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Washington — President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday that former Republican presidential contender Nikki Haley and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will not be asked to join his administration. 

“I will not be inviting former Ambassador Nikki Haley, or former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to join the Trump Administration, which is currently in formation,” Trump posted on social media. “I very much enjoyed and appreciated working with them previously, and would like to thank them for their service to our country.” 

Trump is meeting with potential candidates to serve in his administration before his January 20 inauguration as president. Reuters reported Friday that Trump met with prominent investor Scott Bessent, who is a potential U.S. Treasury Secretary nominee. 

Haley, a former South Carolina governor who served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under Trump, endorsed Trump for president despite having criticized him harshly when she ran against him in the party primaries.  

Pompeo, who also served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency under Trump, has been mentioned in some media reports as a possible defense secretary and also had been seen a potential Republican presidential candidate, before he announced in April 2023 he would not run. 

Haley and Pompeo could not immediately be reached for comment on Saturday. 

During his first term as president, Trump made some key personnel announcements via social media posts. 

Separately, Trump said the 2025 presidential inauguration will be co-chaired by real estate investor and campaign donor Steve Witkoff and former Senator Kelly Loeffler. 
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The election of Republican Kelly Ayotte as New Hampshire’s governor means 13 women will serve as a state’s chief executive next year, breaking the record of 12 set after the 2022 elections.

Governors hold powerful sway in American politics, shaping state policy and often using the experience and profile gained to launch campaigns for higher offices.

“It matters to have women in those roles to normalize the image of women in political leadership and even more specifically in executive leadership, where they’re the sole leader, not just a member of a team,” said Kelly Dittmar, director of research at the Rutgers Center for American Women and Politics.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer was floated as a potential Democratic nominee for president after President Joe Biden exited the race. Republican South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem was thought to be in the running for President-elect Donald Trump’s vice presidential post.

Ayotte, a former U.S. senator, defeated the Democratic nominee Joyce Craig, a former mayor of Manchester, New Hampshire’s largest city.

Still, 18 states have never had a woman in the governor’s office.

“This is another side of political leadership where women continue to be underrepresented,” Dittmar said. “Thirteen out of 50 is still underrepresentation.”

With two women vying for governor in New Hampshire, a new record for female governors was inevitable. The state has a long history of electing women. As a senator, Ayotte was part of the nation’s first all-female congressional delegation. It was also the first state to have a female governor, state Senate president and House speaker at the same time, and the first to have a female majority in its Senate. Ayotte will be the state’s third woman to be governor.

“Being a woman isn’t really that critical to her political persona,” Linda Fowler, professor emerita of government at Dartmouth College, said of Ayotte.

Both Ayotte and Craig said their gender hasn’t come up on the campaign trail although reproductive rights often took front and center.

In her campaign, Craig attacked Ayotte’s record on abortion, and both candidates released TV ads detailing their own miscarriages. Ayotte said she will veto any bill further restricting abortion in New Hampshire where it is illegal after 24 weeks of pregnancy.

When Ayotte is sworn in, five Republican women will serve as governor at the same time, another new high. The other eight are Democrats.

New Hampshire’s was one of the few competitive gubernatorial races among the 11 this year. More inroads or setbacks for women’s representation could come in 2026 when 36 states will elect governors.Most voters tend to cast their ballots based on party loyalty and ideology rather than gender, Dittmar said. However, she noted female candidates often face layers of scrutiny that male counterparts largely avoid, with voters judging such things as a woman’s intelligence, appearance and even dating history with a sharper lens.

The small gain for women in governor’s offices comes as Vice President Kamala Harris failed in her effort to become the first female president.

“I would not suggest to you that Kamala Harris lost a race because she was a woman, because she was a Black and South Asian woman,” Dittmar said. “We would also fail to tell the correct story if we didn’t acknowledge the ways in which both gender and race shapes the campaign overall, and also had a direct effect on how Kamala Harris was evaluated by voters, treated by her opponents and even in the media and other spaces.”

Executive roles, especially the presidency with its associations like commander in chief, often carry masculine stereotypes that women must work harder to overcome, Dittmar said.

Experts say women confront these perceptions more acutely in executive races, such as for governor and president, than in state legislatures, where women are making historic strides as leaders, filling roles such as speaker and committee chairs.

“Sexism, racism, misogyny, it’s never the silver bullet. It’s never why one voter acts one way or another,” said Erin Vilardi, CEO of Vote Run Lead, a left-leaning group that supports women running for state legislatures. “But we have so much of that built in to how we see a leader.”
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Most strokes could be prevented, according to new guidelines aimed at helping people and their doctors do just that. 

Stroke was the fourth-leading cause of death in the U.S. in 2023, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and more than half a million Americans have a stroke every year. But up to 80% of strokes may be preventable with better nutrition, exercise and identification of risk factors. 

The first new guidelines on stroke prevention in 10 years from the American Stroke Association, a division of the American Heart Association, include recommendations for people and doctors that reflect a better understanding of who gets strokes and why, along with new drugs that can help reduce risk. 

The good news is that the best way to reduce your risk for stroke is also the best way to reduce your risk for a whole host of health problems — eat a healthy diet, move your body and don’t smoke. The bad news is that it’s not always so easy to sustain. 

Dr. Sean Duke, a stroke doctor at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, blames the forces in society that keep people sedentary and eating poorly, like cell phones and cheap, unhealthy food. “Our world is stacked against us,” he said. 

Here’s what to know about stroke and the new guidelines: 

What is a stroke? 

A stroke happens when blood flow to part of the brain is blocked or if a blood vessel in the brain bursts. That deprives the brain of oxygen which can cause brain damage that can lead to difficulty thinking, talking and walking, or even death. 

