World news | The Guardian

Singer urged Tony Blair not to appoint African co-chair to commission on aid, UK government papers show

The Live Aid campaigner Bob Geldof urged Tony Blair not to appoint an African co-chair to the UK-led organisation working to overhaul international aid to the continent because he thought African leadership was “very weak” on the issue, newly released government documents suggest.

The singer was “scathing about the ability and worthiness of virtually all African leaders” before the establishment in 2004 of Blair’s Commission for Africa, which would produce a report, Our Common Interest, and prompt a landmark pledge by rich nations to boost aid and write off debt.

Continue reading...

Newly released files show proposals to divert £2m – earmarked to prevent conflict in Africa – to fund scheme

Tony Blair’s government discussed diverting £2m earmarked to prevent conflict in Africa in order to fund a controversial pilot scheme to process and house asylum-seekers in Tanzania, newly released government files show.

Under the scheme, Britain would have offered Tanzania an extra £4m in aid if it opened an asylum camp to house people claiming to be Somalian refugees while their applications to live in Britain were assessed.

Continue reading...

Incident at Gelan bridge in Bona Zuria Woreda ‘claimed lives of 66 people so far’, says Sidama health bureau

More than 60 people have died after a road accident in southern Ethiopia, the local health authority said on Sunday.

Sidama state is in the south of Ethiopia, about 300km south of the capital Addis Ababa.

Continue reading...

Visitor numbers to the African country lag far behind its neighbours due to lack of infrastructure and national planning. Now some are starting to demand changes

At the top of the Ado-Awaye hills lies a lake suspended 433 metres above sea level. Local people say the lake is named Iyake (Yoruba for “crying woman”) after a weeping, barren woman who fell in the water hundreds of years ago, conferring on it powers of fertility.

This belief in the divine is evident in the foothills, where a huge boulder is emblazoned with the words, written in golden letters: “Here we come: African Jerusalem.”

Continue reading...

Resolution allows deployment of 12,626 personnel – but it is unclear if Ethiopia will stay part of peacekeeping force amid territory dispute

The UN has authorised a new African peacekeeping mission to continue supporting Somalia in its fight against al-Shabaab, the insurgent group affiliated with al-Qaida, but there are doubts about whether troops from neighbouring Ethiopia will remain part of the deployment.

The UN security council adopted a resolution on Friday allowing the deployment of up to 12,626 personnel to support the Somali government’s nearly two decades-long fight against al-Shabaab.

Continue reading...

Call for illicit market to be taken out of hands of criminals as numbers continue to fall drastically due to poaching

International trade in rhino horns should be legalised, a leading wildlife expert has urged.

Writing in the research journal Science, Martin Wikelski argues only carefully monitored, legitimate transactions in horns can save the world’s remaining species of rhinoceros.

Continue reading...

Letter allegedly written by US official shows contradictions in how government handled mysterious health incidents

A leaked letter purportedly written by a senior US military official and published on social media on Monday highlights stark contradictions in the government’s approach to victims of Havana syndrome – a mysterious series of health incidents affecting personnel at embassies and consulates overseas.

The letter, dated 24 March 2024 and signed by air force Brig Gen Shannon O’Harren, reassures victims of the “anomalous health incidents” (AHIs) that the defense department believed that their experiences and symptoms were real while promising them quality healthcare that never came.

Continue reading...

A spate of murders has taken the Caribbean nation’s total to 623 in 2024, of which nearly half were gang related and almost all linked to organised crime, say police

The government of Trinidad and Tobago has declared a state of emergency after a weekend of violence in the Caribbean dual-island nation took the number of murders this year to 623.

Five men were shot overnight in an estate on the outskirts of the capital, Port of Spain, a man killed outside a police station on Saturday, and a 57-year-old woman was shot dead on Friday as she collected her teenage son from hospital in San Fernando.

Continue reading...

Diplomatic residence, where five members have been staying since March, has had power cut for more than a month

Five Venezuelan opposition members taking refuge in the Argentine embassy in Caracas to avoid arrest say it has become a “prison”.

The residence has been without power for more than a month, Magalli Meda, adviser to opposition leader María Corina Machado, said on X.

