Politics
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Why RFK Jr. nomination sets off alarms among many public health specialists
With President-elect Donald Trump’s selection of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as his nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, numerous public health leaders are voicing fears that the nation’s premier health agencies will be weakened at a time when the country faces rising threats from infectious diseases, emboldened industry ...Read more
Musk throws support to Lutnick over Bessent in Treasury race
Billionaire Elon Musk voiced support for Howard Lutnick in the race for President-elect Donald Trump’s next Treasury secretary, offering a late boost to the candidacy of the Cantor Fitzgerald LP CEO as the incoming Cabinet takes shape.
Musk said on his social media platform X that he saw Lutnick as a disruptor compared to Key Square Group LP ...Read more
Mauritius elections landslide – why voters were determined to get Jugnauth’s government out
Mauritius’ opposition coalition – the Alliance of Change – won the country’s 10 November 2024 election by a landslide, taking all the seats in parliament. Its leader, Navin Ramgoolam, has been appointed prime minister.
Mauritian politics scholar Roukaya Kasenally spoke to The Conversation Africa about what drove this outcome.<...Read more
Higher monthly payments loom for many student loan borrowers
President-elect Donald Trump's victory should bring some clarity to Americans with student loans, but probably not in the way they'd hoped.
A flurry of Biden administration initiatives and court rulings against them have left millions of borrowers uncertain about their future payments. Many federal student loans, in fact, are stuck in a period ...Read more
RFK Jr. fuels uncertainty on policies from Medicare to abortion
WASHINGTON — Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s selection to serve as President-elect Donald Trump’s top health official is prompting questions from policy watchers over how the pick will handle the range of key health policies that would fall under his purview.
Kennedy, an environmental lawyer and leading vaccine skeptic, has been vocal on his ...Read more
Transgender people in Washington state brace for second Trump presidency
SEATTLE — When Gabriel Foster saw the election night results lurch toward former President Donald Trump, he broke down in tears.
"My big-picture reaction is horror and heartbreak," said Foster, a Black queer trans activist based in the Seattle area who is the executive director of the national philanthropic organization Trans Justice Funding ...Read more
Pentagon's audit woes seen lessening despite 7th shortfall
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Defense Department failed for the seventh straight year to score a clean financial audit, highlighting the challenge of tracking the finances of a sprawling organization that has $3.8 trillion in assets and $4 trillion in liabilities.
Auditors overseen by the Pentagon Inspector General once again declared the department�...Read more
Iran loath to be drawn into new clash with US as Trump returns
The last time Donald Trump was U.S. president it spelled disaster for Iran — he walked away from a landmark nuclear deal, derailed the country’s economy with sanctions and killed its most revered general.
This time around, the signals from the Trump camp are more mixed. The president-elect has suggested he wants to stabilize the ...Read more
Trump names Karoline Leavitt press secretary
The front-facing voice of the Trump administration will be Karoline Leavitt, the president-elect announced Friday night.
The 27-year-old Leavitt, who is from New Hampshire, now becomes the youngest person to serve as White House press secretary.
She was the Trump Campaign National Press Secretary and previously served in the 45th president’s...Read more
Biden meets Pacific allies as Russia-North Korea ties deepen
U.S. President Joe Biden told the leaders of Japan and South Korea that their coordinated efforts were essential to “countering North Korea’s dangerous and destabilizing cooperation with Russia” as they met Friday on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in Lima, Peru.
“I truly believe cooperation of our countries will be a foundation to ...Read more
House Speaker Johnson wants explosive Matt Gaetz ethics report kept secret
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Friday that an explosive report on attorney general nominee Matt Gaetz should be kept secret.
Hours after returning from meeting with President-elect Trump in Florida, Johnson called on the Republican-led panel to not release the ethics report, which ABC News sources allege includes an interview ...Read more
'Allegations of sex parties and drugs': Christian conservative lawyer slams Trump's AG pick Matt Gaetz
ORLANDO, Fla. — U.S. attorney general nominee Matt Gaetz is under fire from the leader of an Orlando-based conservative legal group who called the former Florida congressman morally and professionally unqualified for the job.
Mat Staver, founder and chairman of the Liberty Counsel, wrote a scathing critique of the firebrand politician, taking...Read more
How Donald Trump is making America Florida
TAMPA, Fla. — For the nation’s third-largest state, Florida has never been that politically relevant in Washington, D.C.
It’s not crazy to argue that Missouri, Arkansas and Delaware have all had more access to the nation’s highest offices than Florida. The Sunshine State has never had a native elected president. No vice presidents, ...Read more
This Lebanese American billionaire and Trump are in-laws. Will that help bring peace to Lebanon?
KFARAKKA, Lebanon — In normal times, you'd rarely hear of Kfarakka, a hamlet nestled in the lush green mountains of north Lebanon whose primary claim to fame is that it's the country's top olive oil producer.
These are not normal times.
Hoping for an end to the devastating war with Israel, many Lebanese have turned to this village of some 3...Read more
Trump's pick to lead Department of Defense was investigated in Monterey sexual assault allegation
President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the Department of Defense, Fox News personality Pete Hegseth, was investigated for an alleged sexual assault in the city of Monterey in 2017, according to a statement the city released Thursday in response to media inquiries.
The city's statement discloses that it had one police report connected to an...Read more
Trump's pick to lead Department of Defense was investigated for alleged sexual assault
President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the Department of Defense, Fox News personality Pete Hegseth, was investigated for an alleged sexual assault in the city of Monterey in 2017, according to a statement the city released Thursday in response to media inquiries.
The city's statement discloses that it had one police report connected to an...Read more
Trump tried to end DACA, program helping undocumented immigrants, before. Will he try again?
President-elect Donald Trump’s promise to overhaul the nation’s immigration policy has heightened concerns about an already in limbo program benefiting more than 150,000 undocumented Californians.
The program — Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or DACA — grants residence and work permits to undocumented immigrants brought to the ...Read more
Maryland shifted toward Donald Trump more than some other blue states, while giving Kamala Harris her second-biggest win
BALTIMORE — When Lara Trump dropped by a Rockville country club for a fundraiser one week before Election Day, she exuded the kind of confidence that made even some of Donald Trump’s strongest local supporters turn their heads.
“She said we’re going to get over 300 electoral votes, we’re going to take both the House and the Senate and...Read more
Interior pick Burgum endorsed broad energy policy as governor
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump said he intends to nominate North Dakota Republican Gov. Doug Burgum to serve as secretary of the Interior.
Trump made the announcement Thursday at a gala for the America First Policy Institute held at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
“I won’t tell you his name. It might be something like Burgum...Read more
Future of Medicare drug price negotiations murky under Trump
WASHINGTON — The future of one of President Joe Biden’s key domestic policy achievements –– getting Medicare to negotiate drug prices –– could either become part of the Biden administration’s legacy, get rolled back by the incoming Congress or be weakened by President-elect Donald Trump’s administration.
Trump has remained ...Read more