How eating healthy can reduce your risk for stroke 

Eating healthy can help control several factors that increase your risk for stroke, including high cholesterol, high blood sugar, and obesity, according to the heart association. 

The group recommends foods in the so-called Mediterranean diet such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains and olive oil, which can help keep cholesterol levels down. It suggests limiting red meat and other sources of saturated fat. Instead, get your protein from beans, nuts, poultry, fish and seafood. 

Limit highly processed foods and foods and drinks with a lot of added sugar. This can also reduce your calorie intake, which helps keep weight in check. 

Moving your body can help prevent strokes 

Getting up and walking around for at least 10 minutes a day can “drastically” reduce your risk, said Dr. Cheryl Bushnell, a neurologist at Wake Forest University School of Medicine who was part of the group that came up with the new guidelines. Among the many benefits: Regular exercise can help reduce blood pressure, a major risk factor for stroke. 

Of course, more is better: The heart association recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic or 75 minutes of vigorous activity — or some combination — per week. How you do it doesn’t matter so much, experts said: Go to the gym, take a walk or run in your neighborhood or use treadmills or stepper machines at home. 

New tools to reduce obesity, a risk factor for stroke 

Diet and exercise can help control weight, another important risk factor for strokes. But a new class of drugs that can drastically reduce weight have been approved by regulators, providing new tools to reduce stroke risk since guidelines were last updated. 

The guidelines now recommend that doctors consider prescribing these drugs, including those sold under the brand names Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound, to people with obesity or diabetes. 

But while those drugs can help, people still need to eat well and get exercise, cautions Dr. Fadi Nahab, a stroke expert at Emory University Hospital. 

Guidelines help identify people who might be at higher risk 

The new guidelines for the first time recommend doctors screen patients for other factors that could increase stroke risk, including sex and gender and non-medical factors such as economic stability, access to health care, discrimination and racism. For example, the risk for having a first stroke is nearly twice as high for Black adults in the U.S. as it is for white adults, according to the CDC. 

“If somebody doesn’t have insurance or they can’t get to a doctor’s office because of transportation issues or they can’t get off work to get health care … these are all things that can impact the ability to prevent stroke,” Bushnell said. 

Doctors may be able to point to resources for low-cost health care or food, and can give ideas about how to be active without breaking the bank for a gym membership. 

The guidelines also now recommend doctors should screen for conditions that could increase a woman’s risk for stroke, such as high blood pressure during pregnancy or early menopause. 

How do I know if I’m having a stroke and what do I do? 

Three of the most common stroke symptoms include face weakness, arm weakness and difficulty speaking. And time is important, because brain damage can happen quickly and damage can be limited if a stroke is treated quickly. Stroke experts have coined an acronym to help you remember: FAST. F for face, A for arm, S for speech, and T for time. If you think you or a loved one could be having a stroke, call 911 right away. 
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WASHINGTON — The U.S. Defense Department will appeal a military judge’s ruling that plea agreements struck by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks, and two of his co-defendants are valid, a defense official said Saturday.

The ruling this past week voided Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s order to throw out the deals and concluded that the plea agreements were valid. The judge granted the three motions to enter guilty pleas and said he would schedule them for a future date to be determined by the military commission.

The department will also seek a postponement of any hearing on the pleas, according to the official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss legal matters and spoke on condition of anonymity. Rear Admiral Aaron Rugh, the chief prosecutor, sent a letter Friday to the families of 9/11 victims informing them of the decision.

The ruling by the judge, Air Force Colonel Matthew McCall, allowed the three 9/11 defendants to enter guilty pleas in the U.S. military courtroom at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and would spare them the risk of the death penalty. The pleas by Mohammed, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi would be a key step toward closing out the long-running and legally troubled government prosecution in the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.

Government prosecutors had negotiated the deals with defense lawyers under government auspices, and the top official for the military commission at Guantanamo had approved the agreements. But the deals were immediately slammed by Republican lawmakers and others when they were made public this summer.

Within days, Austin issued an order saying he was nullifying them. He said plea bargains in possible death penalty cases tied to one of the gravest crimes ever carried out on U.S. soil were a momentous step that should only be decided by the defense secretary.

The judge had ruled that Austin lacked the legal authority to toss out the plea deals.

The agreements, and Austin’s attempt to reverse them, have made for one of the most fraught episodes in a U.S. prosecution marked by delays and legal difficulties. That includes years of ongoing pretrial hearings to determine the admissibility of statements by the defendants, given their torture in CIA custody.

While families of some of the victims and others are adamant that the 9/11 prosecutions continue until trial and possible death sentences, legal experts say it is not clear that could ever happen. If the 9/11 cases ever clear the hurdles of trial, verdicts and sentencings, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit would likely hear many of the issues in the course of any death penalty appeals.

The issues include the CIA destruction of videos of interrogations, whether Austin’s plea deal reversal constituted unlawful interference and whether the torture of the men tainted subsequent interrogations by “clean teams” of FBI agents that did not involve violence.
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BUDAPEST, HUNGARY — A 31-year-old American tourist was killed while on vacation in Hungary’s capital, and the suspect, a 37-year-old Irish man, has been arrested, Hungarian police said Saturday.

The victim, Mackenzie Michalski of Portland, Oregon, was reported missing on November 5 after she was last seen at a nightclub in central Budapest. Police launched a missing person investigation and reviewed security footage from local nightclubs, on which they observed Michalski with a man later identified as the suspect in several of the clubs the night of her disappearance.

