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Joe Biden

This Month

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IMF warns Australia; Rich Lister charged; Families sell $180m hotel

Read everything that’s happened in the news so far today.

The governments of Olaf Scholz, Justin Trudeau and Yoon Suk Yeol are all in crisis.

Why the world’s leading democracies are in crisis

The majority of G7 governments are now so burdened with domestic political problems that they are incapable of steering their own countries – let alone the free world.

  • Gideon Rachman
President Joe Biden speaks about the sudden collapse of the Syrian government under Bashar Assad from the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Biden commutes sentences for 37 out of 40 inmates on federal death row

The move will frustrate Donald Trump’s plan to expand executions. Unlike executive orders, clemency decisions cannot be reversed by a president’s successor.

  • Updated
  • Nandita Bose
Big tech executives, including Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, Tim Cook of Apple and Sundar Pichai of Google, are bending the knee to Donald Trump.

‘What choice do they have?’: US CEOs bend the knee to Trump

From Hollywood to Silicon Valley and Wall Street, senior executives have been bending over backwards to meet Donald Trump since he won the election.

  • James Politi and James Fontanella-Khan
Novonix CEO Chris Burns: “If you step away from the noise, we continue to see that the battery and critical minerals sectors will be supported.”

US backs Oz firm’s graphite factory to loosen China’s EV grip

The energy department has offered Novonix a $1.2 billion loan to underwrite construction of the first large-scale synthetic graphite facility in North America when complete.

  • Nic Fildes and Harry Dempsey
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South Koreans gathered outside the National Assembly in Seoul to celebrate after parliament voted to impeach the president.

South Korea’s leaders seek calm after president impeached

Political leaders and the central bank tried to reassure allies and markets of stability, after the president was suspended for trying to impose martial law.

  • Heekyong Yang and Josh Smith
ASIO boss Mike Burgess said his comments had been misrepresented.

No ongoing threat after synagogue attack: ASIO

ASIO conducts own antisemitism inquiries as the AFP sets up a special operation; David Lamming avoids criminal conviction after arrest outside The Star. How the day unfolded.

  • Updated
  • Lucy Slade
TikTok and ByteDance argue the law is unconstitutional and violates Americans’ free speech rights.

US appeals court upholds TikTok law forcing its sale

The ruling now increases the possibility of an unprecedented ban in just six weeks on the social media app, used by 170 million Americans.

  • David Shepardson and Mike Scarcella

Do you know this week’s news? Answer these 10 questions

Have you been paying attention this week? Test your knowledge across politics, business and world news.

  • Daniel Arbon
Joe and Hunter Biden.

Biden (not Trump) has weakened America’s rule of law

In pardoning his son, the president has ensured that the distance between himself and Trump is now shrouded in fog.

  • Edward Luce
President Joe Biden embraces his son Hunter Biden at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August.

Biden’s pardon decision just shattered his legacy

The president broke a promise not to get involved in his son’s legal problems, after pledging to restore trust in the judicial system.

  • Updated
  • Colleen Long and Zeke Miller
Departing  Intel chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has been trying to turn around the underperforming company

Intel CEO forced out as Bezos backs Nvidia rival in AI gold rush

Pat Gelsinger has stepped down after the board lost confidence in his plans to turn around the chipmaker, as its rival Nvidia soars.

  • Ian King, Liana Baker, Ryan Gould, Jane Lanhee Lee and Vlad Savov
President Joe Biden and son Hunter in June.

Biden pardons his son Hunter on gun, tax charges

The outgoing US president has used his executive powers to pardon his son despite vowing many times not to, claiming a “miscarriage of justice”.

  • Updated
  • Zeke Miller and Allanna Durkin Richer
President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden.

In pardoning his son, Biden sounds a lot like Trump

President Joe Biden complained about selective prosecution and political pressure in a system he has spent his political life defending.

  • Peter Baker
Kash Patel says he would shut down the FBI’s headquarters.

Kash Patel, from ‘not a credible witness’ to pick to lead the FBI

Patel has been a vocal supporter of Donald Trump for years and has said he would upend the FBI and radically reshape its mission.

  • Eric Tucker and Alan Suderman
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Donald Trump may be the worst possible person to guide America through the turmoil that’s probably ahead.

The new world order looks like mercantilism

The chaotic politics of the past 16 years masked the steady development of a new economic order, but trade and the economy aren’t zero-sum games.

  • John Authers

November

The GDP report showed the Fed’s preferred metric — the personal consumption expenditures price index — rose at an unrevised 1.5 per cent annualised rate in the third quarter.

Fed’s favoured inflation metric edges up, GDP steady

The data bolsters comments by many Fed officials that there’s no rush to cut rates so long as the labour market remains healthy and the economy strong.

  • Updated
  • Augusta Saraiva and Matthew Boesler
Ukrainian soldiers attend a training at a polygon in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine.

White House pressing Ukraine to draft 18-year-old men

Ukrainians believe they need about 160,000 additional troops, but the US administration believes they probably will need more.

  • Aamer Madhani
US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping before their bilateral meeting.

China releases three Americans imprisoned for years

A diplomatic agreement was reached with China, the White House said. It was not yet clear whether the US sent home any Chinese citizens.

  • Eric Tucker, Aamer Madhani and Matthew Lee
Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun at the key November meeting in Laos.

China’s defence minister under investigation for corruption

US officials say the probe is part of a wider operation to uncover graft in the People’s Liberation Army.

  • Demetri Sevastopulo

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/person/joe-biden-3le