• Fri, December 13, 2024

by: Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Friends and partners weigh up Canberra's 'relentless' Pacific push

The federal government has closed out the year with a flurry of Pacific announcements designed to shore up Australia's strategic position and push back on China's ambitions in the region.

by: PBS

What another Trump administration could mean for crypto

Bitcoin surpassed $100,000 for the second time ever on Wednesday, after hitting the milestone the first time in early December, a surge fueled by optimism that the Trump administration would be more friendly to the cryptocurrency industry.

by: Graphic

Mahama warns of last-minute liabilities from outgoing government

President-elect John Mahama has expressed concern over reports of last-minute mass recruitments and contract signings by the outgoing government, warning that such actions could create liabilities for the incoming administration.

by: MSNBC

Billionaires and Democrats paying lip service to Trump are in for a rude awakening

Bending the knee because you agree with him on Israel, deregulation or cutting government spending won't fix the gaping wound in American democracy.

by: FOX59 News

European countries put freeze on Syrian asylum claims after Assad's fall, unclear if US will follow

European countries are freezing asylum cases from Syrian migrants after the ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assad, raising questions about how the U.S. will handle claims.

by: AARP

AARP Urges Passage of Prescription Drug Legislation by Year's End

You could earn AARP Rewards points when you use our free financial resources. Help Register Login Login Hi, %{firstName}% Hi, %{firstName}% Games Car rental AARP wants Congress to move ahead with legislation aimed at making it harder for drug companies to block less expensive versions of medications from coming to market.

by: NJ.com

CNN analyst: Here's why Trump pick RFK Jr. has strong support among Americans

President-elect Donald Trump tapped Kennedy to lead the Health and Human Services Department shortly after winning the White House last month. Enten said that new Fox News polling showed that Kennedy has more support among Americans than not to be confirmed by the Senate.

by: AZ Central

Supreme Court to hear challenge to California's pace-setting vehicle emissions rules

The issue is whether the Environmental Protection Agency can allow California to impose emissions standards on new vehicles that are tougher than the federal government's. The Clean Air Act permits that under certain conditions. That provision was ...

by: KSBW The Central Coast

Meet the faces of Trump's upcoming administration

Among those named are several celebrity figures like TV show host Mehmet Oz, better known as Dr. Oz, who Trump tapped for Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator. There's also former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Linda McMahon who was picked to lead the Department of Education and former NFL player Scott Turner named to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

by: CNN

Trump says GOP will try to eliminate Daylight Saving Time

President-elect Donald Trump said on Friday the Republican Party would try to eliminate Daylight Saving Time, calling it "inconvenient" and "costly."

by: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Page threatens to pause senior tax freeze in St. Louis County. Council scoffs.

County Executive Sam Page said the council must pass a budget Tuesday or risk the county pausing in-person applications for the senior property tax freeze. Some councilmembers called his bluff.

by: The New York Times

Emmanuel Macron Appoints Key Ally as France's New Prime Minister

President Emmanuel Macron on Friday tapped François Bayrou, a veteran centrist politician and one of his top allies, as the new prime minister, a move that few expect would stabilize France's roiling politics.

by: MSN

Food donation and recycling expand in New York

Hochul signed a law expanding New York's food donation and recycling program, making more businesses donate excess edible food and recycle food scraps.

by: MSN

Middle East changes after fall of Bashar Al-Assad

The U.S. is trying to prevent the rise of terrorism in the Middle East after end of Syrian dictator Bashar Al-Assad's regime.

by: MSN

Mayor Brandon Johnson postpones Friday vote on 2025 city budget rather than suffer defeat

Mayor Brandon Johnson made an eleventh-hour decision to cancel a Friday vote on his 2025 budget plan, the latest setback for the mayor after months of squabbling with aldermen and failing to shore up enough support in the City Council to finalize a $17.

by: MSN

Trump calls for ending Daylight Saving Time. It's 'inconvenient,' he says.

