Monday’s top story: former South Bend mayor calls time on come-from-nowhere presidential campaign. Plus, how Andy Warhol changed fashion

This article is more than 6 months old

This article is more than 6 months old

Good morning, I’m Tim Walker with today’s essential stories.

Sanders and Biden set for Super Tuesday clash

Pete Buttigieg, the 38-year-old former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, has ended his improbably strong run for the Democratic presidential nomination. The first openly gay candidate for president had started the primary season well, with a narrow victory in the chaotic Iowa caucuses, but his campaign floundered as the race reached the more diverse states of Nevada and South Carolina.

Play Video 1:37 Pete Buttigieg quits Democratic race: 'The path has narrowed to a close' – video

With Buttigieg and the billionaire Tom Steyer both dropping out, Super Tuesday is shaping up as a showdown between the progressive frontrunner, Bernie Sanders, and Joe Biden, who won big in South Carolina on Saturday. Among the 14 states set to vote on Tuesday is the nation’s richest and most populous, California, where Sanders is winning by at least one metric: donations from tech workers.

Bloomberg upset? Tuesday also marks Mike Bloomberg’s official entry into the race, with the possibility that he could split Biden’s moderate vote. Protesters turned their backs on the former New York mayor in Selma on Sunday, while Lucia Graves explains why his record on women could derail his 2020 bid.

Covid-19 claims second US victim as global death toll tops 3,000

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Health workers transport a patient in Washington state, where dozens are reportedly exhibiting coronavirus-like symptoms. Photograph: David Ryder/Getty Images

The global Covid-19 death toll has passed 3,000, with the coronavirus claiming its second US victim: a man in his 70s who died on Saturday at a Washington state nursing home where several other patients and staff have been infected. New York state, Rhode Island and Chicago have all confirmed their first cases of the disease. Environmental activists have expressed concern that a pandemic could disrupt crucial climate talks, while Wall Street’s best known trader has predicted further chaos in the stock market.

Pence defends Don Jr. Donald Trump’s notional coronavirus tsar, his vice-president, Mike Pence, on Sunday defended the president’s son’s claim that Democrats want “millions” to die of the disease, saying Trump critics ought to “turn down the volume”.

Surviving coronavirus. A Wuhan resident, Tiger Ye, describes his experience of contracting Covid-19 and coming through it: “I thought I may have to say goodbye to this life forever.”

Israel returns to the polls for third election in a year

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Campaign billboards for Netanyahu, right, and his opposition rival Benny Gantz, left, in Bnei Brak, Israel. Photograph: Oded Balilty/AP

Israelis began voting on Monday in the country’s third election in less than a year, amid a continuing stalemate between Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling, rightwing Likud party and the centre-right Blue and White party led by his rival Benny Gantz. The results in elections last April and again in September were both too close to call, leaving Israel in a prolonged political crisis with its leader facing an imminent criminal trial. Oliver Holmes explains the situation.

Corruption charges. Since the last election, Trump unveiled his controversial new plan for the Middle East, while Netanyahu was formally charged with corruption. Whether either development will affect the outcome remains to be seen.

Cheat sheet

The US-Taliban peace deal signed on Saturday is already facing opposition from the Afghan government over a clause agreeing to the release of 5,000 Taliban prisoners. But the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, insisted the deal was “our path forward”.

More than 180 children have been detained in Chile , some for as long as four months, after taking part in the anti-government unrest that has rocked the country since last October.

North Korea fired two short-range projectiles on Monday, the first such launch for more than three months by the Pyongyang regime, which recently declared an end to its moratorium on long-range missile testing.

Public Enemy have fired one of their founder members, Flavor Flav, after more than 35 years, over a dispute about the group performing at a Bernie Sanders rally.

Must-reads

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Warhol in 1983. The artist’s ‘dedication to jeans is something of a personal obsession’, writes Simon Chilvers. Photograph: Brownie Harris/Getty Images

How Andy Warhol made pop art fashion

Andy Warhol always insisted “artists aren’t supposed to dress up”. Yet with his uniform of blazer, shirt, tie and jeans, writes menswear expert and Warhol superfan Simon Chilvers, the artist had a lasting impact on personal style.

One of the last abortions in Lousiana

If a new Lousiana law passes the supreme court this week, Tiffany Pennywell may be one of the last women to have an an elective abortion in the state. Rosemary Westwood records Pennywell’s experience at a clinic operating under the threat of closure.

Why Texas is making it harder for minorities to vote

“Texas is not a red state,” one Latino activist tells Richard Salame. “Texas is a non-voting state.” As changing demographics threaten to wrest the crucial state from Republican control, hundreds of polling stations are closing – exacerbating chronically low turnout, especially among communities most likely to vote Democrat.

Are Republicans sincere about climate legislation?

A recent GOP legislation package would encourage capturing climate pollutants from power plants, and the planting of a trillion trees to absorb carbon emissions. But it would also increase logging and boost oil drilling. Critics have called it no more than “greenwashing”. Emily Holden reports.

Opinion

With Covid-19 spreading to every continent, there will soon be no avoiding discussing the coronavirus outbreak with your children, says Amy Coopes. So she asked a child psychiatrist and a children’s media literacy expert how best to approach the conversation.

Parents too often assume that their children are oblivious to world events or are too young to understand what it all means.

Sport

David Beckham’s Inter Miami lost their first ever MLS match 1-0 away at Los Angeles on Sunday, despite showing flashes of promise in their debut. Real Madrid defeated Barcelona for the first time in three years at the Bernabéu on Sunday, to go top of La Liga by a single point.

In England, Manchester City won their third Carabao Cup title in a row, while Liverpool’s aura of invincibility in the Premier League was punctured by a shocking 3-0 defeat to Watford.

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