Donald Trump's impending White House return poses questions once again about conflicts of interest related to his business empire, with new cryptocurrency and other ventures raising fresh concerns.

In leaning on hawks Marco Rubio and Mike Waltz, Donald Trump is setting the stage for an existential battle against China -- although, as always, the president-elect's knack for dealmaking may intervene.

Around 60 per cent of the Indian-American the community that are US citizens and eligible to vote, intend to cast their ballot for the Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and about 30 per cent plan to vote for Donald Trump, according to a survey.

Donald Trump and JD Vance's campaign promise has become a cause of major concern for immigrants, especially Indian-Americans, as it brings uncertainty about their children becoming naturalised US citizens.

Suit comes at a time when Delaware response rates are lagging. Attorney General Kathy Jennings has joined a large coalition of attorneys general, cities, counties, and the bipartisan U.S. Conference of Mayors in taking legal action against the Trump Administration’s impairment of the 2020 Decennial Census. The coalition filed an amicus brief in National Urban League v. […]

1. Donald Trump picks ex-US spy John Ratcliffe as CIA chief, Mike Huckabee as ambassador to Israel  Hindustan Times
2. Trump picks Ratcliffe as CIA director, Kash Patel misses out  India Today
3. Donald Trump picks ‘China hawk’ John Ratcliffe as CIA director, taps Fox News host Pete Hegseth as defence secretary  Mint
4. Trump picks John Ratcliffe to be CIA director  The Hindu
5. Meet former US spy John Ratcliffe, Trump's choice for CIA director  The Times of India

1. Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy to lead DOGE to clean up US bureaucracy: Trump  India Today
2. Trump’s 'Manhattan Project' of government reform: Musk and Ramaswamy to lead efficiency crusade  The Times of India
3. Democrat Senator's 'efficient' dig at Elon Musk-Vivek Ramaswamy heading DOGE  India Today
4. Donald Trump picks Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy to lead newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)  The Hindu
5. A dope for DOGE (and Dogecoin): Trump taps Musk in efficiency team, crypto fans rejoice  The Economic Times

US-based comedian Austin Nasso is going viral online for his hilarious impersonation of US-President-elect Donald Trump during a fictional visit to India.

This is the 22nd installment of The Rationalist, my column for the Times of India.

Trade wars are on the rise, and it’s enough to get any nationalist all het up and excited. Earlier this week, Narendra Modi’s government announced that it would start imposing tariffs on 28 US products starting today. This is a response to similar treatment towards us from the US.

There is one thing I would invite you to consider: Trump and Modi are not engaged in a war with each other. Instead, they are waging war on their own people.

Let’s unpack that a bit. Part of the reason Trump came to power is that he provided simple and wrong answers for people’s problems. He responded to the growing jobs crisis in middle America with two explanations: one, foreigners are coming and taking your jobs; two, your jobs are being shipped overseas.

Both explanations are wrong but intuitive, and they worked for Trump. (He is stupid enough that he probably did not create these narratives for votes but actually believes them.) The first of those leads to the demonising of immigrants. The second leads to a demonising of trade. Trump has acted on his rhetoric after becoming president, and a modern US version of our old ‘Indira is India’ slogan might well be, “Trump is Tariff. Tariff is Trump.”

Contrary to the fulminations of the economically illiterate, all tariffs are bad, without exception. Let me illustrate this with an example. Say there is a fictional product called Brump. A local Brump costs Rs 100. Foreign manufacturers appear and offer better Brumps at a cheaper price, say Rs 90. Consumers shift to foreign Brumps.

Manufacturers of local Brumps get angry, and form an interest group. They lobby the government – or bribe it with campaign contributions – to impose a tariff on import of Brumps. The government puts a 20-rupee tariff. The foreign Brumps now cost Rs 110, and people start buying local Brumps again. This is a good thing, right? Local businesses have been helped, and local jobs have been saved.

But this is only the seen effect. The unseen effect of this tariff is that millions of Brump buyers would have saved Rs 10-per-Brump if there were no tariffs. This money would have gone out into the economy, been part of new demand, generated more jobs. Everyone would have been better off, and the overall standard of living would have been higher.