Police detained the man, an Irish citizen, on the evening of November 7. Investigators said that Michalski and the suspect met at a nightclub and danced before leaving for the man’s rented apartment. The man killed Michalski while they were engaged in an “intimate encounter,” police said.

The suspect, whom police identified by the initials L.T.M., later confessed to the killing but said it was an accident, police said, adding that he attempted to cover up his crime by cleaning the apartment and hiding Michalski’s body in a wardrobe before purchasing a suitcase and placing her body inside.

He then rented a car and drove to Lake Balaton, around 150 kilometers (90 miles) southwest of Budapest, where he disposed of the body in a wooden area outside the town of Szigliget.

Video released by police showed the suspect guiding authorities to the location where he had left the body. Police said the suspect had made internet searches before being apprehended on how to dispose of a body, police procedures in missing person cases, whether pigs really eat dead bodies and the presence of wild boars in the Lake Balaton area.

He also made an internet search inquiring on the competence of Budapest police.

Michalski’s parents are currently in Budapest, police told The Associated Press.

According to a post by an administrator of a Facebook group called “Find Mackenzie Michalski,” which was created on November 7, Michalski, who went by “Kenzie,” was a nurse practitioner who “will forever be remembered as a beautiful and compassionate young woman.”
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MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA — Huldah Momanyi Hiltsley made history November 5 by becoming the first Kenyan-born immigrant elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives. She describes her victory as a testament to resilience, determination and the realization of the American dream.

Standing in the State Capitol for the first time on the morning of her orientation, Hiltsley told VOA she was overwhelmed with emotions and eager to start her journey as an elected official.

“I am super excited,” Hiltsley said. “Today is orientation day for new legislators, and to be standing in this Capitol as an African immigrant woman is a tremendous honor. I’m just overexcited right now.”

She said this milestone did not come easily. Her path to the Minnesota State Capitol was marked by struggles, including a fight against an immigration system that nearly led to her family’s deportation. She credits much of her success to the community support and the intervention of the late U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone, whose advocacy she said ultimately secured her family’s green cards and, later, citizenship.

“Getting to this moment honestly is just a testament to the struggles that my family has gone through to be in this country,” she said.

There has been a media frenzy surrounding Hiltsley’s victory, and it has captured the attention of Kenyan media, with celebrations taking place in her hometown, Nyamboyo village, which is eight hours from Nairobi, Kenya’s capital. Despite the attention, Hiltsley said she remains humble.

“I’m that little girl from that little village somewhere in the middle of Kenya, and now I’m in the spotlight of this media frenzy. And so, I’m still trying to really appreciate the magnitude of the moment,” she said.

Hiltsley said she has a desire to inspire others, particularly young girls in Kenya and the United States.

“It is still surreal,” she said, adding that “if I can make it to this point, I can be a role model to somebody to remind them that it is possible that our wildest dreams are possible. And that would be something that I would look back and say, wow, I’ve made a difference in somebody’s life.”

Her legislative priorities

Looking ahead, Hiltsley said she is committed to championing issues that matter to her constituents in Minnesota’s Legislative District 38A. Her priorities include community-centered public safety policies, affordable housing options, workers’ rights and support for small businesses — many of which are run by African immigrants.

“The resources are out here,” she said, promising to empower her community.

“It is my job to go back to my community and tell them, hey, there are resources here. This is how this system works. Let’s work together to mobilize and make sure that we are also taking a piece of the pie,” she said.

As the first Kenyan American woman in Minnesota’s Legislature, Hiltsley said she recognizes the weight and responsibility of her position.

She described it as “an honor that I don’t take lightly.”

“I don’t want to be the last,” she, adding that she hopes “this moment right here is a testimony that you can come to this country, work hard, take care of business, know your craft, stick to it, be consistent and get to where you want to.”

Her message to those who have yet to succeed in their political campaigns is clear: Perseverance is key.

“Be consistent. Keep going. There’s enough space in this Legislature for more people of color, especially immigrants, because that’s the voice that is missing,” Hiltsley said.

Changing political scene

Hiltsley shared her thoughts on the changing political landscape in Washington, particularly with the coming administration under President-elect Donald Trump. While acknowledging the challenges, she said she will stay focused on serving her constituents in Minnesota, regardless of politics.

“We are here to serve the people, and it doesn’t matter if you are Democrat or Republican,” she said. “We are here as legislators to serve the people of Minnesota.”

Hiltsley also shared her heartfelt message to fellow Kenyans who have been celebrating her historic achievement.

“This is a historical moment, and I’m honored to be a Kenyan American,” she said. “Let’s continue celebrating this victory, but after that, we have work to do.”

She said her eyes are set on not just her role in Minnesota, but also finding ways to collaborate with Kenya’s leaders to address issues facing the country, including corruption and a lack of strong leadership.

“Kenya has unlimited potential,” she said. “It’s up to our leaders to do right by the people.”

Hiltsley will officially take her seat in the Minnesota State House of Representatives and be sworn in on January 7. Representatives are elected to serve two-year terms.

This story originated in VOA’s Swahili Service. Salem Solomon contributed to the report from Washington.
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NEW YORK — Beleaguered aviation giant Boeing is set to confront another hurdle next week when it faces a civil trial over the March 2019 Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed 157 people.

The trial, scheduled for federal court in Chicago, originally included six plaintiffs, but “all but one” have settled, a person close to the litigation told AFP this week.

Barring an accord, the case will be Boeing’s first civil trial over the MAX crashes.

A settlement, which would need court approval, is still possible, even after the proceedings start.

But the source told AFP the case is expected to go to trial, a view held by a second legal source.

