USA

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — At a funeral service last month, Jannie Jones locked eyes with Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn across the church sanctuary and crooked a finger, beckoning him to come over to the pew where she sat. She had a question, but she didn’t want to ask it out loud.

The House majority whip bent down so the 76-year-old Jones could whisper in his ear: “I need to know who you’re going to vote for,” she asked.

Clyburn whispered back, “Joe Biden.”

Giving Clyburn a thumbs up, Jones wondered if he’d endorse the former vice president publicly.

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday toured a neighborhood reduced to rubble by a tornado earlier this week and marveled at “the tremendous heart” he witnessed. He also offered a message for survivors and those who lost family members: “We love them, they’re special people,” he said.

Trump assumed the role of national consoler as he traveled to Tennessee. Trump surveyed devastated communities in Putnam County, where a tornado tore a 2-mile-long path, killing 18 people, including five children under 13. Many more people were injured, some critically.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The display of a Nazi flag by a man at a Bernie Sanders campaign rally in Arizona drew condemnation from Jewish American groups and his main rival in the Democratic presidential primary on Friday amid ongoing worries about Democratic candidates’ security at public events.

PHOENIX (AP) — The U.S. government says it is sending 160 military police and engineers to two official border crossings to deal with asylum seekers in case a federal appeals court strikes down one of the Trump administration’s key policies.

NEW YORK (AP) — Saudi officials arrested two members of the royal family early Friday for allegedly plotting to oust King Salman and the son he has designated to succeed him, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Quoting unidentified sources, the Journal said guards from the royal court detained one of the king’s brothers, Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz al Saud, and one of his nephews, Prince Mohammed bin Nayef. Both men were arrested at their homes and charged with treason, it said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Vice President Joe Biden has put an exclamation point on his Super Tuesday victories by winning the most delegates on the presidential primary calendar’s biggest night.

The Associated Press has allocated more than 92% of the 1,344 delegates that were up for grabs on Tuesday, and Biden has such a commanding lead that Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders cannot catch up as the remaining votes from that day’s 14 state primaries are counted.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In the midst of one of the most daunting crises of his administration, President Donald Trump announced he had made a major staff overhaul, replacing his acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney with Republican Rep. Mark Meadows.

While much of the country was focused on the spreading coronavirus, Trump announced the surprise reshuffle by Friday night tweet, saying Mulvaney would become the U.S. special envoy for Northern Ireland.

ATLANTA (AP) — President Donald Trump’s visit to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday turned into a scattershot defense of his administration’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak, veering into political score-settling, exaggerations and talk harking back to his impeachment.

6 March 2020; AFP: Facebook has taken down an ad from President Donald Trump's campaign which critics said misled people into believing it was an official message about the US census.

The ads encouraged readers to "take the official 2020 Congressional District Census," but clicking on the messages directed users to a Trump campaign website.

Facebook has been under pressure from activists who have said its hand-off policy on political messages enables the proliferation of misinformation.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. trade deficit narrowed more than expected in January as imports declined, and further decreases are likely as the coronavirus outbreak disrupts the flow of goods and services.

The Commerce Department said on Friday the trade deficit dropped 6.7% to $45.3 billion also as exports fell.

Data for December was revised slightly to show the trade gap widening to $48.6 billion instead of $48.9 billion as previously reported.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the trade gap tightening to $46.1 billion in January.