That brings to me to an essential truth about tariffs. Every tariff is a tax on your own people. And every intervention in markets amounts to a distribution of wealth from the people at large to specific interest groups. (In other words, from the poor to the rich.) The costs of this are dispersed and invisible – what is Rs 10 to any of us? – and the benefits are large and worth fighting for: Local manufacturers of Brumps can make crores extra. Much modern politics amounts to manufacturers of Brumps buying politicians to redistribute money from us to them.

There are second-order effects of protectionism as well. When the US imposes tariffs on other countries, those countries may respond by imposing tariffs back. Raw materials for many goods made locally are imported, and as these become expensive, so do those goods. That quintessential American product, the iPhone, uses parts from 43 countries. As local products rise in price because of expensive foreign parts, prices rise, demand goes down, jobs are lost, and everyone is worse off.

Trump keeps talking about how he wants to ‘win’ at trade, but trade is not a zero-sum game. The most misunderstood term in our times is probably ‘trade-deficit’. A country has a trade deficit when it imports more than what it exports, and Trump thinks of that as a bad thing. It is not. I run a trade deficit with my domestic help and my local grocery store. I buy more from them than they do from me. That is fine, because we all benefit. It is a win-win game.

Similarly, trade between countries is really trade between the people of both countries – and people trade with each other because they are both better off. To interfere in that process is to reduce the value created in their lives. It is immoral. To modify a slogan often identified with libertarians like me, ‘Tariffs are Theft.’

These trade wars, thus, carry a touch of the absurd. Any leader who imposes tariffs is imposing a tax on his own people. Just see the chain of events: Trump taxes the American people. In retaliation, Modi taxes the Indian people. Trump raises taxes. Modi raises taxes. Nationalists in both countries cheer. Interests groups in both countries laugh their way to the bank.

What kind of idiocy is this? How long will this lose-lose game continue?

The India Uncut Blog © 2010 Amit Varma. All rights reserved.
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United States President-elect Donald Trump has announced that tech billionaire Elon Musk will serve in the Department of Government Efficiency. Musk will be joined by American patriot Vivek Ramaswamy, and together they will lead the department. This was disclosed in a statement issued by Trump on Tuesday, 12th November 2024, which was shared via Musk’s