Plaintiffs in the case are relatives of Indian-born Manisha Nukavarapu, who was in her second year of medical school, specializing in endocrinology at East Tennessee State University.

Nukavarapu, who was single and without children, boarded a 737 MAX on March 10, 2019, in Addis Ababa in a flight bound for Nairobi to visit her sister, who had just given birth, according to a complaint.

But the jet, which had been delivered in November 2018, crashed just six minutes after taking off, killing everyone on board.

More trials expected

Relatives of 155 victims were deposed by the court between April 2019 and March 2021 in cases of wrongful death due to negligence, according to legal filings.

“As of today, there are 30 cases pending on behalf of 29 decedents,” a third legal source told AFP on October 22.

The cases have been split into groups, with the next trial scheduled for April 2025 unless all the suits are settled.

Boeing has “accepted responsibility for the MAX crashes publicly and in civil litigation because the design of the MCAS … contributed to these events,” an attorney for Boeing said at an October 11 court hearing.

The MCAS was a flight stabilizing system that malfunctioned in the Ethiopian Airlines crash and in the October 2018 Lion Air crash in Indonesia, which killed 189 people.

The MAX entered commercial service in May 2017. The worldwide fleet was grounded for 20 months following the Ethiopian Airlines crash.

According to Boeing, more than 90% of the cases stemming from the crashes have been settled. The company has not disclosed the overall financial hit from these cases.

“Boeing has paid billions of dollars to the crash families and their lawyers in connection with civil litigation,” a Boeing attorney said at the October 11 hearing, which took place in Texas and involves a Department of Justice criminal case over the MAX.

Dozens of plaintiffs have been deposed in civil litigation over the Lion Air crash, with 46 represented by Seattle law firm Herrmann.

The Texas litigation concerns a new deferred prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice after the DOJ concluded Boeing flouted a $2.5 billion January 2021 criminal settlement over fraud charges related to the MAX certification.

In July, Boeing agreed to plead guilty to fraud as part of the latest DPA, but the accord has yet to be accepted by a federal judge.
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New Delhi — The electric vehicle industry is closely watching to see how Tesla boss Elon Musk, who played a key role in the victory of Republican President-elect Donald Trump, will use his influence with the incoming president to steer the industry’s future.

At stake are several issues including the new administration’s approach to tariffs on Chinese EVs and tax credits. In anticipation of decisions favorable to Tesla, shares in the company rose 27% after the election result was announced, taking its market capitalization to $1 trillion.

During the campaign, Trump said he would increase tariffs on Chinese goods and roll back tax credits available to EV buyers in the U.S. He also vowed to reduce or eliminate many vehicle emissions standards under the Environmental Protection Agency, which support the EV industry.

Industry analysts are divided on whether high tariffs on Chinese EVs are advantageous or disadvantageous for Tesla’s business. Some analysts have suggested that Musk could persuade the Trump administration to reduce the tariffs on Chinese EVs and might even temper the overall tariff regime against Chinese goods.

However, Musk is likely to support the elimination of the $7,500 tax credit given to EV buyers in the United States. The absence of tax credits would make it difficult for legacy carmakers to introduce EV versions of their cars in competition with Tesla.

“As Elon Musk played a very important role in funding Trump’s campaign, he will no doubt have the ear of the U.S. president and play a role that will help shape policies that are advantageous to Tesla and his other businesses,” Bill Russo, founder and CEO of Automobility Limited, a Shanghai-based strategic consulting and investment platform, told VOA.

To be sure, Musk opposed U.S. tariffs on China-made EVs last May. “Neither Tesla nor I asked for these tariffs. In fact, I was surprised when they were announced. Things that inhibit freedom of exchange or distort the market are not good,” Musk said after the Biden administration enhanced tariffs on Chinese EVs.

The question is whether he will continue to oppose tariffs on Chinese EVs after Trump enters the White House. A section of analysts has predicted that Musk would continue this line of argument because China accounts for one-third of Tesla sales.

“Tesla is in China because Elon Musk needs the scale and efficient cost structure of the Chinese supply chain to make the company more competitive around the world,” Russo said.

China makes over 70% of the EV batteries in the world and almost two-thirds of all EVs and related components. “Tariffs make accessing this supply chain more costly, and that does not help Tesla,” he said.

Between January and May this year, Tesla sold almost as many cars in China as it did in the United States. Chinese consumers bought one-third of Tesla cars of all models totaling 513,644. In the same period, the company sold 522,444 vehicles in the U.S.

Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives argued that higher tariffs would help Tesla compete better with Chinese EVs in the U.S. market.

“Tesla has the scale and scope that is unmatched in the EV industry and this dynamic could give Musk and Tesla a clear competitive advantage in a non-EV subsidy environment, coupled by likely higher China tariffs that would continue to push away cheaper Chinese EV players (BYD, Nio etc.) from flooding the U.S. market over the coming years,” Ives said in a note to clients this week.

Taking a different view, Beatrix C. Keim, director of Germany-based Centre Automotive Research, said the next president is unlikely to listen to arguments for reducing tariffs on Chinese EVs.

“There is a 100% tariff for Chinese EVs in place. I don’t think that Trump will weaken this,” she said. The high tariff does not affect Tesla because it does not export cars from its Shanghai plant for the U.S. market, and builds them in the U.S.

Keim said Musk will do whatever serves Tesla’s business in China. “Chinese people are very likely to react emotionally if he is perceived as acting against China’s interest,” she said. “Chinese customers had once blocked the sales of Tesla cars, and this can happen again.”

Musk said last April that he loved the Chinese people.

“I’m a big fan of China. I also have a lot of fans in China. Well, the feelings are reciprocated,” Musk, who has often been described in Chinese social media as a “friend of China,” said in April.

