News briefs

Tribune News Service on Nov 8, 2024

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Elon Musk joined Trump’s call with Ukraine’s Zelenskyy

Elon Musk joined a call between President-elect Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, highlighting the billionaire entrepreneur’s influence within the incoming U.S. administration.

Musk was in the room when the call took place earlier this week, according to the person familiar with the discussion. Trump put the phone on speaker to allow Musk to participate, said the person, requesting anonymity to share details about the private call.

Axios first reported that Musk was on Trump’s call with Zelenskyy. The person characterized it as a short conversation and said Musk’s participation was not planned in advance, adding that Trump often likes to include those in the room when he takes calls.

Musk, the world’s richest person, threw his wealth and influence behind Trump’s campaign, joining the president-elect at his victory party earlier this week. Trump has said he would enlist Musk, who runs SpaceX and Tesla Inc., for a role in his new administration focused on reducing spending.

—Bloomberg News

Trump unwound environmental rules before. He’s vowed to again in a second term

In his first term as president, Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Paris climate deal, weakened decades-old environmental protections and rolled back many regulations on polluting industries installed by his predecessor, former President Barack Obama.

Now, with Trump set to return to the White House, a similar fate may await many of President Joe Biden’s landmark policies. Only this time, experts say there’s reason to believe he could have more success.

“They don’t have the same learning curve they had the first time … ,” said Adam Orford, an assistant professor of environmental law at the University of Georgia.

Trump will also take over with a conservative majority cemented on the Supreme Court, which has already curbed the regulatory reach of federal agencies. Republicans also regained a Senate majority and have a shot to control the U.S. House of Representatives. Still, there may be limits — both political and legal — to what a second Trump administration can accomplish.

—The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

At least 1 UK student received racist text similar to ones seen across US this week

At least one University of Kentucky student received an anonymous racist text similar to ones sent to Black people across the U.S. this week, University of Kentucky police said Friday.

Many of the texts, reported by children, students and adults in at least 20 states, order recipients to report for duty picking cotton at a plantation and reference slave catchers. The texts initially seemed to target Black women, particularly at universities in the South, but have now been reported by people across the country.

Some texts explicitly reference this week’s U.S. election and President-elect Donald Trump, but university police did not share specific details of the one received by a UK student.

UKPD Chief Joe Monroe said police are working with federal authorities to investigate the source of the text message.

—Lexington Herald-Leader

Dutch police arrest 62 after attacks on Israeli soccer fans

Dutch police arrested more than 60 people after Israeli soccer fans were attacked in Amsterdam, with the leaders of both the Netherlands and Israel condemning the violence.

Amsterdam municipal authorities said supporters of Maccabi Tel Aviv, which played Dutch team Ajax on Thursday night, were attacked in several areas of the city. Police earlier on Friday that five people were hospitalized.

“The police had to intervene several times, protect Israeli supporters and escort them to hotels,” the authorities said. “This outburst of violence toward Israeli supporters is unacceptable and cannot be defended in any way. There is no excuse for the antisemitic behavior.”

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to his Dutch counterpart Dick Schoof on Friday. He thanked Schoof for “expressing shock over last night’s events and for saying that it was an extraordinary and antisemitic event.”

—Bloomberg News