Headline

Trump Makes First Cabinet Pick, Eyes Putin Talks

Published

8 months ago

November 8, 2024

US President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday made his first cabinet appointment following his decisive election win, signalling his intent to overturn the outgoing administration’s policies by reaching out to Vladimir Putin.

Trump’s campaign manager, Susie Wiles, will serve as his White House Chief of Staff, becoming the first woman in this high-profile role and marking the Republican’s first appointment to his incoming administration.

Trump’s sweeping defeat of Democrat Kamala Harris is already shaking up US and global politics, just two days after Election Day and two-and-a-half months before he returns to the White House.

Putin, the Russian President, hailed Trump as “courageous” for the way he handled himself following an assassination attempt at a rally in July, stating he was “ready” to hold discussions with him.

Billionaire Trump later told NBC News he had not spoken with Putin, the authoritarian leader he has repeatedly praised over the years, since his victory but added, “I think we’ll speak.”

This marked a major shift from the icy silence that has existed between Biden and Putin since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and underscored Trump’s criticism of US support for Kyiv.

The president-elect has previously stated he would push for a peace deal in the conflict, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who spoke with Trump on Wednesday, said calls for a ceasefire were “dangerous.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping earlier joined other foreign leaders in congratulating Trump, who had been criticised by Harris during the campaign for his friendliness with autocrats.

Trump reaffirmed his plans for mass deportations of undocumented migrants, telling NBC he had “no choice” and that there could be “no price tag” too high.

‘Orderly’ Transfer of Power

As Trump began working on his transition team at his Florida resort, Biden pledged a peaceful and “orderly” transfer of power.

Biden, 81, urged Americans in a solemn televised address to “bring down the temperature,” in contrast to Trump’s refusal to accept his 2020 election defeat.

The Democrat has invited Trump for talks at the White House, but Biden’s spokeswoman said Trump’s team had not yet signed key documents to allow the formal transition process to commence.

In a speech from the Rose Garden, Biden called for unity and encouraged Democrats not to lose hope, saying, “Remember, a defeat does not mean we are defeated.”

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Finger-pointing has already erupted within the party over Biden’s initial decision to seek a second term despite his age, before withdrawing at the last minute in July and handing the reins to Harris, his vice president.

The White House denied Biden had any regrets, with Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stating, “He believed it was the right decision to make at that time.”

Trump’s election, despite a criminal conviction for fraud, two impeachments, and being the oldest president-elect at 78, reflected voters’ desire for change from the Biden era.

Voter concerns over the economy and migration fuelled Trump’s victory.

Trump 2.0

Trump’s first cabinet pick, Wiles, enjoys wide support within his team and was notably called on stage during his victory speech on Wednesday morning.

“Susie is tough, smart, innovative, and is universally admired and respected. She will continue to work tirelessly to Make America Great Again,” Trump said of the steely 67-year-old Florida native.

Other frontrunners for roles in the Trump 2.0 administration reflect the disruptive nature it is likely to take.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent figure in the anti-vaccine movement to whom Trump has promised a “big role” in health care, told NBC News on Wednesday, “I’m not going to take away anybody’s vaccines.”

However, the former independent candidate reiterated that the Trump administration would consider removing fluoride — a mineral US authorities say supports dental and skeletal health — from public water supplies.

Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, may also be considered for a role in auditing government waste, following his enthusiastic endorsement of Trump. The CEO of SpaceX, Tesla, and X (formerly Twitter), Musk has positioned himself as a right-wing advocate.

Trump is expected to reverse many of Biden’s flagship policies. He returns to the White House as a climate change sceptic, pledging to dismantle Biden’s green policies and to “drill, baby, drill” for oil.

However, Trump may find it challenging to overturn some of Biden’s investment laws, which channel funds into numerous Congressional districts where members may be reluctant to see cuts.

AFP

Headline

Militia Attack On DRC IDP Camp, Kills 10, Mostly Women, Children

Published

4 hours ago

June 27, 2025

Editor

An armed group at the centre of a long-running ethnic conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s northeast attacked a camp for displaced people on Friday, killing 10, local sources told AFP.

Bordering Uganda, Ituri province has for years been the scene of pitched battles between the Lendu, a group mainly made up of settled farmers, and the Hema people, typically nomadic herders.

The fighting has led to the deaths of thousands of civilians and the mass displacement of many more.

Friday’s assault on the Djangi displaced persons camp was carried out by the self-proclaimed Cooperative for the Development of Congo (Codeco), a Lendu-aligned militia responsible for previous civilian massacres, the camp’s head told AFP.