Tesla is set to introduce a new fully self-driving (FSD – Supervised) car in the coming months, though the vehicle’s safety remains under review. Musk must have sufficient influence in both Washington and Beijing to obtain the regulatory approvals necessary to sell it.

“China is likely to approve FSD as it would like to show goodwill toward foreign technology,” Russo said. However, Tesla’s FSD may have a limited market in China where local manufacturers play a much bigger role.

Keim said Tesla’s FSD might not face regulatory challenges in Europe, but it may be difficult for it to find enough customers in the face of local competition.

One of the questions that is often asked is whether China would retaliate by imposing higher tariffs on American goods, including Tesla.

“This is very unlikely, as Tesla has invested in China and is used as an example of how foreign brands are still welcome in China, and Tesla is held up as a benchmark for Chinese companies to measure against,” Russo said.

“Killing competition is not viewed as healthy for the forward development of the Chinese automakers. This is in stark contrast to the way the U.S. has acted so far.”
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Washington — Indonesia’s newly inaugurated President Prabowo Subianto set off for China on Friday for his first international trip as president. 

“From Beijing I will fly directly to Washington, D.C., on the invitation of the U.S. president,” said Prabowo upon departing Jakarta. Indonesians often refer to public figures by their first names.

His tour aims to “cultivate good relations with all parties,” Prabowo said. He has stated his ambition to raise Indonesia’s international profile and made early foreign policy moves, including a surprise decision to join Southeast Asia’s largest economy to the BRICS bloc. 

BRICS, which stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, comprises a growing group of emerging economies and is seen as a counterweight to the West. In October, the group added Indonesia as one of its 13 new “partner countries.” 

The move is a shift away from the position taken by Prabowo’s predecessor, Joko Widodo, who took in massive amounts of infrastructure investments from Beijing but remained mostly nonaligned geopolitically.   

Prabowo’s visit comes during a transitional period at the White House, ahead of the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump in January. The White House has not formally announced the visit; however, Jakarta said Prabowo is scheduled to meet U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House early next week. 

Indonesian diplomatic sources who spoke under condition of anonymity told VOA that Prabowo has requested a meeting with Trump. The Trump team has not responded to VOA’s query on whether it will be granted.   

New period of US-Indonesia ties 

Starting in January, both countries will be under the helm of leaders who were democratically elected but have employed authoritarian rhetoric, at a time when Washington is focused on its rivalry with the authoritarian regime in China under Xi Jinping. 

Like Trump, Prabowo made a historical political comeback under unlikely circumstances. He secured a landslide victory after two failed attempts, 26 years after his father-in-law, President Suharto, was ousted from power. This, despite Prabowo admitting he was ordered by Suharto in 1998 to abduct activists protesting the regime.  

Washington was aware of Prabowo’s involvement, and the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations denied Prabowo entry to the U.S., citing human rights concerns. The Trump administration lifted the visa ban and then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper invited then-Defense Minister Prabowo to Washington in 2020.    

With Trump in the White House, analysts say, Jakarta could see more opportunities to expand ties with Washington if Prabowo makes inroads through the right people for the right incentives, given Trump’s history of relying more on personal connections than institutional relationships.   

Personal connections 

Jakarta’s point person for Washington under the first Trump administration was Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, a businessman and retired four-star army general who then served as coordinating minister for maritime affairs and investment.    

Luhut developed close ties with Adam Boehler, head of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation and a former college roommate of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. In 2020, Boehler dangled the promise of a $2 billion investment into Indonesia’s planned sovereign wealth fund.

The plan fell through because the price, recognition of Israel under the Trump administration’s Abraham Accords, was too high for Jakarta, according to an interview Boehler gave to Bloomberg at the end of 2020.   

In Prabowo’s administration, Luhut holds the position of head of the National Economic Council and special adviser on investment affairs. But in a Cabinet of more than 100 officials, his influence has diminished. 

“The deck is being shuffled right now, and we don’t know yet where the cards will land,” said Yeremia Lalisang, assistant professor of international relations at the University of Indonesia. What’s clear, Lalisang told VOA, is that the “pragmatic” Prabowo will be delighted to be welcomed by Trump after being treated as a “human rights criminal” by previous U.S. administrations. 

One possibility to bolster ties under Trump would be for Prabowo to capitalize on the connection between billionaires among Trump’s inner circle. This would include Trump’s wealthiest backer, Elon Musk, and Hary Tanoesoedibjo, an Indonesian tycoon who has partnered with the Trump family on several real estate projects in Indonesia. Both were at Trump’s residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, Tuesday night, celebrating his election victory. 

Tanoesoedibjo, who commonly goes by his initials H.T., would not confirm whether he is facilitating a Trump-Prabowo meeting next week. However, he said, Trump’s victory would bring “positive hope for Indonesia.” 

“Trump’s favorable understanding of Indonesia should be maximalized for the economic benefit of both countries, especially Indonesia’s economic interests,” H.T. told VOA.  

Investing in nickel 

Under Jokowi’s administration, Jakarta courted Musk, head of SpaceX and Tesla, to invest in two key areas: satellites and electric vehicle batteries. Earlier this year, Musk launched SpaceX’s satellite internet service, Starlink, in Bali and Maluku.   

With the Earth’s largest reserves of nickel, Indonesia is eager to develop its EV battery industry, and Prabowo is expected to continue his predecessor’s yearslong effort to lure Tesla to invest. 

