International
As midterm count drags on, focus shifts to 2024 White House race
| By AFP | Chris Lefkow |
Control of the US Congress hung in the balance on Thursday as ballot-counting dragged on and attention shifted to the next big election — the 2024 presidential race — and whether Americans could see a Joe Biden-Donald Trump re-match.
With 209 seats so far, Republicans appear poised to secure a slim majority in the 435-seat House of Representatives, but control of the Senate may come down to an early December runoff in the southern state of Georgia.
Biden celebrated on Thursday what he said was the success of his Democratic Party in fending off a predicted Republican landslide in a stormy economic climate.
“For months and months, all of you heard from the press and the pundits was Democrats are facing to disaster … a giant red wave,” he said. “Folks, that didn’t happen.”
“The American public have made it clear — they expect Republicans to work with me,” he said.
Speaking a day earlier, Biden who turns 80 this month and is already America’s oldest president, insisted he intends to run for a second term in 2024 despite calls by some members of the party for him to hand the reins over to a new generation of leaders.
He promised a final decision “early next year.”
A drubbing would have surely raised questions about whether Biden should run again. But instead he did better than his two Democratic predecessors, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, who both took a hammering in their first midterms.
The 76-year-old Trump has promised a “very big announcement” in Florida on Tuesday that is expected to be the launch of his campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
Trump’s early entry into the race would appear designed in part to fend off possible criminal charges over taking top secret documents from the White House, his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the attack on the US Capitol by his supporters on January 6 last year.
It may also be intended to undercut his chief potential rival for the Republican presidential nomination, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who emerged as one of the biggest winners from Tuesday’s midterms.
“(Trump’s) intention is to consolidate his support early and crowd out other potential candidates,” said Jon Rogowski, a professor of political science at the University of Chicago.
‘Ron De-Sanctimonious’
The 44-year-old DeSantis, a Harvard- and Yale-educated lawyer, notched up a nearly 20-point victory over his Democratic opponent in the Florida governor’s race and took credit for a host of Republican victories in other races in the Sunshine State.
“We not only won election, we have rewritten the political map,” DeSantis said. “We’ve got so much more to do and I have only begun to fight.”
While DeSantis has emerged as Trump’s main rival for the nomination, the former president continues to dominate in the polls when Republicans are asked who they want to represent the party in the 2024 White House race.
But Trump may have lost the backing of a major ally — the powerful media empire of conservative billionaire Rupert Murdoch.
Pointing to the party’s disappointing midterms showing, The Wall Street Journal, the flagship of Murdoch’s News Corp, declared in an editorial on Thursday that “Trump Is the Republican Party’s Biggest Loser.”
The cover of the tabloid New York Post depicted Trump on a precarious wall as “Trumpty Dumpty” who “had a great fall” in the vote, blaming him for the failure of Republicans to sweep past Democratic rivals.
It celebrated DeSantis as “DeFUTURE.”
Trump coined his own derogatory nickname for DeSantis, a one-time ally, referring to him as “Ron De-Sanctimonious” and belittling his election victory.
“Shouldn’t it be said that in 2020, I got 1.1 Million more votes in Florida than Ron D got this year, 5.7 Million to 4.6 Million?” Trump said on his Truth Social platform. “Just asking?”
Biden was asked by reporters on Wednesday about a Trump-DeSantis showdown.
“It’ll be fun watching them take on each other,” he said.
In the Senate, Democrat John Fetterman defeated Trump-endorsed candidate Mehmet Oz, seizing the Pennsylvania seat after the most expensive Senate race in US history.
The final makeup of the Senate now hangs on three seats: Arizona and Nevada, where the counting of votes could take several more days, and Georgia, where there will be a December 6 runoff between Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock and former American football star Herschel Walker.
Even with a slim majority in the House, Republicans could stymie Biden’s legislative agenda and launch investigations into the president and his allies.
International
Trump relaunches diplomatic push to finalize U.S.-Backed peace plan for Ukraine War
U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that his diplomatic team will resume meetings with delegations from Russia and Ukraine in an effort to pressure both sides to accept the peace plan proposed by Washington to end the war in Ukraine.
