Inaugural balls, protests planned in Washington

On

washington — Washington has been bracing for lots of things this week, including several more days of frigid temperatures and hordes of people and police for the presidential inauguration and related protests around the city next week. Officials said this week that they expected about 250,000 ticketed people to descend on the U.S. capital as Donald Trump takes the oath of office as president again. He last served from 2017 to 2021. Fewer visitors are expected for next Monday’s ceremony than were present at Trump’s first inauguration, local and federal officials said at a press conference. In 2017, they prepared formore

Leave a comment

Vance to resign from US Senate ahead of his inauguration as vice president

On

washington — Republican Vice President-elect JD Vance said Thursday that he would resign from his U.S. Senate seat from Ohio at midnight ahead of his inauguration later this month. President-elect Donald Trump and Vance defeated the Democratic presidential candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris, and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, in the Nov. 5 U.S. election. Vance’s Senate seat will be filled by a person appointed by Ohio Republican Governor Mike DeWine. The replacement will serve until a special election is held in November 2026. The winner of that election will finish the remainder of Vance’s Senate term, which endsmore

Leave a comment

Much of the world participated in elections in 2024 that ousted incumbents

On

2024 was a big year for elections. More than 70 national elections were held throughout the world, affecting more than half of the world’s population.    Among the countries holding elections were some of the world’s biggest democracies — India, the United States, Indonesia and Bangladesh — as well as 27 European member states electing the new European Parliament.    The total number of ballots cast in 71 elections and the European Parliament elections was more than 1.6 billion, according to the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, or International IDEA. Voting against the status quo   Elections acrossmore

Leave a comment

US Federal Reserve cuts interest rate but adjusts expectations for future

On

The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday lowered its target interest rate but signaled it might take longer than previously expected to bring inflation down to the central bank’s target rate of 2% per year. That means there will likely be fewer rate reductions in 2025 than had been projected. The Fed’s Federal Open Market Committee lowered the target range of the federal funds rate, a benchmark that is used to set rates for everything from mortgages to credit card loans, by one-quarter of a percentage point to between 4.25% and 4.5%. The reduction was widely expected, but FOMC members updatedmore

Leave a comment

Biden, Harris thank donors, urge them to stay engaged after tough loss to Trump

On

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday thanked deep-pocketed Democratic donors who raised record sums in last month’s election loss to President-elect Donald Trump and urged them not to lose hope and to remain politically engaged. Biden and Harris, along with their spouses, in remarks at the Democratic National Committee holiday reception sought to buck up key donors who the Democratic Party needs to stay committed as it tries to pick up the pieces. Republicans scored a decisive victory taking the White House and Senate while maintaining control of the House in an election where donorsmore

Leave a comment

Trump: Sweeping changes starting on 1st day he takes office 

On

Washington — U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is vowing to make swift and sweeping changes as he takes office on January 20, deporting millions of migrants in the country illegally, imposing tariffs on imported goods that could raise consumer prices for Americans and pardoning rioters who tried to upend his 2020 reelection loss. Six weeks ahead of taking office for a new four-year tenure in the White House, Trump seemed emboldened by his victory last month, making him only the second American president elected to a second, nonconsecutive term after Grover Cleveland in the 1890s. “People like me now, you know?” hemore

Leave a comment

US Senate weighs Trump Cabinet selections

On

U.S. senators will soon be weighing in on President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks. With many of the choices facing questions about their beliefs and qualifications, the confirmation process could look different this time. VOA Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson has more. …

Leave a comment

Cabinet nominees targeted with threats, Trump spokesperson says

On

WASHINGTON — Several of Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees and appointees were targeted with “violent threats,” including bomb threats and “swatting,” a spokesperson for the U.S. president-elect said Wednesday. The threats were made Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, and law enforcement and authorities acted quickly to ensure the safety of those targeted, spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. Leavitt did not say who was targeted, and she did not elaborate on the nature of the apparent threats. Spokespeople for the FBI and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Leavitt said the attacks “ranged from bomb threatsmore

Leave a comment

 Trump announces picks for economic, health posts

On

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump announced a set of economic advisers he wants to appoint for his administration, including international trade attorney Jamieson Greer as his pick to be the U.S. trade representative. Greer served in Trump’s first administration as the chief of staff to the trade representative, and Trump said Tuesday that Greer played a key role in both imposing tariffs on China and in the creation of a new trade deal with Canada and Mexico. Trump said Kevin Hassett is his choice to lead the White House National Economic Council. Hassett led the Council of Economic Advisers during Trump’smore

Leave a comment

Promise and peril for Southeast Asia in Trump’s tariff talk

On

BANGKOK — Southeast Asia could see a new wave of factories moving in from China to evade the soaring tariffs U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has proposed to impose on the world’s second-largest economy, trade experts tell VOA. But the trade surpluses the region has built up with the United States and its heavy use of Chinese inputs for its own exports may blunt the benefits, they add. A number of firms with factories in China, both Chinese and foreign owned, moved their plants to Southeast Asia to skirt the tariffs Trump imposed on the country — as high as 25% onmore

Leave a comment