TRUMP AND HILLARY SCORE BIG ON SUPER TUESDAY
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton moved closer to a presidential face-to-face, with each winning seven of the 11 states holding primaries on the so-called Super Tuesday. Trump took home Republican primary wins in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia, while Clinton won Democratic contests in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
On the Republican side, Ted Cruz won his home state of Texas and Oklahoma while Marco Rubio garnered his first victory in Minnesota. Democratic challenger Bernie Sanders won his home state of Vermont along with Colorado, Minnesota and Oklahoma. So far, 15 states have chosen their candidates, and 35 are yet to vote.
Read more about the winners and losers from Super Tuesday on the Washington Post.
BIN LADEN LAST WILL REVEALED
The U.S. intelligence community has released 113 documents seized during the 2011 raid on al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden's hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan, TIME reports. One of the letters revealed Tuesday was described by intelligence officials as a last will, in which Bin Laden requests $29 million of his fortune to be used in the global jihad. According to national intelligence translators, the one-page letter states "I hope, for my brothers, sisters, and maternal aunts, to obey my will and to spend all the money that I have left in Sudan on jihad, for the sake of Allah." In another letter addressed to his father in August 2008, the al-Qaeda leader expressed worries about being assassinated. "If I am to be killed, pray for me a lot and give continuous charities in my name, as I will be in great need for support to reach the permanent home."
SNAPSHOT
Photo: Bill Ingalls/NASA/ZUMA
The Soyuz TMA-18M spacecraft touched down near Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, bringing Expedition 46 Commander Scott Kelly of NASA and Russian cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko and Sergey Volkov of Roscosmos back to Earth. Kelly and Kornienko completed a record year-long mission aboard the International Space Station. Volkov returned late Tuesday night after spending six months on the station.
GULF STATES: HEZBOLLAH "TERRORIST" GROUP
Deepening the divide between Shia and Sunni Muslims, the Sunni-dominated regimes of the Gulf States have officially labeled the pro-Iranian Shia group Hezbollah a "terrorist" organization. Read more from Al Arabiya.
WORLDCRUNCH-TO-GO
When legendary 87-year-old film composer Ennio Morricone finally won his first Oscar, he chose to speak in his native language. It was a subtly powerful message back home in Italy, Massimo Gramellini writes for Italian daily La Stampa: "... even if his knowledge of the language of Shakespeare and Tarantino was limited, he would have had no trouble getting someone else to help jot down a few lines. Instead, he chose to use Italian. He did so with self-knowledge and without any sort of ostentatious pride, but also with no sign of that inferiority complex typical of many provincial Italians, who jump at the chance to use any word with a whiff of foreign exoticism, or of certain politicians who fill their mouths with phrases such as "stepchild adoption," botching the pronunciation and not knowing the meaning. It was striking to hear our language in the temple of the Hollywood gods, from Charlize Theron to Steven Spielberg, and to see them all rise to their feet to honor the Maestro.
Read the full article, Ennio Morricone, The Other Italian.
U.S. CAPTURES ISIS OPERATIVE
U.S. Special Forces have captured a highly ranked ISIS operative in Iraq. U.S. defense officials describe the capture late yesterday as a crucial development in the effort to curb the threat of ISIS, but it also raises questions about how to manage a plausibly growing number of detainees, reports the New York Times reports. Due to the recently deployed 200-member Special Operations team in Iraq, the Pentagon is now faced with the prospect of handling more detentions and interrogations.
ON THIS DAY
From the Romanov Dynasty to the first NBA All-Star Game, here is your 57-second shot of history!
CHINESE SHIPS SEIZE DISPUTED ATOLL
Philippine officials report that China has stationed several ships near a disputed atoll in the South China Sea, blocking Filipino fishermen from accessing traditional fishing waters, Reuters reports this morning. China had deployed coast guard boats and five warships to Jackson Atoll, said Eugenio Bito-onon Jr, the mayor of a nearby Philippine-administered Island in the Spratlys. The Spratly Islands are a highly contested archipelago in the South China Sea, a resource-rich region and critical shipping lane linking North Asia to Europe, South Asia and the Middle East. The U.S. has expressed concerns about China militarizing the islands which may threaten the freedom of navigation in the South. "China must not pursue militarization of the South China Sea," U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said in a speech in San Francisco on Tuesday. "Specific actions will have specific consequences."
MY GRAND-PERE'S WORLD
ONLINE SOLAR ECLIPSE
Unless you live in Indonesia, you won't be able to see today's total solar eclipse. Thankfully, the Slooh robotic telescope will livestream the whole event here.
