International

Donald Trump sworn in as 47th US President

Published

2 years ago

January 20, 2025

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• Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Melania Trump holds the Bible during the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (Photo by Morry Gash / POOL / AFP)

Donald Trump was sworn in for a historic second term as president on Monday, pledging a blitz of immediate orders on immigration and the US culture wars as he caps his extraordinary comeback.

With one hand raised in the air and the other on a Bible given to him by his mother, the 47th US president solemnly took the oath of office beneath the huge Rotunda of the US Capitol.

Republican Trump and outgoing Democratic President Joe Biden had earlier traveled by motorcade together to the Capitol, where the ceremony was being held indoors — and with a much smaller crowd — for the first time in decades due to frigid weather.

Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Melania Trump holds the Bible during the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (Photo by Morry Gash / POOL / AFP)

Earlier, they and their spouses met for a traditional tea at the White House.

“Welcome home,” Biden said to Trump as he and First Lady Jill Biden greeted their successors at the front door to the presidential residence.

While Trump refused to attend Biden’s 2021 inauguration after falsely claiming electoral fraud by the Democrat, this time Biden has been keen to restore the sense of tradition.

Biden joined former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton at the Capitol. Former first ladies Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush were there but ex-first lady Michelle Obama pointedly stayed away.

Trump, 78, was a political outsider at his first inauguration in 2017 as the 45th president, but this time around he is surrounded by America’s wealthy and powerful.

The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon chief Jeff Bezos and Google CEO Sundar Pichai all had prime seats in the Capitol alongside Trump’s family and cabinet members.

J.D. Vance is sworn in as US Vice President as his wife Usha Vance looks on during the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump at the Rotunda of the US Capitol in Washington, on January 20, 2025. Trump takes office for his second non-consecutive term as the 47th president of the United States. (Photo by Kevin Lamarque / POOL / AFP)

Musk, who bankrolled Trump’s election campaign to the tune of a quarter of a billion dollars and promotes far-right policies on the X social network, will lead a cost-cutting drive in the new administration.

While Trump refused to attend Biden’s 2021 inauguration after falsely claiming electoral fraud by the Democrat, this time Biden has been keen to restore the sense of tradition.

Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th US President in the US Capitol Rotunda in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2025. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / POOL / AFP)

– ‘American decline’ –

Unusually for an inauguration where foreign leaders are normally not invited, Argentina’s hard-right president Javier Milei was attending, along with Italy’s far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

The bitter cold weather has forced Trump’s inauguration indoors for the first time since Ronald Reagan’s in 1985, missing out on the customary massive crowds along the National Mall.

Behind the pomp and ceremony, the billionaire is kickstarting his nationalist, right-wing agenda with a barrage of around 100 executive orders undoing Biden’s legacy.

Trump will declare a national emergency at the Mexico border, give the US military a key role on the frontier, and end birthright citizenship, as he seeks clamp down on undocumented migrants, an official from his incoming administration said.

Trump has pledged to start immediate deportations of undocumented migrants.

He will also sign an order for the US government to recognize only two biological sexes and seek to eliminate federal government diversity programs as he takes office.

The announcement of the hardline policies came a day after Trump had promised a “brand new day” and to end “four years of American decline.”

“I will act with historic speed and strength and fix every single crisis facing our country,” Trump told an inauguration eve rally where he danced with the Village People band.

– ‘Ecstatic’ –

Despite promising a new “golden era,” populist Trump also campaigned on often apocalyptic depictions of the country in his victorious election campaign against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in November.

At sunrise on Monday, the National Mall, where the inauguration was originally due to be held, was largely empty — save for the Fairchild family, who traveled from Michigan to pay tribute to Trump.

“Ecstatic,” said grandmother Barb, when asked how they were feeling, adding she thought the move indoors was made “to protect our president.”

With minutes left in his presidency, Biden issued extraordinary pre-emptive pardons for his brothers and sister to shield them from “baseless and politically motivated investigations.”

