WASHINGTON: Where in the world is Melania Trump? Back in Washington in a sharply tailored outfit that exudes international woman of mystery as her husband once again becomes president of the United States.
Wearing a long navy coat and matching wide-brimmed hat — which shielded her eyes in most photos and hindered her commander-in-chief husband’s attempts to give her a peck before his swearing-in — Melania’s fit drew snark on social media and a flurry of comparisons to a 1980s video game character.
“Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?” quipped the Internet, referring to the franchise that spun off into a popular 1990s geography game show for kids, and featured a criminal mastermind dressed in a long, carmine trench coat and eye-obscuring fedora.
Melania Trump’s coat and skirt were silk wool Adam Lippes, an independent American designer based in New York, an ensemble paired with an ivory blouse tightly wrapped at the Slovenian-born former model’s neck.
“The tradition of the presidential inauguration embodies the beauty of American democracy and today we had the honor to dress our first lady, Mrs. Melania Trump,” said Lippes in a statement that emphasized American manufacturing over political ideology.
“Mrs. Trump’s outfit was created by some of America’s finest craftsmen and I take great pride in showing such work to the world.”
The hat was by New York milliner Eric Javits.
“She cut the figure of a mafia widow or high-ranking member of an obscure religious order, and a bit of ‘My Fair Lady,’ wrote Rachel Tashjian, style critic for The Washington Post.
American first ladies don’t get much of a voice — but their sartorial choices are broadcast to the world and scrutinized for subtext and statements.
The late Rosalynn Carter, for example, drew strong reactions by wearing a dress she had already worn — gasp! — when her husband Jimmy was inaugurated in 1977.
The point was to show empathy for the economic struggles of Americans — but sometimes what the people really want is aspirational glamor.
In recent years first ladies have routinely turned to independent designers for inaugural events: in 2021, Jill Biden wore a sparkling blue coat-and-dress combo by Markarian, a small brand in New York.
Michelle Obama made waves in 2009 in a lemon-colored outfit by Isabel Toledo, wearing Thom Browne at her husband’s second swearing-in. She wore gowns by Jason Wu to both series of inaugural balls.
Melania Trump, for her part, channeled Jackie Kennedy to kick off her first turn in the White House, wearing Ralph Lauren — a heritage-brand favorite on both sides of the political aisle — to the daytime events in 2017.
She swapped her powder-blue cashmere dress and matching asymmetrical bolero jacket with opera gloves for a silk crepe gown by Herve Pierre that year, both looks that signaled a sense of buoyancy as she began her new role as a political wife.
Her shadowy-chic 2025 look marks a sharp departure as she enters tenure two.
“For her second round as first lady, the fashion game — the tool she brandishes most often and most forcefully, even if the public sometimes struggles to divine her sartorial messages — is likely to be one of steely, precise armor, of clothes with brash and exacting tailoring,” wrote the Post’s Tashjian.
“For the past year, she has worn a wardrobe of mostly black, but this does not seem intended to make her disappear into the background.”
Melania Trump brings steely fashion game back to Washington
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Melania Trump brings steely fashion game back to Washington
- American first ladies don’t get much of a voice — but their sartorial choices are broadcast to the world and scrutinized for subtext and statements
Trump withdraws from Paris climate agreement, again
- “The United States will not sabotage our own industries while China pollutes with impunity,” Trump said
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump once again withdrew the United States from the Paris climate deal on Monday, removing the world’s biggest historic emitter from global efforts to fight climate change for the second time in a decade.
The move places the United States alongside Iran, Libya and Yemen as the only countries in the world outside the 2015 pact, in which governments agreed to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
It reflects Trump’s skepticism about global warming, which he has called a hoax, and fits in with his broader agenda to unfetter US oil and gas drillers from regulation so they can maximize output.
Trump signed the executive order withdrawing from the pact in front of supporters gathered at the Capital One Arena in Washington.
“I’m immediately withdrawing from the unfair, one-sided Paris climate accord rip-off,” he said before signing the order.
“The United States will not sabotage our own industries while China pollutes with impunity,” Trump said.