Johannesburg  — President-elect Donald Trump talked tough on China during his campaign, vowing to impose higher and sweeping tariffs on imports from the Asian giant. Beijing will now also be closely watching the incoming administration’s movements further afield, in Africa, where U.S.-China rivalry is high. Experts disagree on what a second Trump term will mean for Beijing’s ambitions on the continent, with some saying it could be a boon for China – Africa’s biggest trade partner – if the U.S. pursues an isolationist, “America First” agenda that mostly ignores the region. But Tibor Nagy, who served as Trump’s Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs from 2018 to 2021 has a different perspective. He said Trump grasped how powerful a player China had become on the continent. “It was the Trump administration that was the first to kind of recognize the existential threat that China poses,” Nagy told VOA. “We were on the front lines of that in Africa, and we saw what the Chinese were doing,” said Nagy, who also served as the U.S. ambassador to Guinea and Ethiopia during the administrations of presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Nagy told VOA he does not think the incoming Republican administration will neglect Africa because it sees China as a threat to U.S interests there. He also said the continent is a major source of critical minerals attractive to both superpowers. Nagy credits the first Trump administration with introducing policies on the continent intended to counter China's influence. “We had … the right focus because we made it about the youth. You know, our premise was that Africa is going to be undergoing a youth tsunami with the population doubling by 2050. And that more than anything, what the youth really wanted was jobs,” he said. To this end, Nagy says, the first Trump administration set up Prosper Africa in 2018, an initiative designed to assist American companies doing business in Africa, and he expects the incoming administration will remain engaged there. “Africa remains very much the front lines,” he said. “The United States is extremely concerned about our strategic minerals, and when a hostile power has a lock on strategic minerals, that's really not very good when you need the strategic minerals for your top-end technology and for weapon systems.” But Christian-Geraud Neema, Africa editor for the China-Global South Project, is skeptical and said a second term for Trump could be an opportunity for Beijing. “Looking at his first term, Trump didn't show much interest in Africa, which is likely to be the case still now,” he told VOA. “Only a few countries will matter — countries whose resources or position matter to the U.S. national security interests.” “China will have room to maneuver and increase its influence in so many ways,” he added. Yun Sun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center, echoed this. “I doubt that Africa will be a featured priority for Trump,” she told VOA in an emailed response, adding that the United States’ absence on the continent “will boost the prominence of the Chinese position by its presence.” Lobito corridor future Views on how successfully President Joe Biden’s administration has engaged with Africa are also mixed. Many analysts said regardless of whether the Democrats or the Republicans are in office, the continent is usually an afterthought in U.S. foreign policy, which does not differ much from one administration to the next. The current administration said it was “all in on Africa,” when Biden hosted dozens of heads of state at his first African Leaders Summit in 2022, an event seen as an attempt at reasserting U.S. influence in the face of a rising China. Yet, “African leaders or the African Union were not consulted about the agenda of the 2022 US-Africa Leaders Summit. This was also the case with the US’s Africa strategy,” wrote Christopher Isike, the director of African Centre for the Study of the United States at the University of Pretoria, in an article co-signed by Samuel Oyewole, political science postdoctoral research fellow at the university While Trump never traveled to Africa as president, top Biden administration officials did visit the continent, including the vice president. Biden is also expected to travel to Angola before the end of his term in December. Under Biden, the U.S. agreed to develop the Lobito Corridor and Zambia-Lobito rail line, a project described by the State Department as “the most significant transport infrastructure that the United States has helped develop on the African continent in a generation.” The rail line is seen as part of a transcontinental vision connecting the Atlantic and Indian oceans. The undertaking is to be financed through a joint agreement calling for the U.S., African Development Bank, Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) and the European Union to support Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Zambia. Observers see it as an attempt to compete with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s global infrastructure project the Belt and Road Initiative, which has built railways, ports and roads across Africa. There is concern among some analysts that Trump could pull back from this. “Existing bilateral and multilateral business partnerships … such as the Lobito Corridor … might wane significantly during the next Trump administration,” said Oluwole Ojewale, a Nigerian analyst with the Institute for Security Studies, in an email to VOA. “When that happens China will gain significant mileage in areas where the US Government’s exit creates a vacuum on the continent,” he added. But Nagy disagreed, saying the Lobito Corridor is the “kind of project which would have come right out of the Trump administration.” Therefore, there’s likely to be continuity, he added, noting: “The deal is done. Again, I can't speak for President Trump, or the people who are going to be coming in … but it's logical.” ‘Other Friends’ When asked how African leaders will navigate the next Trump administration, Sun said they could play the U.S. and China against each other. “Africa could highlight its role in the US-China great power competition in order to strengthen its position in the US grand strategy,” she said in an email to VOA. But she is doubtful African leaders will take that route because it “will carry the effect of being forced to choose, which I doubt that Africa will want to do.” However, at least one African politician has already alluded to this option. Kenya’s Raila Odinga, who is in the running to take over as chair of the African Union Commission next year, was blunt in his assessment of how African governments would handle a more isolationist U.S. under Trump. “If he does not want to work with Africa,” Odinga told Agence France-Presse last week, “Africa has got other friends.”

