International
Biden and Trump face super tuesday with nominations virtually assured
President Joe Biden and his main rival, former President Donald Trump, are poised for an unusual Super Tuesday, the key day for presidential primaries ahead of the November elections, where both their nominations are nearly guaranteed.
Biden faces no significant opposition within the Democratic ranks as the incumbent president, while Trump enjoys an unusual advantage in the Republican primaries, with only former U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley attempting to challenge him with limited success.
Super Tuesday is the day when the most states vote to determine presidential candidates: this year, 15 out of the 50 states, including California and Texas, the largest in the United States.
Democratic and Republican voters also participate in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, and Virginia.
Additionally, Alaska holds Republican primaries, while Democrats vote abroad and in the territories of American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands.
More than 35% of the delegates who will convene at the Republican convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the Democratic convention in Chicago, Illinois, to choose their presidential candidate will be at stake.
Traditionally, Super Tuesday has served as a turning point in the opposition’s candidate selection due to the large number of delegates at stake.
However, Trump enters this day with an air of invincibility, having swept nearly all contests since the Republican primaries began with the Iowa caucuses on January 15.
All his rivals have already dropped out of the race except for Haley, who only managed to defeat the New York magnate in the District of Columbia primaries this past weekend, a victory with little political weight.
Indeed, the big question is whether Haley’s candidacy will survive Super Tuesday or if she will succumb to mounting pressure from her party and donors to throw in the towel.
Realities of Trump and Biden
Furthermore, Trump (2017-2021) faces the polls emboldened after his legal victory on Monday, when the Supreme Court ordered the lifting of his disqualification from the Colorado primaries, a state also voting on Tuesday.
The unanimous ruling also put an end to the attempts of Illinois and Maine to remove the former Republican president from the process.
Meanwhile, Biden prevailed on Super Tuesday in 2020 over his then-Democratic rival, Senator Bernie Sanders, and four years later, he enters this contest with little internal competition.
Since the Democratic primaries began on February 3 in South Carolina, he has only lost two delegates in the internal elections in Michigan, where a protest vote was organized over the Gaza war.
Despite their indisputable advantage, neither Biden nor Trump will mathematically clinch the nomination on Super Tuesday and will have to wait a few more days.
Even in the hypothetical scenario where they secured all the delegates at stake, Biden would still not reach the magical figure of 1,968 needed to secure the Democratic nomination, nor would Trump reach the 1,215 needed.
International
U.S. Senate Rejects Budget, Bringing Government Closer to Shutdown Amid DHS Dispute
The U.S. Senate voted on Thursday against a budget proposal in a move aimed at pressuring changes at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), following the killing of two civilians during a deployment of immigration agents in Minneapolis.
All Senate Democrats and seven Republican lawmakers voted against the bill, which requires 60 votes to advance, pushing the country closer to a partial government shutdown that would cut funding for several agencies, including the Pentagon and the Department of Health.
The rejection came as Senate leaders and the White House continue negotiations on a separate funding package for DHS that would allow reforms to the agency. Proposed measures include banning Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from wearing face coverings and requiring them to use body-worn cameras during operations.
The vote took place just hours after President Donald Trump said he was “close” to reaching an agreement with Democrats and did not believe the federal government would face another shutdown, following last year’s record stoppage.
“I don’t think the Democrats want a shutdown either, so we’ll work in a bipartisan way to avoid it. Hopefully, there will be no government shutdown. We’re working on that right now,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting at the White House.
International
Trump Says Putin Agreed to One-Week Halt in Attacks on Ukraine Amid Extreme Cold
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he secured a commitment from Russian President Vladimir Putinto halt attacks against Ukraine for one week, citing extreme weather conditions affecting the region.
“Because of the extreme cold (…) I personally asked Putin not to attack Kyiv or other cities and towns for a week. And he agreed. He was very pleasant,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting broadcast by the White House.
Trump acknowledged that several advisers had questioned the decision to make the call.
“A lot of people told me not to waste the call because they wouldn’t agree. And he accepted. And we’re very happy they did, because they don’t need missiles hitting their towns and cities,” the president said.
According to Trump, Ukrainian authorities reacted with surprise to the announcement but welcomed the possibility of a temporary ceasefire.
“It’s extraordinarily cold, record cold (…) They say they’ve never experienced cold like this,” he added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky later commented on the announcement, expressing hope that the agreement would be honored.
International
Storm Kristin Kills Five in Portugal, Leaves Nearly 500,000 Without Power
Storm Kristin, which battered Portugal with heavy rain and strong winds early Wednesday, has left at least five people dead, while nearly half a million residents remained without electricity as of Thursday, according to updated figures from authorities.
The revised death toll was confirmed to AFP by a spokesperson for the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANPEC). On Wednesday, the agency had reported four fatalities.
Meanwhile, E-Redes, the country’s electricity distribution network operator, said that around 450,000 customers were still without power, particularly in central Portugal.
Emergency services responded to approximately 1,500 incidents between midnight and 8:00 a.m. local time on Wednesday, as the storm caused widespread disruptions.
The Portuguese government described Kristin as an “extreme weather event” that inflicted significant damage across several regions of the country. At the height of the storm, as many as 850,000 households and institutions lost electricity during the early hours of Wednesday.
Several municipalities ordered the closure of schools, many of which remained shut on Thursday due to ongoing adverse conditions.
Ricardo Costa, regional deputy commander of the Leiria Fire Brigade, said residents continue to seek assistance as rainfall persists.
“Even though the rain is not extremely intense, it is causing extensive damage to homes,” he noted.
In Figueira da Foz, a coastal city in central Portugal, strong winds toppled a giant Ferris wheel, underscoring the severity of the storm.
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