Super Tuesday is an important phase of presidential primaries when the early contests are over, and voters from multiple states cast ballots in primaries timed to occur on the same date. Almost all the results were one-sided in favour of Trump except for Vermont, where the winning difference was about one per cent.

Haley, 51, received 1,274 votes (62.9 per cent) against 676 votes (33.2 per cent) received by her main rival and former President Trump.

Held on the first day of Spring by the Chinese calendar, it began with a performance by dancers waving glowing green stalks to convey the vitality of the season, followed by an explosion of white and green fireworks that spelled the word "Spring".

The "Super Tuesday", or March 3 presidential primaries, were held in as many as 15 states including Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Virginia. Biden, 77, registered impressive victories in the states of Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Minnesota, Massachusetts and Arkansas, propelling him as the frontrunner in the primaries. However, Sanders, 78, by winning big in the State of California -- which sends 415 pledge delegates -- reflected the fight to win Democratic nomination to challenge Republican incumbent Donald Trump was not over yet.

The Iraq war veteran has become the first-ever Hindu to be running for the presidency in the US.

Global health officials are racing to better understand the Zika virus behind a major outbreak that began in Brazil last year and has spread to many countries in the Americas.

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump has said the US has now become a "third world country" as compared to infrastructures in Dubai and China, and promised that things would change once he is elected the American president.

Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump have both won the most states in the biggest day of the race for the US presidential nomination.

A total of 12 states from Alabama to Alaska are holding primaries or caucuses today. Virginia was the first state to open its polling stations at 6:00 am (16:30 IST).

The Zika virus, an alarming and disturbing infection that may be linked to thousands of babies being born with underdeveloped brains, is spreading through the Americas. But what is the virus, how is it spread and how can people minimise the chances of catching it?

Sepp Blatter comes across as an amiable character with eccentric ideas about football but he has shown in the past that he possesses a ruthless instinct for survival and extraordinary political nous.

The debate over Prime Minister Modi's nixed Congressional address continues. Aziz Haniffa has the scoop

Lawmakers were not going to be in town on that particular day, and would be in their constituencies preparing for the mid-term elections in November. Rediff.com's Aziz Haniffa reports

Australia's Archie Thompson has made light of his comment that Brazilian Neymar, who recently moved to Barcelona for $74 million (47 million pounds), was overrated, putting the remark down to jetlag or mistranslation.

Travel light, is what Samoa Air is telling passengers quite literally.

Perturbed by inside information that the United States senate's bipartisan 'Gang of Eight' who have introduced comprehensive immigration reform --that is strongly backed by President Obama -- have decided to drop the family reunification provisions of current immigration law, the House Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus have written to each one of the these senators and the senate leadership expressing deep concern over this proposed action.

Tulsi Gabbard from Hawaii has created history by not only becoming the first Hindu ever to be sworn in as a member of the US House of Representatives, but also being the first ever US lawmaker to have taken oath of office on the sacred Bhagavad Gita.

Gabbard is set to create history becoming the first Hindu ever to be elected to the US Congress in November, as there is virtually little opposition to her in a predominantly Democratic district.

Less than one year after Spain beat the Netherlands to win the World Cup, the circus starts again on Wednesday although the opening match of the 2014 qualifying tournment will cause barely a ripple. Tiny Montserrat, who have won only two international matches, is scheduled to face Belize on neutral territory in a match which will be a far cry from last year's game at Soccer City, watched by an estimated 700 million television viewers.

Two FIFA executive committee members have formally appealed against suspensions imposed on them last year over allegations they offered to sell their votes in the contest to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

Soon, the greatest global show will be over. Life will not be the same, probably a bit boring with no octopus, no blundering referees, no Paraguayan starlet or horrible cacophony (though by the end of the competition we will be missing it!).

The quake, which struck at 6.48am NZT, was centred 200 kilometres from Samoan capital of Apia at a depth of 35 kilometres.

After six fruitless years playing international football, the world's worst team are beginning to see the romance of the beautiful game. When the rag-tag national side of East Timor drew 2-2 with fellow strugglers Cambodia last week, they clinched the first point they had ever won to stem a seemingly endless run of defeats.

Sameer Mishra, 13, of West Lafayette, Indiana, won the 81st Scripps National Spelling Bee, correctly spelling 'guerdon,' which means something one has earned or gained, a reward.Mishra, an eighth-grader at West Lafayette Junior/Senior High School, is appearing in the competition for the fourth time.In second place was Siddharth Chand, 12, of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, who was making his debut and went toe-to-toe with Mishra in the 12th,13th, and 14th rounds.

Grenada smashed US Virgin Islands 10-0 while Suriname trounced Montserrat 7-1 in the CONCACAF preliminary round football World Cup qualifiers. Elsewhere, Antigua beat Aruba 1-0 despite having three players sent off and missing a penalty while Belize held out for a 1-1 draw away to St Kitts & Nevis to earn a prestigious tie against Mexico.

As Americans queued up at polling stations across the nation, leading Democratic contenders Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton fought a see-saw battle while the main Republican frontrunner John McCain sought to bury his rivals at the Super Tuesday primaries, a 24-state showdown.

India have been drawn in along with Japan, Oman and Singapore in the Asian qualifying group for the 2006 World Cup football finals.\n\n