Washington — Following President-elect Donald Trump’s victory, leaders in the Uyghur American community are advocating for renewed U.S. attention on human rights abuses in Xinjiang in northwest China, where Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities have reportedly faced severe repression. Advocates urge Trump to continue his administration’s previous measures against China, citing the impact of his first-term policies on Uyghur rights. During Trump’s first term, his administration formally labeled China’s actions in Xinjiang as genocide, leading to sanctions on Chinese officials and entities connected with alleged abuses, including mass detentions, forced labor and sterilizations. China has consistently denied accusations of abuses against ethnic minorities, asserting its policies aim to combat extremism and terrorism. Nury Turkel, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, pointed to the bipartisan support for Uyghur rights, underscoring that these concerns resonate across both U.S. legislative and executive branches. “[Uyghur rights] concerns extend beyond typical human rights issues. They have profound national security implications tied to America’s long-term economic and strategic security,” Turkel told VOA. Turkel expressed cautious optimism that Trump’s new administration will build on its previous actions, referencing the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act and the genocide designation. “I am optimistic that the incoming administration will take concrete steps to address these urgent concerns affecting Uyghurs, as it had previously,” he said. VOA contacted the Trump campaign for a comment regarding the new administration’s plans for Uyghur rights in China but did not receive a response at the time of publication. Renewed calls for action Uyghur American leaders plan to press Trump’s administration to bolster sanctions on Chinese officials and entities involved in abuses against Uyghurs, with the hope of strengthening the U.S. response. “I anticipate that the Trump administration will impose additional sanctions on Chinese officials and entities responsible for atrocity crimes against the Uyghurs, potentially strengthening U.S. efforts to confront these abuses,” Turkel added. Rushan Abbas, executive director of the Washington-based Campaign for Uyghurs, emphasized the need for strict enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act of 2021. “Uyghurs are enduring a genocide, and Americans should know that addressing the genocide of Uyghurs is not just a foreign policy matter; it’s about preventing the U.S. from becoming complicit through the consumption of Chinese products tainted by forced labor,” Abbas told VOA. “[I]t’s about stopping China from using Americans’ hard-earned money to fuel their imperial ambitions and undermine the United States, and rejecting foreign intimidation on U.S. soil.” Salih Hudayar, prime minister of the Washington-based East Turkistan Government in Exile, echoed these sentiments, urging the Trump administration to formally recognize the region — referred to as Xinjiang by China but called East Turkistan by many Uyghurs —as an occupied nation. “An independent East Turkistan would directly challenge China’s ambitions for dominance across Central Asia and the Indo-Pacific, safeguarding American and broader global interests,” Hudayar told VOA. He suggested appointing a special coordinator for Uyghur issues to demonstrate U.S. support for Uyghur rights and those of other minorities in the region. Current policy challenges Despite calls for stronger actions, Uyghur American advocates remain concerned that economic and strategic interests with China may take precedence. Turkel highlighted that various advocacy groups have influenced the U.S. response to Uyghur issues in recent years. “Climate activists have lobbied for closer cooperation with China on environmental initiatives; pro-engagement China watchers have advocated a softer, more conciliatory approach to 'lower the temperature' in U.S.-China relations; and business interests have warned of the economic risks of escalating tensions, pushing for policies that protect U.S.-China trade relations,” he said. “These pressures have contributed to a more nuanced stance and a quieter approach to human rights and Uyghur-related policies.” Turkel added, “While steps like the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act were commendable [during the Biden administration], the focus on Uyghur rights has often been eclipsed by broader geopolitical priorities,” pointing to how shifting U.S. economic priorities have impacted the response. Addressing transnational repression In addition to actions on Uyghur rights, Uyghur American leaders are urging the Trump administration to address transnational repression by China, specifically targeting covert operations that intimidate Uyghur Americans on U.S. soil. “The administration should take immediate steps to multiply the efforts to counter transnational repression by Chinese authorities, particularly targeting the presence of covert Chinese police stations and agents who monitor and intimidate Uyghur Americans and China dissidents in the U.S.,” Abbas said. Abbas noted Trump’s efforts in securing hostage releases in his first term, urging him to prioritize Uyghur detainees held in China. “China continues to detain Uyghur [American] family members and community leaders as a tactic to silence Uyghurs abroad … with many forced to self-censor to protect their families,” she said, advocating for strong U.S. efforts to secure their release and end repression tactics targeting Uyghurs in the diaspora.