NEW YORK (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/nikki-haley">Nikki Haley</a>&nbsp;suspended her presidential campaign on Wednesday after being soundly defeated across the country on Super Tuesday, leaving&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;as the last remaining major candidate for the 2024 Republican nomination.

Haley didn’t endorse the former president in a speech in Charleston, South Carolina. Instead, she challenged him to win the support of the moderate Republicans and independent voters who supported her.

“It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him. And I hope he does that,” she said. “At its best, politics is about bringing people into your cause, not turning them away. And our conservative cause badly needs more people.”

Haley, a former South Carolina governor and U.N. ambassador, was Trump’s first significant rival when she&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/nikki-haley-running-for-president-f28052019e8ac3846cd125b3d9614d4f">jumped into the race</a>&nbsp;in February 2023. She spent the final phase of her campaign aggressively warning the GOP against embracing Trump, whom she argued was too consumed by chaos and personal grievance to defeat President Joe Biden in the general election.

Her departure clears Trump to focus solely on his likely rematch in November with Biden. The former president is on track to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/ap-election-2024-delegate-tracker">reach the necessary 1,215 delegates</a>&nbsp;to clinch the Republican nomination later this month.

Haley’s defeat marks a painful, if predictable, blow to those voters, donors and Republican Party officials who opposed Trump and his fiery brand of “Make America Great Again” politics. She was especially popular among moderates and college-educated voters, constituencies that will likely play a pivotal role in the general election. It’s unclear whether Trump, who recently declared that Haley donors would be permanently banned from his movement, can ultimately unify a deeply divided party.

Trump on Tuesday night declared that the GOP was united behind him, but in a statement shortly afterward, Haley spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas said, "Unity is not achieved by simply claiming, ‘We’re united.’"

“Today, in state after state, there remains a large block of Republican primary voters who are expressing deep concerns about Donald Trump,” Perez-Cubas said. "That is not the unity our party needs for success. Addressing those voters’ concerns will make the Republican Party and America better.”

Haley has made clear she doesn’t want to serve as Trump’s vice president or run on a third-party ticket arranged by the group No Labels. She leaves the race with an elevated national profile that could help her in a future presidential run.

Trump, in a social media post, continued to mock her, while at the same time extending an invitation to “all of the Haley supporters to join the greatest movement in the history of our Nation. BIDEN IS THE ENEMY, HE IS DESTROYING OUR COUNTRY,” he wrote. “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”

On Wednesday, Biden welcomed any voters who had backed Haley, acknowledging Trump's previous rejection of her supporters.

“Donald Trump made it clear he doesn’t want Nikki Haley’s supporters. I want to be clear: There is a place for them in my campaign,” Biden said in a statement. “I know there is a lot we won’t agree on. But on the fundamental issues of preserving American democracy, on standing up for the rule of law, on treating each other with decency and dignity and respect, on preserving NATO and standing up to America’s adversaries, I hope and believe we can find common ground.”

By staying in the campaign until now, Haley&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/haley-polling-trump-gop-super-tuesday-109ce563f68aa8e1b159d98769e943d8">drew enough support</a>&nbsp;from suburbanites and college-educated voters to highlight Trump’s apparent weaknesses with those groups.

In AP VoteCast surveys conducted among Republican primary and caucus voters in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, between 61% and 76% of Haley’s supporters said they would be so dissatisfied if Trump became the GOP nominee that they wouldn’t vote for him in the November general election. Voters in the early Republican head-to-head contests who said they wouldn’t vote for Trump in the fall represented a small but significant segment of the electorate: 2 in 10 Iowa voters, one-third of New Hampshire voters, and one-quarter of South Carolina voters.

Haley leaves the 2024 presidential contest having made history as the first woman to win a Republican primary contest. She beat Trump in the District of Columbia on Sunday and in Vermont on Tuesday.

She&nbsp;<a href="https://pronto.associatedpress.com/%E2%80%9CInstead%20of%20asking%20me%20what%20states%20I%E2%80%99m%20gonna%20win,%20why%20don%E2%80%99t%20we%20ask%20how%20he%E2%80%99s%20gonna%20win%20a%20general%20election%20after%20spending%20a%20full%20year%20in%20a%20courtroom?%E2%80%9D%20she%20said.">had insisted she would stay in the race</a>&nbsp;through Super Tuesday and crossed the country campaigning in states holding Republican contests. Ultimately, she was unable to knock Trump off his glide path to a third straight nomination.

Haley’s allies note that she exceeded most of the political world’s expectations by making it as far as she did.

She had&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-orangeburg-south-carolina-united-nations-nikki-haley-fda929b5d69ab0a91b97edc62207bcfb">initially ruled out</a>&nbsp;running against Trump in 2024. But she changed her mind and ended up launching her bid three months after he did, citing among other things the country’s economic troubles and the need for “generational change.” Haley, 52, later called for competency tests for politicians over the age of 75 — a knock on both Trump, who is 77, and Biden, who is 81.

Her candidacy was slow to attract donors and support, but she ultimately outlasted all of her other GOP rivals, including Florida Gov.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/ron-desantis">Ron DeSantis</a>, former Vice President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/michael-pence">Mike Pence</a>&nbsp;and Sen.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/tim-scott">Tim Scott</a>, her fellow South Carolinian whom she appointed to the Senate in 2012. And the money flowed in until the very end. Her campaign said it raised more than $12 million in February alone.

She gained popularity with many Republican donors, independent voters and the “Never Trump” crowd, even though she criticized the criminal cases against him as politically motivated and pledged that, if president, she would pardon him if he were convicted in federal court.

NEW YORK (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/nikki-haley">Nikki Haley</a>&nbsp;suspended her presidential campaign on Wednesday after being soundly defeated across the country on Super Tuesday, leaving&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;as the last remaining major candidate for the 2024 Republican nomination.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">You don’t have to agree with me on everything to know MAGA extremism is a threat to this country. We need everyone on board—join our campaign: <a href="https://t.co/AZ3yBfRniy">https://t.co/AZ3yBfRniy</a> <a href="https://t.co/a8MvWHqtSZ">pic.twitter.com/a8MvWHqtSZ</a>&mdash; Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1765396693036523717?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">.<a href="https://twitter.com/NikkiHaley?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NikkiHaley</a>: &quot;The time has now come to suspend my campaign. I said I wanted Americans to have their voices heard. I have done that. I have no regrets...In all likelihood, Donald Trump will the Republican nominee...I congratulate him and wish him well.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/WUtvWvMtVi">pic.twitter.com/WUtvWvMtVi</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1765401155629166897?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Haley didn’t endorse the former president in a speech in Charleston, South Carolina. Instead, she challenged him to win the support of the moderate Republicans and independent voters who supported her.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/3/1709741263880.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>“It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him. And I hope he does that,” she said. “At its best, politics is about bringing people into your cause, not turning them away. And our conservative cause badly needs more people.”Haley, a former South Carolina governor and U.N. ambassador, was Trump’s first significant rival when she&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/nikki-haley-running-for-president-f28052019e8ac3846cd125b3d9614d4f">jumped into the race</a>&nbsp;in February 2023. She spent the final phase of her campaign aggressively warning the GOP against embracing Trump, whom she argued was too consumed by chaos and personal grievance to defeat President Joe Biden in the general election.Her departure clears Trump to focus solely on his likely rematch in November with Biden. The former president is on track to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/ap-election-2024-delegate-tracker">reach the necessary 1,215 delegates</a>&nbsp;to clinch the Republican nomination later this month.Haley’s defeat marks a painful, if predictable, blow to those voters, donors and Republican Party officials who opposed Trump and his fiery brand of “Make America Great Again” politics. She was especially popular among moderates and college-educated voters, constituencies that will likely play a pivotal role in the general election. It’s unclear whether Trump, who recently declared that Haley donors would be permanently banned from his movement, can ultimately unify a deeply divided party.Trump on Tuesday night declared that the GOP was united behind him, but in a statement shortly afterward, Haley spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas said, "Unity is not achieved by simply claiming, ‘We’re united.’"“Today, in state after state, there remains a large block of Republican primary voters who are expressing deep concerns about Donald Trump,” Perez-Cubas said. "That is not the unity our party needs for success. Addressing those voters’ concerns will make the Republican Party and America better.”Haley has made clear she doesn’t want to serve as Trump’s vice president or run on a third-party ticket arranged by the group No Labels. She leaves the race with an elevated national profile that could help her in a future presidential run.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/3/1709741372298.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Trump, in a social media post, continued to mock her, while at the same time extending an invitation to “all of the Haley supporters to join the greatest movement in the history of our Nation. BIDEN IS THE ENEMY, HE IS DESTROYING OUR COUNTRY,” he wrote. “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”On Wednesday, Biden welcomed any voters who had backed Haley, acknowledging Trump's previous rejection of her supporters.“Donald Trump made it clear he doesn’t want Nikki Haley’s supporters. I want to be clear: There is a place for them in my campaign,” Biden said in a statement. “I know there is a lot we won’t agree on. But on the fundamental issues of preserving American democracy, on standing up for the rule of law, on treating each other with decency and dignity and respect, on preserving NATO and standing up to America’s adversaries, I hope and believe we can find common ground.”By staying in the campaign until now, Haley&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/haley-polling-trump-gop-super-tuesday-109ce563f68aa8e1b159d98769e943d8">drew enough support</a>&nbsp;from suburbanites and college-educated voters to highlight Trump’s apparent weaknesses with those groups.In AP VoteCast surveys conducted among Republican primary and caucus voters in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, between 61% and 76% of Haley’s supporters said they would be so dissatisfied if Trump became the GOP nominee that they wouldn’t vote for him in the November general election. Voters in the early Republican head-to-head contests who said they wouldn’t vote for Trump in the fall represented a small but significant segment of the electorate: 2 in 10 Iowa voters, one-third of New Hampshire voters, and one-quarter of South Carolina voters.Haley leaves the 2024 presidential contest having made history as the first woman to win a Republican primary contest. She beat Trump in the District of Columbia on Sunday and in Vermont on Tuesday.She&nbsp;<a href="https://pronto.associatedpress.com/%E2%80%9CInstead%20of%20asking%20me%20what%20states%20I%E2%80%99m%20gonna%20win,%20why%20don%E2%80%99t%20we%20ask%20how%20he%E2%80%99s%20gonna%20win%20a%20general%20election%20after%20spending%20a%20full%20year%20in%20a%20courtroom?%E2%80%9D%20she%20said.">had insisted she would stay in the race</a>&nbsp;through Super Tuesday and crossed the country campaigning in states holding Republican contests. Ultimately, she was unable to knock Trump off his glide path to a third straight nomination.Haley’s allies note that she exceeded most of the political world’s expectations by making it as far as she did.She had&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-orangeburg-south-carolina-united-nations-nikki-haley-fda929b5d69ab0a91b97edc62207bcfb">initially ruled out</a>&nbsp;running against Trump in 2024. But she changed her mind and ended up launching her bid three months after he did, citing among other things the country’s economic troubles and the need for “generational change.” Haley, 52, later called for competency tests for politicians over the age of 75 — a knock on both Trump, who is 77, and Biden, who is 81.Her candidacy was slow to attract donors and support, but she ultimately outlasted all of her other GOP rivals, including Florida Gov.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/ron-desantis">Ron DeSantis</a>, former Vice President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/michael-pence">Mike Pence</a>&nbsp;and Sen.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/tim-scott">Tim Scott</a>, her fellow South Carolinian whom she appointed to the Senate in 2012. And the money flowed in until the very end. Her campaign said it raised more than $12 million in February alone.She gained popularity with many Republican donors, independent voters and the “Never Trump” crowd, even though she criticized the criminal cases against him as politically motivated and pledged that, if president, she would pardon him if he were convicted in federal court.___

🎥Biden recruits Nikki Haley voters as she ends her campaign

Zach Wendling.&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/03/05/questions-about-lb-574-combining-abortion-and-gender-care-restrictions-reach-nebraska-supreme-court/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

LINCOLN — A proposal to shorten the maximum duration of unemployment benefits in Nebraska from the current 26 weeks to 16 weeks ran into a filibuster Tuesday.

