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Barack Obama
Former President Barack Obama will headline rallies Saturday for Democrats running for governor in Virginia and New Jersey, corralling voters ahead of elections that may signal the national mood 10 months into Donald Trump's second presidency and a year ahead of midterm elections that could reshape it. Republicans in those states are stumping as well on the final weekend of campaigning before Tuesday's elections, but without the national star power. And on the west coast, California advocates are making a final push ahead of a statewide referendum over whether to redraw the state's congressional map in Democrats' favour. The effort backed by Gov Gavin Newsom is part of a national redistricting battle that began when Trump urged GOP-run states to help him keep a friendly House majority in 2026. Obama, the Democrat whom Trump succeeded when he first assumed the presidency, will appear first Saturday with Virginia's Democratic gubernatorial nominee Abigail Spanberger in Norfolk. Obama
In 2015, then-President Barack Obama committed the United States to achieving newly adopted UN global goals by 2030, including ending poverty, achieving gender equality and urgently tackling climate change. The Trump administration now says it rejects and denounces the goals. The US renunciation was one of the first if not the first by any country of the 17 goals that were adopted unanimously by all 193 UN member nations, with the aim of eliminating global hunger, protecting the planet, ensuring prosperity for all people, and promoting peace. The Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs, also include providing clean water and sanitation for all people and quality education for every child, while promoting good health and decent work and economic growth for everyone. The Trump administration's announcement was buried in remarks on a General Assembly resolution on the International Day of Peaceful Coexistence this week by Edward Heartney, a minister-counselor at the US mission to the
More than 20 civil service employees resigned Tuesday from billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, saying they were refusing to use their technical expertise to dismantle critical public services. We swore to serve the American people and uphold our oath to the Constitution across presidential administrations, the 21 staffers wrote in a joint resignation letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press. However, it has become clear that we can no longer honour those commitments. The employees also warned that many of those enlisted by Musk to help him slash the size of the federal government under President Donald Trump's administration were political ideologues who did not have the necessary skills or experience for the task ahead of them. The mass resignation of engineers, data scientists and product managers is a temporary setback for Musk and the Republican president's tech-driven purge of the federal workforce. It comes amid a flur
Following the announcement of a ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas, global leaders have expressed optimism while emphasising the need for further efforts toward peace.United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres praised the mediation efforts of Egypt, Qatar, and the United States, while former US President Barack Obama called the agreement a positive step. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer also welcomed the deal, stressing the need for a long-term political solution based on a two-state framework to secure lasting peace for both Israelis and Palestinians.In a statement, Guterres said, "I welcome the announcement of a deal to secure a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza. I commend the mediators -- Egypt, Qatar and the USA -- for their dedicated efforts in brokering this deal. I call on all to uphold their commitments & ensure that this deal is fully implemented. From the outset of the violence, I have called for an immediate ceasefire & the ...
A week after President-elect Donald Trump's victory, Elon Musk said his political action committee would play a significant role in primaries. The following week, the billionaire responded to a report that he might fund challengers to GOP House members who don't support Trump's nominees. How else? There is no other way, Musk wrote on X, which he rebranded after purchasing Twitter and moving to boost conservative voices, including his own. And during his recent visit to Capitol Hill, Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy delivered a warning to Republicans who don't go along with their plans to slash spending as part of Trump's proposed Department of Government Efficiency. Elon and Vivek talked about having a naughty list and a nice list for members of Congress and senators and how we vote and how we're spending the American people's money," said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. Trump's second term comes with the specter of the world's richest man serving as his political enforcer.
President Joe Biden arrived for his long-awaited first presidential visit to sub-Saharan Africa on Monday to the cheers of thousands in Angola, where he will highlight an ambitious US-backed railway project meant to counter China's influence on the continent of over 1.4 billion people. Biden's three-day visit to Angola will focus largely on the Lobito Corridor railway redevelopment in Zambia, Congo and Angola. It aims to advance the US presence in a region rich in the critical minerals used in batteries for electric vehicles, electronic devices and clean energy technologies. Biden's trip comes weeks before Republican Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20, finally delivering on Biden's pledge to visit sub-Saharan Africa. On his way to Angola, he stopped in the Atlantic Ocean island nation of Cape Verde for a brief, closed-door meeting with Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva. Biden plans to meet with Angolan President Joo Loureno in the capital, Luanda, where crowds lined the stree
Donald Trump's first picks for immigration policy jobs spent the last four years angling for this moment. Stephen Miller and Thomas Homan had critical roles in the first Trump administration and are unapologetic defenders of its policies, which included separating thousands of parents from their children at the border to deter illegal crossings. With Trump promising sweeping action in a second term on illegal immigration, the two White House advisers will bring nuts-and-bolts knowledge, lessons from previous setbacks and personal views to help him carry out his wishes. After Trump left office in 2021, Miller became president of America First Legal, a group that joined Republican state attorneys general to derail President Joe Biden's border policies and plans. Homan, who worked decades in immigration enforcement, founded Border 911 Foundation Inc, a group that says it fights against a border invasion and held its inaugural gala in April at Trump's Florida estate. Homan knows how the
Donald Trump's first picks for immigration policy jobs spent the last four years angling for this moment. Stephen Miller and Thomas Homan had critical roles in the first Trump administration and are unapologetic defenders of its policies, which included separating thousands of parents from their children at the border to deter illegal crossings. With Trump promising sweeping action in a second term on illegal immigration, the two White House advisers will bring nuts-and-bolts knowledge, lessons from previous setbacks and personal views to help him carry out his wishes. After Trump left office in 2021, Miller became president of America First Legal, a group that joined Republican state attorneys general to derail President Joe Biden's border policies and plans. Homan, who worked decades in immigration enforcement, founded Border 911 Foundation Inc., a group that says it fights against a border invasion and held its inaugural gala in April at Trump's Florida estate. Homan knows how t