“They were many and armed with firearms and machetes. They surprised us, they killed 10 displaced people, most of them women and children,” said Richard Likana.

An employee of the Red Cross, who asked to remain anonymous, confirmed the attack, which took place around 60 kilometres (37 miles) from Bunia.

“They were cut up with machetes while others were shot,” the humanitarian worker added.

Congolese army Colonel Ruffin Mapela, the local administrator for Djugu territory where the camp is located, gave the same toll of 10 dead and put the number of injured at 15.

According to local and humanitarian sources, Codeco was responsible for an attack on February 10 which killed 51 people in Ituri province. Most of the victims were also displaced persons.

That raid was said to be a response to a strike by the rival Hema-led Zaire militia in the same area.

Violence between the Hema and Lendu killed thousands in gold-rich Ituri from 1999-2003, which only ended after European forces intervened.

The conflict erupted again in 2017, killing thousands more.

The violence has led to more than 1.5 million people leaving their homes, according to the UN.

AFP

Headline

Israel Wants Global Action Against Iran’s Nuclear Plans

Published

5 hours ago

June 27, 2025

Editor

Israel’s foreign minister said on Friday that the world was obliged to stop Iran from developing an atomic bomb, days after Israel claimed it had “thwarted Iran’s nuclear project” in a 12-day war.

“Israel acted at the last possible moment against an imminent threat to itself, the region, and the international community,” Gideon Saar wrote on X.

“The international community must now prevent, by any effective means, the world’s most extreme regime from obtaining the most dangerous weapon.”

Israel and Iran each claimed victory in the war that ended with a ceasefire on June 24.

The conflict erupted on June 13 when Israel launched a bombing campaign, stating it aimed to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon—an ambition Iran has consistently denied.

Following waves of Israeli attacks on nuclear and military sites, the United States bombed three key facilities, with President Donald Trump insisting it had set Iran’s nuclear programme back by “decades”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in an address to the nation after the ceasefire, announced that “we have thwarted Iran’s nuclear project”.

However, there is no consensus as to how effective the strikes were.
On Friday, Iran rejected a request by UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi to visit the bombed facilities, saying it suggested “malign intent”.

The comments from Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi came after parliament approved a bill suspending cooperation with the UN watchdog.

In a post on X following the move, Saar said Iran “continues to mislead the international community and actively works to prevent effective oversight of its nuclear programme”.

Headline

We Would Have Killed Iran’s Supreme Leader If Given Opportunity – Israel

Published

8 hours ago

June 27, 2025

Editor

Defence Minister Israel Katz told media that Israel would have killed Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during the war between the two countries if the opportunity had presented itself.

“If he had been in our sights, we would have taken him out,” Katz told Israel’s public radio station Kan Thursday evening, adding that the military had “searched a lot”.

“Khamenei understood this, went very deep underground, broke off contact with the commanders… so in the end it wasn’t realistic,” Katz told Kan.

He told Israeli television Channel 13 Thursday that Israel would cease its assassination attempts because “there is a difference between before the ceasefire and after the ceasefire”.

Katz had said during the war that Khamenei “can no longer be allowed to exist”, just days after reports that Washington vetoed Israeli plans to assassinate him.

But on Kan, Katz advised Khamenei to remain inside a bunker.

“He should learn from the late Nasrallah, who sat for a long time deep in the bunker”, he said, referring to Lebanese militant group Hezbollah’s former leader Hassan Nasrallah, who Israel killed in a Beirut air strike in September 2024.

The movements of the supreme leader, who has not left Iran since he took power, are subject to the tightest security and secrecy.

Katz said Thursday that Israel maintained its aerial superiority over Iran and that it was ready to strike again.

“We won’t let Iran develop nuclear weapons and threaten (Israel) with long-range missiles”, he said.

In his Channel 12 interview, Katz admitted that Israel does not know the location of all of Iran’s enriched uranium, but that its air strikes had destroyed the Islamic republic’s uranium enrichment capabilities.

“The material itself was not something that was supposed to be neutralised,” he said of the enriched uranium.

The impact of Israeli and US strikes on Iran’s nuclear programme has been a subject to debate.

A leaked US intelligence assessment estimated the programme to have set Iran back a few months, while Katz and other Israeli and US public figures said the damage would take years to rebuild.

Israel and Iran each claimed victory in a 12-day war that ended with a ceasefire on June 24.

The war erupted on June 13 when Israel launched a bombing campaign that it said aimed to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon — an ambition Iran has consistently denied.