World
Could Biden and Trump win their party's nominations this week? What to watch in the next contests
NEW YORK (AP) — President Joe Biden and his likely Republican challenger, Donald Trump, are on track to win enough delegates this week to become their parties’ presumptive nominees, ushering in a bruising eight-month campaign for the White House.
Elections in four states on Tuesday will likely give Biden and Trump the delegates they need to clinch the nominations. Their trajectories are hardly in doubt after dominant performances in last week’s Super Tuesday contests forced the last major primary challengers out of the race.
But for many voters who aren’t attuned to the daily twists and turns of the nation’s turbulent politics, this week could be a crystalizing moment, reinforcing that another Biden-Trump campaign is virtually guaranteed whether Americans want it or not. And that rematch — the first in a U.S. presidential election since 1956 — is poised to deepen searing political and cultural divides.
Here’s what we’re watching:
WILL TRUMP CLINCH?
Tuesday should be a wakeup call for those who still doubt that Trump, who is facing 91 felony counts in four separate criminal cases, will represent the Republican Party in the general election this fall.
The former president is on track to win enough delegates to become the Republican Party’s presumptive presidential nominee — if he continues to dominate the way he has throughout the primary season. And with no major opposition on the ballot, there is every reason to believe he will.
As of Sunday, Trump was 140 delegates short of the 1,215 needed to win the Republican nomination at the party’s national convention this summer. There are 161 Republican delegates at stake on Tuesday in Georgia, Mississippi, Washington state and Hawaii.
With a strong showing on Tuesday, Trump can sweep all the delegates in Georgia, Mississippi and Washington state. Hawaii allocates delegates proportionally so other candidates could win a few, even with a small share of the vote.
WHAT ABOUT BIDEN?
Democrats who did not want Biden to run again are about to be disappointed.
Like Trump, Biden is on the verge of securing sufficient delegates to become the Democratic Party’s presumptive presidential nominee.
The president enters Tuesday 102 delegates short of the 1,968 needed to win the Democratic nomination. There are 254 Democratic delegates at stake delegates at stake Tuesday in Georgia, Mississippi and Washington state, in addition to party-run contests for the Northern Mariana Islands and Democrats Abroad that conclude that day.
With no major opponents, Biden is on pace to reach that mark. But he’s also facing continued resistance from his party’s left flank that threatens to tarnish the achievement.
A collection of progressive activists and faith leaders in Georgia and other states is encouraging Democratic primary participants not to vote for any presidential candidate. That’s after a protest “uncommitted” vote in Michigan recently secured two delegates.
The symbolic protest is meant as a warning on Biden’s reelection over his support for Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
While Biden’s campaign says it’s not worried, the president must unite his party behind him if he hopes to defeat Trump in November.
Following a fiery State of the Union address that he says fueled a jaw-dropping $10 million in donations in just 24 hours, Biden has an opportunity to build new momentum with a strong showing Tuesday.
GEORGIA PREVIEW
Georgia has emerged as one of the nation’s premier swing states in recent years. And both candidates are eager to put up a strong showing and flex their organizational muscle in what is effectively a dress rehearsal for November’s far more consequential general election.
The state was a pivotal battleground in 2020 — so close that Trump finds himself indicted here for his push to “find 11,780 votes” and overturn Biden’s victory.
Both candidates made Georgia a priority in the days leading up to Tuesday’s primary. But they offered very different messages in dueling rallies over the weekend.
Trump’s Saturday rally opened with a message asking attendees to support the people serving jail time for their roles in the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. The former president then appeared with MAGA firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., whom he called “brave” for yelling at Biden during his State of the Union address. Trump also highlighted his private meeting the night before with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has rolled back democracy in his country.
Biden, working to energize his coalition of voters of color, young people and suburbanites, pointed to Trump’s controversial associates and his embrace of the far right. “Our freedoms are literally on the ballot this November,” he said.
IS THIS RACE ABOUT TO CHANGE?
With both candidates poised to clinch their nominations, we are about to move formally from the primary to the general election phase of the 2024 election.
But it’s fair to say we don’t know exactly what that will look like.
Typically at this moment, candidates will shift their message to speak to a broader swath of voters — especially moderates and independents — that play a more influential role in general elections compared to the hardcore base voters that decide primaries.
But if this weekend was any indication, Trump is showing little interest — or ability — to embrace a more inclusive or moderate tone. He’s still falsely insisting that the 2020 election was stolen and praising those who stormed the Capitol on one of the darkest days in modern U.S. history.
We’ll be paying close attention to the tone of his official response — and his social media posts — after he clinches the nomination.
On the Democratic side, we’re about to learn whether Biden’s coalition changes its view of the race as the reality sets in that this election is now a binary choice between Biden and Trump. Biden’s campaign is betting big that’s the case.
On the eve of Tuesday’s primaries, the Democratic president unveiled a new campaign ad as part of a $30 million battleground-state investment casting himself as more effective than Trump — despite concerns about Biden’s age.
Trump won’t make it easy on Biden. A super PAC backing Trump released a new ad that asks, “If Biden wins, can he even survive till 2029?”
Buckle up. The next eight months could get bumpy.
World
British Actors and Other Performers Back Industrial Action Over AI After Landslide Vote
Actors and other performers working in film and TV in the U.K. have voted by a landslide to refuse to be digitally scanned on set in order to secure artificial intelligence protections.
Member of performers union Equity working in film and TV voted in a ballot on AI protections, and decided by a massive majority that they are willing to take industrial action over AI. The ballot asked: “Are you prepared to refuse to be digitally scanned on set to secure adequate AI protections?,” and 99.6% of them responded “Yes.”
