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Biden and Trump are dominating Super Tuesday races and moving closer to a November rematch
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and his predecessor, Donald Trump, romped coast-to-coast on Super Tuesday, all but cementing a November rematch and increasing pressure on the former president’s last major rival, Nikki Haley, to leave the Republican race. Biden and Trump each won California, Texas, Alabama, Colorado, Maine, Oklahoma, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, Minnesota and Massachusetts. Biden also won the Democratic primaries in Utah, Vermont and Iowa. Haley won Vermont, denying Trump a full sweep, but the former president carried other states that might have been favorable to her such as Virginia, Massachusetts and Maine, which have large swaths of moderate voters like those who have backed her in previous primaries.
The Latest | 2 Democrats advance to runoff in Alabama’s redrawn 2nd District
Economic plans, Taiwan and other things to know from the opening of China’s legislature
BEIJING (AP) — China’s Premier Li Qiang promoted an image of confidence as he announced modest economic growth goals for the world’s second largest economy, at one of the country’s most important political gatherings. Li addressed a few thousand delegates of the country’s rubber-stamp legislature, the National People’s Congress, which met in Beijing. It’s a time when the government reviews the work of the past year, and crucially reveals targets and goals for the coming year, especially in its approach to its economy, military budget and Chinese society. Here are some key takeaways from Li’s address Tuesday. The government’s overall approach to the economy will not change, as the goals by the government for 2024 signal that they want to stabilize growth.
Trump lawyers want him back on witness stand in E. Jean Carroll case
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s lawyers said Tuesday that the ex-president deserves a new trial and a fresh chance to tell a jury why he berated writer E. Jean Carroll for her sex abuse claims against him after she revealed them five years ago. The lawyers made the assertion as they renewed challenges to the $83.3 million awarded to Carroll in January by a Manhattan jury. The award raised to $88.3 million what Trump owes Carroll after another jury last May awarded $5 million to the longtime advice columnist after concluding that Trump sexually abused her in spring 1996 in the dressing room of a luxury department store in midtown Manhattan and then defamed her with comments in October 2022.
US destroyer shoots down missile and drones launched by Yemen’s Houthi rebels
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A U.S. destroyer shot down drones and a missile launched by Yemen’s Houthi rebels toward it in the Red Sea, officials said early Wednesday, as the Indian navy released images of it fighting a fire aboard a container ship earlier targeted by the Houthis. The assault Tuesday apparently targeted the USS Carney, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer that has been involved in the American campaign against the rebels who have launched attacks over Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The Houthi attack involved bomb-carrying drones and one anti-ship ballistic missile, the U.S. military’s Central Command said.
Haitian PM arrives in Puerto Rico after long absence as he struggles to get home to quell violence
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti’s prime minister landed in Puerto Rico on Tuesday, answering a key question on the minds of all Haitians ever since armed gangs plunged the long-suffering Caribbean nation into near anarchy: Where in the world is he? The embattled Ariel Henry, who assumed power following the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, has been notably absent since the country’s latest and most serious outbreak of violence started last week. Henry has stayed silent as he crisscrosses the world, from South America to Africa, with no announced date of return. Meanwhile, armed groups have seized on the power void, exchanging gunfire with police at Haiti’s main international airport on Monday and instigating a mass escape from the country’s two biggest prisons.
Who is Jason Palmer? A previously unknown Democrat beats Biden in American Samoa’s Democratic caucus
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden was sweeping every Democratic contest on Super Tuesday — except for American Samoa. He fell short there to a previously unknown candidate named Jason Palmer. Out of 91 ballots cast in the territory’s caucus, Palmer won 51 and Biden won 40, according to the local party. “I found out that I had won because my phone started blowing up with friends and campaign staffers texting me,” Palmer said in an interview late Tuesday. Palmer, 52, said he never visited the territory before the caucus. “I have been campaigning remotely, doing Zoom town halls, talking to people, listening to them about their concerns and what matters to them,” he said.
Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona says she won’t seek reelection, avoiding a 3-way race
PHOENIX (AP) — Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona announced on Tuesday that she won’t run for a second term after her estrangement from the Democratic Party left her politically homeless and without a clear path to reelection. Sinema’s announcement comes after Senate Republicans blocked a bipartisan bill to help secure the U.S.-Mexico border and deliver military aid to Ukraine and Israel — a deal that Sinema spent months negotiating. She had hoped it would be a signature achievement addressing one of Washington’s most intractable challenges as well as a powerful endorsement for her increasingly lonely view that cross-party dealmaking remains possible.
Gaza cease-fire talks fail to achieve a breakthrough with Ramadan just days away, Egypt says
CAIRO (AP) — Three days of negotiations with Hamas over a cease-fire in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages failed to achieve a breakthrough on Tuesday, Egyptian officials said, less than a week before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the informal deadline for a deal. The nearly five months of fighting left much of Gaza in ruins and created a worsening humanitarian catastrophe, with many, especially in the devastated northern region, scrambling for food to survive. “We must get more aid into Gaza,” U.S. President Joe Biden said Tuesday. “There’s no excuse. None.” Aid groups have said it has become nearly impossible to deliver supplies within most of Gaza because of the difficulty of coordinating with the Israeli military, the ongoing hostilities and the breakdown of public order.
Meta attorneys ask judge to dismiss shareholder suit alleging failure to address human trafficking
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Attorneys for Meta Platforms and several of its current and former leaders, including founder Mark Zuckerberg, are asking a Delaware judge to dismiss a shareholder lawsuit alleging the company has deliberately failed to protect users of its social media platforms from human trafficking and child sexual exploitation. The lawsuit, filed last year by several investment funds, claims that Meta’s directors and senior executives have long known about rampant human trafficking and child sexual exploitation on Facebook and Instagram, but have failed to address the predatory behavior. “For years, Meta’s directors and senior executives have known that pedophiles and human and sex traffickers have been using Facebook and Instagram to facilitate their noxious activities,” plaintiffs’ attorney Christine Mackintosh told Vice Chancellor J.