The other winners on Super Tuesday: Joe Biden’s wife and his adviser

Jill Biden and senior adviser Symone Sanders protected Joe Biden from two protesters who stormed the stage

As the Super Tuesday results continue to roll in, two unexpected heroes have emerged from the night: Jill Biden, wife of the former vice-president, and his senior adviser Symone Sanders.

The two offered secret service-level protection last night in Los Angeles, quickly responding when Joe Biden was interrupted mid-speech by two protesters who stormed the stage chanting “Let dairy die!”. Buzzfeed reports that a number of such anti-dairy protests have taken place at political events in California this election season.

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Mike Bloomberg quits 2020 race after spending more than $500m

Billionaire candidate faced controversy over his wealth, stop-and-frisk policy and past remarks against women and minorities

The billionaire Mike Bloomberg has suspended his Democratic presidential campaign after spending more than $500m on a failed attempt to seize the moderate lane from rival Joe Biden.

Bloomberg, one of the richest people in the world, blitzed the Super Tuesday voting states with an extensive and expensive advertising campaign, after controversially skipping the early primary voting states – with almost nothing to show for his efforts and his millions.

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How to stop the spread of coronavirus – video explainer

Covid-19, first seen in Wuhan, China, last year, has infected tens of thousands of people and, as of Wednesday 4 March, killed more than 3,000 people globally.

As the world faces rising numbers of infections, the Guardian's health editor, Sarah Boseley, discusses what we can do to prevent it spreading

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Biden becomes America’s new comeback kid after triumphant Super Tuesday

Former vice-president won eight states in one of the stunning reversals in recent political history

American politics has a new comeback kid.

That was what Bill Clinton called himself after reviving his presidential campaign in 1992. Now, even more improbably, Joe Biden – who, at 77, is the youngest man in the race for the Democratic nomination – has risen like Lazarus to win eight states on Super Tuesday and become the frontrunner.

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California results: follow the primary votes live

There are 415 pledged delegates up for grabs in California’s Democratic presidential primary vote on Super Tuesday, more than any other state. Income inequality, homelessness, healthcare, immigration, climate change and the economy are some of the key issues for Democratic voters in the state. Hillary Clinton won the state convincingly in the 2016 US election.

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Biden takes early lead over Sanders in strong Super Tuesday start – live

The Guardian’s Sam Levin reports from Los Angeles:

At Skid Row, the epicenter of the homelessness crisis in LA, voters living in shelters and on the street are able to cast ballots inside the Union Rescue Mission.

Kevin Wilkerson, 52, Skid Row resident, just voted for Joe Biden. “I’m sick and tired of where this country is going and I’m sick and tired of this president.” pic.twitter.com/TeaCTtsASr

The AP has called Oklahoma for Joe Biden, about an hour after the polls closed in the Sooner State.

The former vice president is running about 12 points ahead of second-place Bernie Sanders, with 53% of the vote in.

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Nashville tornadoes: at least 25 people killed and hundreds homeless

  • Fire crews and police comb through tornado’s wreckage
  • Torn walls and roofs, snapped power lines and downed trees

Tornadoes ripped across Tennessee as people slept early on Tuesday, shredding at least 140 buildings and killing at least 25 people. Authorities described painstaking efforts to find survivors in piles of rubble and wrecked basements as the death toll climbed.

A Tennessee emergency management agency spokeswoman raised the death toll on Tuesday morning, after police and fire crews spent hours pulling survivors and bodies from wrecked buildings.

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Kim Jong-un sister condemns ‘frightened dog’ South Korea in first public statement

Kim Yo-jong likens South Korea to ‘frightened dog barking’ after Seoul protested against Pyongyang’s live-fire military frill

The sister of North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, has condemned South Korea as a “frightened dog barking” after Seoul protested against a live-fire military exercise by the North.

Kim Yo-jong’s comments – her first known official statement – came after Seoul’s security ministers expressed “strong concern” over Pyongyang’s firing of two short-range ballistic missiles on Monday – its first weapons test for more than three months.

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Footage shows aftermath of deadly overnight tornadoes in Nashville – video

Footage recorded by a Nashville resident after two tornadoes ripped through central Tennessee shows shredded buildings, damaged power lines and debris across roads. At least 22 people have been killed and hundreds are homeless

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Iran to mobilise 300,000 soldiers and volunteers as 23 MPs infected – as it happened

Germany reports increase in infections and more events cancelled across Europe. This blog is closed.

Thanks for following the blog, which we’re closing now. Don’t worry though, we’ve started a new one helmed by my colleague Helen Sullivan so you can keep up with all the developments.

You can find it here:

Related: Coronavirus live updates: WHO warns protective gear 'rapidly depleting' amid recession fears

The drop in the Australian share market despite the US Fed rate cut raises questions over the ability of central banks to halt the fall in share prices, according to Michael McCarthy of CMC Markets in Sydney. The moves in Australia follow late falls on Wall Street as the main indices failed to rally on the emergency Fed stimulus.