Despite the withdrawal, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is confident that US cities, states and businesses “will continue to demonstrate vision and leadership by working for the low-carbon, resilient economic growth that will create quality jobs,” said associate UN spokesperson Florencia Soto Nino, in a written statement.
“It is crucial that the United States remains a leader on environmental issues,” she said. “The collective efforts under the Paris Agreement have made a difference but we need to go much further and faster together.”
The United States has to formally notify UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres of its withdrawal, which — under the terms of the deal — will take effect one year later.
The United States is already the world’s top producer of oil and natural gas thanks to a years-long drilling boom in Texas, New Mexico and elsewhere, fueled by fracking technology and strong global prices since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
SECOND US WITHDRAWAL
Trump also withdrew the US from the Paris deal during his first term in office, though the process took years and was immediately reversed by the Biden presidency in 2021. The withdrawal this time around is likely to take less time – as little as a year — because Trump will not be bound by the deal’s initial three-year commitment.
This time could also be more damaging to global climate efforts, said Paul Watkinson, a former climate negotiator and senior policy adviser for France.
The US is currently the world’s second-biggest greenhouse gas emitter behind China and its departure undermines global ambition to slash those emissions.
“It will be harder this time because we are in the thick of implementation, up against real choices,” Watkinson said.
The world is now on pace for global warming of more than 3 C by the end of the century, according to a recent United Nations report, a level scientists warn would trigger cascading impacts such as sea level rise, heat waves, and devastating storms.
Nations have already been struggling to make steep cuts to emissions required to lower the projected temperature increase, as wars, political tensions and tight government budgets push climate change down the list of priorities.
Trump’s approach cuts a stark contrast to that of former President Joe Biden, who wanted the United States to lead global climate efforts and sought to encourage a transition away from oil and gas using subsidies and regulations.
Trump has said he intends to unwind those subsidies and regulations to shore up the nation’s budget and grow the economy, but has said he can do that while ensuring clean air and water in the United States.
Li Shuo, an expert in climate diplomacy at the Asia Society Policy Institute, said the US withdrawal risks undermining the United States’ ability to compete with China in clean energy markets such as solar power and electric vehicles.
“China stands to win, and the US risks lagging further behind,” he said.
Trump says he will pardon ‘a lot’ of people charged in Jan. 6 attack
- More than 1,580 people have been criminally charged with participating in the riot, a failed attempt by Trump supporters to block the congressional certification of the 2020 election
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said on Monday he will pardon “a lot” of people charged in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol, moving to deliver on a promise often voiced on the campaign trail.
Speaking to supporters at Washington’s Capital One Arena, Trump did not specify how many people he planned to pardon.
A source familiar with his plans said earlier on Monday that Trump intends to cut short sentences for some people who attacked police and issue full pardons to people who did not commit violence.
More than 1,580 people have been criminally charged with participating in the riot, a failed attempt by Trump supporters to block the congressional certification of the 2020 election.
Leaders of the far-right Proud Boys and Oath Keepers organizations are among those serving time in federal prison for their roles in the violence. More than 600 people have been charged with assaulting or obstructing police during the riot, according to US Justice Department figures.
Trump vowed during his 2024 campaign to pardon many of those charged, arguing they had been treated unfairly by the legal system.
‘Extremely critical’ risk as winds whip fire-weary Los Angeles
Firefighters continued to make progress snuffing out fires that ravaged 40,000 acres (16,000 hectares) in the Los Angeles area, after erupting on January 7 and killing at least 27 people.
But a return of the hurricane-force winds responsible for spreading those initial fires threatened more danger.
Winds gusting up to 88 miles (142 kilometers) an hour have been recorded in some spots, where forecasters said they could combine with exceedingly dry conditions to create the potential for a fast-spreading fire.
“We’re expecting this to continue to create extremely critical fire weather conditions across the region,” Ariel Cohen, of the National Weather Service, (NWS) told AFP.
“Any fires that form could grow explosively. And so this is a particularly dangerous situation.”
Officials said they had pre-deployed engines and firefighters to areas at risk, after facing criticism that they were unprepared earlier this month.