Continue reading...

Protests have erupted nationwide after disappearance of boys not seen since they were approached by soldiers

The disappearance of four boys in Ecuador after they came into contact with the armed forces is posing a severe challenge to President Daniel Noboa’s “war on drugs”.

The four – all black, aged between 11 and 15, and residents of Las Malvinas, a poor area in the country’s largest city, Guayaquil – were returning from a football game near their homes on 8 December when 16 air force soldiers approached them.

Continue reading...

On Truth Social, president-elect also lashes out at Chinese troops in Panama Canal and Canadian PM Justin Trudeau

Donald Trump has told 37 people on death row who had their sentences commuted by Joe Biden to “go to hell” in a lacerating Christmas Day social media post.

The president-elect – long a vocal advocate of capital punishment – lashed out at Biden’s decision on his Truth Social platform, after wishing a merry Christmas to political opponents he addressed as “Radical Left Lunatics”.

Continue reading...

Announcement comes as Trump has threatened to reassert control over canal, which US handed to Panama in 1999

President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday nominated the Miami-Dade county commissioner Kevin Marino Cabrera to serve as ambassador to Panama.

Trump described Cabrera as “a fierce fighter for America First principles” who he said has been instrumental in driving economic growth and fostering international partnerships.

Continue reading...

Gulf province councillor says growing numbers are leaving, in what climate activist describes as a ‘humanitarian crisis’

Two years ago fisher Siri James lived on the southern coast of Papua New Guinea, in a small village near Pariva beach. But as the tides continued to rise, James was forced to move further in from the shore.

“It’s not easy moving inland, I was born and raised by the seas, I am a fisherman. I know the flow of tides and currents, I know when the wind will come strongly and when it will rain – but now I don’t understand why everything is changing,” says James, who is in his early 40s.

Continue reading...

The warrant was sought over Yoon’s controversial and short-lived decision to impose martial law early in December

A South Korean court has approved an arrest warrant for President Yoon Suk Yeol, who has been impeached and suspended from power over his decision to impose martial law on 3 December, investigating authorities said.

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) confirmed the Seoul Western District Court approved the warrant requested by investigators examining Yoon’s short-lived imposition of martial law.

Continue reading...

Authorities announce investigation as shocked citizens enter second day of official mourning

South Korea has launched an emergency safety inspection of the country’s entire airline operations, and a separate check of all Boeing 737-800s, after 179 people died in a Jeju Air crash involving the aircraft on Sunday.

As shocked citizens began a second day of official mourning and flags flew at half-mast, the government said it would carry out the audit of all 101 of the aircraft in domestic operation, with US investigators, possibly including Boeing, joining the inspection.

Continue reading...

Mizo Games wants players to have a chance to ‘experience war on the tabletop before it reaches us’

As families in Taiwan prepare to gather for lunar new year celebrations in January, a game that will be released that month promises to offer some war-themed fun over the festive period.

The board game 2045, developed by the Taiwanese company Mizo Games, invites players to participate in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years in the future. Players are given roles that include Taiwanese army officers, Chinese sleeper agents and volunteer citizen fighters.

Continue reading...

Relatives’ representative also says Jeju Air must do everything it can to help families financially. This live blog is closed

• Full report: South Korea in mourning

Choi orders transport ministry to conduct emergency safety inspection of country’s entire airline system

Circling back to earlier remarks from acting president Choi Sang-mok:

Continue reading...

Even as experts remain puzzled by Jeju Air crash, they are sceptical a bird strike was sole cause of fatal disaster

One day after the fatal airline disaster in South Korea, the answer as to what went wrong with Jeju Air 2216 remains elusive.

Even as experts remain puzzled by what caused the crash that killed 179 people, experts say that a bird striking the engine is unlikely to be the sole factor.

Continue reading...

People living near the Murray river or adjacent regions urged to take extra precautions to avoid disease transmitted by mosquitoes

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

The likely first summer case of a potentially deadly mosquito-borne virus has been identified in regional Victoria.

Japanese encephalitis, a flavivirus related to dengue and yellow fever, was detected in a resident in the state’s north, the Department of Health announced on Tuesday.