Critics said&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://files.michaelstepner.com/pandemicUIexpiration-paper.pdf">studies have shown</a>&nbsp;that cutting off unemployment benefits earlier hasn’t pushed more people back to work and may have harmed economies by reducing local spending.

There was also pushback from senators about cutting benefits for the unemployed after the state had cut income tax rates that benefited corporations and the well-off.

“We fight over nickels and dimes and pennies in this place when it comes to poverty, and we give money away like it’s a free-for-all when it comes to the most wealthy,” said State Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha.

Cavanaugh led a filibuster against Legislative Bill 1170, which was introduced by Ralston Sen. Merv Riepe and declared a priority bill by the Legislature’s Business and Labor Committee, which Riepe chairs.

The bill advanced from committee on a 4-3 vote and faced similar divided views during floor debate Tuesday.

Riepe portrayed the reduction — which is backed by the state chamber and other business groups — as a way to get more people back into the workforce and help address the state’s labor shortage.

He said that there are 2.5 job openings for every unemployed person in the stat and that it’s reasonable to expect for someone to find a new job within 16 weeks,&nbsp;even if it isn’t their dream job.

“While it’s important to support Nebraskans in finding work that aligns with their experience and provides fair compensation, it’s also crucial to recognize that, at a certain point, individuals may need to accept available work opportunities,” Riepe said.

Thirteen states, he said, currently provide fewer than 26 weeks maximum on unemployment, including Iowa, which limits it to 16 weeks. Thirty-five states, meanwhile are at 26 weeks maximum or above.

Such a change would reduce the total unemployment benefits needed in the state by about $23 million a year, according to a legislative fiscal note on LB 1170.

About 30% of the state’s unemployment benefits are paid after 16 weeks, according to the Nebraska Department of Labor.&nbsp; About 2,300 Nebraskans received benefits after week 16 during the past year, the department said, out of the total 12,889 who received benefits.

Several senators joined Cavanaugh in criticizing the proposal.

Bellevue Sen. Carol Blood said that if Nebraska wanted to encourage more people to work, it ought to consider increasing benefits, such as paid maternity leave and child care.

Omaha Sen. Tony Vargas said there’s no “sound policy” to justify such a reduction in benefits, and at 16 weeks maximum, Nebraska would be an “outlier” among the states.

Debate ceased on the bill at the end of the day Tuesday without a vote to advance the bill.

It was unclear whether Riepe had 33 votes for LB 1170 to fend off a filibuster. The senator said the bill probably won’t return to the agenda for a week.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/3/1709739365712.png" alt="State Sen. Merv Riepe of Ralston (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)" />
 <figcaption>State Sen. Merv Riepe of Ralston (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)</figcaption>
 </figure>Zach Wendling.&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/03/05/questions-about-lb-574-combining-abortion-and-gender-care-restrictions-reach-nebraska-supreme-court/">Nebraska Examiner</a>LINCOLN — A proposal to shorten the maximum duration of unemployment benefits in Nebraska from the current 26 weeks to 16 weeks ran into a filibuster Tuesday.Critics said&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://files.michaelstepner.com/pandemicUIexpiration-paper.pdf">studies have shown</a>&nbsp;that cutting off unemployment benefits earlier hasn’t pushed more people back to work and may have harmed economies by reducing local spending.There was also pushback from senators about cutting benefits for the unemployed after the state had cut income tax rates that benefited corporations and the well-off.“We fight over nickels and dimes and pennies in this place when it comes to poverty, and we give money away like it’s a free-for-all when it comes to the most wealthy,” said State Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha.Cavanaugh led a filibuster against Legislative Bill 1170, which was introduced by Ralston Sen. Merv Riepe and declared a priority bill by the Legislature’s Business and Labor Committee, which Riepe chairs.<h2>Divided views in debate</h2>The bill advanced from committee on a 4-3 vote and faced similar divided views during floor debate Tuesday.Riepe portrayed the reduction — which is backed by the state chamber and other business groups — as a way to get more people back into the workforce and help address the state’s labor shortage.He said that there are 2.5 job openings for every unemployed person in the stat and that it’s reasonable to expect for someone to find a new job within 16 weeks,&nbsp;even if it isn’t their dream job.“While it’s important to support Nebraskans in finding work that aligns with their experience and provides fair compensation, it’s also crucial to recognize that, at a certain point, individuals may need to accept available work opportunities,” Riepe said.Thirteen states, he said, currently provide fewer than 26 weeks maximum on unemployment, including Iowa, which limits it to 16 weeks. Thirty-five states, meanwhile are at 26 weeks maximum or above.Such a change would reduce the total unemployment benefits needed in the state by about $23 million a year, according to a legislative fiscal note on LB 1170.<h2>‘Outlier’ among states, Vargas says</h2>About 30% of the state’s unemployment benefits are paid after 16 weeks, according to the Nebraska Department of Labor.&nbsp; About 2,300 Nebraskans received benefits after week 16 during the past year, the department said, out of the total 12,889 who received benefits.Several senators joined Cavanaugh in criticizing the proposal.Bellevue Sen. Carol Blood said that if Nebraska wanted to encourage more people to work, it ought to consider increasing benefits, such as paid maternity leave and child care.Omaha Sen. Tony Vargas said there’s no “sound policy” to justify such a reduction in benefits, and at 16 weeks maximum, Nebraska would be an “outlier” among the states.Debate ceased on the bill at the end of the day Tuesday without a vote to advance the bill.It was unclear whether Riepe had 33 votes for LB 1170 to fend off a filibuster. The senator said the bill probably won’t return to the agenda for a week.

Proposal to shorten duration of unemployment benefits runs into filibuster

WASHINGTON (AP) — President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/joe-biden">Joe Biden</a>&nbsp;and his predecessor,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>, romped through more than a dozen states on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/what-is-super-tuesday-80f71138b69691fc8edbeb07fd1c7774">Super Tuesday</a>, all but cementing a November rematch and increasing pressure on the former president’s last major rival,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/nikki-haley">Nikki Haley</a>, to leave the Republican race.

Their victories from coast to coast, including the delegate-rich states of California and Texas, left little doubt about the trajectory of the race. 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 only contest Biden lost Tuesday was the Democratic caucus in American Samoa, a tiny U.S. territory in the South Pacific Ocean. Biden was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/who-is-jason-palmer-american-samoa-primary-c4bc109a16c7ee7b083f6216b44ba0c4">defeated by previously unknown candidate Jason Palmer</a>, 51 votes to 40.

Not enough states will have voted until later this month for Trump or Biden to formally become their parties’ presumptive nominees. But the primary’s biggest day made their rematch a near-certainty. Both the 81-year-old Biden and the 77-year-old Trump continue to dominate their parties despite facing questions about age and neither having broad popularity across the general electorate.

Haley watched the election results in private and had no campaign events scheduled going forward. Her campaign said in a statement that the results reflected there were many Republicans “who are expressing deep concerns about Donald Trump.”

“Unity is not achieved by simply claiming ‘we’re united,'” spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas said.

Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, meanwhile, was packed for a victory party. Among those attending were staff and supporters, including the rapper Forgiato Blow and former North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn. The crowd erupted as Fox News, playing on screens around the ballroom, announced that the former president had won North Carolina’s GOP primary.

“They call it Super Tuesday for a reason,” Trump told a raucous crowd. He went on to attack Biden over the U.S.-Mexico border and the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. After beginning the night with victories in Virginia and North Carolina, he wrapped Super Tuesday by winning contests in Alaska and Utah.

Biden didn't give a speech but instead issued a statement warning that Tuesday's results had left Americans with a clear choice and touting his own accomplishments after beating Trump.

“If Donald Trump returns to the White House, all of this progress is at risk,” Biden said. "He is driven by grievance and grift, focused on his own revenge and retribution, not the American people."

While much of the focus was on the presidential race, there were also important down-ballot contests. The governor’s race took shape in North Carolina, where Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson and Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein will face off in a state that both parties are fiercely contesting ahead of November.

In California, Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff and Republican Steve Garvey, a former Los Angeles Dodgers baseball player, advanced to the general election race to fill the Senate seat long held by Dianne Feinstein.

Despite Biden's and Trump's domination of their parties, polls make it clear that the broader electorate does not want this year’s general election to be identical to the 2020 race. A new AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll finds&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-state-of-union-mental-capacity-trump-reelection-66d8784586d21f30885d8153f949510c">a majority of Americans don't think either Biden or Trump</a>&nbsp;has the necessary mental acuity for the job.

“Both of them failed, in my opinion, to unify this country,” said Brian Hadley, 66, of Raleigh, North Carolina.

The final days before Tuesday demonstrated the unique nature of this year’s campaign. Rather than barnstorming the states holding primaries, Biden and Trump held&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/border-immigration-biden-trump-42c945d02742b169bde40601a27fde02">rival events last week along the U.S.-Mexico border</a>, each seeking to gain an advantage in the increasingly fraught immigration debate.

After the Supreme Court&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-trump-insurrection-election-colorado-51e79c0f03013034c8a042cb278b6446">ruled 9-0</a>&nbsp;on Monday to restore Trump to primary ballots following attempts to ban him for his role in helping spark the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/capitol-siege">Capitol riot</a>, Trump pointed to the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-indictments-election-january-6-classified-documents-5cb04868bb1cdf91c19eafdb882af8c0">91 criminal counts</a>&nbsp;against him to accuse Biden of weaponizing the courts.

“Fight your fight yourself,” Trump said. “Don’t use prosecutors and judges to go after your opponent.”

