British Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt sought Wednesday to bolster spirits within his Conservative Party with another tax cut for 27 million working people, hoping it can turn the political dial ahead of a general election this year.

Even though the British economy has hit one definition of recession and public finances will remain stretched over coming years, Hunt used his annual budget statement to announce a further reduction in national insurance by a further 2 percentage points, to 8%. He also promised to cut national insurance rates further "so we truly make work pay."

A Cypriot government spokesman said Wednesday that European Union Commission Chief Ursula von der Leyen will visit Cyprus to inspect installations at the port of Larnaca, from where it’s hoped ships loaded with humanitarian aid will soon depart for Gaza.

Spokesman Constantinos Letymbiotis told reporters that that Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides will join Von der Leyen on her inspection of the port on Friday.

Protesting Polish farmers on tractors blocked highways leading into Warsaw on Wednesday while thousands of their supporters gathered in front of the prime minister's office. Some trampled a European Union flag and burned a mock coffin bearing the word "farmer."

The protesters are demanding a withdrawal from the EU's Green Deal, a plan meant to fight climate change with measures that farmers denounce as excessively costly. They also want the Polish-Ukrainian border closed to stop the imports of Ukrainian food products.

Australia's prime minister expressed concerns Wednesday over "unsafe and destabilizing behavior" in the South China Sea, citing the collision between Chinese and Philippine ships the previous day.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's remarks came as his country wrapped up a three-day summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations that failed to explicitly call China out over a series of incidents in the disputed waters.

President Joe Biden and his predecessor, Donald Trump, romped through more than a dozen states on Super Tuesday, all but cementing a November rematch and pushing the former president's last major rival, Nikki Haley, out of the Republican race.

Their victories from coast to coast, including the delegate-rich states of California and Texas, left little doubt about the trajectory of the race. Haley won Vermont, denying Trump a full sweep, but the former president carried other states that might have been favorable to her such as Virginia, Massachusetts and Maine, which have large swaths of moderate voters like those who have backed her in previous primaries.

Canada will restore funding to the United Nations relief agency for Palestinians, a government official tells The Associated Press, weeks after the agency lost hundreds of millions of dollars in support following Israeli allegations against some of its staffers in Gaza.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation first reported that Canada will restore funding and that International Development Minister Ahmed Hussen would announce the decision Wednesday. But the government official told the AP the announcement has been delayed, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to comment on the matter.

The Egyptian pound slipped sharply against the dollar on Wednesday after the Central Bank of Egypt raised its main interest rate and said it would allow the currency's exchange rate to be set by market forces.

The measures were meant to combat inflationary waves and attract foreign investment as the country experiences a staggering shortage of foreign currency.

A ruinous conflict raging for about a year between rival generals in Sudan risks creating the world's largest hunger crisis, the top U.N. food official warned Wednesday as the global attention has been focused on the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Cindy McCain, head of the World Food Program, said the fighting in Sudan, which pits the country's military against a violent paramilitary group, has shattered the lives of millions across the northeastern African nation.

A U.S. destroyer shot down drones and a missile launched by Yemen's Houthi rebels toward it in the Red Sea, officials said Wednesday, as the Indian navy released images of it fighting a fire aboard a container ship earlier targeted by the Houthis.

The assault Tuesday apparently targeted the USS Carney, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer that has been involved in the American campaign against the rebels, who have launched attacks over Israel's war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Another suspected Houthi attack on shipping was reported Wednesday.

Over the last five months, Israel has killed thousands of Hamas fighters, destroyed dozens of their tunnels and wreaked unprecedented destruction on the Gaza Strip.

But it still faces a dilemma that was clear from the start of the war and will ultimately determine its outcome: It can either try to annihilate Hamas, which would mean almost certain death for the estimated 100 hostages still held in Gaza, or it can cut a deal that would allow the militants to claim a historic victory.