Continue reading...

Night skies will light up on New Year’s Eve to welcome in 2025. Here’s your guide to child-friendly shows plus what time and where to see the fireworks in Sydney, Melbourne and across the country

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

Night skies across Australia will light up on New Year’s Eve to herald the beginning of 2025.

Whether you are in a capital city or regional town, there are fireworks displays scheduled early in the night – for children, and those wishing to hit the hay early – and at midnight, for people counting down to the new year.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Friends last saw missing man Hadi Nazari, 24, descending the Hannels Spur Trail on Thursday

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

The search for a 24-year-old hiker missing in Kosciuszko national park since Boxing Day has entered its sixth day, with the man’s sister expressing fears about potential threats to his safety.

Hadi Nazari, an experienced hiker whose birthday was on Tuesday, has not been seen since, when friends had descending the Hannels Spur Trail at Geehi, between Khancoban and Thredbo, on Thursday.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Particles recorded by scientists at the Chilean research station, the Profesor Julio Escudero Base, as recently as Sunday

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

Smoke from bushfires in south-eastern Australia has been detected over Antarctica for the first time since the 2019-20 black summer fires.

Scientists detected the smoke particles at the Profesor Julio Escudero Base, a Chilean research station on King George Island, at the northern tip of the Antarctic peninsula.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Bigger Austudy and carer allowance payments, higher Medicare safety net thresholds and mandatory corporate reporting on climate also ahead

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

With the new year comes new policies, laws, taxes and reforms. Here’s everything to know about changes on 1 January, 2025 that could affect you.

Continue reading...

Competition named after champion surfer Eddie Aikau is held only when waves in Waimea Bay top 30ft

A rare surfing event, the Eddie, took place in Hawaii last week, thanks to some giant waves.

Formed about a week ago in the north Pacific Ocean, the waves emerged as a low-pressure system produced an exceptionally large swell. They went on to hit Hawaii, enabling the Eddie to take place for just the 11th time in its 40-year history.

Continue reading...

Chancellor’s New Year’s Eve address follows Elon Musk’s endorsement of German far-right party AfD on X

The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has urged voters not to let the “owners of social media channels” decide next year’s snap election, after Elon Musk repeatedly endorsed the far-right party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD).

In a New Year’s Eve address recorded for television and made available before its broadcast on Tuesday, Scholz said German citizens alone had the power to decide “where Germany goes from here” after the general election on 23 February.

Continue reading...

Some of the freed Ukrainians had been held since war’s early days, while Russians were captured in Ukraine’s Kursk offensive

Russia and Ukraine have carried out a major prisoner exchange, with at least 150 people from each side returning home before New Year’s Eve, in a swap partly brokered by the United Arab Emirates.

“The return of our people from Russian captivity is always very good news for each of us. And today is one of such days: our team managed to bring 189 Ukrainians home,” the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said in a message posted on Telegram on Monday.

Continue reading...

Trial conducted solely against teenager’s parents as their son could not be criminally prosecuted due to his age

A Belgrade court has jailed the parents of a 13-year-old boy after he shot dead nine students and a security guard at an elementary school in Serbia’s capital last year.

The killings, on 3 May 2023, deeply shocked the Balkan state, where mass shootings have been rare despite high levels of gun ownership.

Continue reading...

Electricity cable link to Estonia was damaged on Christmas Day in suspected Russian act of sabotage

Finnish investigators say they have found a seabed trail stretching almost 100km (about 60 miles) around the site of an underwater electricity cable that was damaged on Christmas Day in a suspected act of Russian sabotage.

The ship under suspicion of causing the damage, a vessel called the Eagle S flying the flag of the Cook Islands, is believed to be part of Russia’s so-called shadow fleet, used for transporting Russian oil products subject to embargos after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Continue reading...

Government spokesperson says freedom of speech ‘covers the greatest nonsense’ after Musk’s endorsements of AfD

The German government has accused Elon Musk of trying to meddle in the country’s election campaign with repeated endorsements of the far-right party AfD.