Biden delivers the State of the Union address Thursday, then will campaign in the key swing states of Pennsylvania and Georgia.

The president faces&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-poll-survey-economy-trump-election-dca1b60f6749d5eb50bc0e7600814855">low approval ratings</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ap-norc-poll-biden-2024-presidential-prospects-c843c5af6775b4c8a0cff8e2b1db03f6">polls suggesting</a>&nbsp;that many Americans, even a majority of Democrats, don’t want to see the 81-year-old running again. His&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/michigan-primary-takeaways-biden-trump-uncommitted-48b7ab77b7af425c3662e5a8f28e37f6">easy Michigan primary win</a>&nbsp;last week was spoiled slightly by an “uncommitted” campaign organized by activists who disapprove of the president’s handling of Israel’s war in Gaza.

Allies of the “uncommitted” movement pushed similar protest votes elsewhere, such as in Minnesota, which has a significant population of Muslims, including in its Somali American community. At least 45,000 voters in Minnesota selected “uncommitted,” which won 19% with almost all votes counted. That exceeds the 13% of voters who selected “uncommitted” in Michigan.

“Joe Biden has not done enough to earn my vote and not done enough to stop the war, stop the massacre,” said Sarah Alfaham of the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington.

Biden also is the oldest president ever and Republicans key on any verbal slip he makes. His aides insist that skeptical voters will come around once it is clear that either Trump or Biden will be elected again in November.

Trump is now the same age Biden was during the 2020 campaign, and he has exacerbated questions about his own fitness with recent flubs, such as mistakenly suggesting he&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-immigration-biden-gop-voters-border-migrants-1fc6624188f540f495e1087bee64318e">was running against Barack Obama</a>, who left the White House in 2017.

“I would love to see the next generation move up and take leadership roles,” said Democrat Susan Steele, 71, who voted Tuesday for Biden in Portland, Maine.

Trump has already vanquished more than a dozen major Republican challengers and now faces only Haley, his former U.N. ambassador. She had maintained&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/haley-february-2024-fundraising-super-tuesday-d1af5cfc14bc0977093b5f4796774c78">strong fundraising</a>&nbsp;and notched her&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/nikki-haley-republicans-donald-trump-dc-primary-7b5eec7a5398379b0f1c9ed9f50b6ce3">first primary victory over the weekend in Washington, D.C.</a>, a Democrat-run city with few registered Republicans. Trump scoffed that Haley had been “crowned queen of the swamp.”

“We can do better than two 80-year-old candidates for president,” Haley said at a rally Monday in the Houston suburbs.

Trump's victories, however dominating, have shown vulnerabilities with influential voter blocs, especially in college towns like Hanover, New Hampshire, home to Dartmouth College, or Ann Arbor, where the University of Michigan is located, as well as areas with high concentrations of independents. That includes Minnesota, a state Trump did not carry in his otherwise overwhelming Super Tuesday performance in 2016.

Seth De Penning, a self-described conservative-leaning independent, voted Tuesday morning in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, for Haley, he said, because the GOP “needs a course correction.” De Penning, 40, called his choice a vote of conscience and said he has never voted for Trump because of concerns about his temperament and character.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/joe-biden">Joe Biden</a>&nbsp;and his predecessor,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>, romped through more than a dozen states on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/what-is-super-tuesday-80f71138b69691fc8edbeb07fd1c7774">Super Tuesday</a>, all but cementing a November rematch and increasing pressure on the former president’s last major rival,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/nikki-haley">Nikki Haley</a>, to leave the Republican race.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Former President Trump: &quot;They call it &#39;Super Tuesday&#39; for a reason. This is a big one. They tell me, the pundits and otherwise, that there&#39;s never been one like this. There&#39;s never been anything so conclusive.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/1VAvySYG5A">pic.twitter.com/1VAvySYG5A</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1765217393482059871?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Their victories from coast to coast, including the delegate-rich states of California and Texas, left little doubt about the trajectory of the race. 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.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Today, millions of voters across the country made their voices heard—showing that they are ready to fight back against Donald Trump’s extreme plan to take us backwards. Every generation of Americans will face a moment when it has to defend democracy. This is our fight.&mdash; Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1765218247253577996?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>The only contest Biden lost Tuesday was the Democratic caucus in American Samoa, a tiny U.S. territory in the South Pacific Ocean. Biden was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/who-is-jason-palmer-american-samoa-primary-c4bc109a16c7ee7b083f6216b44ba0c4">defeated by previously unknown candidate Jason Palmer</a>, 51 votes to 40.Not enough states will have voted until later this month for Trump or Biden to formally become their parties’ presumptive nominees. But the primary’s biggest day made their rematch a near-certainty. Both the 81-year-old Biden and the 77-year-old Trump continue to dominate their parties despite facing questions about age and neither having broad popularity across the general electorate.Haley watched the election results in private and had no campaign events scheduled going forward. Her campaign said in a statement that the results reflected there were many Republicans “who are expressing deep concerns about Donald Trump.”“Unity is not achieved by simply claiming ‘we’re united,'” spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas said.Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, meanwhile, was packed for a victory party. Among those attending were staff and supporters, including the rapper Forgiato Blow and former North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn. The crowd erupted as Fox News, playing on screens around the ballroom, announced that the former president had won North Carolina’s GOP primary.“They call it Super Tuesday for a reason,” Trump told a raucous crowd. He went on to attack Biden over the U.S.-Mexico border and the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. After beginning the night with victories in Virginia and North Carolina, he wrapped Super Tuesday by winning contests in Alaska and Utah.Biden didn't give a speech but instead issued a statement warning that Tuesday's results had left Americans with a clear choice and touting his own accomplishments after beating Trump.“If Donald Trump returns to the White House, all of this progress is at risk,” Biden said. "He is driven by grievance and grift, focused on his own revenge and retribution, not the American people."While much of the focus was on the presidential race, there were also important down-ballot contests. The governor’s race took shape in North Carolina, where Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson and Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein will face off in a state that both parties are fiercely contesting ahead of November.In California, Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff and Republican Steve Garvey, a former Los Angeles Dodgers baseball player, advanced to the general election race to fill the Senate seat long held by Dianne Feinstein.Despite Biden's and Trump's domination of their parties, polls make it clear that the broader electorate does not want this year’s general election to be identical to the 2020 race. A new AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll finds&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-state-of-union-mental-capacity-trump-reelection-66d8784586d21f30885d8153f949510c">a majority of Americans don't think either Biden or Trump</a>&nbsp;has the necessary mental acuity for the job.“Both of them failed, in my opinion, to unify this country,” said Brian Hadley, 66, of Raleigh, North Carolina.The final days before Tuesday demonstrated the unique nature of this year’s campaign. Rather than barnstorming the states holding primaries, Biden and Trump held&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/border-immigration-biden-trump-42c945d02742b169bde40601a27fde02">rival events last week along the U.S.-Mexico border</a>, each seeking to gain an advantage in the increasingly fraught immigration debate.After the Supreme Court&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-trump-insurrection-election-colorado-51e79c0f03013034c8a042cb278b6446">ruled 9-0</a>&nbsp;on Monday to restore Trump to primary ballots following attempts to ban him for his role in helping spark the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/capitol-siege">Capitol riot</a>, Trump pointed to the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-indictments-election-january-6-classified-documents-5cb04868bb1cdf91c19eafdb882af8c0">91 criminal counts</a>&nbsp;against him to accuse Biden of weaponizing the courts.“Fight your fight yourself,” Trump said. “Don’t use prosecutors and judges to go after your opponent.”Biden delivers the State of the Union address Thursday, then will campaign in the key swing states of Pennsylvania and Georgia.The president faces&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-poll-survey-economy-trump-election-dca1b60f6749d5eb50bc0e7600814855">low approval ratings</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ap-norc-poll-biden-2024-presidential-prospects-c843c5af6775b4c8a0cff8e2b1db03f6">polls suggesting</a>&nbsp;that many Americans, even a majority of Democrats, don’t want to see the 81-year-old running again. His&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/michigan-primary-takeaways-biden-trump-uncommitted-48b7ab77b7af425c3662e5a8f28e37f6">easy Michigan primary win</a>&nbsp;last week was spoiled slightly by an “uncommitted” campaign organized by activists who disapprove of the president’s handling of Israel’s war in Gaza.Allies of the “uncommitted” movement pushed similar protest votes elsewhere, such as in Minnesota, which has a significant population of Muslims, including in its Somali American community. At least 45,000 voters in Minnesota selected “uncommitted,” which won 19% with almost all votes counted. That exceeds the 13% of voters who selected “uncommitted” in Michigan.“Joe Biden has not done enough to earn my vote and not done enough to stop the war, stop the massacre,” said Sarah Alfaham of the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington.Biden also is the oldest president ever and Republicans key on any verbal slip he makes. His aides insist that skeptical voters will come around once it is clear that either Trump or Biden will be elected again in November.Trump is now the same age Biden was during the 2020 campaign, and he has exacerbated questions about his own fitness with recent flubs, such as mistakenly suggesting he&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-immigration-biden-gop-voters-border-migrants-1fc6624188f540f495e1087bee64318e">was running against Barack Obama</a>, who left the White House in 2017.“I would love to see the next generation move up and take leadership roles,” said Democrat Susan Steele, 71, who voted Tuesday for Biden in Portland, Maine.Trump has already vanquished more than a dozen major Republican challengers and now faces only Haley, his former U.N. ambassador. She had maintained&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/haley-february-2024-fundraising-super-tuesday-d1af5cfc14bc0977093b5f4796774c78">strong fundraising</a>&nbsp;and notched her&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/nikki-haley-republicans-donald-trump-dc-primary-7b5eec7a5398379b0f1c9ed9f50b6ce3">first primary victory over the weekend in Washington, D.C.</a>, a Democrat-run city with few registered Republicans. Trump scoffed that Haley had been “crowned queen of the swamp.”“We can do better than two 80-year-old candidates for president,” Haley said at a rally Monday in the Houston suburbs.Trump's victories, however dominating, have shown vulnerabilities with influential voter blocs, especially in college towns like Hanover, New Hampshire, home to Dartmouth College, or Ann Arbor, where the University of Michigan is located, as well as areas with high concentrations of independents. That includes Minnesota, a state Trump did not carry in his otherwise overwhelming Super Tuesday performance in 2016.Seth De Penning, a self-described conservative-leaning independent, voted Tuesday morning in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, for Haley, he said, because the GOP “needs a course correction.” De Penning, 40, called his choice a vote of conscience and said he has never voted for Trump because of concerns about his temperament and character.

🎥Trump and Biden dominate Super Tuesday races, move closer to rematch

NEW YORK (AP) —A technical issue caused widespread login issues for a few hours across Meta's Facebook, Instagram, Threads and Messenger platforms Tuesday.

