World Briefing: November 14, 2024
The Republicans are poised to take control of the US House of Representatives. It's expected they will win a minimum of 218 seats, with their final number likely ending up between 220 and 222. So far, the Democrats have 208, with nine still to be called. This means Donald Trump now has full control of both chambers of Congress, having already bagged a majority in the Senate, the upper chamber. When president, Trump will be able to have a smoother path to enacting policies, as there will likely be less push back from Congress - BBC
President-elect Donald Trump chose Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida to serve as his attorney general on Wednesday, bypassing more experienced options in favor of a loyalist who has built a national reputation as a disruptor and whom Trump has tasked with dramatically overhauling the Justice Department. Trump also announced that he had tapped Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida as his nominee for secretary of state. And he selected Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic member of Congress and presidential candidate, to serve as his director of national intelligence. The choices continued a pattern of Trump stocking his Cabinet with those he believes he can trust to execute his agenda rather than longtime officials with experience in their fields. Gaetz’s selection, in particular, was seen as a shock. The Florida lawmaker was not among the more established attorneys who had been mentioned as contenders for the job, and even his colleagues in Congress appeared stunned by the news. - AP
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who has been named to serve as US ambassador to Israel, previously argued that there was “no such thing as a Palestinian.” Huckabee, who has been a strong defender of Israel throughout his career, made the statement during his 2008 presidential campaign, asserting that Palestinian identity was “a political tool to try and force land away from Israel.” In his 2015 run for president, Huckabee suggested that if a Palestinian state were to be created, it should be in neighboring countries like Egypt, Syria or Jordan, rather than within Israel’s borders - CNN
With Ukrainian forces steadily losing ground in the east, two senior officials said that defending Ukraine’s interests in potential talks would hinge not on territorial boundaries, which are likely to be determined by the fighting, but on what assurances are in place to make a cease-fire hold. “Talks should be based on guarantees,” said Roman Kostenko, the chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament’s Defense and Intelligence Committee. “For Ukraine, nothing is more important.” A senior Ukrainian official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive negotiations, was more direct. “The territorial question is extremely important, but it’s still the second question,” the official said, “The first question is security guarantees.” Ukraine sets its borders based on its 1991 declaration of independence. Russia has since gained control of about 20 percent of Ukrainian land, but Kyiv would not formally renounce its claim over any territory under Russian occupation, Mr. Kostenko said - NYT
Family members of a Ukrainian legislator from President Volodymyr Zelensky’s ruling party has property in Dubai worth more than $1 million -- well beyond what they could have likely afforded on their official incomes. The revelation follows earlier revelations of secret Dubai property held by family members of 10 senior current and former Ukrainian officials. The latest findings concern the daughter and nephew of Hennadiy Kasai, who sits on the Defense Committee in the Ukrainian parliament. The information comes from a leak from various state registers in the United Arab Emirates. This was obtained and verified by Schemes, the investigative unit of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, in cooperation with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP). RFE/RL has discovered that senior current and former Ukrainian officials have luxury investments in the United Arab Emirates, after trawling through records revealed in the Dubai Unlocked property information leak. Most of them denied knowledge of Dubai real estate. The head of a department at Ukraine's cabinet of ministers told us that he didn't know his wife had purchased a $331,000 apartment, while a senior manager in a state-owned defense enterprise said his daughter must have made the purchase while "dating a sheikh." - RFE/RL
The number of adults living with diabetes worldwide has surpassed 800 million, more than quadrupling since 1990, according to new data released in The Lancet. The study reports that global diabetes prevalence in adults rose from 7% to 14% between 1990 and 2022. Low and middle income countries (LMICs) experienced the largest increases, where diabetes rates have soared while treatment access remains persistently low. This trend has led to stark global inequalities: in 2022, almost 450 million adults aged 30 and older – about 59% of all adults with diabetes – remained untreated, marking a 3.5-fold increase in untreated people since 1990. Ninety per cent of these untreated adults are living in LMICs.
We have seen an alarming rise in diabetes over the past three decades, which reflects the increase in obesity, compounded by the impacts of the marketing of unhealthy food, a lack of physical activity and economic hardship," said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “To bring the global diabetes epidemic under control, countries must urgently take action. This starts with enacting policies that support healthy diets and physical activity, and, most importantly, health systems that provide prevention, early detection and treatment.”
A third of Hong Kong residents have said they intend to move overseas, according to a recent survey. The proportion remained largely unchanged from the previous year despite residents rating the city’s liveability higher. Australia ranked as the top desired destination, with 12.7 per cent of those who wanted to leave Hong Kong saying they wished to move there. The UK ranked second, followed by Canada, Taiwan, and Japan. Regarding their reasons for intending to leave the city, 23.8 per cent cited the poor economy in Hong Kong and the lack of economic prospects, making it the most popular answer - HKFP
