US President-elect Donald Trump and Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni met at the former's Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida after their encounter was arranged in the utmost secrecy. The gathering consisted of a private dinner, the screening of a documentary, and an exchange of views on bilateral matters.
Theories that both the Tesla Cybertruck explosion in front of the Trump Tower in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the ramming of New Year celebrating pedestrians on New Orleans' Bourbon Street were connected terrorist attacks gained strength as it was determined that the two perpetrators had a military background, including a past at the Fort Liberty base in North Carolina, formerly known as Fort Bragg.
US President Joseph Biden said in a broadcast message late Wednesday that federal law enforcement officers would handle both the attack that left at least 15 dead in New Orleans and the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump Tower in Las Vegas to find out whether both incidents are linked. He also warned against drawing premature conclusions.
One person was killed and seven others were injured Wednesday after a Tesla electric vehicle known as a Cybertruck model filled with fireworks exploded at about 8:40 am local time in front of a Trump Tower building in Las Vegas, Nevada. One fatal victim and seven minor injuries were corroborated by a Clark County Fire Department spokesman. The person killed was inside the Tesla vehicle, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill told reporters. There was smoke coming from the vehicle before a large explosion, he added.
At least 15 people were killed Wednesday in a mass ramming and shooting during New Year's celebrations in New Orleans in the US State of Lousiana at around 3.15 am local time. Some 35 others were reported injured after a US national with Muslim ties ran over them on Bourbon Street and later opened fire on survivors. The perpetrator was eventually gunned down by law enforcement officers, two of whom were wounded but reported stable. The FBI has taken over the investigation.
Former US President James Earl “Jimmy” Carter Jr. (1977-1981) died Sunday in the State of Georgia, The Carter Center confirmed on social media. He was 100. He had been in hospice care in Plains, Georgia, since February 2023. Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter died on Nov. 19, 2023, at age 96.
By Gwynne Dyer - From his purchase of New Jersey casinos to his proposed acquisition of Greenland, Donald Trump’s real estate deals have always been plagued by bad timing. The United States could probably have bought Greenland from Denmark in 1917 (when it did buy the U.S. Virgin Islands from the Danes), but he’s a century too late now.
US President-elect Donald Trump announced Sunday he had chosen former Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Mauricio Claver-Carone as his future State Department's Envoy to Latin America. The Cuban-born Claver-Carone was appointed to the IDB at Trump's request in 2020 but was dismissed amid an affair with a subordinate whom he had given a pay raise.
UK Prime Minister confirmed the appointment of Lord Peter Mandelson to be the next British Ambassador to the United States of America. His Majesty the King approved the appointment on the recommendation of the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary, David Lammy.
The Paraguayan Government of President Santiago Peña reversed its decision to stop all cooperation with the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on Wednesday, citing an agreement signed in 2022 during Mario Abdo Benítez's administration, of which nobody seemed to have been aware.