Andy Stone, Meta’s head communications,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/andymstone/status/1765064721416245460">acknowledged the issues</a>&nbsp;on X, formerly known as Twitter, and said the company “resolved the issue as quickly as possible for everyone who was impacted, and we apologize for any inconvenience.”

Users reported being locked out of their Facebook accounts and feeds on the platform as well as Threads and Instagram were not refreshing. WhatsApp, which is also owned by Meta, appeared unaffected.

A senior official with the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency told reporters Tuesday that the agency was “not aware of any specific election nexus nor any specific malicious cyberactivity nexus to the outage.”

The outage comes just ahead of Thursday's deadline for Big Tech companies to comply with the European Union’s new Digital Markets Act. To comply, Meta is making changes, like allowing users to separate their Facebook and Instagram accounts so personal information can’t be combined to target them with online ads. It’s not clear whether the outage is connected to any preparations Meta might be carrying out for the DMA.

In 2021, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp were down for hours, an outage the company said was a result of faulty changes on routers that coordinate network traffic between its data centers. The next year, WhatsApp had another brief outage.

NEW YORK (AP) —A technical issue caused widespread login issues for a few hours across Meta's Facebook, Instagram, Threads and Messenger platforms Tuesday.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Earlier today, a technical issue caused people to have difficulty accessing some of our services. We resolved the issue as quickly as possible for everyone who was impacted, and we apologize for any inconvenience. <a href="https://t.co/ybyyAZNAMn">https://t.co/ybyyAZNAMn</a>&mdash; Andy Stone (@andymstone) <a href="https://twitter.com/andymstone/status/1765064721416245460?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 5, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Andy Stone, Meta’s head communications,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/andymstone/status/1765064721416245460">acknowledged the issues</a>&nbsp;on X, formerly known as Twitter, and said the company “resolved the issue as quickly as possible for everyone who was impacted, and we apologize for any inconvenience.”Users reported being locked out of their Facebook accounts and feeds on the platform as well as Threads and Instagram were not refreshing. WhatsApp, which is also owned by Meta, appeared unaffected.A senior official with the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency told reporters Tuesday that the agency was “not aware of any specific election nexus nor any specific malicious cyberactivity nexus to the outage.”The outage comes just ahead of Thursday's deadline for Big Tech companies to comply with the European Union’s new Digital Markets Act. To comply, Meta is making changes, like allowing users to separate their Facebook and Instagram accounts so personal information can’t be combined to target them with online ads. It’s not clear whether the outage is connected to any preparations Meta might be carrying out for the DMA.In 2021, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp were down for hours, an outage the company said was a result of faulty changes on routers that coordinate network traffic between its data centers. The next year, WhatsApp had another brief outage.

Meta explains cause of widespread outage on Facebook, Instagram

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A U.S. destroyer shot down drones and a missile launched by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/houthis">Yemen's Houthi rebels</a>&nbsp;toward it in the Red Sea, officials said 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&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war">Israel's war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip</a>. Another suspected Houthi attack on shipping was reported Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Iran announced Wednesday it would confiscate a $50 million cargo of Kuwaiti crude oil for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/iran-oil-tanker-advantage-sweet-seized-40b8f90bc0484fcd626903eef5faf64c">American energy firm Chevron Corp.</a>&nbsp;aboard a tanker it seized nearly a year earlier. It marks the latest twist in a yearslong shadow war playing out in the Mideast's waterways even before the Houthi attacks began.

The Houthi attack on the Carney on Tuesday involved bomb-carrying drones and one anti-ship ballistic missile, the U.S. military's Central Command said.

The U.S. later launched an airstrike destroying three anti-ship missiles and three bomb-carrying drone boats, the Central Command said.

Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a Houthi military spokesperson, acknowledged the attack, but claimed its forces targeted two American warships, without elaborating.

The Houthis “will not stop until the aggression is stopped and the siege on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip is lifted,” Saree said.

Saree did not acknowledge the later U.S. airstrikes. The Houthis have not offered any assessment of the damage they've suffered in the American-led strikes that began in January, though they have said at least 22 of their fighters have been killed.

Since November, the rebels have repeatedly targeted ships in the Red Sea and surrounding waters over the Israel-Hamas war. Those vessels have included at least one with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/yemen-ship-missile-houthi-rebels-attack-bab-elmandeb-strait-999b911c916f9266c07a6d29cc020e9e">cargo bound for Iran</a>, the Houthis’ main benefactor, and an aid ship later bound for Houthi-controlled territory.

Despite more than a month and a half of U.S.-led airstrikes,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/yemen-attacks-iran-ships-retaliation-houthis-d770a3fb0fab4c4b72e2459771833e11">Houthi rebels have remained capable</a>&nbsp;of launching significant attacks. They include the attack last month on a cargo ship carrying fertilizer, the Rubymar,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/yemen-houthi-rebels-rubymar-sinks-red-sea-fb64a490ce935756337ee3606e15d093">which sank on Saturday</a>&nbsp;after drifting for several days, and the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/yemen-houthi-red-sea-israel-hamas-6ac2a1bf5032ed0531258816907cfe2c">downing of an American drone</a>&nbsp;worth tens of millions of dollars.

The Houthis have been hailing ships over the radio in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden as well since launching their attacks. The British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center reported Wednesday that a new round of similar radio messages went out to a ship, and urged crews to report any suspicious activity.

A short time later, the UKMTO reported a suspected attack in the area. Private security firm Ambrey said an explosion was reported near the vessel apparently hailed in the radio call, but there were few other details immediately known.

Meanwhile,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/india-china-maritime-security-d53925a976e667f275024fa964818c8f">the Indian navy</a>&nbsp;released a video of its sailors from the INS Kolkata fighting a fire aboard the MSC Sky II, which had been targeted by the Houthis in the Gulf of Aden on Monday. Smoke poured out of one container aboard the vessel, which also showed scorch marks from the impact of a Houthi missile.

The Mediterranean Shipping Co., a Switzerland-based company, said the missile struck the ship as it was traveling from Singapore to Djibouti.

“The missile caused a small fire that has been extinguished while no crew were injured,” the company said.

Iran separately announced the seizure of the crude oil aboard&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/iran-us-navy-oil-tanker-advantage-057155f4d9caf92131533fe90f94a3a0">the Advantage Sweet</a>&nbsp;through an announcement carried by the judiciary's state-run Mizan news agency. At the time, Iranian commandos rappelled from a helicopter onto the vessel, which it alleged collided with another ship, without offering any evidence.

The court order for the seizure offered an entirely different reason for the confiscation. Mizan said it was part of a court order over U.S. sanctions it alleged barred the importation of a Swedish medicine used to treat patients suffering from epidermolysis bullosa, a rare genetic condition that causes blisters all over the body and eyes. It did not reconcile the different reasons for the seizure.

The Advantage Sweet had been in the Persian Gulf in late April, but its track showed no unusual behavior as it transited through the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of all traded oil passes. Iran has made allegations in other seizures that later fell apart as it became clear Tehran was trying to leverage the capture as a chip to negotiate with foreign nations.

Chevron, based in San Ramon, California, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ship seizures and explosions have roiled the region since 2019. The incidents began after then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers, which saw Tehran drastically limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

The U.S. Navy also has blamed Iran for a series of limpet mine attacks on vessels that damaged tankers in 2019, as well as for a fatal drone attack on an Israeli-linked oil tanker that killed two European crew members in 2021. Tehran denies carrying out the attacks.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/3/1709685344452.png" alt="Photo U.S. Central Command" />
 <figcaption>Photo U.S. Central Command</figcaption>
 </figure>DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A U.S. destroyer shot down drones and a missile launched by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/houthis">Yemen's Houthi rebels</a>&nbsp;toward it in the Red Sea, officials said 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&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war">Israel's war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip</a>. Another suspected Houthi attack on shipping was reported Wednesday.Meanwhile, Iran announced Wednesday it would confiscate a $50 million cargo of Kuwaiti crude oil for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/iran-oil-tanker-advantage-sweet-seized-40b8f90bc0484fcd626903eef5faf64c">American energy firm Chevron Corp.</a>&nbsp;aboard a tanker it seized nearly a year earlier. It marks the latest twist in a yearslong shadow war playing out in the Mideast's waterways even before the Houthi attacks began.The Houthi attack on the Carney on Tuesday involved bomb-carrying drones and one anti-ship ballistic missile, the U.S. military's Central Command said.The U.S. later launched an airstrike destroying three anti-ship missiles and three bomb-carrying drone boats, the Central Command said.Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a Houthi military spokesperson, acknowledged the attack, but claimed its forces targeted two American warships, without elaborating.The Houthis “will not stop until the aggression is stopped and the siege on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip is lifted,” Saree said.Saree did not acknowledge the later U.S. airstrikes. The Houthis have not offered any assessment of the damage they've suffered in the American-led strikes that began in January, though they have said at least 22 of their fighters have been killed.Since November, the rebels have repeatedly targeted ships in the Red Sea and surrounding waters over the Israel-Hamas war. Those vessels have included at least one with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/yemen-ship-missile-houthi-rebels-attack-bab-elmandeb-strait-999b911c916f9266c07a6d29cc020e9e">cargo bound for Iran</a>, the Houthis’ main benefactor, and an aid ship later bound for Houthi-controlled territory.Despite more than a month and a half of U.S.-led airstrikes,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/yemen-attacks-iran-ships-retaliation-houthis-d770a3fb0fab4c4b72e2459771833e11">Houthi rebels have remained capable</a>&nbsp;of launching significant attacks. They include the attack last month on a cargo ship carrying fertilizer, the Rubymar,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/yemen-houthi-rebels-rubymar-sinks-red-sea-fb64a490ce935756337ee3606e15d093">which sank on Saturday</a>&nbsp;after drifting for several days, and the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/yemen-houthi-red-sea-israel-hamas-6ac2a1bf5032ed0531258816907cfe2c">downing of an American drone</a>&nbsp;worth tens of millions of dollars.The Houthis have been hailing ships over the radio in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden as well since launching their attacks. The British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center reported Wednesday that a new round of similar radio messages went out to a ship, and urged crews to report any suspicious activity.A short time later, the UKMTO reported a suspected attack in the area. Private security firm Ambrey said an explosion was reported near the vessel apparently hailed in the radio call, but there were few other details immediately known.Meanwhile,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/india-china-maritime-security-d53925a976e667f275024fa964818c8f">the Indian navy</a>&nbsp;released a video of its sailors from the INS Kolkata fighting a fire aboard the MSC Sky II, which had been targeted by the Houthis in the Gulf of Aden on Monday. Smoke poured out of one container aboard the vessel, which also showed scorch marks from the impact of a Houthi missile.The Mediterranean Shipping Co., a Switzerland-based company, said the missile struck the ship as it was traveling from Singapore to Djibouti.“The missile caused a small fire that has been extinguished while no crew were injured,” the company said.Iran separately announced the seizure of the crude oil aboard&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/iran-us-navy-oil-tanker-advantage-057155f4d9caf92131533fe90f94a3a0">the Advantage Sweet</a>&nbsp;through an announcement carried by the judiciary's state-run Mizan news agency. At the time, Iranian commandos rappelled from a helicopter onto the vessel, which it alleged collided with another ship, without offering any evidence.The court order for the seizure offered an entirely different reason for the confiscation. Mizan said it was part of a court order over U.S. sanctions it alleged barred the importation of a Swedish medicine used to treat patients suffering from epidermolysis bullosa, a rare genetic condition that causes blisters all over the body and eyes. It did not reconcile the different reasons for the seizure.The Advantage Sweet had been in the Persian Gulf in late April, but its track showed no unusual behavior as it transited through the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of all traded oil passes. Iran has made allegations in other seizures that later fell apart as it became clear Tehran was trying to leverage the capture as a chip to negotiate with foreign nations.Chevron, based in San Ramon, California, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Ship seizures and explosions have roiled the region since 2019. The incidents began after then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers, which saw Tehran drastically limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.The U.S. Navy also has blamed Iran for a series of limpet mine attacks on vessels that damaged tankers in 2019, as well as for a fatal drone attack on an Israeli-linked oil tanker that killed two European crew members in 2021. Tehran denies carrying out the attacks.___

US warship shoots down ballistic missile launched by terrorists

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Teamsters working for Budweiser brewer Anheuser-Busch on Tuesday voted to ratify a labor agreement with the company, the union said.