The Biden administration has put aside tens of billions of dollars in tax credits to spur the U.S. EV industry, under the Inflation Reduction Act, its signature climate and energy legislation. To qualify for the credit, 40% of the minerals used for battery production for EVs sold in the U.S. must be extracted or processed domestically or in one of its free-trade partners.   

Jakarta has been pushing for a limited free-trade agreement that will allow it to benefit from IRA tax credits. However, its nickel industry is backed by investment from Chinese companies and besieged by environmental concerns, limiting its access to the U.S. market. 

“You might see some of this calculus change during the course of the Trump administration,” said Andreyka Natalegawa, associate fellow for the Southeast Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Trump has vowed to loosen environmental restrictions. 

U.S.-Indonesia cooperation on nickel is “out there as an objective,” said Ann Marie Murphy, senior research scholar at the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University. “If it fails to come to fruition, I think that could be disappointing to both sides,” she told VOA. 

However, Trump, who has made high tariffs on China a central theme of his campaign, will be looking closely at the tariffs’ impact on the EV industry. He has vowed to roll back tax credits available to EV buyers in the U.S.   

He will also be watching bilateral trade deficits. In 2017, his administration placed Indonesia on a watchlist of countries that have a large trade surplus, threatening Jakarta with unspecified consequences if trade was not brought into balance.    

“There’s lots of question marks here that we still need to wait and see to get answers,” Natalegawa told VOA. 

Yuni Salim contributed to this report.
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The United States will send a small number of contractors to Ukraine to help it maintain and repair the U.S.-provided weapons and air defense systems it is using against Russia’s invasion, a defense official said Friday.

The official said the contractors “will be far from the front lines and they will not be fighting Russian forces.”

Ukraine needs the contractors to repair and maintain equipment, such as F-16s and Patriot air defense systems, that requires “specific technical expertise to maintain,” the official said.

The decision to send the contractors was made “after careful risk assessment,” the official said.

On Wednesday, when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to congratulate him on his election victory, Trump had Elon Musk join the call. The billionaire businessman was a contributor to Trump’s presidential campaign.

A Ukrainian official told The Associated Press that Zelenskyy thanked Musk for helping Ukraine gain access to the Starlink satellite internet platform. Other media outlets reported that Trump told Zelenskyy that he would support Ukraine, and that Musk said he would continue to supply Starlink.

Musk was on the phone for only part of the conversation.

Overnight attacks

Ukrainian officials said Friday morning that Russia attacked the regions of Odesa, Kharkiv and Kyiv overnight into Friday with drones, missiles and aerial bombs, damaging residential buildings and infrastructure and killing at least one person and injuring at least 25.

Regional officials in Kharkiv say a Russian guided aerial bomb struck a 12-story residential building in the early hours Friday. They said the bomb struck the first three floors. A search was underway for anyone trapped in the rubble.

In Odesa, police and emergency service officials told the French news agency Agence France-Presse that a Russian drone struck several residential buildings, sparking fires in some. They said a 46-year-old man was killed when his car was struck by shrapnel, and at least nine others were injured.

The Odesa officials reported shrapnel from the attacks also ruptured fuel lines, causing several fires.

On the social media platform X, President Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces shot down four missiles and about 60 drones launched by Russia against Ukraine overnight Thursday.

“Each time Russia attempts to destroy our lives, it is crucial to respond collectively and decisively at the international level to reduce and block the potential for terror,” Zelenskyy wrote. “Ukraine needs strength to achieve this. This is the only way to achieve a just peace and to ending the killing of our people,” he said.

He called for more air defenses, and long-range capabilities, weapons packages, and sanctions against Russia.

Zelenskyy took that message Thursday to the European Political Community Summit in Budapest, where he met with European leaders and reportedly reached new defense agreements to strengthen Ukrainian forces, along with agreements on positive steps toward reinforcing air defenses before winter.

But while most European leaders signaled continued support for Ukraine’s war effort, there were indications that Trump’s victory in the U.S. elections this week could change that picture.

In a radio interview Friday, the host of that summit, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has close ties to both Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, said U.S. support for Ukraine will end with the election of Trump and that Europe needs to re-think its approach to the war.

“The Americans will quit this war,” Orban told Hungarian state radio and indicated he felt Europe must follow suit.

“Europe cannot finance this war alone, there are some who still want it, who still want to continue sending enormous amounts of money into this lost war, but the number of those who remain silent, though they were loud before, and those who cautiously voice that we should adjust to the new situation, is growing,” Orban said.

The Hungarian leader made the comments ahead of the European Union summit Friday in Budapest. Before that meeting, outgoing European Council President Charles Michel told reporters Europe wants to strengthen ties with the United States and continue strengthening Ukraine.

“We have to support Ukraine because if we do not support Ukraine, this is the wrong signal that we send to Putin but also to some other authoritarian regimes across the world,” Michel said.

Trump has criticized the level of U.S. support for Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion, and before the election he promised to end the conflict before even taking office, without explaining how.

Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse. 
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Southern California firefighters made progress against a wildfire that has destroyed 132 structures, mostly homes. The fierce wind gusts that fanned the flames began easing Friday, allowing some people to return to sort through the charred remains of their homes. 

Maryanne Belote returned to her hillside neighborhood in Camarillo, a city northwest of Los Angeles, after making a harrowing escape with her cat, dog and horses as the blaze raged in the area. The only thing standing was a rock wall she built. 

“If I hadn’t gotten the horses, I would have been devastated, but I have my family and I have my animals so, I’m OK. I will rebuild,” she said, standing outside the remains of her home of 50 years. 

The Mountain Fire started Wednesday morning in Ventura County and had grown to about 83 square kilometers. It was 7% contained Friday morning. 

