The Super Tuesday primaries are the largest voting day of the year outside of the November general election.

Voters in 16 states will choose who they want to run for president. Some states are also deciding who should run for governor or senator or district attorneys.

Party primaries, caucuses or presidential preference votes are being held in Alabama, American Samoa, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Virginia.

Here’s the latest:

META PLATFORMS DOWN IN WIDESPREAD OUTAGE

Users of Meta’s Facebook, Instagram, Threads and Messenger platforms are experiencing login issues in what appears to be a widespread outage.

Internet traffic observer Down Detector is reporting vast outages on several Meta properties on Super Tuesday.

The problems were spotted right across the world, suggesting that the outage could be global.

London-based internet monitoring firm Netblocks said on X that four Meta platforms —Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Threads — were “currently experiencing outages related to login sessions in multiple countries.” Andy Stone, Meta’s head communications, said the company is working on the issue.

BIDEN PROMOTES HIMSELF TO BLACK VOTERS

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden hit the radio airwaves as he aims to shore up his standing among Black voters, a critical constituency for Democrats in the November general election.

In a radio interview that aired on Super Tuesday morning with Ms. Jessica, a radio personality in North Carolina, Biden promoted his achievements for Black voters, such as increased funding for historically Black colleges and universities and key investments in infrastructure to benefit Black communities.

In another radio interview, with “DeDe in the Morning,” Biden took a sharp jab at his likely Republican opponent, Donald Trump, and what would happen if Democrats lose the White House.

“You’re going to be back with Donald Trump,” says Biden. “The way he talks about, the way he acted, the way he has dealt with the African American community, I think, has been shameful.”

TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL IS OUT FOR REVENGE

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton isn’t on the ballot on Super Tuesday but is urging voters to oust fellow Republicans who voted to impeach him.

Paxton is out for political revenge six months after his acquittal in the state Senate over corruption and abuse of office allegations.

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Trump keeps making incendiary statements. His campaign says that won’t change.

His targets include the powerful Republican Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan, who oversaw the vote that made Paxton only the third sitting official in the state’s nearly 200-year history to have been impeached.

Paxton wants to overthrow the leadership of the House. His efforts are being widely watched as an attempt to push one of the most conservative legislatures in the U.S. even further to the right.

But he faces legal risks. Paxton is scheduled to stand trial in Houston next month on nearly decade-old securities fraud charges and remains under FBI investigation over allegations that he abused his office.

Associated Press

Users of Meta’s Facebook, Instagram, Threads and Messenger platforms are experiencing login issues in what appears to be a widespread outage.

Internet traffic observer Down Detector is reporting vast outages on several Meta platforms Tuesday. The problems are being reported across the world, suggesting that the outage could be global.

London-based internet monitoring firm Netblocks said on X that four Meta platforms — Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Threads — were “currently experiencing outages related to login sessions in multiple countries.” But the firm, which advocates for internet freedom, said there was no sign of “country-level internet disruptions or filtering,” which are typically imposed by governments.

Andy Stone, Meta’s head communications, acknowledged the issues on X, formerly known as Twitter, and said the company is “working on this now.”

By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS (AP Business Writer)

NEW YORK (AP) — Bitcoin has hit an all-time high less than two years after the collapse of the crypto exchange FTX severely damaged faith in digital currencies and sent prices plunging.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency briefly surpassed $68,800 Tuesday, according to CoinMarketCap. That’s just above bitcoin’s previous record set back in November 2021.

The price for the volatile asset is up almost 200% from one year ago, fueled by the anticipation and eventual regulatory approval of spot bitcoin exchange traded funds earlier this year, which provided access to a much broader class of investors.

The price for bitcoin has surged about 60% since the approval of bitcoin ETFs in January, an easy way to invest in assets or a group of assets, like gold, junk bonds or bitcoins, without having to directly buy the assets themselves.

Also driving prices is what is known as bitcoin “halving” which is anticipated in April. Halvings trim the rate at which new coins are mined and created, lowering the supply.

Bitcoin has a history of drastic swings in price — which can come suddenly and happen over the weekend or overnight in trading that continues at all hours, every day.