“It is indeed the case that Elon Musk is trying to influence the federal election,” said the government spokesperson Christiane Hoffmann after Musk’s X posts and an opinion piece published at the weekend backing the anti-Muslim, anti-migration Alternative für Deutschland.

Continue reading...

Lawyer says he wishes to spare Gisèle Pelicot a new ordeal after marathon trial convicted all 51 accused

Dominique Pelicot will not appeal against his conviction for drugging and raping his wife and inviting strangers to rape her, his lawyer has said.

Béatrice Zavarro said the former electrician, 72, who was jailed for the maximum 20 years this month, wished to spare his now ex-wife, Gisèle Pelicot, a new ordeal but admitted there was also the risk a new trial in front of a public jury could mean a longer prison sentence.

Continue reading...

A senior US official said the president needed a ‘dose of reality’ to deal with Iraqi insurgents, documents reveal

Tony Blair’s advisers privately questioned if the US had “proper political control” of military operations in Iraq after a senior US official confided that George W Bush believed he was on a “mission from God” against Iraqi insurgents, newly released documents reveal.

Blair needed to “deliver some difficult messages” to the then US president for a “more measured approach” in April 2004, following a US military operation to suppress a major uprising in the city of Falluja, according to papers released to the National Archives in Kew, west London.

Continue reading...

Council tells Israeli ambassador it condemns air raids that have killed Yemeni civilians as well as Houthi attacks

Israel has set out its case to the UN security council for a full assault on Houthi forces in Yemen, claiming the Iranian-backed group now represents a well-armed terrorist army that threatens not just the regional economy but the entire global order.

The Israeli foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, also called for the Houthis to be designated as a foreign terrorist organisation, a step that may make it more difficult for Iran to provide material support without facing further economic sanctions.

Continue reading...

Hussam Abu Safiya feared injured as Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza shut down after 11 weeks under siege

One of the few doctors still working in northern Gaza has been taken to an Israeli prison and his hospital shut down, his family believe.

Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan hospital in Gaza’s Jabaliya refugee camp, was initially taken to the Sde Teiman detention camp, according to his son, who has been told that the doctor’s leg was badly injured during a raid on the hospital by Israeli soldiers.

Continue reading...

For years reporters at Syria’s state news agency had to toe the line. As life in Syria grew harder, so did the their work

After 21 years, the day Farouk feared had finally come. An envelope sealed with red wax made its way through the faded hallways of Syria’s national news agency, Sana, and landed on his desk. Inside was what employees called a penalty, the contents of which could range from a reprimand from the editors to a summons to one of Syria’s brutal security branches.

“I found a mistake before the article was published and I brought it to the editors’ attention. I thought this would be a good thing but they punished me,” Farouk, a journalist on Sana’s foreign news desk, said under a pseudonym.

Continue reading...

Order triggers new wave of displacement and there are reports of damage to two more Gaza hospitals

Israel has issued new evacuation orders for all remaining civilians to leave Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza as part of a blistering three-month-old campaign that Israel denies is aimed at depopulating a third of the Palestinian territory, amid reports Israeli attacks have damaged two more struggling hospitals in Gaza City.

The Israeli army forcibly evacuated Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia on Friday, leaving the northern third of the strip, which is cut off from the rest of Gaza, with just one small functioning medical centre, al-Awda, in nearby Jabalia. On Sunday, everyone remaining in Beit Lahia was ordered to leave after Palestinian militants launched five rockets from the area that targeted Israeli territory.

Continue reading...

Kamal Adwan in Beit Lahia was partially destroyed and critical patients are at grave risk, the UN body says

The World Health Organization says it is “appalled” by an Israeli raid which it said had shut down and partly destroyed the last major hospital still functioning in northern Gaza.

Israel’s “systematic dismantling of the health system” combined with a siege of the population in the north of the coastal strip over the past 80 days “puts the lives of the 75,000 Palestinians remaining in the area at risk”, the WHO said.

Continue reading...

President Aliyev says Moscow must ‘admit its guilt’ after downing plane, albeit unintentionally, with loss of 38 lives

Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev said the Azerbaijani airliner that crashed last week was shot down by Russia, albeit unintentionally, and criticised Moscow for trying to “hush up” the issue for days.