About 10,000 people remained under evacuation orders Friday morning as the fire continued to threaten about 3,500 structures in suburban neighborhoods, ranches and agricultural areas around Camarillo in Ventura County. 

At least 88 structures were damaged in addition to the 132 destroyed. Officials did not specify whether they had fire, water or smoke damage. 

The cause of the fire has not been determined.

Ten people suffered smoke inhalation or other non-life-threatening injuries, Ventura County Sheriff James Fryhoff said. 

Crews working in steep terrain with support from water-dropping helicopters were focusing on protecting homes on hillsides along the fire’s northeast edge near the city of Santa Paula, home to more than 30,000 people, county fire officials said. 

Officials in several Southern California counties urged residents to watch for fast-spreading blazes, power outages and downed trees during the latest round of notorious Santa Ana winds. 

Santa Anas are dry, warm and gusty northeast winds that blow from the interior of Southern California toward the coast and offshore, moving in the opposite direction of the normal onshore flow that carries moist air from the Pacific. They typically occur during the fall months and continue through winter and into early spring. 

Red flag warnings, indicating conditions for high fire danger, expired Friday morning when winds began diminishing. 

Governor Gavin Newsom has proclaimed a state of emergency in Ventura County. 

An air quality alert for harmful fine particle pollution was in effect from Friday morning until Saturday afternoon due to smoke from the wildfires. 

Across the country in New Jersey, firefighters were stretched thin Friday with at least four wildfires burning in the state, stretching from the Pinelands in the central and western parts of the state to the New York City suburbs. 

The latest fire broke out along the Palisades Interstate Parkway in Englewood Cliffs in Bergen County, across the Hudson River from New York. 

It was smaller than the three others burning in New Jersey, each of which had burned less than a square mile as of late Thursday. 

Those fires, in Jackson, Glassboro and Evesham, were between 50% and 80% contained Friday. 

New Jersey has not received measurable precipitation in over a month, the weather service said, setting a record.
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With her appointment as chief of staff to President-elect Donald Trump, Susie Wiles moves from a largely behind-the-scenes role of campaign co-chair to one of the most prominent positions in a new White House administration.

The 67-year-old will become the first woman to serve in the post for any U.S. president when she assumes the role as the president’s closest adviser in January.

In announcing his decision Thursday, Trump said Wiles is “tough, smart, innovative, and is universally admired and respected.” It was his first appointment since winning Tuesday’s election against Vice President Kamala Harris.

“It is a well deserved honor to have Susie as the first-ever female Chief of Staff in United States history. I have no doubt that she will make our country proud,” Trump said in his statement.

Wiles largely avoided the spotlight during her time as co-chair of Trump’s successful election campaign and was credited — along with co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita — with bringing some discipline to Trump’s free-wheeling, off-script campaign style.

She didn’t speak during Trump’s victory celebration early Wednesday morning when he called her to the podium, and she refused to take the microphone.

Wiles rarely gives televised interviews and tends to avoid the spotlight, a contrast with LaCivita, who is known for being outspoken.

For someone of her stature, she is not well-known in political circles. During his victory speech, Trump referred to Wiles as the “ice maiden.”

She is one of Trump’s most trusted advisers. During a rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, earlier this month, he said: “She’s incredible. Incredible.”

Top Trump pollster Tony Fabrizio told Politico in April, “There is nobody, I think, that has the wealth of information that she does. Nobody in our orbit. Nobody.”

While Wiles is a somewhat enigmatic figure, she has a long career of working behind the scenes in U.S. politics.

Shortly after she graduated from the University of Maryland in 1979, she went to work for New York Congressman Jack Kemp and joined Ronald Reagan’s presidential campaign in 1980.

She eventually moved to Florida where she advised the campaigns of two Florida mayors and helped then-businessman Rick Scott transition to politics in his successful 2010 campaign for governor.

She managed Utah Governor Jon Huntsman Jr.’s presidential bid in 2012, and managed Florida for Trump’s 2016 campaign. She joined Ron DeSantis’ race for governor in 2018, but she parted ways with him after a falling out in 2019.

Wiles made a rare appearance on social media shortly before DeSantis dropped out of the presidential race in January. “Bye, bye,” she wrote.

She went on to run Trump’s primary campaign against DeSantis, which Trump easily won.

Wiles is the only campaign manager to survive an entire Trump campaign and is known for her ability to tamp down his mercurial, sometimes volatile behavior.

In one anecdote reported by The Associated Press, during a campaign speech in Pennsylvania when Trump strayed off his talking points and quipped about not minding if members of the media were shot, she came out and silently stared at him until he got back on track.

That ability should serve her well in her new role. In his last four years in office, Trump went through four chiefs of staff, a record for modern presidents.

Some information in this report was provided by The Associated Press.
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With former President Donald Trump returning to the White House, Ukrainians are bracing for potential shifts in U.S. policy that could reshape its fight for survival against Russian aggression. Trump’s agenda could take a sharp turn from the Biden administration’s unwavering support, raising fears that vital U.S. aid might be at risk. Myroslava Gongadze reports from Europe. Camera: Vladyslav Smilianets
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The U.S. military says it is investigating what caused an army drone to crash in southern Somalia this week.

The military’s Africa Command, known as AFRICOM, confirmed the incident in a post Friday on social media platform X.

“A U.S. Army operated MQ-1C crashed in southern Somalia at approximately 12:40 PM local on Nov. 5,” AFRICOM said. “An investigation is ongoing, although the crash does not appear to be the result of any attempt to shoot down the aircraft.” 

AFRICOM said it will release more information as it becomes available.

AFRICOM did not disclose the exact location of the crash, but a Somali official said he was told a drone crashed in an area controlled by the al-Shabab militant group.