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has left little question about the sort of economic policies he will pursue when he is sworn in for a second term as president in January. The once-and-future president has promised to extend existing tax cuts and implement new ones; to pursue a deregulation agenda, particularly when it comes to energy production; to reinstate a strong protectionist trade policy, including substantial tariffs on imports; and to undertake a "mass deportation" program that would remove a large number of the millions of undocumented immigrants currently residing in the United States. While there may be little doubt about the kind of policies Trump will implement, the degree to which he will pursue them is an open question. "The problem that all economists are dealing with is they don't know how much of what Trump said on the campaign trail to take seriously," Steven B. Kamin, a senior fellow at the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute, told VOA. "They don't know if he's going to do a lot of these things, or if he is, how far he'll take it." When it comes to tariffs, Trump has promised across-the-board 10%-20% levies on all imports, and charges of up to 60% on goods coming from China, which experts warn would be economically ruinous. His rhetoric about fossil fuel extraction suggests he will drive up oil and gas production, even though the U.S. is currently producing more energy than it ever has. On immigration, he and his advisers have vacillated between suggesting that all undocumented people will be forcibly removed and describing a much more targeted operation. Tax policy One thing that appears certain is that Trump will work with Congress — which seems likely to be fully controlled by the Republican Party — to extend the tax cuts that became law as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which he signed into law in 2017. Those tax cuts reduced the income taxes paid by many American workers and reduced taxable income by increasing the standard deduction. They also sharply cut the top business income tax bracket from 39% to 21%. Those provisions are all scheduled to expire over the next several years, some as soon as 2025, and Trump has proposed making them permanent. Trump has also floated the idea of other tax cuts, including further reducing the business income tax to a maximum of 15%, and making income from overtime wages, tips and Social Security payments nontaxable, all of which would reduce government revenues. Kamin said the stimulative impact of Trump's proposed additional tax changes would likely not be great, but the impact on the country's debt might be, because they will virtually guarantee additional government borrowing to finance deficit spending. "The real concern for folks that are concerned about the fiscal balance — and I'm one of them — is that by cementing in place large fiscal deficits as far as the eye can see, even in environments of strong economic activity when we should be running surpluses, that leads to increases in the debt," he said. "That, eventually, should lead to crowding out of private investment, rising interest rates, and more worries about the government's sustainability position," Kamin added. "But when the debt will reach a level that will be worrisome in that respect, nobody knows." Cost-cutting In theory, some of the deficit spending made necessary by large tax cuts could be offset by a reduction in government spending, something Trump has also floated on the campaign trail. In particular, the president-elect has proposed creating a Department of Government Efficiency, to be headed by Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of the electric car company Tesla and the rocket builder SpaceX, and the owner of X, the social network formerly known as Twitter. For his part, Musk has mused that it should be possible to slash federal spending by as much as $2 trillion per year, or about 30%. Reductions of that magnitude would require deep cuts to a vast array of programs, including elements of the social safety net such as Social Security and federal health programs like Medicaid. However, it is unclear how Trump would persuade even a Republican Congress to enact such a wide-ranging reduction in government services. Immigration policy If Trump follows through on a policy of mass deportation of undocumented immigrants, it is virtually certain to have a negative impact on economic sectors where they are present as laborers in significant concentrations, especially agriculture and construction, said Marcus Noland, executive vice president and director of studies at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. "If you take lots of people out of the labor force, you reduce the amount of output, because there's less labor available, and you raise prices," Noland told VOA. "These people are not distributed evenly across the United States economy," he said. "They're concentrated in agriculture and construction, so you would disrupt those sectors the most, especially if you combine it with tariffs." Trade policy Trump's tariff proposals, especially if he follows through with his maximalist proposals from the campaign trail, could be significantly damaging. While theoretically meant to stimulate American manufacturing, Noland warned that they could have the opposite effect. "Some modeling that I worked on suggest that those tariff policies, instead of reviving the industrial sector, will actually reduce industrial activity in the United States," he warned. Blanket tariffs on imports, and especially high levies on Chinese goods, would create severe challenges for U.S. manufacturers. "The reason is that you would increase the price of industrial inputs, and so, the United States would become a high-cost place to produce," he said. "Investment would fall — and investment is intensive in industrial materials — so, ironically, it has the opposite effect of what its proponents say."