“I believe that we will be very, very prepared for what the worst possible case scenario (could be) over the next couple of days, and then hopefully we don’t get there at all,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass told reporters.
The largest conflagration, the Palisades Fire, was 59 percent contained by Monday, and the area affected by evacuation orders has now shrunk to effectively match the fire’s footprint.
The Eaton Fire, which wrecked a large part of the Altadena area, was 87 percent surrounded.
As Los Angeles grapples with the scale of the devastation, political bickering has intensified.
Donald Trump, who was sworn in as US president on Monday, has said he will be visiting the fire-ravaged areas at the end of the week.
That trip could include an awkward encounter with California Governor Gavin Newsom, who has been the target of Trump’s barbs over his handling of the disaster.
He has falsely claimed that Newsom had blocked the diversion of “excess rain and snow melt from the North.”
In reality, Los Angeles’s water supplies are mainly fed via aqueducts and canals originating from entirely separate river basins further east.
Newsom — a longtime Trump foe, who some believe may have White House ambitions of his own — told US media over the weekend that sniping was detrimental to recovery efforts.
“What’s not helpful or beneficial... is these wild-eyed fantasies... that somehow there’s a magical spigot in northern California that just can be turned on, all of a sudden there will be rain or water flowing everywhere,” said Newsom.
The governor blamed Elon Musk — the Tesla and SpaceX owner poised to play a key role advising the incoming administration — “and others” for “hurricane-force winds of mis- and dis-information that can divide a country.”
Southern California has had no significant rain for around eight months, even though it is well into what is usually the rainy season.
Officials have cautioned that if that rain does materialize, it could create dangerous debris flows in the disaster zone, and spark mudflows and hill collapses.
Senate confirms Marco Rubio as secretary of state, giving Trump the first member of his Cabinet
WASHINGTON: The Senate quickly confirmed Marco Rubio as secretary of state Monday, voting unanimously to give President Donald Trump the first member of his new Cabinet on Inauguration Day.
Rubio, the Republican senator from Florida, is among the least controversial of Trump’s nominees and vote was decisive, 99-0. Another pick, John Ratcliffe for CIA director, is also expected to have a swift vote. Action on others, including former combat veteran and Fox News host Pete Hegseth for defense secretary, is expected later in the week.
“Marco Rubio is a very intelligent man with a remarkable understanding of American foreign policy,” Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the senior-most Republican, said as the chamber opened.
It’s often tradition for the Senate to convene immediately after the ceremonial pomp of the inauguration to begin putting the new president’s team in place, particularly the national security officials. During Trump’s first term, the Senate swiftly confirmed his defense and homeland security secretaries on day one, and President Joe Biden’s choice for director of national intelligence was confirmed on his own Inauguration Day.
With Trump’s return to the White House, and his Republican Party controlling majorities in Congress, his outsider Cabinet choices are more clearly falling into place, despite initial skepticism and opposition from both sides of the aisle.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune moved quickly Monday, saying he expected voting to begin “imminently” on Trump’s nominees.
Democrats have calculated it’s better for them to be seen as more willing to work with Trump, rather than simply mounting a blockade to his nominees. They’re holding their opposition for some of his other picks who have less support, including Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence and vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for health secretary.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said his party will “neither rubber-stamp nominees we feel are grossly unqualified, nor oppose nominees that deserve serious consideration.”
Rubio, he said, is an example of “a qualified nominee we think should be confirmed quickly.”
Senate committees have been holding lengthy confirmation hearings on more than a dozen of the Cabinet nominees, with more to come this week. And several panels are expected to meet late Monday to begin voting to advance the nominees to the full Senate for confirmation.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee advanced Rubio’s nomination late Monday. The Senate Armed Services Committee and Senate Intelligence Committee, respectively, advanced the nominations of Hegseth and Ratcliffe.
Rubio, a well-liked senator and former Trump rival during the 2016 presidential race, has drawn closer to the president in recent years. He appeared last week to answer questions before the Foreign Relations Committee, where he has spent more than a decade as a member.