“We can say with complete clarity that the plane was shot down by Russia … we are not saying that it was done intentionally, but it was done,” he told Azerbaijani state television.

Continue reading...

People line streets to pay tribute to man who steered India through some of its most turbulent economic times

India bade farewell to former prime minister Manmohan Singh, the architect of the country’s economic transformation, with a state funeral in New Delhi, complete with full honours and a 21-gun salute.

Sikh priests chanted hymns as Singh’s flag-draped coffin, strewn with rose petals, was carried on a carriage through the capital, pulled by a ceremonially decorated army truck. Congress party supporters chanted: “As long as the sun and moon remain, your name will remain,” and “Long live Manmohan Singh” as Singh’s body was removed from the headquarters of the left-leaning party, where it had been lying in state.

Continue reading...

Carrier suspends flights to five Russian airports after early findings of investigation into crash on Christmas Day

The aircraft that crashed in Kazakhstan on Christmas Day, killing 38 people, experienced “external physical and technical interference”, according to preliminary results of an investigation, Azerbaijan Airlines said on Friday.

The early findings led the carrier to suspend flights to five Russian airports, citing “potential risks to flight safety”, adding to the two routes that were suspended immediately after the crash.

Continue reading...

The ex-politician was admitted to hospital on Thursday after his health deteriorated

Manmohan Singh, India’s first Sikh prime minister and the architect of the big-bang economic reforms that set the stage for the country’s emergence as a global powerhouse, has died aged 92.

A hospital statement attributed Singh’s death to “age-related medical conditions”.

Continue reading...

Aircraft carrying 62 passengers and five crew was en route from Baku to Grozny in Chechnya

Twenty-nine people have survived after a passenger plane operated by Azerbaijan Airlines burst into flames as it crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan after veering hundreds of miles off its planned route.

The flight was carrying 62 passengers and five crew members with 38 killed in the crash, according to Kazakhstan’s deputy prime minister, Kanat Bozumbayev.

Continue reading...

Ukraine official also says crash caused by Russian air defence fire, while Russia plays down involvement

Russia and Kazakhstan have sought to play down speculation about the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash, as a US official said there were early indications that a Russian anti-aircraft system may have struck the plane.

The assertion comes after a Ukrainian national security official and several sources in Azerbaijan claimed that the crash, which killed 38 people on Christmas Day, was caused by Russian air defence fire.

Continue reading...

Cabinet was split over east European countries joining in 2004, with some ‘extremely concerned’ by its implications

Senior figures in Tony Blair’s government, including John Prescott and Jack Straw, urged the then prime minister to delay opening the UK labour market to eastern European nationals shortly before they became EU citizens, newly released documents reveal.

Papers released to the National Archives in Kew, west London, showed Prescott and Straw warned of a surge in immigration unless some controls were put in place.

Continue reading...

Government accuses Tories and rightwing media of being ‘out of touch’, as VAT policy due to come into force

The government has accused critics of its plan to put VAT on private school fees of being detached from the real world after polling showed the policy, which will come into force on 1 January, is strongly backed by the public.

The poll, commissioned by the Private Education Policy Forum (PEPF) thinktank, found that 54% of people backed the idea, with 22% opposing it. This is an even greater margin of support than seen in similar polls carried out before the election.

Continue reading...

Stretched primary services causing increase in emergency visits for issues from coughs to hiccups, health leaders say

The number of people turning to A&E departments in England for minor ailments including hiccups, sore throats and coughs is soaring, as senior health leaders warn that NHS primary and community services are “massively overstretched”.

NHS data shows a large increase in people arriving at emergency departments for non-emergency ailments including backache, insomnia and earache.

Continue reading...

Patients waiting many hours for ambulances to arrive, while those phoning 999 struggle to get through

A “critical incident” was declared by the Welsh ambulance service on Monday evening due to significantly increased demand and extensive handover delays.

The ambulance service, which covers 3 million-plus people across Wales, said more than 340 calls were waiting to be answered at the time the critical incident was declared.

Continue reading...