Diplomacy is in full swing as U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Israel's president, and President-elect Donald Trump speaks with Israel's prime minister. Fast-rising methane emissions could undermine efforts to limit global warming by mid-century, prompting scientists and policymakers to urge aggressive action to curb the output of the potent greenhouse gas. An election in Somaliland, and the fight against Boko Haram in Chad. Plus, Trump’s foreign policy.

The U.S. Senate's Democratic majority began a crusade on Tuesday to confirm as many new federal judges nominated by President Joe Biden as possible to avoid leaving vacancies that Republican Donald Trump could fill after taking office on Jan. 20. With Republicans set to take control of the chamber on Jan. 3, the Senate on Tuesday held a confirmation vote on one of Biden's judicial nominees - former prosecutor April Perry - for the first time since Trump won the Nov. 5 presidential election. The Senate voted 51-44 in favor of her becoming a U.S. district court judge in Illinois. All told, Biden has announced another 30 judicial nominees who are awaiting Senate confirmation votes. Sixteen have already have been reviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee and are awaiting a final confirmation vote by the full Senate. Another 14 nominees are awaiting committee review. The U.S. Constitution assigns to the Senate the power to confirm a president's nominees for life-tenured seats on the federal judiciary. "We are going to get as many done as we can," Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement. Trump made 234 judicial appointments during his first four years in office, the second most of any president in a single term, and succeeded in moving the judiciary rightward - including building a 6-3 conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court with three appointees. Biden has appointed a host of liberal judges. Since the beginning of his presidency in 2021, the Senate has confirmed 214 Biden judicial nominees, including liberal Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. About two-thirds were women, and the same share were racial minorities. Senate Democrats are under pressure to swiftly confirm the remaining nominees, along with any new picks Biden may name in the waning weeks of his presidency. How many nominees Senate Democrats will be able to confirm remains to be seen. Trump in a social media post on Sunday called on the Senate to halt approving Biden's nominees, saying, "Democrats are looking to ram through their Judges." Billionaire Trump backer Elon Musk on Tuesday wrote on social media that "activist" judicial nominees are "bad for the country." Mike Davis, a Trump ally at the conservative judicial advocacy group Article III Project, in another post urged Senate Republicans to vote down all judicial appointments until January. "The American people voted for monumental change," Davis wrote on social media last week. "Grind the Senate to a halt." Current Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell's office declined comment. McConnell has consistently opposed Biden's nominees and, as majority leader, was instrumental in getting Trump's previous nominees confirmed. Trump's judicial appointees have been involved in major decisions welcomed by conservatives including Supreme Court rulings rolling back abortion rights, widening gun rights, rejecting race-conscious collegiate admissions and limiting the power of federal regulatory agencies. Judicial nominees require a simple majority for confirmation. Democrats currently hold a slim 51-49 majority, meaning that they can ill afford any defections or absences if Republicans show up in force to oppose Biden's nominees during the chamber's post-election "lame duck" session. West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, has said he would not vote for any nominee who does not garner at least one Republican vote. Must-pass legislation like a spending bill to avert a government shutdown also may consume precious time during the session. 'Every possible nominee' Biden's allies have said a concerted push to confirm his remaining nominees would allow him to build on his legacy of helping to diversify a federal bench long dominated by white men. He is not done nominating judges. On Friday, Biden announced his first post-election nominee, Tali Farhadian Weinstein, who after unsuccessfully running in the 2021 Democratic primary to be Manhattan district attorney was picked for a job as a federal district judge in New York. A spokesperson for Senator Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Senate Democrat and chair of the Judiciary Committee, said in a statement that he "aims to confirm every possible nominee before the end of this Congress." White House spokesperson Andrew Bates on Monday noted that during Trump's first term, the Republican-controlled Senate confirmed 18 judges after Biden had won the 2020 election but before he took office. Pending nominees include five to the influential federal appeals courts. Republicans said before the election that they had the votes to block two of them: Adeel Mangi, who would become the first Muslim federal appellate judge, and North Carolina Solicitor General Ryan Park, who unsuccessfully defended the race-conscious admissions policies before the Supreme Court. There are several others nominated to serve as trial court judges like Perry, a former prosecutor now working at Chicago-headquartered GE HealthCare who would join the bench in Illinois. Biden nominated her to a judgeship in April after her prior nomination to become Chicago's top federal prosecutor was blocked by Republican Senator JD Vance. Vance began placing a hold on Biden's nominees to the U.S. Justice Department in 2023 after Special Counsel Jack Smith secured the first of two federal indictments against Trump, who subsequently picked the senator as his vice presidential running mate.

