Commitment by Mogadishu’s largest single lender is latest in series of deals to forgive ‘unsustainable’ $4.5bn debt
Somalia has announced that more than $1.1bn (£860m) of outstanding loans will be cancelled by the US, a sum representing about a quarter of the country’s remaining debt.
The announcement is the latest in a series of agreements in which Somalia’s creditors have committed to forgiving its debt obligations.
Continue reading...Jair Bolsonaro, Javier Milei and Giorgia Meloni among those in Europe and the Americas paying tribute
Key members of the global far right have celebrated Donald Trump’s US election win, with tributes to the former president rolling in from Rio de Janeiro to Budapest.
The Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán – who had vowed to toast a Trump win with “several bottles of champagne” – hailed what he called “a much-needed victory for the world!”
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Donald Trump has been elected the 47th president of the United States in a stunning political resurrection that sent shock waves through the country and around the world.
Trump becomes the first convicted criminal to win the White House. At 78 he is also the oldest person ever elected to the office.
Continue reading...Public congratulations but private foreboding as heads of state, ministers and diplomats express hopes for cooperation and peace
Western leaders raced to respond to the return of Donald Trump to the White House with a powerful mandate to put his policy of “America first” into action once again. But many of the public congratulations could do little to disguise the private foreboding of what the next four years will augur for European security, populism and the world economy.
Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian prime minister and the European leader closest to Trump, was one of the first to hail his ally’s victory. He posted on social media: “The biggest comeback in US political history! Congratulations to President @realDonaldTrump on his enormous win. A much-needed victory for the world!”
Continue reading...Republican nominee told crowd ‘nothing will stop me’ after taking North Carolina, Georgia and Pennsylvania. Plus, Americans explain what decided their vote
Good morning.
Donald Trump has been elected the 47th president of the United States in a stunning comeback that has sent shock waves around the world, after he secured his path to victory through the country’s battleground states.
What does this mean for Trump’s legal woes? It looks like a get-out-jail card as the Trump ally and South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham told special counsel Jack Smith that “it is time to look forward to a new chapter in your legal career” and to “bring these cases to an end”.
What about the House of Representatives? That race, where the Republicans were defending a majority, is yet to be called – only 376 of 435 seats had been announced at time of writing.
Continue reading...US president-elect has indicated he wants an end to war in Gaza and his position on conflict with Iran remains unclear
The US election result is highly consequential for the Middle East and is first and foremost a win for Benjamin Netanyahu, who did not try to hide his preference for a Trump victory.
The Biden administration had put off imposing any meaningful pressure on the Israeli prime minister until after the election, despite its growing frustration with him on multiple issues: the obstruction of aid into Gaza, his campaign against the UN, his obstruction of a hostage-for-peace deal, and his government’s support for violent West Bank settlers.
Continue reading...NIESR warns British economy would be one of the worst affected by protectionist policies
UK growth is likely to be halved by Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential race if goes on to impose the swingeing new tariffs he has threatened, a leading thinktank has warned.
The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said the protectionist measures planned by the Republican challenger for the White House would result in weaker activity, rising inflation and higher interest rates from the Bank of England.
Continue reading...Markets expect his policy package to harm trade and growth but reduce business taxes
Higher share prices. A stronger dollar. A less rapid pace of interest rate cuts. The financial market reaction to Donald Trump’s return to the White House was swift and predictable.
The man who will become his country’s 47th president has made no secret of what he plans to do: cut taxes, impose heavy tariffs on imported goods, place curbs on migration, and slash red tape.
Continue reading...Former president defeats Kamala Harris as voters send Republican back to White House for second term
Donald Trump has been elected the 47th president of the United States in a stunning political resurrection that sent shockwaves through America and around the world.
Trump becomes the first convicted criminal to win the White House. At 78 he is also the oldest person ever elected to the office.
Continue reading...Live election results and maps as Trump wins the White House
The winner of the election is determined through a system called the electoral college.