The market reaction to the Fed’s decisive action is worrying for investors. Major US indices dropped 2.5% to 3%. There is now a question over the ability of monetary policy to halt plummeting asset prices. The dangers of negative wealth effects from stock market falls adds to concern about the global outlook. The seeming ineffectiveness of further monetary easing will almost certainly lead to further calls on governments to push the fiscal stimulus button.

Bonds rallied again, pushing yields to fresh all-time lows. Gold found a firmer footing to rally by 3% as the US dollar slipped. In an illustration of the unusual conditions cryptocurrencies were among the least volatile markets.

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Super Tuesday: polls open as 14 US states vote in crucial Democratic primary contests – follow live

Fourteen states across the country voting on key day for Sanders and Biden campaigns

The AP are reporting that a super PAC is sending out robocalls today in five Super Tuesday states that feature positive words about Joe Biden from former president Barack Obama.

Amanda Loveday of Unite the Country PAC says the call is running through Tuesday in Alabama, Arkansas, North Carolina, Texas and Virginia.

Amy Klobuchar was live on NBC News this morning in her first TV spot since dropping out.

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James Franco accusers are ‘jumping on the #MeToo bandwagon’, say actor’s lawyers

Franco denies allegations and asks Los Angeles county superior court to dismiss lawsuit against him

James Franco has responded to allegations of sexual harassment by two former students by claiming they were an attempt to “jump on the [#MeToo] bandwagon” and played into “the media’s insatiable appetite to ruin the next celebrity”.

In a demurrer filed on 28 February to the Los Angeles county superior court, Franco’s lawyers asked that the lawsuit filed in October by Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal be dismissed, saying none of the alleged events detailed had happened, and the statute of limitations had passed for the accusations.

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US supreme court to hear Affordable Care Act appeal that could cast doubt on law

Lower court’s ruling that individual mandate was unconstitutional to be reviewed after 19 Democratic states appealed the decision

US supreme court to hear third Affordable Care Act challenge

The US supreme court has announced it will hear a case on whether a part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is unconstitutional. A decision is not expected until after the 2020 election.

In December, a federal appeals court ruled that the ACA’s individual mandate, which requires every American to have health insurance, was unconstitutional. The ruling cast doubt upon the rest of the law, which is known colloquially as Obamacare.

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Senate Republicans appear to resume efforts to investigate Biden and family – live

A new post-South Carolina poll shows Joe Biden pulling nearly even with Bernie Sanders.

According to the Morning Consult poll, Biden has climbed up to 26%, while Sanders has dropped slightly to 29%. Those numbers represent a 7-point bump for Biden and a 3-point slump for Sanders.

NEW: Biden at 26%, Sanders at 29% in First National Poll Since South Carolina Primary

While Biden saw no significant uptick in support among black voters, Hispanic voters became 9 points more likely to say they’d vote for him.https://t.co/6bwULwgjbd pic.twitter.com/pwRP9tSaOb

Here’s where the day stands as of now:

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Mike Bloomberg: four issues that could derail White House race – video

Billionaire Mike Bloomberg has launched one of the most audacious campaigns for the US presidency in modern times – pouring almost half a billion dollars of his vast fortune into creating the most expensive nomination bid in US history. But the former mayor of New York is under intense scrutiny: here’s a look at the key issues that could derail his race to the White House

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Mike Bloomberg: four issues that hindered his presidential hopes – video

The billionaire Mike Bloomberg has suspended his Democratic presidential campaign after launching one of the most audacious political campaigns in modern times – pouring almost half a billion dollars of his vast fortune into creating the most expensive nomination bid in US history. The former mayor of New York has come under intense scrutiny and failed to seize the moderate lane from his rival Joe Biden: here's a look at the key issues that hurt his race to the White House

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US supreme court blocks lawsuit by family of Mexican boy slain at border

Ruling marks the second involving cross-border incidents preventing cases by foreign nationals in US federal courts

The US supreme court has thrown out a lower court’s ruling that had let the family of a slain 16-year-old Mexican boy pursue a civil rights lawsuit against a US border patrol agent who shot the teenager from across the border in Arizona.

The justices took the action in light of their ruling last Tuesday in a similar case in which they decided on a 5-4 vote to bar a lawsuit against another border patrol agent for fatally shooting a 15-year-old Mexican boy from across the border in Texas.

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British economy ‘to grow 0.16% at best under US trade deal’

Admission lays bare limited benefits of ‘ambitious’ agreement with Donald Trump

The British economy would be at most 0.16% larger by the middle of the next decade under a comprehensive trade deal with the US, the government has admitted, laying bare the limited benefits from striking an agreement with Donald Trump.

In a document published by Liz Truss’s Department for International Trade designed to kick-start post-Brexit trade talks with the Trump White House, the government said the British economy stood to benefit from an “ambitious and comprehensive” trade deal worth a fraction of GDP, equivalent to £3.4bn after 15 years.

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