Equity commented: “Members are increasingly concerned about the use of their voice and likeness, including being digitally scanned on set. Equity is fighting for protections for performers based on the principles of explicit consent, transparency of terms, and fair remuneration for usage.”
The ballot turnout was 75.1%, with eligible voters made up of Equity’s membership working in film and TV – 7,732 actors, stunt performers and dancers.
The ballot was indicative, which means it is not binding and does not legally cover Equity members to take industrial action – for that, a statutory ballot is needed. However, the result shows the strength of feeling among performers about AI, and indicates they are prepared to refuse to be digitally scanned on set – a form of action short of a strike.
Equity is currently negotiating the agreements it holds with Pact, the trade body representing the majority of film and TV production companies in the U.K., to set minimum standards for pay, terms and conditions for performers working in the sector.
Equity will now write to Pact with the results and demand they come back to the negotiating table with a better deal on AI. If Pact refuses to enshrine the AI protections the union is seeking in the agreements, Equity will hold a statutory ballot for industrial action.
Equity’s general secretary, Paul W. Fleming, said: “Artificial intelligence is a generation-defining challenge. And for the first time in a generation, Equity’s film and TV members have shown that they are willing to take industrial action.
“90% of TV and film is made on these agreements. Over three quarters of artists working on them are union members. This shows that the workforce is willing to significantly disrupt production unless they are respected, and decades of erosion in terms and conditions begins to be reversed.
“The U.S. streamers and Pact need to step away from the brink, and respect this show of strength. We need adequate AI protections which build on, not merely replicate, those agreed after the SAG-AFTRA strike in the U.S.A. over two years ago.
“The union believes this can be resolved through negotiation, but 18 months of talks have led us to this stalemate. With fresh AI proposals, significant movement on royalties, and a package of modern terms and conditions, Pact and allied producers can turn this around. The ball is in their court when we return to the table in January.”
World
Vatican confirms resignation of Cardinal Timothy Dolan, announces new archbishop of New York
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
The Vatican on Thursday accepted the resignation of Cardinal Timothy Dolan and announced that Bishop Ronald Hicks of Joliet, Illinois, will become the next archbishop of New York.
This is a breaking news story; check back for updates.
World
UK police arrest four people for pro-Palestine ‘Intifada’ calls
Arrests made at protests supporting imprisoned Palestine Action hunger strikers, as Gaza death toll surpasses 70,000.
Published On 18 Dec 2025
Police in the United Kingdom have made their first arrests since announcing their intent to crack down on people making public calls to “globalise the Intifada” after Australia’s Bondi Beach attack, speciously linking largely peaceful protests against Israel’s genocidal war with a deadly targeting of a Jewish festival.
London’s Metropolitan Police posted on X late on Wednesday that it had made four arrests at pro-Palestinian protests held outside the Ministry of Justice in Westminster, “all involving the alleged shouting or chanting of slogans involving calls for intifada”.
list of 3 itemsend of listRecommended Stories
The arrests were made at a demonstration that had been called in support of eight imprisoned hunger strikers, whose lives are in peril. They were jailed over connections to the Palestine Action group, just hours after the Metropolitan (Met) and Greater Manchester Police (GMT) said they would be “more assertive” in policing pro-Palestine protests to counter alleged anti-Semitism.
UK Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips backed the Met’s action. “I cannot think of any interpretation other than that [it] is inciting people to violence, which has the terrible consequences,” she was cited as saying by The Times of London.
But Ben Jamal, from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, pointed out in a statement that the Arabic word “intifada” means “shaking off or uprising against injustice”.
In the Palestinian context, the word is understood to mean civil uprising against military occupation and illegal settlement expansion, with key historical instances in 1987-93 and 2000-05, drawing brutal responses from Israel that left thousands of people dead.
Jamal criticised the lack of consultation over the new police stance, saying on X that “forces across the political establishment” were using the “grotesque racist violence on Bondi beach” to delegitimise any protest against “open genocide”.
The police crackdown follows father-and-son gunmen killing 15 people Sunday at a Hanukkah festival on the Sydney beach and an October attack on a Manchester synagogue on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.
“Violent acts have taken place, the context has changed – words have meaning and consequence. We will act decisively and make arrests,” said the commanders of the Met and GMP in a joint statement.
Jewish groups welcomed the announcement, with the UK’s Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis calling it “an important step towards challenging the hateful rhetoric we have seen on our streets, which has inspired acts of violence and terror”.
Groups like the Community Security Trust (CST), which works to provide security to protect British Jews, say anti-Semitic incidents have risen in the UK.
In the meantime, Islamophobia and attacks against Muslims in the UK, prompted by racist rhetoric in mainstream politics on the right of the political spectrum, most prevalently but not only by Nigel Farage’s Reform party and its supporters, have soared in recent years.
-
Iowa4 days agoAddy Brown motivated to step up in Audi Crooks’ absence vs. UNI
-
Washington1 week agoLIVE UPDATES: Mudslide, road closures across Western Washington
-
Iowa5 days agoHow much snow did Iowa get? See Iowa’s latest snowfall totals
-
Maine2 days agoElementary-aged student killed in school bus crash in southern Maine
-
Maryland4 days agoFrigid temperatures to start the week in Maryland
-
South Dakota4 days agoNature: Snow in South Dakota
-
Technology1 week agoThe Game Awards are losing their luster
-
Nebraska1 week agoNebraska lands commitment from DL Jayden Travers adding to early Top 5 recruiting class