The five-year contract was ratified with 86% support, the Teamsters said.

The deal covers 5,000 unionized employees at Anheuser-Busch, including brewers, packagers, and warehouse workers, and provides wage increases totaling 23% over the life of the contract, plus a $2,500 ratification bonus, the union said. It also improves health care and retirement benefits, and job security, the union said.

The Teamsters had threatened a strike at the brewer’s 12 U.S. plants if an agreement on a new five-year contract wasn’t reached by last week. Before the deadline, the two sides said they had&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/anheuserbusch-teamsters-strike-beer-b51ebd316be0a29a8793c15c3a137f46">reached a tentative agreement</a>&nbsp;that was put to union members for a ratification vote.

Anheuser-Busch shipments to U.S. wholesalers dropped 13.8% last year, according to Beer Marketer’s Insights. Overall, U.S. beer shipments were down 5%.

The company, part of Belgium-based Anheuser-Busch InBev, brews more than a dozen brands at its U.S. plants, including Budweiser, Bud Light, Michelob Ultra and Stella Artois.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Teamsters working for Budweiser brewer Anheuser-Busch on Tuesday voted to ratify a labor agreement with the company, the union said.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">TEAMSTERS OVERWHELMINGLY RATIFY 5-YEAR CONTRACT AT ANHEUSER-BUSCH Today, Teamsters at Anheuser-Busch voted by an overwhelming 86 percent to ratify a five-year agreement that significantly raises pay, improves health care and retirement benefits, and protects all members’ jobs.… <a href="https://t.co/DtabS1CcCp">pic.twitter.com/DtabS1CcCp</a>&mdash; Teamsters (@Teamsters) <a href="https://twitter.com/Teamsters/status/1765189623364423902?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>The five-year contract was ratified with 86% support, the Teamsters said.The deal covers 5,000 unionized employees at Anheuser-Busch, including brewers, packagers, and warehouse workers, and provides wage increases totaling 23% over the life of the contract, plus a $2,500 ratification bonus, the union said. It also improves health care and retirement benefits, and job security, the union said.The Teamsters had threatened a strike at the brewer’s 12 U.S. plants if an agreement on a new five-year contract wasn’t reached by last week. Before the deadline, the two sides said they had&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/anheuserbusch-teamsters-strike-beer-b51ebd316be0a29a8793c15c3a137f46">reached a tentative agreement</a>&nbsp;that was put to union members for a ratification vote.Anheuser-Busch shipments to U.S. wholesalers dropped 13.8% last year, according to Beer Marketer’s Insights. Overall, U.S. beer shipments were down 5%.The company, part of Belgium-based Anheuser-Busch InBev, brews more than a dozen brands at its U.S. plants, including Budweiser, Bud Light, Michelob Ultra and Stella Artois.

Teamsters ratify 5-year labor agreement with Anheuser-Busch, avoiding strike

<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/03/05/questions-about-lb-574-combining-abortion-and-gender-care-restrictions-reach-nebraska-supreme-court/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

LINCOLN — Attorneys challenging and defending Nebraska’s new law combining tighter restrictions on abortion and gender-affirming care for minors made their case Tuesday to the state’s high court.

The Nebraska Supreme Court heard arguments in Planned Parenthood’s appeal of a Lancaster County District Court ruling that it was legal for the Legislature to fold a more restrictive abortion measure into Legislative Bill 574, whose original purpose was to limit gender-affirming care. Planned Parenthood is being represented by attorneys for the ACLU.

At issue is whether the Legislature acted beyond constitutional limits that require each bill to contain only a single subject, a state constitutional provision intended to prevent deal-making to pass combined bills that might have failed on their own.

The court could decide the bill contains two subjects, Planned Parenthood’s attorney said, because two measures were combined into a single bill after a separate and stricter version of the abortion ban failed to clear a legislative filibuster.

The state’s attorney said the court should grant a wide berth to the Legislature to police itself on the single-subject rule, describing the issue as political and not judicial. He said the decision should be beyond the court’s authority.

The justices asked ACLU attorney Matt Segal and Nebraska Solicitor General Eric Hamilton a similar number of questions. Many concerned the case law behind arguments for and against applying the single-subject rule to&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/108/PDF/Final/LB574.pdf">LB 574</a>.

Justice Lindsey Miller-Lerman seemed to indicate she had questions about disagreements in previous cases about how and when the single-subject rule should be applied. She focused some of her attention on whether voter-led initiatives should have a higher standard for applying the single-subject rule than the Legislature.

Historically, the Court has deferred more to the Legislature on those matters than to the people. Justices mentioned a briefed case from 2020 where a single-subject challenge removed a medical marijuana legalization ballot initiative for dealing with multiple subjects: the use and production of the crop.

Miller-Lerman also asked whether the Nebraska Constitution requires her to treat an unborn child as a person and whether that shifts the discussion of the bill from public health to private health, which might make it two subjects.

Several justices asked how much weight the court should place on the titles of bills for deciding a single-subject case.

“It violates the single-subject rule…,” Segal said in his opening arguments. “What we’re doing is not some broad rewrite of the medical procedure in a field. It’s the stitching together of two separate bills.”

Chief Justice Mike Heavican pushed back on Hamilton’s argument that the court should not decide the single-subject case. He pointed to years of cases where the court has weighed in, saying, “Didn’t that ship sail about 150 years ago?”

Hamilton argued the court should follow the lead of&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/08/12/judge-dismisses-lb-574-lawsuit-says-abortion-and-gender-care-are-health-care/">the district court</a>&nbsp;and defer to the Legislature on this matter because the bill combined efforts focused on the “health and general welfare” of the people. He said the bill was a single subject even if only considering the title as well.

Before the abortion measure was added, LB 574 was already labeled as a health regulation bill, he said. Its introduced copy describes the original bill as the “Let Them Grow Act.” It was later amended and gave both major parts of the bill a name.

Hamilton argued the title was clear: It says it’s about public health and welfare.

“The problem for the defendants is that those words predated the addition of the abortion ban,” Segal said.

Justice William Cassel pressed Segal to say whether he was limiting his legal argument on the single-subject rule to the order and actions of the Legislature in having combined the bills after a similar abortion measure was defeated.

Segal, during and after the hearing, said that step by the Legislature did seem to make it clearer that the single-subject rule was being sidestepped, but he said his case would apply even if the legal challenge was narrowed to the titles and natures of the combined proposals.

Justice John Freudenberg asked Segal whether his client’s legal challenge could risk the legality of the “Christmas tree bills” the Legislature often passes at the end of legislative sessions as a catch-all for separate bills when it is running out of time to pass them. Segal said it depends.

He said that his case’s specifics differ and that the Legislature combined the abortion ban and gender-affirming care proposals after a standalone abortion ban had been defeated. Still, he said some of the session-ending combo bills could be put at risk, depending on what the Legislature combined.

At one point the justices brought up case law that mentioned a law governing beets and chicories as dealing with separate subjects. Hamilton argued later that many of those older cases have been clarified by later court decisions.

Anthony Schutz, a law professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, wrote a brief in support of the idea that the law appeared to be combining separate subjects. But Schutz said he saw no advantage either way in the Supreme Court’s questioning Tuesday.

Attorneys for both sides summed up their arguments at the end:

“This is a political question,” Hamilton said.

