Local journalist Bilal Sarwary has the death toll higher. The Taliban's spokesman said on Twitter their organisation was not behind the attack.

Islamic State has been trying to establish a foothold in Afghanistan. [The New York Times] 2. Mosul Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Mosul in 2014, shortly after the group's conquest of the city. Credit:AP ​Coalition figures believe Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has fled Mosul which the Iraqis are in the process of retaking. Baghdadi is said to be hiding out in the desert and living with sympathetic families. [Reuters]

3. US politics President Donald Trump. Credit:AP Members of the congressional committees investigating Russia's ties to Donald Trump have visited the CIA to view classified intelligence documents about the matter, suggesting the probes are now well underway. The first public hearing is scheduled for March 20. [Politico] President Obama is "livid" with Trump's "Obama-wiretapped-me" tweets, according to the WSJ [Wall Street Journal], though NBC News reports Obama merely "rolled his eyes" at the news.

House Republicans want their bill to replace Obamacare passed next week but the conservative right thinks it doesn't go far enough and are calling it "Obamacare-lite." The White House now says the bill is a "work in progress." [Jennifer Steinhauer/The New York Times] 4. Australian politics Double Shot readers might recall how exasperated I was before the US election that no-one in Australia seemed to be preparing for or even discussing the prospect of the alliance being overseen by Trump. The ABC reveals that's because Defence and the government didn't think he would win. This was underlined by the fact that DFAT didn't have contacts in Trump's transition team and Turnbull had to get the President's number from golfer Greg Norman instead. An embarrassing and significant mistake. [Ashlynne McGhee and Michael McKinnon] The ABC has a very good story about preference whisperer Glenn Druery who is a staffer to Senator Derryn Hinch. Aunty reports Druery is using his senate staffer business card to offer his private and lucrative political consulting services. [Rebecca Turner]

The government is still considering changing capital gains tax but there is "unanimous support" for not touching negative gearing. [Philip Coorey/Financial Review] Infighting is hitting One Nation's campaign in WA [Nick OMalley and Nathan Hondros/Fairfax] with two officials taking legal action against Senator Hanson claiming they were told that are "too old" for their jobs. [Michael Koziol/Fairfax] Straight from the Trump playbook, Pauline Hanson is trying to claim she never says what audio of her proves her saying - that she would divert some of Queensland's GST revenue to Western Australia. [Courier Mail] Hanson is no Trump and "political correctn­ess has left too many people­ in power incredibly reluct­ant to call out Muslim ­extremism," writes former Labor powerborker Graham Richardson. [The Australian] Turnbull needs some "personnel" changes, writes former Costello staffer Niki Savva. [The Australian]

ABC Managing Director Michelle Guthrie has defended the day of all-women presenters to mark International Women's Day saying it is a good way of sparking discussion about the representation of women. She's flagging major changes to the ABC's 7pm bulletin. [Michael Lallo and Tom McIlroy/Fairfax] 5. Wikileaks ​Interesting reactions from the tech companies named in Wikileak's expose on CIA hacking. Apple believes its patched most of the vulnerabilities identified. Google is no comment so far. Samsung and Microsoft are urgently investigating. And on encryption, Proton email and Open Whisper Systems, which runs Signal, are pointing out that the CIA's operations involved getting malware onto phones and not breaking encryption itself. [Arjun Kharpal/CNBC]

So unless the spooks have hacked your phone there's nothing in the documents to suggest they have broken encryption and can read your messages. 6. UK politics Philip Hammond has released his first budget. Immediate growth forecasts are better than previously forecast but slower in the later years. The government has abandoned hope of reaching surplus by the end of the decade. (A commitment by the previous Chancellor George Osborne). The big spending commitment is £2 billion for social care - a sign of May's centrism and a reaction to the backlash after the government failed to mention it in the Autumn statement. [Key Points/The Guardian] LGTBI pedestrian signs at Trafalgar Square, London. Credit:Latika Bourke

And I had to laugh when I saw the story about Melbourne introducing female pedestrian crossing lights. Trafalgar Square has had gender neutral and LGTBI-friendly signs for almost a year. "Laughable, feel-good symbolism" one Tory London Assembly member told me. Naturally, Pride London disagrees. [My report/Fairfax] Happy to hear your thoughts on this one! And that's it from me today, you can follow me on Facebook for more.

By submitting this form and creating your account you agree to the Fairfax Media Privacy Policies and Conditions of Use.