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Bill Clinton earlier in December.

Bill Clinton admitted to hospital after developing a fever

The former US president is in “good spirits” after being admitted to hospital in Washington DC.

  • Justin Sink
Luigi Mangione with lawyer Karen Friedman Agnifilo in New York State Supreme Court on Monday (Tuesday AEDT).

Mangione pleads not guilty to murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO

An attorney told the court that officials, including New York Mayor Eric Adams, had turned the accused into a political pawn, depriving him of a fair trial.

  • Michael Sisak and Jake Offenhartz
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
Three of the best US podcasts, as nominated by the New York Times: Critics at large from The New Yorker, Cement City and The Nameless Man from Pushkin.

The best (US) podcasts of 2024

From chat shows to true crime, here’s a pick of the 10 best Americans series released this year.

  • Reggie Ugwu
Australian citizen and former US Marine Daniel Duggan has been in custody since October accused of training Chinese pilots, but denies doing anything illegal.

Australian fighter pilot to be extradited over China training claim

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said he considered all evidence before him before deciding father of six Daniel Duggan should face court in the United States.

  • Luke Costin and Jacob Shteyman
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A still from the HBO TV series based on Elena Ferrante's My Brilliant Friend.

The best TV shows of 2024

The New York Times picks English Teacher, My Brilliant Friend, Shogun, Babylon Berlin and Somebody Somewhere among the series that stood out this year.

  • Updated
  • James Poniewozik, Mike Hale and Margaret Lyons
The guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg.

US shoots down its own F/A-18 over Red Sea

The American military’s Central Command said that the two pilots had been safely recovered after they ejected from their fighter jet.

  • Updated
  • Yan Zhuang and Matthew Mpoke Bigg
Charlie Woods gets a hole-in-one.

Watch Tiger Woods’ 15-year-old son hit his first hole-in-one

“It was a perfect seven-iron,” Charlie Woods told the Golf Channel. “It was awesome. I didn’t think it went in … until I go up there and see it.”

  • Reuters
Governments around the world have raised concerns about TikTok’s alleged data harvesting.

Trump hints at change of heart on TikTok ban

The role of the popular social media app in last month’s election victory may have convinced the president-elect to give parent company ByteDance a reprieve.

  • Gram Slattery
Volodymyr Zelensky, Emmanuel Macron and Donald Trump depart The Élysée Palace after talks earlier this month.

More aid for Ukraine, but Trump wants 5pc NATO defence spending target

The US president-elect now intends to maintain supplies to Kyiv after his inauguration, but will demand allies more than double their financial commitment.

  • Lucy Fisher, Henry Foy and Felicia Schwartz
Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, who is suspected of carrying out Friday’s attack on a busy Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg.

Saudi Arabia warned German police over market suspect’s extreme views

Saudi Arabia sent four warnings to German authorities over the extreme views of Taleb al Abdulmohsen, who posted of his plans to do “something big”.

  • Updated
  • Roland Oliphant, James Rothwell and Jorg Luyken
Donald Trump speaking last week.

Republican revolt shows limits of Trump’s power

The rebellion over the funding bill cast doubt on whether the US president-elect will be able to fulfil his election campaign promises.

  • Benedict Smith
Robyn Denholm is the Australian who chairs Elon Musk’s Tesla.

Denholm on Musk: He’s entitled to his opinion, I’m entitled to mine

Robyn Denholm rose from obscurity to become the highest-profile Australian in business. But overseeing the world’s richest man as Tesla chair is no easy thing.

  • Paul Smith
Syria’s Bashar al-Assad piled almost $400m in cash onto planes and fly them to Russia, before his regime fell.

How Assad secretly sent 21 planeloads of Syria’s cash to Moscow

The near-broke central bank sent almost $400 million in bulk shipments between 2018 and 2019 to Russia when the dictator was indebted to the Kremlin.

  • Miles Johnson, Mehul Srivastava and Chloe Cornish
Luigi Mangione was taken to New York where he could eventually face the death penalty.

Mangione could face death penalty in fresh charges

The suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO was whisked to New York by plane and helicopter to face new federal charges of murder and stalking.

  • Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs
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Trump’s DOGE is a good first step toward stopping the rot.

I’m the guy Barron’s called the Bond King. Here’s why US debt is a problem

There is the real possibility of a quasi-default by the Treasury and few are likely to be spared from the resulting upheaval.

  • Jeffrey Gundlach
Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell is walking a tightrope.

Inflation risk crashes into political risk

Market tantrums and the fall in the Australian dollar in response to the US Fed show that next year is likely to be even more volatile.

  • Jennifer Hewett
With the rise of Chinese dominance, we must strike the right balance between excessive deference towards Beijing and unnecessary provocation.

China to have 1000 nukes by 2030, says Pentagon

The annual China Military Power Report said the People’s Liberation Army had expanded its arsenal by 20 per cent in the 12 months to mid-2024.

  • Demetri Sevastopulo
Roy  & a pudgy penguin

As meme coins and bitcoin surge, NFTs have been left behind

While bitcoin has surged to fresh highs in the Trump crypto rally, the price recovery of Bored Apes and other NFT art collections has been much less pronounced.

  • Tess Bennett
Russian Armed Forces Lieutenant-General Igor Kirillov was killed by an explosive device.

Putin embarrassed on home turf with deadly scooter bomb

The murder of a top Russian general in Moscow is Ukraine’s most significant assassination so far.

  • James Kilner

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/united-states-of-america-gd5