Bitcoin rocketed from just over $5,000 at the start of the pandemic to its November 2021 peak of nearly $69,000, in a period marked by a surge in demand for technology products. Prices crashed during an aggressive series of Federal Reserve rate hikes intended to cool inflation, slow money flows and make risky investments potentially riskier. Then came the 2022 collapse of FTX, which left a significant scar on confidence in crypto.

At the start of last year, a single bitcoin could be had for less than $17,000. Investors, however, began returning in large numbers as inflation started to cool. And 2023’s collapse of prominent tech-focused banks actually led more investors to turn to crypto as they bailed out of positions in Silicon Valley start-ups and other risky bets.

Despite the recent excitement around bitcoin, experts still maintain that crypto is a risky bet with wildly unpredictable fluctuations in value. In short, investors can lose money as quickly as they make it.

The Chicago Bears are working on a deal to hire Shane Waldron as their new offensive coordinator, multiple league sources confirmed Monday morning.

Waldron has been the Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator for the last three seasons and helped quarterback Geno Smith to a comeback season in 2022. Before that, Waldron spent four seasons with the Los Angeles Rams as the passing game coordinator, quarterbacks coach and tight ends coach.

He is well-respected inside league circles as a young, energetic coach on the rise and a strong teacher with a creative mind and — especially important to the Bears — three seasons of play-calling experience.

NFL Network first reported the Bears are planning to hire Waldron.

The Bears reportedly interviewed at least nine candidates for the opening, including San Francisco 49ers passing game coordinator Klint Kubiak, former Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman, former Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator Thomas Brown and former Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury.

Waldron would replace Luke Getsy, whom coach Matt Eberflus fired earlier this month after two seasons at the helm of the Bears offense. In the search for Getsy’s replacement, Eberflus emphasized his desire to find a new offensive coordinator who is a “great teacher.”

“That’s important because you know he has to coach the coaches to coach the position, and I think that’s the No. 1 trait of any great coach,” Eberflus said. “You have to be able to have the innovation to really look at the players you have and be able to help enhance and put those guys in position to succeed and to get explosive (plays) and to move the ball down the field.”

Waldron would take over a Bears offense that has major decisions ahead this offseason at quarterback. General manager Ryan Poles must decide whether to use the No. 1 draft pick to select a quarterback — potentially USC’s Caleb Williams — or to stick with Justin Fields, the Bears starter for the last three seasons.

Poles said he expected to ask candidates for their plans to coach different kinds of quarterbacks.

“I love it because what are you going to do for these four different types of quarterbacks,” Poles said. “I want to hear that, and I think it’s really important to hear the versatility and adaptability in their teaching, in the way they implement a plan, scheme, adjust. It actually makes it pretty dynamic in terms of the interview process.”

Waldron called plays in 2021 for a Seahawks offense piloted by Russell Wilson. In 2022, after Wilson was traded to the Denver Broncos, the Seahawks pivoted to Smith and won nine games while earning a wild-card berth.

Smith, in his 10th NFL season, was honored as the league’s Comeback Player of the Year after throwing for 4,282 yards and 30 touchdowns. Both marks would be single-season franchise records for the Bears.

This season the Seahawks ranked 21st in total offense (322.9 yards per game) and 14th in passing (230 ypg). They averaged 21.4 points, ranked 17th. That was down from 2022, when they averaged 351.5 yards (13th) and 23.9 points (ninth).

The Seahawks staff is looking for new jobs after the organization and coach Pete Carroll parted ways after a 14-year union.

In addition to working closely with Wilson and Smith, Waldron worked with quarterback Jared Goff for three seasons with the Rams.

Waldron served as an offensive assistant with the New England Patriots (2008-09) and Washington (2016) and worked in operations with the Patriots early in his career. He also has coached in college, high school and the UFL.

Waldron and the Bears must hire assistants to coach the quarterbacks, wide receivers and running backs after the team dismissed Andrew Janocko, Tyke Tolbert and Omar Young earlier this month. Offensive line coach Chris Morgan and tight ends coach Jim Dray remain on the staff.

The Bears also are seeking a defensive coordinator, and NFL Network reported Monday they will interview Tennessee Titans defensive pass game coordinator Chris Harris. Harris played safety in the NFL for eight seasons, including two stints with the Bears, and started for the 2006 Bears team that went to the Super Bowl.

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