He also pardoned former Covid-19 advisor Anthony Fauci, retired general Mark Milley, and members of a US House committee probing the violent January 6, 2021 US Capitol attack by Trump’s supporters.

Biden said he had also restored the tradition of leaving a letter for his successor — though he said the contents were between him and Trump.

Trump will make history by replacing Biden as the oldest president to be sworn in. He is also just the second president in US history to return to power after being voted out, after Grover Cleveland in 1893.

Another first is Trump’s criminal record, related to paying a porn star hush money during his first presidential run — and a string of far more serious criminal probes that were dropped once he won the election in November.

For the rest of the world, Trump’s return means expecting the unexpected.

From promising sweeping tariffs, to making territorial threats to Greenland and Panama and calling US aid for Ukraine into question, Trump looks set to rattle the global order once again.

Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Trump ahead of the inauguration and said Monday he was open to talks on the Ukraine conflict, adding he hoped any settlement would ensure “lasting peace”.

AFP

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International

France braces for another weekend of protests as authorities launch massive security operation

Published

2 days ago

October 24, 2026

Advocate News Nigeria

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France is bracing for yet another wave of protests this weekend with authorities racing to prevent a repeat of the kind of violence and riots that hit the nation last week.

French authorities will be launching a massive security operation with some 70,000 police officers deployed across the country over the weekend, according to the interior ministry.

Specialist SWAT units, helicopters, armored vehicles, police dogs and water cannons will all be part of the operation. On top of that, the number of French army soldiers that normally patrol Paris as part of the country’s counter-terrorism measures will be increased to free the police from stationary guard duties.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez issued a stark warning on Friday to anyone looking for trouble, saying the government would be “uncompromising with those who engage in destruction.”

Last week’s violence followed weeks of protests over education, dismal job prospects and the cost of living. Initially peaceful and attended mostly by students, the demonstrations quickly turned into the worst wave of deadly, nationwide violence in years.

This week, curfews were imposed in some cities to help maintain calm.

Bracing for Saturday

A large demonstration has been called for Saturday afternoon in Paris and French media are expecting hundreds of thousands of people to attend.

The protest is organized by France’s main student union, UNEF, with one of the country’s biggest trade unions, CGT, announcing it would join. Other groups are expected to attend, including farmers, climate activists and the Yellow Vests, the movement that first emerged in 2018 during the protests over fuel costs.

While the protest in Paris has been authorized by the authorities, French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday banned all non-trade union protests on Saturday as he seeks to control the civil unrest.

But the preparations go well beyond bans and police warnings, especially since last week’s riots sparked criticism of the authorities for not taking the threat seriously enough.

A police officer ties in place a perimeter tape near Chatelet – Les Halles to enforce a curfew, in central Paris on October 20.

A police officer ties in place a perimeter tape near Chatelet – Les Halles to enforce a curfew, in central Paris on October 20.
Simon Wohlfahrt/AFP/Getty Images

The City of Paris announced earlier this week it was clearing public spaces of equipment and materials that could be used to cause damage, including barriers, bins, construction material and other items.

Many of the main tourist sites in the French capital, including world-famous museums like the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay and the Musée de l’Orangerie will be closed on Saturday.

Art Basel finished the Paris version of its fair on Friday, two days earlier than scheduled. The Paris National Opera cancelled its performances on Saturday, citing the protests as the reason, and at least two dozen metro stations will also be closed for much of the day, according to Paris municipal authorities.

An NFL game between Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints is set to take place at the Stade de France just outside of the capital on Sunday. While the match is scheduled to go ahead, a Steelers fan event in Paris was cancelled by the NFL.