“These are two ships passing in the night,” Segal said. “All they have in common is the sea.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/3/1709669315290.jpeg" alt="The Nebraska Supreme Court. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)" />
 <figcaption>The Nebraska Supreme Court. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)</figcaption>
 </figure>Zach Wendling<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/03/05/questions-about-lb-574-combining-abortion-and-gender-care-restrictions-reach-nebraska-supreme-court/">Nebraska Examiner</a>LINCOLN — Attorneys challenging and defending Nebraska’s new law combining tighter restrictions on abortion and gender-affirming care for minors made their case Tuesday to the state’s high court.The Nebraska Supreme Court heard arguments in Planned Parenthood’s appeal of a Lancaster County District Court ruling that it was legal for the Legislature to fold a more restrictive abortion measure into Legislative Bill 574, whose original purpose was to limit gender-affirming care. Planned Parenthood is being represented by attorneys for the ACLU.At issue is whether the Legislature acted beyond constitutional limits that require each bill to contain only a single subject, a state constitutional provision intended to prevent deal-making to pass combined bills that might have failed on their own.The court could decide the bill contains two subjects, Planned Parenthood’s attorney said, because two measures were combined into a single bill after a separate and stricter version of the abortion ban failed to clear a legislative filibuster.The state’s attorney said the court should grant a wide berth to the Legislature to police itself on the single-subject rule, describing the issue as political and not judicial. He said the decision should be beyond the court’s authority.<h2>Questions from justices</h2>The justices asked ACLU attorney Matt Segal and Nebraska Solicitor General Eric Hamilton a similar number of questions. Many concerned the case law behind arguments for and against applying the single-subject rule to&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/108/PDF/Final/LB574.pdf">LB 574</a>.Justice Lindsey Miller-Lerman seemed to indicate she had questions about disagreements in previous cases about how and when the single-subject rule should be applied. She focused some of her attention on whether voter-led initiatives should have a higher standard for applying the single-subject rule than the Legislature.Historically, the Court has deferred more to the Legislature on those matters than to the people. Justices mentioned a briefed case from 2020 where a single-subject challenge removed a medical marijuana legalization ballot initiative for dealing with multiple subjects: the use and production of the crop.Miller-Lerman also asked whether the Nebraska Constitution requires her to treat an unborn child as a person and whether that shifts the discussion of the bill from public health to private health, which might make it two subjects.Several justices asked how much weight the court should place on the titles of bills for deciding a single-subject case.“It violates the single-subject rule…,” Segal said in his opening arguments. “What we’re doing is not some broad rewrite of the medical procedure in a field. It’s the stitching together of two separate bills.”Chief Justice Mike Heavican pushed back on Hamilton’s argument that the court should not decide the single-subject case. He pointed to years of cases where the court has weighed in, saying, “Didn’t that ship sail about 150 years ago?”<h2>How much deference to Legislature</h2>Hamilton argued the court should follow the lead of&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/08/12/judge-dismisses-lb-574-lawsuit-says-abortion-and-gender-care-are-health-care/">the district court</a>&nbsp;and defer to the Legislature on this matter because the bill combined efforts focused on the “health and general welfare” of the people. He said the bill was a single subject even if only considering the title as well.Before the abortion measure was added, LB 574 was already labeled as a health regulation bill, he said. Its introduced copy describes the original bill as the “Let Them Grow Act.” It was later amended and gave both major parts of the bill a name.Hamilton argued the title was clear: It says it’s about public health and welfare.“The problem for the defendants is that those words predated the addition of the abortion ban,” Segal said.Justice William Cassel pressed Segal to say whether he was limiting his legal argument on the single-subject rule to the order and actions of the Legislature in having combined the bills after a similar abortion measure was defeated.Segal, during and after the hearing, said that step by the Legislature did seem to make it clearer that the single-subject rule was being sidestepped, but he said his case would apply even if the legal challenge was narrowed to the titles and natures of the combined proposals.Justice John Freudenberg asked Segal whether his client’s legal challenge could risk the legality of the “Christmas tree bills” the Legislature often passes at the end of legislative sessions as a catch-all for separate bills when it is running out of time to pass them. Segal said it depends.He said that his case’s specifics differ and that the Legislature combined the abortion ban and gender-affirming care proposals after a standalone abortion ban had been defeated. Still, he said some of the session-ending combo bills could be put at risk, depending on what the Legislature combined.<h2>Beets and chicories</h2>At one point the justices brought up case law that mentioned a law governing beets and chicories as dealing with separate subjects. Hamilton argued later that many of those older cases have been clarified by later court decisions.Anthony Schutz, a law professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, wrote a brief in support of the idea that the law appeared to be combining separate subjects. But Schutz said he saw no advantage either way in the Supreme Court’s questioning Tuesday.Attorneys for both sides summed up their arguments at the end:“This is a political question,” Hamilton said.“These are two ships passing in the night,” Segal said. “All they have in common is the sea.”

Questions about LB 574 combining abortion and gender-care restrictions reach Nebraska Supreme Court

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration announced a rule Tuesday to cap all credit card late fees, the latest effort in the White House push to end&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-junk-fees-ftc-hidden-bogus-80e5c17dc7607b99aa92c6c816b96e52">what it has called junk fees</a>&nbsp;and a move that regulators say will save Americans up to $10 billion a year.

(Click below to watch the President's comments)

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's new regulations will set a ceiling of $8 for most credit card late fees or require banks to show why they should charge more than $8 for such a fee.

The rule would bring the average credit card late fee down from $32. The bureau estimates banks brought in roughly $14 billion in credit card late fees a year.

President Joe Biden highlighted the proposal along with other efforts to reduce costs to Americans at a meeting of his competition council on Tuesday. The Democratic president also said he's forming a new strike force to crack down on illegal and unfair pricing on things like groceries, prescription drugs, health care, housing and financial services.

Biden said at the start of the council meeting that the current late fees are generating five times more money than what it costs credit card companies to collect late payments.

“They're padding their profit margins and charging hardworking Americans more,” Biden said. “It's a lot of money."

The president also noted that companies are effectively raising prices by putting fewer potato chips in the bags sold at grocery stores. Even the “Sesame Street” character Cookie Monster has noticed so-called “shrinkflation” by saying on social media that he's paying more for fewer cookies, Biden said.

The strike force will be led by the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission, according to a White House statement.

The Biden administration has portrayed the White House Competition Council as a way to save people money and promote greater competition within the U.S. economy.

The White House Council of Economic Advisers produced an analysis indicating that the Biden administration’s efforts overall will eliminate $20 billion in annual junk fees. The analysis found that consumers pay about $90 billion a year in junk fees, including for concerts, apartment rentals and auto dealers.

The effort appears to have done little to help Biden politically ahead of this year’s presidential election. Just 34% of U.S. adults approve of Biden’s economic leadership, according to a new survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Sen. Tim Scott, R-South Carolina, criticized the CFPB cap on credit card late fees, saying that consumers would ultimately face greater costs through higher interest rates and less access to credit.

“It will decrease the availability of credit card products for those who need it most, raise rates for many borrowers who carry a balance but pay on time, and increase the likelihood of late payments across the board,” Scott said.

Rob Nichols, the CEO of the American Bankers Association, said the CFPB “relied on flawed assumptions and a mischaracterization of the important role late fees play in promoting responsible consumer behavior.”

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said it will file a lawsuit to try to prevent the federal agency from capping late fees at $8.

“The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has exceeded its authority," said Neil Bradley, the chamber's executive vice president and chief policy officer. "The agency’s final credit card late fee rule punishes Americans who pay their credit card bills on time by forcing them to pay for those who don’t."

Americans held more than $1.05 trillion on their credit cards in the third quarter of 2023, a record, and a figure certain to grow once the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/holiday-sales-mastercard-spendingpulse-cc87e571ccffbae39110132a4c39a7c9">fourth-quarter data</a>&nbsp;is released by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. next month. Those balances are now carrying interest on them, which is the highest it has been since the Federal Reserve started tracking the data back in the mid-1990s.

Further, more Americans are falling behind on their&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/credit-card-debt-consumer-relief-rates-89114fe06ce6ef7596c8a336532e0f06">credit card debts</a>&nbsp;as well.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/debt-credit-cards-delinquencies-scores-renters-85aab5e510f531df140f99629a4f60c3">Delinquency rates</a>&nbsp;at the major credit card issuers such as American Express, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Capital One and Discover have been trending upward for several quarters. Some analysts have become concerned Americans, particularly poorer households hurt by inflation, might be taking on too much debt.

“Overall, the consumer is credit healthy. However, the reality is that there are starting to be some significant signs of stress,” said Silvio Tavares, president and CEO of VantageScore, one of the country’s two major credit scoring systems, in an interview last month.

The growth of the credit card industry is partly why&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capital-one-discover-credit-card-visa-merger-2264ec3d43143d06a1f6820d1241b033">Capital One announced it would buy Discover Financial</a>&nbsp;last month for $35 billion. The two companies, which are two of the largest credit card issuers, are also two companies whose customers regularly carry a balance on their accounts.

This is not the first time policymakers have weighed in on credit card fees. Congress in 2010 passed the CARD Act, which banned credit card companies from charging excessive penalty fees and established clearer disclosures and consumer protections.

The Federal Reserve issued a rule in 2010 that capped the first credit card late fee at $25, and $35 for subsequent late payments, and tied that fee to inflation. The CFPB, which took over the regulation of the credit card industry from the Fed after it was established, is proposing going further than the Fed.

The bureau's proposal is similar in structure to what the bureau announced in January when it proposed&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/overdraft-junk-fees-banking-biden-jpmorgan-cb8b19687264c0eed757d84911b44303">capping overdraft fees</a>&nbsp;to as little as $3. In that proposed regulation, banks would be required to either accept the bureau's benchmark or show regulators why they should charge more, a method that few bank industry executives expect to use.

Biden has made&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-junk-fees-ftc-hidden-bogus-80e5c17dc7607b99aa92c6c816b96e52">the elimination of junk fees</a>&nbsp;one of the cornerstones of his administration’s economic agenda heading into the 2024 election. Fees that banks charge customers have been at the center of that campaign, and the White House directed government regulators last year to do whatever is in their power to further curtail the practice.

