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Results of 2024 US presidential election will reverberate in Africa

Analysts say whichever candidate wins the 2024 U.S. presidential election will face the challenge of trying to restore the country’s influence on the continent of Africa, home to more than 1.2 billion people. VOA White House correspondent Anita Powell reports from Washington.
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Trump’s 18-year-old son withdraws from political debut

washington — Donald Trump’s youngest son Barron, 18, on Friday stepped back from his planned political debut, withdrawing as a delegate at the Republican Party convention in July. 

Barron, who has been largely shielded from the public eye, made global headlines this week when it appeared he would be the latest member of the Trump family to enter the political arena. 

But a statement from the office of his mother, Melania Trump, the former president’s third wife, soon put a stop to the convention plan. 

“While Barron is honored to have been chosen as a delegate by the Florida Republican Party, he regretfully declines to participate due to prior commitments,” it said. 

The convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, will see Trump’s official crowning as the Republican challenger to Democratic President Joe Biden, with delegates from each state designating their candidate for the November election. 

Barron would have appeared alongside his siblings Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Tiffany Trump as part of the Florida delegation. 

Barron lived in the White House as a child when his father was president but has been fiercely protected from public view. 

Trump’s eldest daughter, Ivanka, was a senior adviser in his presidency alongside her husband, Jared Kushner, while Don Jr. and Eric are regulars at Trump rallies and on the campaign trail. 

In March, the Republican National Committee elected Eric’s wife, Lara, to a leadership position. 
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Trump’s former political fixer set to testify against Trump Monday

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US Senator Bob Menendez set to face federal corruption trial

U.S. Senator Bob Menendez — the former head of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee — is set to go on trial next week for allegedly using his position for personal gain. Jury selection in the federal corruption case is expected to begin in New York on Monday. Aron Ranen has more from New York.
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Economy is top issue for US voters

The U.S. economy is one of the biggest issues for voters in the 2024 presidential contest between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Biden campaigned this week on new tech investments. Trump says he will roll back Biden infrastructure spending and increase oil drilling. VOA’s Scott Stearns has the story.
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US Senate passes bill improving air safety, customer service

washington — The Senate has passed a $105 billion bill designed to improve air safety and customer service for air travelers, a day before the law governing the Federal Aviation Administration expires. 

The bipartisan bill, which comes after a series of close calls between planes at the nation’s airports, would boost the number of air traffic controllers, improve safety standards and make it easier for customers to get refunds after flights are delayed or canceled. 

The bill passed the Senate 88-4. The legislation now goes to the House, which is out of session until next week. The Senate is considering a one-week extension that would give the House time to pass the bill while ensuring the FAA isn’t forced to furlough around 3,600 FAA employees. 

The bill stalled for several days this week after senators from Virginia and Maryland objected to a provision that would allow an additional 10 flights a day to and from the heavily trafficked Reagan Washington National Airport. Other senators have tried to add unrelated provisions, as well, seeing it as a prime chance to enact their legislative priorities. 

But Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called a vote Thursday evening after it became clear that senators would not be able to agree on amendments to the bill before it expires. After the bill passed, leaders in both parties were still working out how to pass an extension and ensure the law does not expire on Friday. The House passed a one-week extension earlier this week. 

The FAA has been under scrutiny since it approved Boeing jets that were involved in two deadly crashes in 2018 and 2019. The Senate legislation would govern FAA operations for the next five years and put several new safety standards in place. 

The bill would increase the number of air traffic controllers and require the FAA to use new technology designed to prevent collisions between planes on runways. It would require new airline planes to have cockpit voice recorders capable of saving 25 hours of audio, up from the current two hours, to help investigators. 

It would also try to improve customer service for travelers by requiring airlines to pay a refund to customers for flight delays — three hours for a domestic flight and six for an international one.  

In addition, the bill would prohibit airlines from charging extra for families to sit together and triple the maximum fines for airlines that violate consumer laws. And it would require the Transportation Department to create a “dashboard” so consumers can compare seat sizes on different airlines. 

The FAA says that if the law expires on Friday, the 3,600 employees would be furloughed without a guarantee of back pay starting at midnight. The agency would also be unable to collect daily airport fees that help pay for operations, and ongoing airport improvements would come to a halt. 

No one in “safety critical” positions — such as air traffic controllers — would be affected if the deadline is missed, the FAA says, and the safety of the flying public would not be at risk. 
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Barron Trump, 18, to make political debut as Florida delegate to Republican convention

Miami, Florida — Former President Donald Trump’s youngest son, Barron Trump, has been chosen to serve as a Florida delegate to the Republican National Convention, the state party chairman said Wednesday.

Republican Party of Florida chairman Evan Power said the 18-year-old high school senior will serve as one of 41 at-large delegates from Florida to the national gathering, where the GOP is set to officially nominate his father as its presidential candidate for the November general election. NBC News first reported the choice of Barron Trump as a delegate.

Barron Trump has been largely kept out of the public eye, but he turned 18 on March and is graduating from high school next week. The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s hush money trial in New York said there would be no court on May 17 so that Trump could attend his son’s graduation. 

Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Trump’s youngest daughter, Tiffany, are also part of the Florida delegation to the convention taking place in Milwaukee from July 15 to July 18.

“We are fortunate to have a great group of grassroots leaders, elected officials, and members of the Trump family working together as part of the Florida delegation to the 2024 Republican National Convention,” Power said in an emailed statement.
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Porn actress Stormy Daniels faces more questions at Trump trial

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US House rejects effort to remove Speaker Johnson from office

washington — Hard-line Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene stunned colleagues Wednesday by calling for a vote to oust Speaker Mike Johnson. Lawmakers quickly rejected it. 

Greene pressed ahead with her long-shot effort despite pushback from Republicans at the highest levels tired of the political chaos. 

One of Donald Trump’s biggest supporters in Congress, Greene stood on the House floor and read a long list of what she called transgressions that Johnson had committed as speaker. Colleagues booed in protest. 

It was the second time in a matter of months that Republicans have tried to oust their own speaker, an unheard-of level of party turmoil with a move rarely seen in U.S. history. 

Greene of Georgia criticized Johnson’s leadership as “pathetic, weak and unacceptable.” 

Republican lawmakers filtered toward Johnson, giving him pats on the back and grasping his shoulder to assure him of their support. 

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise quickly moved to table the effort — essentially stopping it from going forward. The motion to table was swiftly approved. 

The Georgia Republican had vowed she would force a vote on the motion to vacate the Republican speaker if he dared to advance a foreign aid package with funds for Ukraine, which was overwhelmingly approved late last month and signed into law. 

Johnson of Louisiana said he had been willing to take the risk, believing it was important for the U.S. to back Ukraine against Russia’s invasion and explaining he wanted to be on the “right side of history.” 

“I just have to do my job every day,” Johnson said Monday. 

In a highly unusual move, the speaker received a boost from Democrats led by Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, whose leadership team had said it was time to “turn the page” on the Republican turmoil and vote to table Greene’s resolution — almost ensuring Johnson’s job is saved, for now. 

Trump also weighed in after Johnson trekked to Mar-a-Lago for a visit, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee giving the speaker his nod of approval. And Trump’s hand-picked leader at the Republican National Committee urged House Republicans off the move. 
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Sen. Katie Britt Delivers the Republican Response to President Biden’s 2024 State of the Union Address

Republicans chose one of their youngest senators, Katie Britt of Alabama, to deliver the party’s scathing response to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address.
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