During last weekend’s riots, at least two people died and multiple others suffered serious injuries, including two people who lost their hands. French Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin said some 2,700 people were held for questioning and 232 have been incarcerated in connection to the riots. (CNN)

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International

Six people missing as plane vanishes from Bermuda to Boston

Published

3 weeks ago

October 4, 2026

Advocate News Nigeria

Six people are missing after a private jet vanished, sparking a major search off the coast of Nantucket in the US. Picture: X

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There are grave fears for the passengers of a private plane that suddenly vanished mid-flight, sparking a major search off the coast of the US.

US authorities say the Gulfstream G100 lost contact with air traffic control about 2am local time on Saturday (4pm Saturday AET) while flying from L.F. Wade International Airport in Bermuda to Boston Logan International Airport.

The US Coast Guard said the Federal Aviation Administration alerted it after contact was lost with the aircraft – which plummeted from 23,500 feet to 11,000 feet in just three minutes, according to FlightAware data.

“We are praying for a safe outcome,” a spokesperson for Latitude Air Ambulance, which operates the missing plane, told City News.

A search is now under way off Nantucket in the air and on water as crews work to locate the missing jet, the Coast Guard said. Data from FlightRadar24 showed a number of aircraft searching south of the island.

Six people are missing after a private jet vanished, sparking a major search off the coast of Nantucket in the US.

The plane was en route from Bermuda to Boston when it vanished.

“Air & surface crews have launched in search of the aircraft. Updates will be provided here as info becomes available,” the Coast Guard Northeast District said on X.

The plane was carrying out a medical evacuation in Bermuda – a British overseas territory in the north Atlantic Ocean, according to Clarence Togeretz, Director of Flight Operations at Latitude Air Ambulance.

“We always get rather concerned when our crew doesn’t report to us in a timely manner,” he told NBC News.

“But I will say that again, optimistically and positively, that doesn’t mean that the worst has happened.”

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International

27 feared dead after two mass shootings in South Africa

Published

4 weeks ago

September 27, 2026

Advocate News Nigeria

People gather at the store in Lwandle, near Cape Town, where 10 people were killed. Photograph: Esa Alexander/Reuters

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Twenty-seven people have been killed in two mass shootings hours apart in South Africa, the latest gun violence to hit the country.

Seventeen people were killed when eight gunmen stormed a bar close to Johannesburg on Saturday evening, with 15 more injured.

In a separate shooting in the early hours of Sunday morning, 10 people were killed outside an entertainment venue in a township near Cape Town and a further 11 were injured.

South Africa has one of the highest murder rates in the world and has struggled to contain gang-related gun violence in recent years. Police have not indicated a motive for either of the latest attacks.

In Johannesburg, gunmen opened fire on customers outside the bar before continuing the attack inside and torching two vehicles before fleeing.

Police said thirteen men and four women were killed.

Deputy provincial police commissioner Maj Gen Fred Kekana said the attack may have been a retaliation for an incident last month, in which one person was killed and another wounded, according to AFP news agency.

Speaking at the scene, he said police had clear pictures and in some cases names for the suspects.

In Cape Town, five victims died at the scene and a further five people died in hospital.

No arrests had been made in either case on Sunday morning.

The two mass shootings came days after 11 people were killed in the city of Duban when gunmen stormed a house in the KwaMakhutha township.

Reuters An armed guard walking down a road with people looking on from behind police tape — Armed security forces were deployed to the scene of a mass shooting in Cape Town on Sunday morning

Illegal weapons are prevalent in South Africa and gun violence has been a persistent problem for decades, with about 60 murders recorded every day in the country of 62 million.

But a recent spate of mass shootings has raised fears that the problem is deepening, with violence often linked to turf wars between gangs engaged in drug trafficking and illegal mining.

In February, President Cyril Ramaphosa called organised crime “the most immediate threat to our democracy, our society and our economic development”.

Earlier this year the military was deployed alongside police in areas with the highest murder rates in an effort to reduce armed violence.

On Saturday a tenth woman’s body was found in Ekurhuleni, to the east of Johannesburg, with local police saying they were unable to rule out a serial killer operating in the area with similarities between the deaths. (BBC)