In another move being highlighted by the White House, the Agriculture Department said it has finalized a rule to stop what it deems to be deceptive contracts by meat processors and to ban retaliation against small farmers and ranchers that work together in associations.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration announced a rule Tuesday to cap all credit card late fees, the latest effort in the White House push to end&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-junk-fees-ftc-hidden-bogus-80e5c17dc7607b99aa92c6c816b96e52">what it has called junk fees</a>&nbsp;and a move that regulators say will save Americans up to $10 billion a year.(Click below to watch the President's comments)<div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=314&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FWhiteHouse%2Fvideos%2F411471504761926%2F&show_text=false&width=560&t=150" width="560" height="314" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe></div>The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's new regulations will set a ceiling of $8 for most credit card late fees or require banks to show why they should charge more than $8 for such a fee.<div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FWhiteHouse%2Fposts%2Fpfbid044Zn8VwHxBPNaZyEr85uJtpDY5iQL19FyM5SMiC2QpFC8FBwVzcWsqZFSVkJTP1Nl&show_text=true&width=500" width="500" height="680" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share"></iframe></div>The rule would bring the average credit card late fee down from $32. The bureau estimates banks brought in roughly $14 billion in credit card late fees a year.President Joe Biden highlighted the proposal along with other efforts to reduce costs to Americans at a meeting of his competition council on Tuesday. The Democratic president also said he's forming a new strike force to crack down on illegal and unfair pricing on things like groceries, prescription drugs, health care, housing and financial services.Biden said at the start of the council meeting that the current late fees are generating five times more money than what it costs credit card companies to collect late payments.“They're padding their profit margins and charging hardworking Americans more,” Biden said. “It's a lot of money."The president also noted that companies are effectively raising prices by putting fewer potato chips in the bags sold at grocery stores. Even the “Sesame Street” character Cookie Monster has noticed so-called “shrinkflation” by saying on social media that he's paying more for fewer cookies, Biden said.The strike force will be led by the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission, according to a White House statement.The Biden administration has portrayed the White House Competition Council as a way to save people money and promote greater competition within the U.S. economy.The White House Council of Economic Advisers produced an analysis indicating that the Biden administration’s efforts overall will eliminate $20 billion in annual junk fees. The analysis found that consumers pay about $90 billion a year in junk fees, including for concerts, apartment rentals and auto dealers.The effort appears to have done little to help Biden politically ahead of this year’s presidential election. Just 34% of U.S. adults approve of Biden’s economic leadership, according to a new survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.Sen. Tim Scott, R-South Carolina, criticized the CFPB cap on credit card late fees, saying that consumers would ultimately face greater costs through higher interest rates and less access to credit.“It will decrease the availability of credit card products for those who need it most, raise rates for many borrowers who carry a balance but pay on time, and increase the likelihood of late payments across the board,” Scott said.Rob Nichols, the CEO of the American Bankers Association, said the CFPB “relied on flawed assumptions and a mischaracterization of the important role late fees play in promoting responsible consumer behavior.”The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said it will file a lawsuit to try to prevent the federal agency from capping late fees at $8.“The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has exceeded its authority," said Neil Bradley, the chamber's executive vice president and chief policy officer. "The agency’s final credit card late fee rule punishes Americans who pay their credit card bills on time by forcing them to pay for those who don’t."Americans held more than $1.05 trillion on their credit cards in the third quarter of 2023, a record, and a figure certain to grow once the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/holiday-sales-mastercard-spendingpulse-cc87e571ccffbae39110132a4c39a7c9">fourth-quarter data</a>&nbsp;is released by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. next month. Those balances are now carrying interest on them, which is the highest it has been since the Federal Reserve started tracking the data back in the mid-1990s.Further, more Americans are falling behind on their&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/credit-card-debt-consumer-relief-rates-89114fe06ce6ef7596c8a336532e0f06">credit card debts</a>&nbsp;as well.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/debt-credit-cards-delinquencies-scores-renters-85aab5e510f531df140f99629a4f60c3">Delinquency rates</a>&nbsp;at the major credit card issuers such as American Express, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Capital One and Discover have been trending upward for several quarters. Some analysts have become concerned Americans, particularly poorer households hurt by inflation, might be taking on too much debt.“Overall, the consumer is credit healthy. However, the reality is that there are starting to be some significant signs of stress,” said Silvio Tavares, president and CEO of VantageScore, one of the country’s two major credit scoring systems, in an interview last month.The growth of the credit card industry is partly why&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capital-one-discover-credit-card-visa-merger-2264ec3d43143d06a1f6820d1241b033">Capital One announced it would buy Discover Financial</a>&nbsp;last month for $35 billion. The two companies, which are two of the largest credit card issuers, are also two companies whose customers regularly carry a balance on their accounts.This is not the first time policymakers have weighed in on credit card fees. Congress in 2010 passed the CARD Act, which banned credit card companies from charging excessive penalty fees and established clearer disclosures and consumer protections.The Federal Reserve issued a rule in 2010 that capped the first credit card late fee at $25, and $35 for subsequent late payments, and tied that fee to inflation. The CFPB, which took over the regulation of the credit card industry from the Fed after it was established, is proposing going further than the Fed.The bureau's proposal is similar in structure to what the bureau announced in January when it proposed&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/overdraft-junk-fees-banking-biden-jpmorgan-cb8b19687264c0eed757d84911b44303">capping overdraft fees</a>&nbsp;to as little as $3. In that proposed regulation, banks would be required to either accept the bureau's benchmark or show regulators why they should charge more, a method that few bank industry executives expect to use.Biden has made&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-junk-fees-ftc-hidden-bogus-80e5c17dc7607b99aa92c6c816b96e52">the elimination of junk fees</a>&nbsp;one of the cornerstones of his administration’s economic agenda heading into the 2024 election. Fees that banks charge customers have been at the center of that campaign, and the White House directed government regulators last year to do whatever is in their power to further curtail the practice.In another move being highlighted by the White House, the Agriculture Department said it has finalized a rule to stop what it deems to be deceptive contracts by meat processors and to ban retaliation against small farmers and ranchers that work together in associations.

🎥Biden administration finalizes rule cutting credit card late fees

United States Attorney Susan Lehr announced that David Franklin Slater, 63, of&nbsp;Nebraska, was arrested Saturday, March 2, after having been indicted in the District of Nebraska, for allegedly conspiring to transmit and transmitting classified information relating to the national defense (National Defense Information or NDI) on a foreign online dating platform beginning&nbsp;<a>in or around February 2022&nbsp;</a>until in or around April 2022. Slater was a civilian employee of the U.S. Air Force assigned to the U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), at Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue, Nebraska.

According to the indictment, Slater worked in a classified space at USSTRATCOM and held a Top Secret security clearance from in or around August 2021 until in or around April 2022, after retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel from the U.S. Army. It is alleged that Slater willfully, improperly, and unlawfully transmitted NDI classified as “SECRET,” which he had reason to believe could be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of a foreign nation, on a foreign online dating platform to a person not authorized to receive such information.

“As alleged, Mr. Slater, an Air Force civilian employee and retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel, knowingly transmitted classified national defense information to another person in blatant disregard for the security of his country and his oath to safeguard its secrets,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “The Department of Justice will seek to hold accountable those who knowingly and willfully put their country at risk by disclosing classified information.”

“Certain responsibilities are incumbent to individuals with access to Top Secret information. The allegations against Mr. Slater challenge whether he betrayed those responsibilities,” said U.S. Attorney Susan Lehr for the District of Nebraska. “We look forward to continuing our work with the FBI and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations to ensure the safety of our country.”

“The FBI&nbsp;investigates those who choose to illegally use their access to classified information to put our national security at risk,” said Special Agent in Charge Eugene Kowel of the FBI Omaha Field Office. “When people violate the trust given to them to safeguard our nation's intelligence, they put our country at risk. We will continue working shoulder to shoulder with our partners to protect the American people and uphold the constitution by safeguarding our country's classified information.”

According to the indictment, Slater attended USSTRATCOM briefings regarding Russia’s war against Ukraine that were classified up to TOP SECRET<a>//</a>SENSITIVE COMPARTMENTED INFORMATION (TS//SCI). Slater then transmitted classified NDI that he learned from those briefings via the foreign online dating website’s messaging platform to his co-conspirator, who claimed to be a female living in Ukraine on the foreign dating website. The co-conspirator regularly asked Slater to provide her with sensitive, non-public, closely held and classified NDI and called Slater in their messages her “secret informant love” and her “secret agent.” In response to these requests, Slater indeed provided classified NDI to her, including regarding military targets and Russian military capabilities relating to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.&nbsp;

Slater will make his initial court appearance tomorrow, March 5, in the District of Nebraska. If convicted, Slater faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000 for each count of conspiracy to transmit and the transmission of national defense information. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The FBI Omaha Field Office and Air Force Office of Special Investigations are investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Donald Kleine for the District of Nebraska and Trial Attorney Emma Dinan Ellenrieder of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Department of JusticeUnited States Attorney Susan Lehr announced that David Franklin Slater, 63, of&nbsp;Nebraska, was arrested Saturday, March 2, after having been indicted in the District of Nebraska, for allegedly conspiring to transmit and transmitting classified information relating to the national defense (National Defense Information or NDI) on a foreign online dating platform beginning&nbsp;<a>in or around February 2022&nbsp;</a>until in or around April 2022. Slater was a civilian employee of the U.S. Air Force assigned to the U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), at Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue, Nebraska.According to the indictment, Slater worked in a classified space at USSTRATCOM and held a Top Secret security clearance from in or around August 2021 until in or around April 2022, after retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel from the U.S. Army. It is alleged that Slater willfully, improperly, and unlawfully transmitted NDI classified as “SECRET,” which he had reason to believe could be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of a foreign nation, on a foreign online dating platform to a person not authorized to receive such information.“As alleged, Mr. Slater, an Air Force civilian employee and retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel, knowingly transmitted classified national defense information to another person in blatant disregard for the security of his country and his oath to safeguard its secrets,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “The Department of Justice will seek to hold accountable those who knowingly and willfully put their country at risk by disclosing classified information.”“Certain responsibilities are incumbent to individuals with access to Top Secret information. The allegations against Mr. Slater challenge whether he betrayed those responsibilities,” said U.S. Attorney Susan Lehr for the District of Nebraska. “We look forward to continuing our work with the FBI and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations to ensure the safety of our country.”“The FBI&nbsp;investigates those who choose to illegally use their access to classified information to put our national security at risk,” said Special Agent in Charge Eugene Kowel of the FBI Omaha Field Office. “When people violate the trust given to them to safeguard our nation's intelligence, they put our country at risk. We will continue working shoulder to shoulder with our partners to protect the American people and uphold the constitution by safeguarding our country's classified information.”According to the indictment, Slater attended USSTRATCOM briefings regarding Russia’s war against Ukraine that were classified up to TOP SECRET<a>//</a>SENSITIVE COMPARTMENTED INFORMATION (TS//SCI). Slater then transmitted classified NDI that he learned from those briefings via the foreign online dating website’s messaging platform to his co-conspirator, who claimed to be a female living in Ukraine on the foreign dating website. The co-conspirator regularly asked Slater to provide her with sensitive, non-public, closely held and classified NDI and called Slater in their messages her “secret informant love” and her “secret agent.” In response to these requests, Slater indeed provided classified NDI to her, including regarding military targets and Russian military capabilities relating to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.&nbsp;Slater will make his initial court appearance tomorrow, March 5, in the District of Nebraska. If convicted, Slater faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000 for each count of conspiracy to transmit and the transmission of national defense information. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.The FBI Omaha Field Office and Air Force Office of Special Investigations are investigating the case.Assistant U.S. Attorney Donald Kleine for the District of Nebraska and Trial Attorney Emma Dinan Ellenrieder of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Air Force Employee Indicted for Unlawful Disclosure of Classified National Defense Information

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Barely six months into his term as Nebraska's attorney general last year, Mike Hilgers released an opinion questioning the legality of offices of inspector general overseeing the state's prison system and the child services division of the Department of Health and Human Service — two of the state's largest and most troubled agencies.

“That same day, those agencies blocked our access to their online case files,” said Julie Rogers, who heads the state ombudsman's office.

Not only did the agencies block the inspectors general, they blocked her office, even though the ombudsman's office has a more than 50-year history of oversight of state agencies. And the attorney general's opinion makes no mention of the office.

Since then, Rogers said, neither she nor the inspectors general have been able access reports, case files or complaints or been allowed to inspect the state's prisons.

“Their legal counsels also pretty quickly sent out memos agency-wide to say that employees were not to talk to us.” she said.

That means for the past six months, she and the inspectors general — who report their findings to the Legislature — have been kept in the dark about any complaints on the treatment of prisoners and children under state care, such as juvenile offenders and those in the foster care system.

The Legislature created the office of inspector general of the state’s child welfare system in 2012 to respond to problems with children in the system being injured, self-harming, dying and being exposed to drugs. The inspector general's office for the prison system was created in 2015 in response to a deadly prison riot, officials' miscalculation of prison sentences for hundreds of inmates over years and rampant prison overcrowding and staffing shortages.

The agencies they investigate come under the purview of the governor, who appoints their administrators, and several lawmakers have accused the governor's office of pushing to usurp the Legislature's oversight of them. Hilgers has denied his office consulted with Gov. Jim Pillen's office on the opinion. Pillen's office did not answer questions about whether it advised Hilgers' office on legislative oversight before the opinion was released.

