Nikki Haley is dropping out of the U.S. presidential race, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday, a decision that will ensure Donald Trump will win the Republican nomination and once again face Democratic President Joe Biden in November's election.
Haley, a former US Ambassador to the United Nations, is expected to make an appearance to deliver brief remarks in the Charleston area of South Carolina around 10:00 am ET (1500 GMT).
She will not announce an endorsement on Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported, but will encourage Trump to earn the support of Republican and independent voters who backed her.
Haley was Trump's last remaining rival for the Republican nomination.
On Super Tuesday Trump won the Republican votes in 14 of 15 states - including delegate-rich California and Texas - brushing aside Haley, whose only win of the night came in Vermont.
The Journal said Haley was expected to emphasize that she will continue to advocate for the conservative domestic and foreign policies she supports and caution against some of the dangers, such as isolationism and a lack of fiscal discipline, that she sees coming from Washington.
Donald Trump is set for a whirlwind schedule of meetings with leaders from four continents at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, against the backdrop of the wars in Ukraine and Iran that show no signs of abating.
A student opened fire in front of their high school in Turkey's western province of Manisa early on Tuesday, wounding at least 11 other pupils, Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said.
Torrential rains brought by a powerful typhoon lashing Japan's Pacific coast caused landslides that killed four people with six missing, public broadcaster NHK said on Tuesday, while snapping electricity supply to about 45,000 homes.
Thousands of flights across the US were disrupted on Monday, with incoming flights halted for hours at major East Coast airports, before the Federal Aviation Administration resolved a telecommunications problem late in the afternoon.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on Monday he had agreed to a request from Saudi Arabia to provide defensive air-to-air refuelling for a limited time period, a move he described as helping to stabilise the wider region.