As secretary of state, Rubio would be the nation’s top diplomat, and the first Latino to hold the position. Born in Miami to Cuban immigrants, he has long been involved in foreign affairs, particularly in South America, and has emerged as a hawk on China’s rise.
During his confirmation hearing last week, Rubio warned of the consequences of America’s “unbalanced relationship” with China. While he echoes Trump’s anti-globalist rhetoric, Rubio is also seen as an internationalist who understands the power of US involvement on the global stage.
Rubio is likely to win bipartisan support from both Republicans and Democrats. He would take over for outgoing Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who has said he hopes the Trump administration continues Biden’s policies in the Middle East to end the war in Gaza and to help Ukraine counter Russian nomination.
The Senate is split 53-47, but the resignation of Vice President JD Vance drops the GOP majority to 52 until his successor arrives. Republicans need almost all every party member in line to overcome Democratic opposition to nominees.
Objection from any one senator, as is expected with Hegseth and several other choices, would force the Senate into procedural steps that would drag voting later into the week.
Global tourism recovered to pre-pandemic levels in 2024: UN
- “In 2024, global tourism completed its recovery from the pandemic and, in many places, tourist arrival and especially earnings are already higher than in 2019,” UN Tourism secretary general Zurab Pololikashvili said
MADRID: Global tourism fully recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic in 2024 with 1.4 billion international tourist arrivals recorded worldwide due to “robust” demand from key markets, UN Tourism said Monday.
“A majority of destinations welcomed more international tourists in 2024 than they did before the pandemic, while visitor spending also continued to grow strongly,” the Madrid-based body said in a statement.
The number of international tourist arrivals last year was 11 percent higher than the 1.3 billion recorded in 2023, reaching the level seen in 2019, the year before the pandemic paralyzed travel.
A “robust performance from large source markets and the ongoing recovery of destinations in Asia” drove the results, UN Tourism added.
Receipts from global tourism reached $1.6 trillion in 2024, about 3.0 percent more than the previous year and 4.0 percent more than in 2019 when inflation and currency fluctuations are taken into account.
“In 2024, global tourism completed its recovery from the pandemic and, in many places, tourist arrival and especially earnings are already higher than in 2019,” UN Tourism secretary general Zurab Pololikashvili said.
“Growth is expected to continue throughout 2025, driven by strong demand contributing to the socio-economic development of both mature and emerging destinations,” he added.
“This recalls our immense responsibility as a sector to accelerate transformation, placing people and planet at the center of the development of tourism.”
The surge in visitor numbers has sparked a backlash in many tourism hotspots, prompting the authorities to take steps to ease the pressure on bursting beaches and gridlocked streets.
Venice, one of the world’s top tourist destinations, is trying to limit the influx of tourists into its historic center by charging day trippers for entry.
Japan has introduced a daily cap on hiker numbers at Mount Fuji while Amsterdam and other port cities have reduced the number of cruise ships allowed to dock.
Europe, the world’s most popular destination region, recorded 747 million international arrivals in 2024, a five-percent increase over the previous year and one percent above 2019 levels.
All European regions surpassed pre-pandemic levels except Central and Eastern Europe “where many destinations are still suffering from the lingering effects of the Russian aggression on Ukraine,” the statement said.
While international arrivals grew by 33 percent in Asia and the Pacific to reach 316 million in 2024, that represented just 87 percent of pre-pandemic levels.
The Middle East posted the strongest rebound since 2019 with 95 million arrivals last year, a 32-percent jump over pre-pandemic levels but just one percent higher than 2023.
Many countries such as Japan and Morocco have set new tourism records following the pandemic and several destinations reported double-digit growth in international arrivals when compared to 2019.
El Salvador, which has successfully cracked down on violent crime, posted an 81-percent increase in foreign arrivals on 2019 levels.
Saudi Arabia, which only fully opened to tourism in 2019, recorded a 69-percent jump.
The UN body predicts international arrivals will grow three to five percent in 2025 when compared to last year if the rebound in travel in Asia continues, inflation keeps receding and “geopolitical conflicts do not escalate.”
High transportation and accommodation costs, volatile oil prices and staff shortages are among the other key challenges the tourism sector will face this year, it added.