The struggle between the executive and legislative branches of government is far from a new phenomenon. The federal government is rife with examples, as U.S. presidents have increasingly used executive orders to enact policy on everything from military action to immigration. Congress has also sought to make its mark on what have traditionally been presidential decisions, such as when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/courts-election-2020-campaign-2016-supreme-court-of-the-united-states-united-states-government-6a3c6f0cb8cf4dfca8aeca506ac09e77">denied President Barack Obama’s pick</a>&nbsp;for the U.S. Supreme Court by refusing to even meet with then-federal Judge Merrick Garland, now the U.S. Attorney General.

A number of states have also seen their share of power struggles among their branches. In Kentucky, the GOP-led Legislature has introduced a number of bills to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kentucky-budget-governor-surplus-3ee50422b5b8184ba16103c2c6da6122">wrest power</a>&nbsp;from the Democratic governor. Those include a bill that would allow the body to call itself into special session and another that would have it appoint the members of the state Board of Education. Both are currently functions of the governor.

In Wisconsin, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/wisconsin-governor-legislature-lawsuit-05b969ec380c11f18d4a9d1e378be5d5">sued the Republican-controlled Legislature</a>&nbsp;last year, arguing that it is obstructing basic government functions, including refusing to sign off on approved pay raises for university employees and blocking state conservation programs. In turn, Evers earlier this year went around Republican lawmakers who had blocked a deal to complete the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pelican-river-forest-purchase-wisconsin-evers-grant-d1e51c0ede96c64ed40ea92ab597f2aa">largest land conservation purchase</a>&nbsp;in Wisconsin history by securing federal dollars to do it.

The conflict has also likely been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, when governors, lawmakers and agencies saw conflicts over business and school shutdowns and mandatory masking. Over 300 bills in at least 47 states and two U.S. territories were introduced in 2021 alone aimed at the legislature’s ability to oversee executive branch actions, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

“It is important to note that a tug-of-war between the branches is a conflict as old as our democracy, and our system was designed in such a way that this conflict is inherent and expected,” NCSL spokesperson Mick Bullock said. "Legislative oversight serves as a fundamental check and balance within our democratic system.”

Hilgers' opinion came as a shock to many Nebraska lawmakers, some of whom had a hand in creating the agency oversight laws. Most of the lawmakers had also served with Hilgers a year earlier, when he was speaker of the Legislature before being elected attorney general.

The agencies' refusal to cooperate with the Legislature's oversight office was met with fury from Democratic lawmakers in the officially nonpartisan Nebraska Legislature who noted that an attorney general's opinion does not carry the weight of law.

“So, these agencies have decided they're not going to follow established state law. It's breathtaking,” said Lincoln Sen. Danielle Conrad, an attorney and the former director of the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. “I'm concerned about the slippery slope where we sit down and we let other branches of government tell us when they're going to follow the law that we pass on behalf of the people. That's a dangerous precedent.”

In reaction to the standoff, Conrad and others have introduced several bills this session designed to reinforce the Legislature's role. They range from a proposed constitutional amendment that would have the voters decide on legislative oversight to bills that would have lawmakers — instead of the governor — appoint some agency directors.

Even Republican lawmakers and allies of the Republican governor concede that the Legislature has to act to retain its oversight power. Speaker of the Legislature Sen. John Arch has introduced a resolution for the body's executive board to create a committee to look into legislative oversight functions. Sen. Ray Aguilar, chair of the Executive Committee, said he expected the committee to advance some of the Democratic lawmakers' proposals on oversight to the full Legislature this session. None had advanced by Monday.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Barely six months into his term as Nebraska's attorney general last year, Mike Hilgers released an opinion questioning the legality of offices of inspector general overseeing the state's prison system and the child services division of the Department of Health and Human Service — two of the state's largest and most troubled agencies.“That same day, those agencies blocked our access to their online case files,” said Julie Rogers, who heads the state ombudsman's office.Not only did the agencies block the inspectors general, they blocked her office, even though the ombudsman's office has a more than 50-year history of oversight of state agencies. And the attorney general's opinion makes no mention of the office.Since then, Rogers said, neither she nor the inspectors general have been able access reports, case files or complaints or been allowed to inspect the state's prisons.“Their legal counsels also pretty quickly sent out memos agency-wide to say that employees were not to talk to us.” she said.That means for the past six months, she and the inspectors general — who report their findings to the Legislature — have been kept in the dark about any complaints on the treatment of prisoners and children under state care, such as juvenile offenders and those in the foster care system.The Legislature created the office of inspector general of the state’s child welfare system in 2012 to respond to problems with children in the system being injured, self-harming, dying and being exposed to drugs. The inspector general's office for the prison system was created in 2015 in response to a deadly prison riot, officials' miscalculation of prison sentences for hundreds of inmates over years and rampant prison overcrowding and staffing shortages.The agencies they investigate come under the purview of the governor, who appoints their administrators, and several lawmakers have accused the governor's office of pushing to usurp the Legislature's oversight of them. Hilgers has denied his office consulted with Gov. Jim Pillen's office on the opinion. Pillen's office did not answer questions about whether it advised Hilgers' office on legislative oversight before the opinion was released.The struggle between the executive and legislative branches of government is far from a new phenomenon. The federal government is rife with examples, as U.S. presidents have increasingly used executive orders to enact policy on everything from military action to immigration. Congress has also sought to make its mark on what have traditionally been presidential decisions, such as when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/courts-election-2020-campaign-2016-supreme-court-of-the-united-states-united-states-government-6a3c6f0cb8cf4dfca8aeca506ac09e77">denied President Barack Obama’s pick</a>&nbsp;for the U.S. Supreme Court by refusing to even meet with then-federal Judge Merrick Garland, now the U.S. Attorney General.A number of states have also seen their share of power struggles among their branches. In Kentucky, the GOP-led Legislature has introduced a number of bills to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kentucky-budget-governor-surplus-3ee50422b5b8184ba16103c2c6da6122">wrest power</a>&nbsp;from the Democratic governor. Those include a bill that would allow the body to call itself into special session and another that would have it appoint the members of the state Board of Education. Both are currently functions of the governor.In Wisconsin, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/wisconsin-governor-legislature-lawsuit-05b969ec380c11f18d4a9d1e378be5d5">sued the Republican-controlled Legislature</a>&nbsp;last year, arguing that it is obstructing basic government functions, including refusing to sign off on approved pay raises for university employees and blocking state conservation programs. In turn, Evers earlier this year went around Republican lawmakers who had blocked a deal to complete the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pelican-river-forest-purchase-wisconsin-evers-grant-d1e51c0ede96c64ed40ea92ab597f2aa">largest land conservation purchase</a>&nbsp;in Wisconsin history by securing federal dollars to do it.The conflict has also likely been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, when governors, lawmakers and agencies saw conflicts over business and school shutdowns and mandatory masking. Over 300 bills in at least 47 states and two U.S. territories were introduced in 2021 alone aimed at the legislature’s ability to oversee executive branch actions, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.“It is important to note that a tug-of-war between the branches is a conflict as old as our democracy, and our system was designed in such a way that this conflict is inherent and expected,” NCSL spokesperson Mick Bullock said. "Legislative oversight serves as a fundamental check and balance within our democratic system.”Hilgers' opinion came as a shock to many Nebraska lawmakers, some of whom had a hand in creating the agency oversight laws. Most of the lawmakers had also served with Hilgers a year earlier, when he was speaker of the Legislature before being elected attorney general.The agencies' refusal to cooperate with the Legislature's oversight office was met with fury from Democratic lawmakers in the officially nonpartisan Nebraska Legislature who noted that an attorney general's opinion does not carry the weight of law.“So, these agencies have decided they're not going to follow established state law. It's breathtaking,” said Lincoln Sen. Danielle Conrad, an attorney and the former director of the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. “I'm concerned about the slippery slope where we sit down and we let other branches of government tell us when they're going to follow the law that we pass on behalf of the people. That's a dangerous precedent.”In reaction to the standoff, Conrad and others have introduced several bills this session designed to reinforce the Legislature's role. They range from a proposed constitutional amendment that would have the voters decide on legislative oversight to bills that would have lawmakers — instead of the governor — appoint some agency directors.Even Republican lawmakers and allies of the Republican governor concede that the Legislature has to act to retain its oversight power. Speaker of the Legislature Sen. John Arch has introduced a resolution for the body's executive board to create a committee to look into legislative oversight functions. Sen. Ray Aguilar, chair of the Executive Committee, said he expected the committee to advance some of the Democratic lawmakers' proposals on oversight to the full Legislature this session. None had advanced by Monday.

Nebraska's Legislature and executive branches stake competing claims on state agency oversight

Mellissa Helligso remembers when she first became interested in forensic pathology.

It was in 2000. CBS had just released “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” and Helligso, a DNA analyst in the molecular diagnostics section of the UNMC Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, had just had her first child.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/3/1709659985731.jpeg" alt="Mellissa Helligso (Courtesy of UNMC)" />
 <figcaption>Mellissa Helligso (Courtesy of UNMC)</figcaption>
 </figure>UNMCMellissa Helligso remembers when she first became interested in forensic pathology.It was in 2000. CBS had just released “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” and Helligso, a DNA analyst in the molecular diagnostics section of the UNMC Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, had just had her first child.“I remember being up with the baby late at night and watching the show,” Helligso said. “It really piqued my interest how the investigators were able to identify crucial facts that ultimately solved the case at hand.”Today Helligso, who is now the manager, technical lead and forensic DNA analyst with the Human DNA Identification Lab at UNMC, has taken part in hundreds of forensic investigations.Most recently, Helligso and her team received news that the Human DNA Identification Lab, under director Jesse&nbsp;Cox, MD, PhD, has earned accreditation to perform Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy (FIGG), which will allow them to assist in cold case investigations.“We are one of six labs in the country that are accredited,” Helligso said.The technology will enable them to assist law enforcement with identifying unknown DNA, she said, and potentially help solve several cold cases.“You may have heard of this technology, as it was utilized to catch the Golden State Killer, and more recently the suspect for the Idaho University murders, among hundreds of others,” Helligso said.In early 2023, Helligso said, they obtained funding from a private donor to bring the FIGG technology into the lab.After testing the technology for most of the year, they were finally ready in November to move forward for accreditation, and after an audit by the American National Standards Institute National Accreditation Board, the lab was given the seal of approval.Since then, Helligso said, she has been doing forensic DNA work for the Omaha Police Department, through a prosecution of cold cases grant, identifying DNA profiles to utilize the new FIGG testing.“What we are looking for are DNA samples that don’t already have a hit in the national DNA database, CODIS (Combined DNA Index System), to help law enforcement identify potential suspects,” Helligso said.She currently is working on more than a dozen cold case homicides with the Omaha Police Department.“This is very exciting, because the cases we weren’t able to solve always linger in the back of your mind,&nbsp;and now we have another tool to use to help bring closure for families and justice for the victims,” she said.