Mayor of London ‘truly humbled’ to be made a knight as authors, actors and sporting stars receive honours

• Arise, Sir Gareth: Southgate given knighthood

Sadiq Khan and Stephen Fry received knighthoods along with the former England manager Gareth Southgate while Emily Thornberry became a dame in the first new year honours list since Labour’s general election win.

The mayor of London, who secured a record third term in City Hall this May, said he was “truly humbled” by the honour. Fry, who first made his name as one half of a double act with Hugh Laurie in the late 1980s, said he had felt “startled and enchanted” on receiving the news.

Continue reading...

Former post office operators recognised in new year honours list for services to justice

Campaigners for justice in the Post Office scandal have said they will “never give in” after receiving OBEs in the new year honours list.

Lee Castleton, Seema Misra, Chris Head and Jo Hamilton were all honoured for services to justice. The lead campaigner, Sir Alan Bates, was knighted earlier this year.

Continue reading...

State funeral to be held for former president on national day of mourning before he is buried next to wife in Plains

Jimmy Carter, the former US president who died aged 100 on Sunday, will be honored with a state funeral before being laid to rest in his home town of Plains, Georgia, next to his wife, Rosalynn.

The proceedings to honor the 29th president of the United States will start on Saturday, when a motorcade accompanying Carter will travel through Plains to his boyhood home. The procession will briefly pause in front of his family’s farm.

Continue reading...

Third-party cybersecurity provider was compromised after hackers obtained key to override certain systems

Chinese state-sponsored hackers breached the US treasury department earlier this month, accessing several employee workstations and unclassified documents, according to an agency spokesperson.

The breach was orchestrated via a third-party cybersecurity service provider, BeyondTrust. Hackers were able to gain access to a key used by the vendor to override certain parts of the system, according to a letter the treasury department sent to lawmakers on Monday that was reviewed by the Guardian.

Continue reading...

Aubrey Vanlandingham charged with animal cruelty after reportedly confessing to force-feeding pesticide to goat

A Texas teenager has been charged with animal cruelty after she was accused of using pesticide to poison and kill a rival’s competition show goat.

Authorities allege that Aubrey Vanlandingham, 17, used a drench gun to force-feed toxic pesticide to the goat, named Willie, at a barn at the Vista Ridge high school in Cedar Park in October.

Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed. You can see more coverage of the late Jimmy Carter here.

Writing in the New York Times, the administrator of the US agency for international development (USAid) Samantha Power, says of Jimmy Carter’s legacy:

The former president’s regard for human rights was an outgrowth of his Christian faith — a faith so animating that he continued to teach Sunday school while president. Carter’s embrace of international human rights also grew out of his commitment to civil rights at home.

His human rights message had broad appeal in the wake of Watergate and Vietnam, with Americans and many in Congress clamoring for ethics and decency from their leaders.

Upon the death of former US president Jimmy Carter, the Norwegian Nobel Committee would like to repeat its praise for his “decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.”

Earlier this fall, the committee had the pleasure of congratulating him on his 100th anniversary, stating that his work in favour of peace, democracy and human rights will be remembered for another 100 years or more.

Continue reading...

Ian Cramer, 43, son of North Dakota senator Kevin Cramer, sentenced over incident last year in which he fled hospital

The adult son of the Republican North Dakota US senator Kevin Cramer has been sentenced to serve 28 years in prison in connection with a wild chase in which he fled from a hospital and drove into a deputy’s vehicle, killing the deputy.

Ian Cramer, 43, pleaded guilty in September to all of the charges against him, including homicide while fleeing a peace officer, preventing arrest, reckless endangerment, fleeing an officer and drug- and driving-related offenses. Those charges related to the chase and crash in December last year that killed the Mercer county sheriff’s deputy Paul Martin, 53.

Continue reading...

President-elect gives ‘total endorsement’ amid discontent among fellow Republicans with speaker’s leadership

Donald Trump has endorsed Mike Johnson for another term as speaker of the House of Representatives, following intense speculation that the Louisiana congressman could face a challenge amid unhappiness with his leadership among fellow Republicans.

The president-elect – whose own continued support had appeared uncertain – trumpeted his backing in a social media post that appeared to assure Johnson’s re-election speaker after the new Congress is sworn in on Friday.

Continue reading...