Mohamed Ibrahim Barre, the governor of Lower Shabelle, told the VOA Horn of Africa Service that the drone crashed north of Farsoley village, in Lower Shabelle, about 85 kilometers west of Mogadishu. Barre said he did not know who the drone belongs to.

The U.S. military has conducted surveillance and airstrikes against al-Shabab for years in support of successive Somali administrations.

In addition, the U.S. also trains an elite Somali commando unit known as Danab, or lightning. Earlier this year, U.S. and Somalia have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the construction of up to five military bases for the Danab Brigade, in a project valued at over $100 million.

This story originated in VOA’s Horn of Africa Service.
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BEIJING/HONG KONG — After Donald Trump first stormed the White House eight years ago, rattled Chinese leaders responded to his tariffs and fiery rhetoric with force, resulting in a trade war that plunged ties between the globe’s largest economies to multiyear lows.

This time around, Beijing has been preparing for Trump’s return by deepening ties with allies, boosting self-reliance in tech, and setting aside money to prop up the economy that is now more vulnerable to fresh tariffs already threatened by Trump.

While some retaliation to those moves might be unavoidable, China will focus on exploiting rifts between the U.S. and its allies, experts say, and aim to lower the temperature to help strike an early deal to cushion the blow from trade friction.

Zhao Minghao, international relations expert at Shanghai’s Fudan University said China probably wouldn’t replay the playbook from the first Trump presidency when Beijing had a very strong reaction to Trump’s moves on tariffs.

He pointed out Chinese President Xi Jinping’s message to Trump from Thursday, in which Xi called for “cooperation” and not “confrontation,” emphasizing “stable, sound and sustainable” relations between the two superpowers.

“Trump is not a stranger to Beijing at this time,” Zhao told Reuters. “Beijing would respond in a measured way and make efforts to communicate with the Trump team.”

While Chinese tech giants are now far less reliant on U.S. imports, the economy — hit by a massive property crisis and saddled with unsustainable debt — is in a weaker position than in 2016, struggling to eke out 5% growth compared to 6.7% then.

To make things worse, Trump has pledged to end China’s most-favored-nation trading status and slap tariffs on Chinese imports in excess of 60% – much higher than those imposed during his first term.

Fudan’s Zhao said Beijing has this scenario gamed out but expects tariffs to come in below the level pledged on the campaign trail because “that would significantly push up the inflation in the U.S.”

Still, that threat alone has unnerved producers in the world’s largest exporter because China sells goods worth more than $400 billion a year to the U.S. and hundreds of billions more in parts for products Americans buy elsewhere.

Li Mingjiang, a scholar at the Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said that as a result, the Chinese economy might require even more stimulus than the $1.4 trillion expected on Friday.

“It’ll be a very serious blow to China’s international trade that will affect jobs and government revenues,” said Li. “China will probably have to come up with a much bigger stimulus package domestically.”

Charm offensive

To boost global trade, China has been on a diplomatic blitz, shoring up alliances, mending fences with foes, and continuing difficult talks with the European Union, even after the bloc imposed stiff tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.

Last month China ended a four-year military stand-off with India on their disputed border; in August, it resolved a two-year spat with Japan over the discharge of radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear plant; and Premier Li Qiang in June visited Australia — the first such trip in seven years.

Also last month, both Xi and Li attended separate summits of BRICS — which now accounts for 35% of the global economy — and the 10-state Shanghai Cooperation Organization, as China deepens ties with the Global South.

“The first Trump administration did not show a lot of interest in robust engagement in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia, which provided the Chinese a lot of latitude to operate in these markets largely uncontested,” said Eric Olander, editor-in-chief of the China-Global South Project.

In Europe, trade tensions with China could be counterbalanced by worries over Trump’s potentially reduced role in the Ukraine war and his economic policies, creating an opening for Beijing, say some experts.

“China will carry on reaching out to Europeans, the British, the Australians and even the Japanese, not only to try to drive a wedge between the U.S. and the countries of the north,” said Jean-Pierre Cabestan, an expert at Hong Kong’s Baptist University.

“But also as part of its mission to rebalance its foreign trade in favor of the Global South,” he said.

Tech punchline

During the first trade war, Trump banned high-tech exports to China and sanctioned companies including China’s largest chipmaker SMIC, prompting its tech sector to become domestic-focused and self-sufficient.

Winston Ma, a former managing director for the China Investment Corporation (CIC), China’s sovereign wealth fund, said a major trigger for this shift was Trump’s ban on the sale of components to Chinese telecommunications firm ZTE in 2018.

That was “really scary from a China perspective, so they began to prepare. It was the start of that sort of defensive thinking,” added Ma.

Soon after, Xi urged the nation to boost self-reliance in science and tech, pushing China to build-up crucial industries including AI and space.

The result: Eight years ago, China had only four government procurement projects worth over $1.4 million, replacing foreign hardware and software with domestic alternatives. That number has exploded to 169 such projects this year, data show.

Despite these strides, chipmakers “definitely feel the tightening — these Chinese companies couldn’t supply to global clients and can’t have access to the latest chips,” said Ma.

Nazak Nikakhtar, a Commerce Department official under Trump who knows his advisers, said she expected Trump to be “much more aggressive about export control policies towards China.”

She anticipated “a significant expansion of the entity list,” that restricts exports to those on it to capture affiliates and business partners of listed companies.

Ma, the ex-CIC executive, said the restrictions will have an impact for some time as the U.S. expands the sanctions regime to overseas suppliers.

“I think the punchline is that the coming years are the most critical for this U.S.-China tech rivalry.”
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