"Trump becomes first former President sentenced for felony."
Views expressed in this World and U.S. News update are those of the reporters and correspondents. Accessed on 11 January 2025, 0114 UTC.
Content and Source: E-mail update from "The Wall Street Journal."
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgzQZSZJwhXZkkLmxKBZPhCzdKZdD
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Russ Roberts (https://trendsingeopolitics.blogspot.com).
Good afternoon. Here’s what you should know today, Jan. 10:
| - A L.A. power company hasn’t implemented an increasingly used wildfire safety protocol
- The Trumps are trying to reclaim their prized D.C. hotel
- Taiwan’s lock-kneed soldiers are kicking up a fuss over a tabooed tradition
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By Zlati Meyer
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Note: Seasonally adjusted Source: Labor Department |
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1. U.S. hiring in December blew past expectations.
| The economy added 256,000 jobs ( read for free) and the unemployment rate edged down to 4.1%, the Labor Department said. It’s the latest sign that the labor market has recovered from its midyear stumble and might be gaining steam. The data shuts the door on a Fed interest-rate cut this month and reduces the chances of one at its subsequent meeting in March. Major U.S. stock indexes slid 1.5% or more. |
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2. Donald Trump was sentenced to no punishment for covering up hush money paid to a porn star.
| The judge said that the presidency’s protections insulated Trump from more substantial penalties but “do not reduce the seriousness of the crime or justify its commission.” The president-elect, who appeared virtually from Mar-a-Lago, said that the business records in question were accurately marked and that the case was a political witch hunt to cost him the election. Trump is the first former president found guilty of and sentenced for a crime. |
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3. A L.A. utility didn’t implement common wildfire safety measures that every other big California power provider has in place.
| The L.A. Department of Water and Power hasn’t developed a plan to proactively shut off parts of its system during windstorms to reduce the risk of power line sparks, regulatory filings show. What ignited the fires now blazing around L.A. hasn’t been determined. LADWP said that it has other safety measures in place and that widespread outages pose risks to critical city and emergency services. Meanwhile, firefighters hope a reprieve from powerful winds this weekend could help them contain a disaster that has scorched more than 35,000 acres and killed at least 10 people. |
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4. The Supreme Court voiced skepticism of TikTok’s challenge to a law requiring it to shut down or find new owners.
| The justices heard oral arguments on the constitutionality of a bipartisan bill that President Biden signed in April, citing national security concerns over the social media app’s Chinese ownership. TikTok argued that the ban, which is set to take effect on Jan. 19, is a violation of its First Amendment rights. ByteDance, which owns TikTok, has said that it won’t—and can’t—sell its U.S. business. |
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5. Trump’s real-estate company is in talks to reclaim its former Washington hotel.
| Eric Trump this week met with the merchant bank controlling the long-term lease on the property, people familiar with the matter said. The move could offer an early test of how the president-elect will handle potential conflicts of interest. The elder Trump, who opened the D.C. Trump International Hotel in 2016, sold the lease rights in 2022 for $375 million. It’s now a Waldorf Astoria. Meanwhile, once in office, Trump will separate himself from the Trump Organization, according to ethics rules the company released today. |
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The Number
| 1.62 | The high-end estimate of the difference between the average global temperature in 2024 and pre-industrial levels, in degrees Celsius. The low-end estimate was 1.47. More than 190 countries, including the U.S., agreed to try to stay below 1.5 degrees Celsius as part of the Paris Agreement. Among the 2025 climate trends to watch for: bumpier air travel and fewer Florida oranges. |
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Quoted
“People are being pressured to tip for things they didn’t used to, and I feel my income is under threat because of this.”
| —Jenni Emmons, a server at a Chicago eatery. The average tip at full-service restaurants dropped to 19.3% in the third quarter from a peak of 19.9% in early 2021 and hasn’t budged much since, according to restaurant payment system operator Toast. Americans are tired of rising prices and prompts for gratuities everywhere from airport concessions to gas stations. |
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Catch Up
| - Disney, Fox and Warner Won’t Move Forward With Venu Sports (Read)
- Polymarket Criticized for L.A. Wildfire Betting Markets (Read)
- Former WWE Boss Vince McMahon Settles SEC Charges Over Payments to Women (Read)
- The U.K. Is the Biggest Loser From the Rise in Yields (Read)
- Heard on the Street: Trump Says World Is Free-Riding on U.S. Health Spending. He Has a Point. (Read)
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Reporter's Journal
| Between Donald Trump’s interest in annexing Canada and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s resignation, Americans have suddenly become more interested in the country. It’s the U.S.’s neighbor and second-biggest trading partner, so the implications of these geopolitical developments are significant, eh? Reporter Vipal Monga writes about social issues, economics, financial market trends and geopolitics from Toronto. I spoke to him about Trudeau’s denouement, the favo(u)rite to be Canada’s next P.M. and what residents of the Great White North think about joining the red, white and blue. Write to him at vipal.monga@wsj.com. |
| What prompted Trudeau to step down? Please answer in English and French. Kidding! |
| It was clear he had lost the support of most of his own party. Coupled with awful poll numbers ahead of a general election that has to happen by October, Trudeau’s situation became untenable. His exit is the end of an era. He was the most dominant figure in Canadian politics over the past decade and helped steer Canada in a more progressive direction. If polls today are accurate, Trudeau’s Liberal Party will lose the next election, and a new, Conservative government will likely push the country in a more populist direction. |
| What would it mean for the U.S. if Pierre Poilievre, the leader of the Conservative party, becomes Canada’s new prime minister? |
| The likely winner of the next Canadian election will be Poilievre, a lifelong politician, who has adopted the right-leaning playbook used by many populist governments around the world. He’d be more ideologically in line with the second Trump administration when it comes to the economy, but more moderate [than Trump] on social policy. He's pro-choice, for example. Trump—who famously dislikes Trudeau—could find he has more of an ally on global issues with Poilievre. |
| | His comments about annexing Canada might have started off as a joke, but they’ve become increasingly serious. I think Trump feels that he needs more access to many of Canada’s resources including oil, gas, uranium and water. He's serious in his desire, but it’s unclear if he thinks it's a realistic possibility. In keeping with Trump’s negotiating style, the idea of annexation might just be an opening bid aimed at forcing Canada to give the U.S. more of the resources it needs. |
| Do Canadians want their country annexed? |
| They mostly reject Trump’s proposal. In a recent poll, only 13% said that they support the idea of joining the U.S. Much of Canada’s identity is based on not being the U.S. What is now Canada was populated in its early years by thousands of British Loyalists who fled during the American Revolution because they wanted to stay with the British Empire. |
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Take a Break
|  | PHOTO: JOYU WANG/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL |
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| The Taiwanese Army’s goose-stepping had its swan song in June, but vets who like that marching style aren’t pleased. |
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Welcome to my geopolitics blog site. This is a Hawaii Island news site focusing on geopolitical news, analysis, information, and commentary. I will cite a variety of sources, ranging from all sides of the political spectrum.