Continue reading...Dollar up and renewable energy stocks down, while shares in president-elect’s media business rise by more than a third
Wall Street and bitcoin rallied to fresh record highs and the dollar soared after Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election, while renewable energy stocks fell.
Trump was declared the winner on Wednesday morning after securing the 270 electoral votes needed to take the presidency.
Continue reading...Harris thanks Democratic staffers in Washington DC and says ‘we have so much work to do’ during phone-banking session
Dispatch from Grand Rapids, Michigan: They just showed a video here of Donald Trump shaving the head of Vince McMahon, the former CEO of WWE, during a wrestling event. It happened in 2007.
Needless to say, Trump hasn’t arrived yet.
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The state of American democracy and the economy were the top issues on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots in the 2024 presidential election, according to an NBC News exit poll.
The poll’s preliminary results show 35% of voters said democracy mattered most to their vote, while 31% said the economy.
Continue reading...In the seven swing states that could decide whether Harris or Trump wins the election, voters feel fought over
America had previously always been “somebody else’s country,” said Christopher La Rose, a health researcher, as he waited just before 7am in Pine Lake, a village that’s too small for postal delivery just outside of Atlanta, Georgia.
But that changed recently for La Rose, who is of Guyanese descent, when he became an American citizen. He had the jitters on Monday night, before using his first-ever vote in a US election to back Kamala Harris.
Continue reading...Viola Ford Fletcher, 110, voted for the vice-president in Oklahoma, CNN reporter says
Viola Ford Fletcher, the oldest living survivor of the Tulsa race massacre, cast her ballot in Oklahoma on Tuesday at 110 years old for Kamala Harris.
In a photo shared on social media, Fletcher is wearing an “I voted” sticker, and according to CNN journalist Abby Phillip, Fletcher voted for the vice-president, as she had previously said she would.
Continue reading...Company typically prohibits its use for ‘military, warfare, nuclear industries or applications, [and] espionage’
Meta announced Monday that it would allow US national security agencies and defense contractors to use its open-source artificial intelligence model, Llama. The announcement came days after Reuters reported an older version of Llama had been used by researchers to develop defense applications for the military wing of the Chinese government.
Meta’s policies typically prohibit the use of its open-source large language model for “military, warfare, nuclear industries or applications, [and] espionage”. The company is making an exception for US agencies and contractors as well as similar national security agencies in the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, according to Bloomberg.
Continue reading...More than 150 million people and 318m acres of crops are affected by droughts after summer of record heat
Every US state except Alaska and Kentucky is facing drought, an unprecedented number, according to the US Drought Monitor.
A little more than 45% of the US and Puerto Rico is in drought this week, according to the tracker. About 54% of land in the 48 contiguous US states is affected by droughts.
Continue reading...Storm expected to reach hurricane status but should weaken before it hits the US Gulf coast
Tropical Storm Rafael has grown more powerful in the Caribbean Sea and is poised to reach hurricane strength on Wednesday, carrying the risk of damaging wind and rainfall. But it should weaken as it approaches the US Gulf coast, where several states have not been hit by a hurricane in November, according to records maintained since the early months of the US civil war.
Portions of the Florida Keys could see tropical storm conditions starting on Wednesday night, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Continue reading...Election watchers in Europe, Asia and elsewhere will be tuning in – and some have a particular interest in the result
From Brazil to Ireland and Germany to the Caribbean, this year’s knife-edge – and more than usually momentous – US presidential vote will be watched at a multitude of election-night events, some with a particular interest in the outcome.
In St Ann Parish, Jamaica – and most particularly in Browns Town, where Harris’s father Donald was born and the Democratic candidate spent many happy childhood holidays – her supporters plan watch parties, drink-ups and other social gatherings.
Continue reading...Democrats only need to flip a handful of seats to get back control of the lower chamber – here’s what to keep an eye on
Much attention has been paid to the historic race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, but the results of down-ballot elections will determine whether the new president will actually be able to implement a legislative agenda next year.
With Republicans defending a narrow majority in the House of Representatives, Democrats only need to flip a handful of seats to wrest back control of the lower chamber, and both parties are going all out to win.
Continue reading...