Google to build subsea cable linking Australia’s Darwin to Christmas Island

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sydney — Australia’s Indian Ocean territory of Christmas Island will be connected by subsea cable to the northern garrison city of Darwin, a project backed by Alphabet’s Google that Australia says will boost its digital resilience. Christmas Island is 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) west of the Australian mainland, with a small population of 1,250, but strategically located in the Indian Ocean, 350 kilometers (215 miles) from Jakarta. The cable announcement comes as the Australian and U.S. militaries upgrade airfields in Australia’s north, where a rotating force of U.S. Marines will be joined by Japanese troops next year. Google’s vice president ofmore

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Analysis: Trump’s win powered by improved performance across electorate

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Nearly three weeks after the 2024 election, with almost all of the votes counted, it has become clear that Donald Trump won his second term in the White House by orchestrating a nationwide rightward shift in voting patterns that largely persisted across most of the 50 states, whether their electoral votes went to Trump or to his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. The main force behind Trump’s victory was strong support from his base, which is generally made up of white Americans without a college degree. His win would not have been possible, however, had the president-elect not improvedmore

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US farm groups want Trump to spare their workers from deportation

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washington — U.S. farm industry groups want President-elect Donald Trump to spare their sector from his promise of mass deportations, which could upend a food supply chain heavily dependent on immigrants in the United States illegally.  So far Trump officials have not committed to any exemptions, according to interviews with farm and worker groups and Trump’s incoming “border czar” Tom Homan.  Nearly half of the nation’s approximately 2 million farmworkers lack legal status, according to the Labor and Agriculture departments, as well as many dairy and meatpacking workers.  Trump, a Republican, vowed to deport millions of immigrants in the U.S. illegallymore

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Democrats plan to elect new party leader days after Trump’s inauguration

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WASHINGTON — The chair of the Democratic National Committee informed party leaders on Monday that the DNC would choose his successor in February, an election that will speak volumes about how the party wants to present itself during four more years of Donald Trump in the White House. Jaime Harrison, in a letter to members of the party’s powerful Rules & Bylaws Committee, outlined the process of how the party would elect its new chair. Harrison said in the letter that the committee would host four candidate forums — some in person and some virtually — in January, with the finalmore

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Biden to attend Trump inauguration, White House says

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U.S. President Joe Biden will attend Donald Trump’s inauguration in January, the White House said Monday, calling it a “commitment to our democratic values” despite Trump’s skipping Biden’s own swearing-in. Then-President Trump refused to attend Biden’s inauguration in 2021, after falsely claiming Biden’s election win was fraudulent and whipping up a mob of supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol. “The president promised that he would attend the inauguration of whoever won the election,” deputy press secretary Andrew Bates told reporters flying with Biden on Air Force One. “He and the first lady are going to honor that promise and attendmore

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