USA

ATLANTA (AP) — In Donald Trump’s push to fundamentally reshape the Republican Party, few places are a higher priority than Georgia.

The former president has issued highly-coveted endorsements in races ranging from governor to state insurance commissioner. His backing of football legend Herschel Walker essentially cleared a path to the party’s nomination for a critical U.S. Senate seat.

25 March 2022; MEMO: The United States is still pursuing talks on Iran's nuclear program but will work with allies to increase pressure on Iran if diplomacy fails, White House National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, said on Friday.

The talks were close to an agreement until Russia made last-minute demands of the United States, insisting that sanctions imposed on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine would not hurt its trade with Iran, Reuters reports.

WASHINGTON, March 25 (Reuters) - Washington condemned "unacceptable" attacks by Yemen's Houthis on Saudi energy facilities, State Department deputy spokesperson Jalina Porter said on Friday, adding the United States would continue to work with Saudi Arabia to strengthen its defenses.

The Iran-aligned Houthis said they launched attacks on Saudi energy facilities on Friday and the Saudi-led coalition said oil giant Aramco's petroleum products distribution station in Jeddah was hit, causing a fire in two storage tanks but no casualties.

LINCOLN, Nebraska (AP) — Republican U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry on Friday faced growing pressure from congressional leaders and Nebraska’s GOP governor to resign after a California jury found him guilty of lying to federal authorities about an illegal $30,000 campaign donation from a Nigerian billionaire.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy both urged the nine-term congressman to leave office, as did Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts, who has endorsed Fortenberry’s top Republican primary challenger.

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — With inflation raging and state coffers flush with cash, governors and lawmakers across the U.S. are considering a relatively simple solution to help ease the pain people are feeling at the gas pump and grocery store — sending money.

At least a dozen states have proposed giving rebate checks of several hundred dollars directly to taxpayers, among them California, Kansas and Minnesota. Critics, including many Republican lawmakers, say those checks won’t go far enough given the pace of inflation and are pushing instead for permanent tax cuts.

NEW YORK (AP) — As coronavirus infections rise in some parts of the world, experts are watching for a potential new COVID-19 surge in the U.S. — and wondering how long it will take to detect.

Despite disease monitoring improvements over the last two years, they say, some recent developments don’t bode well:

—As more people take rapid COVID-19 tests at home, fewer people are getting the gold-standard tests that the government relies on for case counts.

—The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will soon use fewer labs to look for new variants.

WASHINGTON (AP) — After more than 30 hours of hearings, the Senate is on track to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first Black woman on the Supreme Court. But Democrats seem unlikely to confirm her with a robust bipartisan vote, dashing President Joe Biden’s hopes for a grand reset after partisan battles over other high court nominees.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Clarence Thomas was discharged from the hospital Friday after a stay of nearly a week, the Supreme Court said.

Thomas, 73, had entered the hospital last Friday evening after experiencing “flu-like symptoms.” He was treated for an infection with intravenous antibiotics, the court said Sunday in announcing his hospitalization. He had been expected to be released from the hospital Monday or Tuesday.

The court did not say why he remained in the hospital longer than initially thought or what kind of infection he was treated for.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine is approaching a new, potentially more dangerous phase after a month of fighting has left Russian forces stalled by an outnumbered foe. He is left with stark choices — how and where to replenish his spent ground forces, whether to attack the flow of Western arms to Ukrainian defenders, and at what cost he might escalate or widen the war.

25 March 2022; MEMO: Israel's ongoing illegal settlement expansion has been slammed by China during a UN briefing on the situation in Palestine. Beijing's representative at the world body insisted that settlements are a violation of international law and urged the international community to support the Palestinian people.