What to watch for today
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton try to take a commanding lead. Thirteen states will vote on “Super Tuesday,” the single biggest day of the US presidential primary season. The front-runners lead the race for their respective parties by double-digit margins in most of the contests.
Apple faces the US Congress. The company’s general counsel Bruce Sewell will warn the House Judiciary Committee that allowing the FBI’s request for access to protected data on an iPhone would jeopardize cybersecurity and lead to more crime.
Canada reports its fourth-quarter GDP. The country is struggling to gain momentum due to low oil prices, but most believe its economy will avoid a contraction. Canada entered a technical recession in early 2015.
Barclays reports fourth-quarter earnings. The results will be the first since new CEO Jes Stanley was brought in to speed up the bank’s turnaround. Barclays is expected to report a full-year loss, and fresh measures as part of its three-year cost-cutting program.
While you were sleeping
Apple won a privacy battle in New York. A judge there ruled that the iPhone maker is not required to unlock a handset belonging to a drug dealer. The judge’s rebuke of the government’s request could help Apple in its fight against the FBI.
Investigators leveled new charges against Malaysia’s leader. Najib Razak, the country’s prime minister, received over $1 billion into his personal accounts—hundreds of millions more than was previously estimated, according to the Wall Street Journal (paywall). The money appears to have come from a state fund, not from the Saudi royal family, as was previously claimed.
China’s factory gauge hit a seven-year low. The official purchasing manager’s index fell to 49 in February, below the 50 level that separates contraction from expansion and the lowest point since 2009. Services, which China has been relying on to pick up the slack, dropped to an eight-year low.
Argentina ended an epic battle over debt default. The country agreed to pay $4.7 billion to four US hedge funds, including one belonging to billionaire Paul Singer, who first sued Argentina for repayment 13 years ago.
Google’s self-driving car crashed into a bus. Alphabet, Google’s parent, said “we clearly bear some responsibility“ for an accident in which its vehicle incorrectly assumed a bus would yield. The car was traveling at 2 mph (3 km/h); no one was injured.
Tesla workers walked out. At least 100 construction workers building a battery factory in Nevada protested the use of out-of-state labor. Tesla, which says it is still ahead of schedule, received a massive tax break for promising to hire 6,500 workers from Nevada.
Quartz obsession interlude
Jeff Yang on how Chris Rock’s Oscar jokes threw Asians under the bus. “For those keeping track at home, that’s an Asian Model Minority stereotype joke wrapped around a gag with a whiff of anti-Semitism (Asians, the new Jews, amirite?) followed by a joke about Asian sweatshops and child labor… It was an unfortunate, embarrassing, and frankly ugly moment.” Read more here.
Quartz markets haiku
February, oy!
So close to a monthly rise
That damn extra day
Matters of debate
Uber and Airbnb epitomize the divide between capital and labor. The rich hosts get richer; the poorer drivers struggle to get by.
There’s an evolutionary explanation for moral outrage. Loudly denouncing things we find offensive makes us appear more trustworthy (paywall).
Don’t go revisiting ’90s TV on Netflix. It was awful, and it hasn’t aged well.
Surprising discoveries
South Africa has a solar-powered airport. It serves 600,000 passengers per year.
There’s a very choosy literary magazine for doctors. It accepts less than 2% of the poetry, short stories, and essays submitted by medical professionals.
Horses can read human facial expressions. They tend to look at angry faces from the left, thus using the right side of their brains.
The humble teapot is the most important object in computer graphics. For decades it was used to test 3D-rendering software.
London’s disaster training is both bloody and elaborate. An upcoming four-day exercise involves an entire custom-built subway station.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, poems by physicians, and disaster-preparedness guides to hi@qz.com. And download our new iPhone app for news throughout the day.