Daylight Saving Time is inconvenient, and very costly to our Nation," the president-elect wrote, criticizing the century-old practice of shifting clocks twice per year.

by: MSN

Trump calls for end to daylight saving time

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said on Friday the Republican Party "will use its best efforts" to end daylight saving time, which he called "inconvenient, and very costly to our Nation." "The Republican Party will use its best efforts to eliminate Daylight Saving Time,

by: MSN

Democrats want correspondence between Trump picks, Boris Epshteyn

Two Democratic senators are pressing for correspondent between President-elect Trump's Cabinet picks and Boris Epshteyn following allegations that the longtime Trump adviser was seeking payment to promote individuals interested in roles in the next Trump administration.

by: MSN

Syria's interim PM hails 'the birth of a nation' at Friday prayers

Syrians gathered at the iconic Umayyad Mosque in Damascus for Friday prayers on Friday (December 13), the first after Islamist-led rebels took control of the city following the ousting of Bashar al-Assad.

by: MSN

Warren on RFK Jr. pick: 'Say goodbye to your smile and say hello to polio'

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) sounded the alarm over anti-vaccine advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect's Trump's pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). "Say goodbye to your smile and say hello to polio — that's what's on the horizon if Robert F.

by: MSN

Lula's Age and Health Leave Brazil on Edge About What Comes Next

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's emergency surgery has suddenly forced Brazilians to confront a difficult question: Is their 79-year-old leader fit for the task of commanding Latin America's largest economy?

by: MSN

Danbury Mayor Roberto Alves describes progress and challenges during first year in office

Mayor Roberto Alves, during his second-ever State of the City address, described his first year in office as one filled with "extraordinary challenges, hard decisions and meaningful progress." "We're not where we want to be — yet.

by: MSN

Can Oneida County help solve the drone mystery in NJ? How Griffiss could assist government

Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente Jr. calls on officials to use resources at Griffiss Air Force Base to help solve the mystery of the drones.

by: MSN

'Nationalism' Review: Of Kin and Country

The American revolution produced a new idea: a nation-state united by something other than ethnic affiliations.

by: MSN

Labour seeks another meeting with Martin and Harris to get 'clear responses' to priorities

Labour met with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael on Tuesday this week to outline its priorities for going into government.

by: MSN

'Republican identity crisis': Tension grows between 'granola conservatives' and Big Ag allies

In today's politically polarized United States, food choices are among the many things that can become part of identity politics. Healthy eating is viewed with suspicion in some MAGA circles. But in an article published on December 13,

by: MSN

Biden commuted 21 South Carolinians. Who are they and when are their release dates?

Two South Carolina women were among 39 pardons; According to the White House, the single-day act of clemency was the largest in modern history

by: MSN

Pennsylvania's GOP chairman is not running for reelection, and top Republicans are pushing for a state senator to succeed him

Pennsylvania Republican Party Chairman Lawrence Tabas, who has led the party since 2019, will not seek reelection, just after his party secured major wins up and down the ballot last month. Tabas, whose fate as leader of the state party was unclear after a challenger emerged last week,

by: MSN

Trump Tax Cuts May Fail to Drive Much, If Any, Economic Gain

President-elect Donald Trump says renewing tax cuts would turbo-charge investment and boost US economic growth — a pledge that helped propel him to election victory in November.

by: MSN

Dana Milbank: Trump suddenly discovers America is already great

The Washington Post's Dana Milbank and the New Yorker's Susan Glasser discuss how President-elect Trump is claiming a number of preemptive victories.

by: MSN

Dele Farotimi: They want to abandon him in prison - Sowore makes fresh claim

The presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, AAC, in the 2023 election and activist, Omoyele Sowore, has alleged a conspiracy among powerful elites to abandon the embattled human rights lawyer,

by: MSN

Trump Downplays Trans Bathroom Debate After Spending Millions On Anti-Trans Ads

In a stunning change of tune, President-elect Donald Trump told Time in an interview published Thursday that the transgender bathroom debate isn't that important and doesn't affect many people anyway - despite his campaign and other GOP groups pouring tens of millions of dollars into political ads attacking transgender people.

by: MSN

Motor racing-F1 governing body approves controversial statute changes

Formula One's governing body approved statute changes on Friday that critics say will limit the powers of audit and ethics committees. The International Automobile Federation (FIA) said the revisions were approved at its general assembly in Kigali ahead of a gala awards ceremony for the year's various championships in the Rwandan capital.

by: MSN

Peter Thiel says he wouldn't take a 'full-time' Trump administration job: 'I'd be depressed and crazy'

Thiel said that after working in the tech industry, he would find it too frustrating to work for the government.

