Tesla CEO and onetime Republican presidential hopeful put forward to lead department to ‘dismantle government bureaucracy’
Joe Biden is meeting with two foreign leaders at the White House today.
At 11.15am, he will speak with Israel’s president Isaac Herzog, then with Indonesia’s president, Prabowo Subianto, at 2pm.
Continue reading...South Dakota governor, whose VP chances evaporated after admitting shooting her dog, tipped as DHS secretary
President-elect Donald Trump has picked the South Dakota governor, Kristi Noem, to serve as the next secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, CNN reported on Tuesday, citing two sources.
Noem, once seen as a possible running mate for Trump, is currently serving her second four-year term as South Dakota’s governor after a landslide re-election victory in 2022. She rose to national prominence after refusing to impose a statewide mask mandate during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Continue reading...Gregory Aymond’s offer, required because he turns 75, says he wants to stay for resolution of institution’s bankruptcy but adds it is up to Pope Francis
New Orleans’ Roman Catholic archbishop Gregory Aymond is submitting his resignation Tuesday, on his 75th birthday, fulfilling a church requirement – though it is unclear if Vatican officials would immediately accept it with his scandal-plagued organization’s expensive, highly contentious bankruptcy case still unresolved.
In a letter issued on Friday to priests and deacons under his command, Aymond cited canon – or church – law that required him to offer to retire because of his age. But he said he also offered to remain in office until the resolution of the bankruptcy.
Continue reading...The move follows a bitter Instagram post by Jack White condemning what the US can expect from choosing ‘a known, obvious fascist’
The White Stripes have dropped their federal lawsuit against Donald Trump for unauthorised use of their song Seven Nation Army in a video posted by campaign deputy director of communications Margo Martin in August.
Jack and Meg White are dismissing the case without prejudice and therefore could refile, Pitchfork reports. A lawyer for the band offered the website no comment.
Continue reading...Rubio is reportedly in line for secretary of state, with Waltz expected to be made national security adviser. Plus, what’s behind all the celebrity lookalike contests?
Good morning.
Donald Trump has reportedly picked China critics Marco Rubio and Mike Waltz for the respective roles of secretary of state and national security adviser.
Who has been confirmed for Trump’s cabinet? The immigration hardliner Stephen Miller (as deputy chief of staff for policy); Susie Wiles (chief of staff); Lee Zeldin (Environmental Protection Agency administrator); and Tom Homan (“border tsar”).
What does his EPA pick mean for the environment? Trump said Zeldin’s appointment would “ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions”. Zeldin said in 2018 that he did not support the Paris climate agreement.
How much did Gallego win by? He took 50% of the vote to Lake’s 48%.
Was it a surprise? Gallego polled consistently ahead of Lake by several points, despite Trump easily beating Harris in the state.
Continue reading...Tycoon might help president-elect realise race for artificial general intelligence is a ‘suicide race’, says Max Tegmark
Elon Musk’s influence on a Donald Trump administration could lead to tougher safety standards for artificial intelligence, according to a leading scientist who has worked closely with the world’s richest person on addressing AI’s dangers.
Max Tegmark said Musk’s support for a failed AI bill in California underlined the billionaire’s continued concern over an issue that did not feature prominently in Trump’s campaign.
Continue reading...Miller worked in the first Trump administration as a senior adviser and is known for his extremist rhetoric
President-elect Donald Trump is expected to announce that he will appoint immigration hardliner and close adviser, Stephen Miller, as his White House deputy chief of staff for policy.
Miller worked in the White House during Trump’s first administration, serving as a senior adviser to Trump and as director of speechwriting. He played a key role in developing several of Trump’s immigration policies, including the Muslim travel ban and the family separation policy.
Continue reading...The architect of Trump’s immigration policy is expected to become the deputy chief of staff for policy, CNN reports
US president-elect Donald Trump said on Sunday that Tom Homan, the former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice), will be in charge of the country’s borders in his new administration.
Homan’s areas of control will include “the southern border, the northern border, all maritime, and aviation security”, Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform. Trump added that “border czar” Homan will be in charge of the deportation of illegal immigrants.
Continue reading...Spirit Airlines flight heading from Florida to Port-au-Prince diverted to Dominican Republic after flight attendant was grazed by bullet, amid broader violence in Haiti’s capital
Haiti’s international airport shut down on Monday after gangs opened fire at a commercial flight landing in Port-Au-Prince, prompting some airlines to suspend operations as the country swore in a new interim prime minister who promised to restore peace.
The Spirit Airlines flight headed from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Port-Au-Prince was just hundreds of feet from landing in Haiti’s capital when gangs shot at the plane, striking a flight attendant who suffered minor injuries, according to the airline, the US embassy and flight tracking data.
Continue reading...Even if president-elect rolls back climate progress, John Podesta reaffirms commitment to a clean planet at Cop29
The US climate envoy John Podesta said the fight “for a cleaner, safer” planet will not stop under a re-elected Donald Trump even if some progress is reversed, speaking at the Cop29 UN climate talks on Monday as they opened in Baku, Azerbaijan.