Baku, Azerbaijan — The annual U.N. climate summit kicks off Monday with countries readying for tough talks on finance and trade, following a year of weather disasters that have emboldened developing countries in their demands for climate cash. Delegates gathering in Azerbaijan's capital of Baku are hoping to resolve the summit's top agenda item – a deal for up to $1 trillion in annual climate finance for developing countries. The summit's negotiating priorities, however, are competing for governments' resources and attention against economic concerns, wars in Ukraine and Gaza and last week's U.S. re-election of Donald Trump, a climate-change denier, as president of the world's biggest economy. COP29 host Azerbaijan will be tasked with keeping countries focused on agreeing to a new global finance target to replace the current $100 billion pledge expiring this year. The Caspian Sea nation, often proud of being home to the world's first oil wells, will also be under pressure to show progress from last year's COP28 pledge to transition away from fossil fuels. The country's oil and gas revenues accounted for 35% of its economy in 2023, down from 50% two years prior. The government says these revenues will continue to decline, to roughly 32% of its GDP this year and 22% by 2028. Before the summit talks can even begin, countries will need to agree on an agenda by consensus – including an 11th-hour proposal by China to bring trade disputes into the mix. The Chinese proposal - made on behalf of the fast-developing "BASIC" group of countries including Brazil, India and South Africa - asked for the summit to address "restrictive trade measures" such as the EU's carbon border tariffs going into effect in 2026. Those concerns have been compounded by Trump's campaign promise to impose 20% tariffs on all foreign goods – and 60% on Chinese goods. China's request showed it was flexing power following Trump's re-election, which signaled the United States' likely disengagement from global climate cooperation, said Li Shuo, director of China Climate Hub at the Asia Society Policy Institute. Trump has called climate change a hoax and vowed to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, the global treaty to reduce planet-warming emissions. The European Union, along with current U.S. President Joe Biden's administration, have been pressing China and Gulf oil nations to join the pool of climate finance donor countries. "If the EU wants to talk about climate finance with China, if it wants to talk NDCs, part of the conversation should be how to resolve our differences on trade and your tariffs," Shuo said. Extreme pressure With this year on track to be the hottest on record, experts noted that climate extremes were now challenging rich and poor countries alike – from flooding disasters in Africa, coastal Spain and the U.S. state of North Carolina, to drought gripping South America, Mexico and the U.S. West. Most countries are not prepared. "Election results don't alter the laws of physics," said Kaveh Guilanpour, vice president for international strategies at the nonprofit Center for Climate and Energy Solutions. "Unless the world collectively steps up its efforts, the impacts of climate change will become increasingly severe and frequent and will be felt by an increasing number of people in all countries, including in the United States." Many in Baku were worried that a U.S. disengagement could lead other countries to backpedal on past climate pledges or to scale back future ambitions.

LISBON, PORTUGAL — Lisbon will this week play host to Europe’s biggest annual tech conference, Web Summit, where industry leaders and lawmakers will weigh the pros and cons of Donald Trump’s return to the White House. Senior executives from firms such as Apple, Microsoft, and Meta will join high-ranking officials from Europe for debates about the future of artificial intelligence, social media regulation, and the impact a second Trump presidency may have on the continent. Trump has previously promised he could end the war between Ukraine and Russia within 24 hours of taking office. Days after Trump's re-election, two senior Ukrainian government officials, Alex Bornyakov and Mykhailo Fedorov, will take to the stage to discuss how the country has continued innovating in the face of conflict. John Adam, chief revenue officer at software development firm Aimsoftpro, is among those attending. About 70% of the company’s workforce is still based in Ukraine, with the rest having relocated around Europe after the war’s outbreak in 2022. “There’s mixed feelings because the Trump approach looks like it’s more geared towards the present lines of conflict, which is not an ideal scenario for Ukraine, and there’s a reluctance to accept that. At the same time, we would like this to have an endpoint,” he said. The X factor While not expected to attend, tech billionaire and vocal Trump supporter Elon Musk will be a recurring theme, from his role in Ukraine via satellite service Starlink to his success with space exploration firm SpaceX and controversial stewardship of social media platform X, formerly Twitter. One panel will debate how Europe might develop a homegrown rival to SpaceX; another whether Musk “destroyed Twitter." Joe Benarroch, who quit his role as X’s de facto spokesperson and head of business operations in June, will join a panel titled “What to do about social media.” While the EU has tried forcing online platforms to clamp down on harmful content, Trump’s election may lead to them reducing moderation efforts, according to Mark Weinstein, founder of privacy-focused social media platform MeWe, who will share the stage with Benarroch on Wednesday. “Historically, Trump has been highly critical of online moderation,” he said. “To avoid political retribution, major social networks are likely to continue the trend of becoming significantly more permissive with content they allow on their platforms.”

Former US president Donald Trump's cryptocurrency platform had a faltering sales launch Tuesday, with only a fraction of its digital tokens that went on the market finding a buyer.

Joe Biden pledged a peaceful transfer of power Thursday after Donald Trump's decisive US election win, while the Republican showed his intent to ditch the outgoing president's policies by suggesting he would talk to Vladimir Putin.

