistic life, finding the relaxed, easygoing atmosphere in Venice to be the perfect change of scenery from New York’s hustle and bustle. The Gagosian Gallery is now paying tribute to this vital period in Basquiat’s creative life with a new exhibition.

Climate check: Ice-free summers in Arctic possible within next decade, study finds

The Arctic could have summer days with practically no sea ice within the next decade due to emissions from burning fossil fuels, a study found. This would transform the unique habitat, home to polar bears, seals and walruses, from a “white Arctic” to a “blue Arctic” during the summer months. But it could also be reversible. Alexandra Jahn, an associate professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, said: “If we can then figure out how to take CO2 back out of the atmosphere in the future to reverse warming, sea ice will come back within a decade.”

Last Thing: Colin Firth’s ‘wet shirt’ from Pride and Prejudice sells for $25,000

The shirt worn by Colin Firth when he strode across fields dripping wet after a swim in a lake during the TV adaptation of the classic novel Pride and Prejudice has been sold at auction for £20,000 ($25,000) in London. Cosprop, a costume house founded in 1965 by the Oscar- and Bafta-winning designer John Bright, and Kerry Taylor Auctions auctioned the shirt along with more than 60 costumes from film and TV. Other items to sell were Keira Knightley’s costume in The Duchess ($7,600) and Johnny Depp’s costume in Sleepy Hollow ($30,500).

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