“Although under Donald Trump’s leadership the US federal government placed climate-related actions on the back burner, efforts to prevent climate change remain a commitment in the US and will confidently continue,” said Podesta, who is leading the Biden administration’s delegation at the annual talks.
Continue reading...Condition appears to affect episodic memory but researchers did not assess how it caused deficits
Children who have asthma can experience memory problems, according to research in the USthat is the first to link the two conditions.
The research also found that the earlier a child developed asthma, the greater the damage to their memory. The findings highlight the need to view asthma as a potential source of cognitive difficulty in children, the study’s lead author said.
Continue reading...Trump urges support from Rick Scott, John Thune and John Cornyn for ‘recess appointments’ while US Senate is paused
Donald Trump has demanded that the three frontrunners to lead the Senate allow him to appoint officials to his new administration without confirmation hearings on Capitol Hill, as a future Republican government began to take shape the week after his election victory.
In a demonstration of his political muscle, the US president-elect urged support for “recess appointments”, which allow the president to make appointments while the Senate is temporarily paused, and can be used to circumvent the confirmation process, which can result in appointments being delayed or blocked.
Continue reading...Nicholas Wayne Hamlett arrested almost one month after police found body of Steven Lloyd of Tennessee
Authorities in South Carolina have captured a man who allegedly murdered a hiker in woodlands in Tennessee then attempted to disguise the killing as a bear attack.
Nicholas Wayne Hamlett was arrested in Columbia on Sunday night almost one month after police found the body of the hiker, Steven Lloyd of Knoxville, Tennessee, close to the Cherahola Skyway in Monroe county, 80 miles north-east of Chattanooga.
Continue reading...US government wrote to Israel a month ago threatening sanctions if there was no increase in humanitarian supplies
The amount of aid reaching Gaza has dropped to the lowest level since December, official Israeli figures show, despite the US having issued a 30-day ultimatum last month threatening sanctions if there was no increase in humanitarian supplies reaching the territory.
The ultimatum was delivered on 13 October, so will expire on Tuesday or Wednesday. It is unclear what measures Israel’s apparent failure to fulfil US demands will trigger, but they may include a temporary halt to the supply of some munitions or other military assistance.
Continue reading...Trump told Russian president to not escalate war with Ukraine, Washington Post reports; multiple conservatives endorse the Florida senator as the next leader
Here is a video report on the protests against Donald Trump in New York and Washington DC mentioned earlier:
Protests against Donald Trump erupted in the US on Saturday as people on both coasts took to the streets in frustration about his re-election.
Continue reading...Toy company advises parents to ‘discard the product packaging or obscure the link’ on Glinda and Elphaba dolls
The toy company Mattel says it is taking “immediate action” after mistakenly printing a pornographic website address on the packaging for dolls released to tie in with the upcoming Wicked film.
Over the weekend, individuals began sharing photos online of the dolls’ packaging, which showed a link to wicked.com, instead of wickedmovie.com. The address was printed on boxes for Glinda and Elphaba dolls, the main characters in Wicked, played in the film adaptation by Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo respectively.
Continue reading...Dariel Vasquez died when tree fell on him as he battled major brush fire along the New York-New Jersey border
A New York parks employee died battling one of a number of wildfires in New Jersey and New York amid dry conditions that have prompted air quality warnings in both states, authorities said on Sunday.
The Eastern Dutchess county fire and rescue said the New York state forestry service reported that the worker died when a tree fell on him Saturday afternoon as he battled a major brush fire along the New York-New Jersey border, officials said.
Continue reading...Shooting at Tuskegee University is fourth reported at homecoming events in US within the last three weeks
One person was killed and 16 others were injured when gunfire erupted at Tuskegee University in Alabama on Sunday, the fourth reported shooting at homecoming events across the US within the last three weeks.
The Tuskegee shooting occurred in the early hours of Sunday morning. The person who was killed was not affiliated with the university, and their parents have been notified, according to the university.
Continue reading...Jamison joined Alvin Ailey’s dance company in 1965 and performed there for 15 years, premiering solo Cry in 1971
Judith Jamison, an acclaimed dancer and choreographer who for two decades was artistic director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, died on Saturday in New York, at the age of 81.
Her death came after a brief illness, according to a post on the company’s Instagram page.
Continue reading...Trump to visit Oval Office on Wednesday as Biden says he will ‘ensure a peaceful and orderly transition’
Donald Trump was declared the winner in Arizona early on Sunday, completing the Republicans’ clean sweep of the so-called swing states and rubbing salt in Democrats’ wounds as it was announced that the president-elect is scheduled to meet with Joe Biden at the White House on Wednesday to discuss the presidential handover.
In a national campaign that was projected as being extremely close but he ended up winning handily, the result in Arizona gives Trump 312 electoral college votes, compared with Kamala Harris’s 226. The state joins the other Sun belt swing states – Nevada, Georgia and North Carolina – and the three Rust belt states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania in voting Republican. All were expected to be extremely competitive but all went for Trump, though by fairly close margins.
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