Just before the teach-in, the school’s Jewish provost called him and asked if he wanted extra security.

Lita Cohen said she was "very upset with that recent Trump ad that stereotypes Jewish people.”

Noem, once seen as a possible running mate for Trump, is currently serving her second term as South Dakota's gov after a reelection in 2022

Rubio, 53, has said in recent interviews that Ukraine needs to seek a negotiated settlement with Russia rather than focus on regaining all territory that Russia has taken in the last decade.

Messianic community leaders declared Donald Trump a "trumpet of God."

Zeldin, a Republican, voted for key environmental legislation just 14% of the time during his tenure in the House of Representatives.

Huckabee is a former Southern Baptist Pastor and a former Trump challenger who ran in the 2016 presidential election. 

Hegseth, if confirmed, could aid Trump's promise to remove generals he believes prioritize progressive diversity policies opposed by conservatives.

Trump also said he will nominate Fox News Channel host Pete Hegseth to be secretary of defense.

Trump said their work would conclude by July 4, 2026, adding that a smaller government would be a "gift" to the country on the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

[VOA] Johannesburg -- President-elect Donald Trump talked tough on China during his campaign, vowing to impose higher and sweeping tariffs on imports from the Asian giant. Beijing will now also be closely watching the incoming administration's movements further afield, in Africa, where U.S.-China rivalry is high.

Trump’s victory also means Europe can no longer – or at least much less – rely on the US for its defence and security

The Trump administration is attempting to dial down the tension with Iran, lowering the risk of military conflict and pushing for diplomatic negotiations.

Bronisław Malinowski (1884 – 1942) did for several years conduct socio-anthropological research in the Trobriand Islands. Returning to England after World War I, he wrote several ground breaking books, among them Magic, Science, and Religion in which he assumed that people’s feelings and motives are crucial for understanding the way their society functions. Malinowski considered […]

Migration, trade, the defence of democracy, the confrontation with China and the collapse of multilateralism are issues that shed more doubts than certainties on Latin America’s expectations of the imminent presidential elections in the United States. Interest and tension have grown after dozens of polls and bookmakers have shown similar chances of victory for Democrat […]

On the day following the US election, UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres issued a brief statement commending the people of the United States for their active participation in the democratic process. He wisely omitted mention that the election of Donald J. Trump – who attempted to overturn the people’s mandate by inciting an insurrection in […]

Donald Trump promises 'deportation force' to remove 11 million undocumented immigrants

Donald Trump has claimed he doesn't believe in climate change, but that didn't stop him from citing it as a reason to build a sea wall to protect one of his golf courses.

(First of two parts) MANILA, Philippines—As Donald Trump prepares for his return to the US presidency, experts are taking a close look at the ripple effects his second term could have on the Philippine health care system which has benefited significantly from US assistance. Following last week’s US presidential elections, many cautioned that Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris could send global shockwaves, sparking concerns among international allies about a resurgence of his nationalist “America First” policies. One of the most talked about and weighed-in possible impacts of Trump’s second term by experts, political figures, and lawmakers alike was on immigration. Trump has made it […]...

Keep on reading: Trump 2.0: PH stays optimistic amid worries on aid, health care

1. Donald Trump picks Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy to lead Government Efficiency Department  Moneycontrol
2. Trump’s 'Manhattan Project' of government reform: Musk and Ramaswamy to lead efficiency crusade  The Times of India
3. Donald Trump Picks Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy For Cabinet: Internet Has This To Say  News18
4. A dope for DOGE (and Dogecoin): Trump taps Musk in efficiency team, crypto fans rejoice  The Economic Times
5. Video | Elon Musk In Trump's New Cabinet, UK Church Abuse Scandal, Saudi Megacity in Trouble  NDTV

Thailand and Vietnam will be among the "biggest beneficiaries" of Donald Trump's return to the White House, according to one of the largest fund managers in the region.

Donald Trump is likely to take many executive actions on his first day as president to ramp up immigration enforcement and roll back signature Biden legal entry programs, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. - REUTERS

[Radio Dalsan] Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has extended his congratulations to Donald Trump following provisional results indicating his victory in the U.S. presidential election.

Intelligence services have begun intensifying intelligence sharing and situational assessments with the US military to prevent overlooking critical developments.

With Arizona Trump has now won all seven battleground states