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.

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

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.

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

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.

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

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

Brazil offers to mediate Colombia-Ecuador tensions, calls for restraint

The government of Brazil has offered to mediate in the ongoing tensions between Colombia and Ecuador, while calling on both nations to exercise restraint.

In a statement released Wednesday, Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged the parties involved to act with moderation and seek a peaceful resolution to the dispute.

“Brazil encourages all sides to act with moderation in order to find a peaceful solution to the controversy. It stands ready to support dialogue efforts aimed at preserving peace and security in the region,” the statement said.

Brazil also expressed “serious concern” over reports of deaths in the border area between Colombia and Ecuador, noting that the circumstances surrounding the incidents have not yet been clarified.

The diplomatic move comes amid rising tensions between the neighboring countries, increasing regional concern over stability and security along their shared border.

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

International

U.S. lowers travel advisory for much of Venezuela but keeps high-risk zones under warning

The U.S. Department of State announced on Thursday that it has lowered its travel advisory for much of Venezuela to Level 3 (“Reconsider Travel”), reflecting what it described as improved security conditions in parts of the country.

However, the agency will maintain the highest Level 4 warning (“Do Not Travel”) for several regions, including the states of Táchira, Amazonas, Apure, Aragua and Guárico, as well as rural areas of Bolívar, citing ongoing risks such as crime, kidnapping and terrorism.

The updated advisory marks a shift from December, when the United States raised the alert for Venezuela to Level 4 nationwide, warning of severe security threats.

Despite the partial downgrade, U.S. authorities continue to urge caution, emphasizing that conditions remain volatile in certain areas and that travelers should carefully assess risks before planning any trips to the country.

International

EU lawmakers move to ban AI tools that generate non-consensual nude images

Members of the European Parliament are pushing to ban across the bloc artificial intelligence services that allow users to digitally “undress” people without their consent.

The proposal, adopted on Wednesday at committee level, aims to prohibit applications that generate non-consensual explicit images. Irish lawmaker Michael McNamara, one of the sponsors, said the measure seeks to stop tools that “have caused significant harm for the benefit of a few.”

Dutch MEP Kim van Sparrentak welcomed the move, calling it “a major victory, especially for women and children in Europe.”

The amendment, part of broader EU legislation on artificial intelligence, was approved by the Parliament’s civil liberties and internal market committees. It specifically targets systems that use AI to create or manipulate sexually explicit or intimate images resembling identifiable individuals without their consent.

The proposal will be put to a full vote in the European Parliament on March 26. If adopted, lawmakers and European Union member states will need to agree on a final version before it can take effect.

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

Separately, representatives of the 27 EU countries recently backed a Franco-Spanish amendment seeking to ban AI services used to generate non-consensual sexual images or child sexual abuse material.

The initiative follows controversy surrounding a feature introduced in Grok, developed by xAI, which allowed users to create simulated nude images from real photos. The tool sparked widespread criticism and prompted an EU investigation.

In response, xAI restricted image generation features in mid-January to paying subscribers and stated it blocks the creation of sexualized images in jurisdictions where such content is illegal.