As part of this new round of talks, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Meanwhile, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll will hold discussions with Ukrainian representatives to narrow differences on the remaining points of the agreement.
Trump also confirmed his intention to meet personally with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and with Putin, though he emphasized that such meetings will only take place “when the agreement is fully finalized or in its final stage.”
The president claimed that his administration has made “tremendous progress” toward resolving the conflict and reiterated that the war “never would have started” if he had been in the White House at the onset of the crisis.
The U.S.-backed peace plan consists of 28 points and has been revised following feedback from both sides. According to Trump, only “a few points of disagreement” remain under active discussion.
One of the most controversial aspects of the proposal is the suggestion that Ukraine cede parts of the Donbas region to Russia and limit the size of its armed forces. Kyiv is working closely with Washington to soften these clauses in search of an arrangement that does not compromise its sovereignty or security.
With this diplomatic push, Trump aims to solidify his role as the main mediator in the conflict and steer the war toward a political resolution after years of devastation, humanitarian crisis, and rising global geopolitical tensions.
International
Man pleads not guilty in Liverpool parade incident that injured more than 130
Paul Doyle, who has been held in provisional detention since the incident, is accused of intentionally injuring 12 people, attempting to injure another 17, and committing acts of violence and dangerous driving.
According to prosecutors, eight of the victims were minors at the time, including a six-month-old baby.
Wearing a black suit, the 54-year-old defendant broke into tears as the jury entered Liverpool Crown Court, in northwest England. Doyle, a father of three and former member of the Royal Navy, had pleaded not guilty in September to the 31 charges against him.
On Tuesday, he reaffirmed his not-guilty plea when asked to respond again to four of the charges, which had been slightly amended. The jury was sworn in the same day, and the trial—expected to last three to four weeks—will begin on Wednesday.
The incident occurred on May 26, when thousands of Liverpool FC supporters were gathered for a parade celebrating the club’s Premier League victory. According to the investigation, Doyle’s car entered a street that had just been reopened to allow an ambulance through.
His vehicle was then surrounded by a crowd of Liverpool supporters, some of whom acted aggressively. Doyle first reversed, then accelerated forward, swerving and striking people on both sides of the street. According to an initial report from Merseyside Police, 134 people were injured.
Firefighters reported that one man was thrown onto the hood of the vehicle and four people, including a child, were trapped underneath the car.
Doyle was arrested at the scene. Police quickly ruled out any terrorist motive, stating instead that it was an isolated incident.
International
Macron to announce new voluntary military service amid rising security concerns in Europe
French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to announce on Thursday the creation of a voluntary military service program, following similar moves by other European countries amid growing concerns over Russia and uncertainty surrounding the United States as an ally.
The announcement comes after controversy sparked by the Chief of the Defense Staff, General Fabien Mandon, who last week urged the French population to “accept losing their children” in the event of a conflict in Europe. Macron insisted the comments were taken out of context.
“It is absolutely necessary to dispel any confusion suggesting that we are going to send our young people to Ukraine,” the president said in an interview with RTL radio on Tuesday.
France ended mandatory military service in 1997 under conservative president Jacques Chirac, but Macron has been advocating for “a new framework for service” within the Armed Forces to strengthen what he describes as the “army–nation bond.”
According to several sources, the centrist president is expected to unveil a voluntary military service initiative starting with around 2,000 participants, with a long-term goal of reaching 50,000 volunteers per year.
While the government has not yet detailed how the program will work, French media report that the service would last about 10 months and include compensation of several hundred euros.
The French Armed Forces currently comprise roughly 200,000 active-duty personnel and 47,000 reservists. By 2030, the goal is to increase those figures to 210,000 and 80,000, respectively.
Trump relaunches diplomatic push to finalize U.S.-Backed peace plan for Ukraine War
Man pleads not guilty in Liverpool parade incident that injured more than 130
Macron to announce new voluntary military service amid rising security concerns in Europe
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