Donald Trump

December 3, 2024 12:36 PM

Ukraine pushes for NATO invite 30 years after failed nuclear deal

Ukraine on Tuesday blasted an agreement struck 30 years ago under which it relinquished nuclear weapons in exchange for security assurances that never materialised, as it makes a concerted push for an invitation to join the NATO alliance. Kyiv is desperately calling for robust security guarantees to protect it from renewed Russian aggression as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House raises fears of a rapidly-struck settlement to the war that would leave it exposed. Ukrai...

November 27, 2024 10:24 AM

Trump chooses US COVID policy critic Bhattacharya to lead NIH

President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday chose Stanford academic and U.S. COVID policy critic Jay Bhattacharya to run the National Institutes of Health, the country's top public funder of medical research with a budget of some $47.3 billion The NIH has been in the crosshairs of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump's pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the NIH. The NIH director oversees 27 institutes and centers that conduct early stage research on everything from va...

November 24, 2024 3:17 PM

Takeaways from the COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan

This year's U.N. climate summit delivered a deal on climate finance two days past deadline, after two weeks of tense negotiations. Here are some of the takeaways from the COP29 summit held in Azerbaijan's capital of Baku: CASH FOR CLIMATE REMAINS TIGHT The summit's main agenda item - setting a new annual target for global climate finance - had nations wrangling for two weeks. Even after reaching a deal for $300 billion a year by 2035, many developing countries said the amount was far too low....

November 19, 2024 9:07 AM

Asian stocks rise, dollar weak as US yields tick down

Asian stocks rose on Tuesday while U.S. bond yields and the dollar hung back from multi-month highs as traders awaited President-elect Donald Trump's cabinet selection and sought to gauge the outlook for Federal Reserve easing. Tech shares advanced, tracking Wall Street's recovery from last week's steep losses although Nvidia's upcoming earnings on Wednesday limited the scope for big moves. Markets have pared bets for a quarter-point interest-rate cut at the Fed's next meeting in December to l...

November 18, 2024 8:45 AM

Trump taps Brendan Carr to chair Federal Communications Commission

President-elect Donald Trump will tap Brendan Carr, a critic of the Biden administration’s telecom policies and Big Tech, as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, he said in a statement on Sunday. Carr, 45, is currently the top Republican on the FCC, the independent agency that regulates telecommunications. He has been a harsh critic of the FCC’s decision not to finalize nearly $900 million in broadband subsidies for Elon Musk’s SpaceX satellite internet unit Starlink, as we...

November 16, 2024 9:28 AM

FM Nirmala Sitharaman congratulates Tulsi Gabbard on appointment as U.S. Director of National Intelligence

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman extended her congratulations to Tulsi Gabbard on her appointment as the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) in the United States. In a post on X, Sitharaman praised Gabbard’s service and dedication, saying, "Congratulations @TulsiGabbard on being selected to serve as Director of National Intelligence. For 21 years, you served the USA as a soldier, becoming a Lt. Colonel in the Army Reserve. In my few interactions with you, I have been impressed by...

November 14, 2024 9:30 AM

Trump taps loyalists Matt Gaetz, Tulsi Gabbard, Pete Hegseth for top jobs despite limited qualifications

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump chose loyalists with little experience for several key cabinet positions on Wednesday, stunning some allies and making clear that he is serious about reshaping - and in some cases testing - America's institutions. Trump's choice of congressman Matt Gaetz, 42, for U.S. attorney general, America's top law enforcement officer, was a surprising pick. The former attorney has never worked in the Justice Department, or as a prosecutor, and was investigated by the Ju...

November 13, 2024 11:50 AM

Trump selects Vivek Ramaswamy, Elon Musk to lead new US Department of Government Efficiency

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday named Elon Musk to a role aimed at creating a more efficient government, handing even more influence to the world's richest man who donated millions of dollars to helping Trump get elected. Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will co-lead a newly created Department of Government Efficiency, an entity Trump indicated will operate outside the confines of government. Trump said in a statement that Musk and Ramaswamy "will ...

November 12, 2024 1:39 PM

Asia stocks slip, bitcoin at record high as Trump trade whipsaws markets

Asian stocks tumbled on Tuesday dragged by Chinese markets and chip shares as investors worried about U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's policies, while bitcoin hit a record peak on bets on assets that are set to benefit from the new administration. Investors anticipate Trump's second four-year term in office will bring equities-boosting tax cuts and looser regulations, lifting the world's biggest and best-known cryptocurrency, bitcoin, to an all-time high of $89,637. But the threat of possib...

November 12, 2024 10:20 AM

Trump expected to tap US Senator Marco Rubio for secretary of state, sources say

Donald Trump is expected to tap U.S. Senator Marco Rubio to be his secretary of state, sources said on Monday, putting the Florida-born politician on track to be the first Latino to serve as America's top diplomat once the Republican president-elect takes office in January. Rubio was arguably the most hawkish option on Trump's shortlist for secretary of state, and he has in past years advocated for a muscular foreign policy with respect to America's geopolitical foes, including China, Iran and ...