by: MSN

Ex-US speaker Pelosi injured on Luxembourg trip

Former US House speaker Nancy Pelosi has been injured while visiting Luxembourg to commemorate a key World War II battle and was admitted to hospital for treatment, her office said Friday. "Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi sustained an injury during an official engagement and was admitted to the hospital for evaluation,

by: MSN

Lawyer helping RFK Jr. hire health staff petitioned FDA to get rid of polio vaccine

The lawyer helping Robert F. Kennedy Jr. select federal health officials for the incoming Trump administration has a history of suing the government agencies that the cabinet pick will oversee — and recently challenged federal approval of polio vaccines.

by: MSN

As chatter over New Jersey drones continues, Gov. Phil Murphy sends letter to President Biden

Mysterious drones hovering over New Jersey, New York and other states continue to baffle residents and lawmakers.

by: MSN

'Breaking of gridlock' between Quebec, N.L. is the envy of former premiers

Former Newfoundland and Labrador premiers say a draft energy agreement signed Thursday with Quebec marks a historic break in a long-standing political standoff.

by: MSN

New Jersey governor wants more federal resources for probe into drone sightings

Gov. Phil Murphy has asked the Biden administration to put more resources into an investigation of mysterious drone sightings that have been reported in New Jersey and nearby states. Murphy, a Democrat,

by: MSN

US Supreme Court to hear dispute over California tailpipe emissions, EV standards

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Friday to hear a bid by fuel producers to challenge California's standards for vehicle emissions and electric cars under a federal air pollution law in a major case testing the Democratic-governed state's power to fight greenhouse gases.

by: MSN

John Fetterman Becomes The First Democrat Senator To Meet With Pete Hegseth

Senator John Fetterman became the first Democrat to meet with Pete Hegseth despite their political differences, setting a precedent of unity and working together.

by: MSN

Trump Needs a New FAA Boss. What That Means for Musk, Boeing, Delta, and the Airlines.

It's not just Musk, and SpaceX, that will be closely watching the change at the top of the U.S. aviation regulator. Aerospace giant Boeing has been heavily scrutinized by the FA

by: MSN

Insurers Are Dictating Care and We're Sick, Sick, Sick of It!

That said, many of the decisions insurers like UnitedHealthcare have made are, themselves, abominable. They do deserve our outrage. We can simultaneously be outraged at both Thompson's killing and the immoral actions of insurance companies.

by: MSN

Latest drone sightings over New York and New Jersey have Staten Island lawmakers demanding action

Mysterious drones hovering over New York and New Jersey are baffling residents and lawmakers. Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella held a briefing on the sightings Friday, calling on the NYPD to do more to investigate the drones seen over military bases,

by: MSN

Live Briefing: Blinken in Baghdad as U.S. and allies seek to guide Syrian transition

Several high-level visits come as Syrian rebel groups try to establish a new government following the collapse of the Bashar al-Assad regime.

by: MSN

RFK Jr. adviser wants FDA to revoke approval for polio and hepatitis B vaccines

by: MSN

'Hancock and Kelley' discuss St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney controversy

John Hancock and Michael Kelley join Chris Rongey and Amy Marxkors on 'The Chris and Amy Show' to talk about the controversy on who appoints new County Prosecuting Attorney.

by: MSN

Missouri governor and St. Louis County executive name appointees for same prosecutor job

When the elected prosecutor in Missouri's largest county leaves his job for a seat in Congress next month, an appointed replacement will take his spot. The question is: Which one? Democratic St. Louis County Executive Sam Page and Republican Gov.

Friends and partners weigh up Canberra's 'relentless' Pacific push

The federal government has closed out the year with a flurry of Pacific announcements designed to shore up Australia's strategic position and push back on China's ambitions in the region.
The article from ABC News discusses Canberra's ongoing efforts to strengthen its ties with Pacific Island nations, highlighting a strategic push to counterbalance China's growing influence in the region. Key points include Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong's diplomatic visits to Pacific nations, emphasizing security, climate change, and economic partnerships. The article notes the establishment of new embassies, increased aid, and infrastructure projects aimed at fostering closer relationships. It also mentions the challenges Australia faces, such as competition from China's Belt and Road Initiative and the need to address climate change concerns, which are paramount for Pacific Island countries. The narrative underscores the geopolitical chess game in the Pacific, with Australia's relentless diplomatic efforts seen as both a response to regional dynamics and an attempt to secure its own strategic interests.

Read the Full Australian Broadcasting Corporation Article at:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12-14/canberras-relentless-pacific-push/104723598