Daily Briefing

Breaking News: Nikki Haley is dropping out of the US presidential race following the Super Tuesday primaries. Meanwhile, in the Middle East, Hamas vows to press on with Gaza ceasefire talks.

Plus, millions of Sudanese go hungry as the war disrupts food supplies.

By Edson Caldas

Today's Top News

Nikki Haley hosts a campaign event in Texas, March 4, 2024. REUTERS/Shelby Tauber

UNITED STATES

Former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley plans to end her presidential campaign, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters, a decision that will ensure that Donald Trump will win the Republican nomination and once again face Democratic President Joe Biden in November's election.
Haley made her decision after Super Tuesday, according to the Wall Street Journal who first reported the story, as Biden and Trump swept to victory in statewide nominating contests across the country. Reporter Jarrett Renshaw shares key takeaways from the primaries on today's Reuters World News.
Trump is sailing into battle against Biden powered by anger over the two policy issues that have driven his comeback campaign so far: immigration and the economy. Meanwhile, post-Super Tuesday, Biden will try to sharpen the contrast between the two men and their vision for America.

MIDDLE EAST

Hamas said it was pressing on with efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza with Israel despite the absence of Israeli negotiators from the talks. Negotiators from the Palestinian militant group, Qatar and Egypt are in Cairo trying to secure a 40-day ceasefire in time for the fasting month of Ramadan. Follow the latest.
The UN has warned that widespread famine in Gaza is "almost inevitable" without action. Aid supplies, already sharply curtailed since the start of the war, have dwindled to barely a trickle over the past month. Whole swathes of the territory are completely cut off from food. We tell that story in pictures.

IN OTHER NEWS

Hundreds of Czechs and a handful of Ukrainians are working round the clock in eastern Czech Republic to transform a collection of buildings dating back to World War Two into a hub for supplying arms and ammunition to Ukraine. We take a look inside Europe's drive to get weapons to Ukraine as Russia advances.
British finance minister Jeremy Hunt is expected to offer tax cuts to voters today despite the fragile state of the public finances. His Conservative Party is lagging far behind the Labour Party, and many of its lawmakers see Hunt's budget speech as a last chance for a comeback before an election later this year.

Business & Markets

Once hurt by crises and deflation, the euro is gaining popularity among central bank reserve managers thanks to a return to positive rates and geopolitics challenging king dollar's appeal. Roughly one in five of the 75 central banks surveyed by think-tank OMFIF anticipate increasing euro holdings.
Egypt's central bank hiked interest rates by 600 basis points at an unscheduled meeting and said it would let the pound trade freely. The move marks a long-awaited devaluation, with a more flexible exchange rate being one of the key demands of the International Monetary Fund.
With asset values from stocks to crypto to homes piling higher, inflation still considered too high, and worries of "exuberance" creeping into the conversation, today Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will update US lawmakers on the economy and prospects for interest rate cuts.
OpenAI refuted Elon Musk's claims that the startup abandoned its original mission to develop artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity and not for profit. The company said it intends to move to dismiss all of his claims. Musk vs. Altman is a battle everyone loses, writes Breakingviews' Lauren Silva Laughlin.

War disrupts food supply in Sudan

A woman who fled the conflict in Murnei in Sudan's Darfur region. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra

A mother who skips meals so there is enough food for her two children. A 60-year-old man who eats one meal a day. People venturing out from their homes in a desperate search for food at the risk of being hit by artillery shells.

Dozens of accounts like these gathered by Reuters show how many people are going hungry in parts of Sudan worst hit by the war that erupted last April, including areas in the capital Khartoum and in the western region of Darfur.

Read the full report.

And Finally...

Barbies come in 35 skin tones, 97 hairstyles and nine body types. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger

At 65, Barbie shows no signs of retiring from her 250 different jobs as a plastic and fantastic doll whose small feet have left a big cultural mark on the human world. The original Barbie, with her iconic blonde hair, black and white bathing suit and eyes angled to the side, was inspired by creator Ruth Handler's daughter in 1959.

In 2024, however, Barbie celebrates her birthday in a world of vast doll diversity.

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