Dollar and Bitcoin soar as Trump wins presidency

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The US dollar has surged as Donald Trump is now projected to have won the presidency and will re-enter the White House.

Bitcoin has also hit a record high while traders bet on potential tax cuts, increased tariffs, and rising inflation under Trump's second term.

This election result will have a major impact on the global economy.

The Republican Party is also set to take control of the Senate, although there are still votes left to count.

The dollar has soared by about 1.5% against a host of different currencies, including the pound, euro and the Japanese yen.

In Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index ended the session up by 2.6%, while Australia's ASX 200 closed 0.8% higher.

The major US stock indexes also look likely to open sharply higher. That came after the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all closed more than 1% higher on Tuesday.

Why is Bitcoin going up?

Trump has pledged to make the US the "bitcoin and cryptocurrency capital of the world".

The value of Bitcoin has also jumped by $6,000 (£4,645) to a record high of $75,371.69, surpassing the previous high of $73,797.98 seen in March this year.

Trump has previously said he plans to put billionaire Elon Musk in charge of an audit of governmental waste.

Mr Musk has long been a proponent of cryptocurrencies and his company Tesla famously invested $1.5bn in Bitcoin in 2021, although the price of the digital currency can be very volatile.

Tesla's Frankfurt-listed shares rallied over 14% at the open on Wednesday. Mr Musk, Tesla's top shareholder, has supported Trump throughout his electoral campaign.

Experts are, however, predicting a turbulent day elsewhere on financial markets as a response to global uncertainty and Trump's potential plans for the economy.

"Many of his measures will be inflationary and likely to lead to a rise in bond yields, putting pressure on the Federal Reserve in its quest to bring interest rates down," said Lindsay James, investment strategist at Quilter Investors.

Donald Trump previously said he would dramatically increase trade tariffs, especially on China, if he became the next US president.

"Trump’s global trade policies are causing particular angst in Asia, given the strong protectionist platform on which more aggressive tariffs on imports into the US have been pledged," said Katrina Ell, director of economic research at Moody's Analytics.

Trump's more isolationist stance on foreign policy has also raised questions about his willingness to defend Taiwan against potential aggression from China.

The self-ruling island is a major producer of computer chips, which are crucial to the technology that drives the global economy.

In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite Index ended the day down 0.1%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down by around 2.23%.

Trump's tax-cutting agenda has been broadly welcomed by large corporates in the US.

"We should see pro-business policies and tax cuts, in turn possibly driving up inflation and less rate cuts," said Jun Bei Liu, portfolio manager at Tribeca Investment Partners.

 Credit: BBC

    

US Election: Donald Trump is coasting to victory

 

...As Kamala Harris cancels election night party with path to victory so narrow

Kamala Harris of the Democrat party has 214 electoral college votes.

Donald Trump of the Republican party has 267 electoral college votes.

Kamala Harris of the Democrat party has62,206,424 votes(47.2%)

Donald Trump of the Republican party has67,434,197 votes(51.2%)

(BBC) Donald Trump has won Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia and taken a lead over Kamala Harris in most of the other four battleground states that will decide the winner of the US election, BBC's US partner CBS projects.

CBS says Wisconsin is leaning towards Trump and he is ahead in the other so-called Rust Belt state of Michigan. The results are not final.

Incomplete returns also suggest Trump has a lead in Nevada, while the race remains tight in the other sun belt battleground of Arizona.

In more good news for Trump's fellow Republicans, the party is projected to win majority control of the Senate.

Latest election result updates

As expected, Trump has won conservative strongholds from Florida to Idaho, while Harris swept liberal states from New York to California, CBS projects.

The Democrat was expected to spend election night at Howard University in Washington DC, where she was an undergraduate, but it emerged after midnight that she would not attend.

Following the announcement by campaign co-chairman Cedric Richmond, the crowd all but disappeared from Harris HQ at the historically black college.

The party-like atmosphere of a few hours earlier at Howard had already turned sour as two swing states were called for Trump.

From Harris HQ, Democratic fundraiser Lindy Li told the BBC that it is "pretty grim right now".

"People are getting increasingly anxious," she said, "but there is still a pathway. I am still holding on to that, but this is not the night we wanted."

Trump was expected to appear shortly at his campaign watch party in West Palm Beach, Florida, where the mood was celebratory.

Elon Musk, the world's richest man and Trump mega-donor, is spending election night with the Republican nominee.

Whichever way it goes the result will be historic - giving America its first woman president or marking a seismic political comeback for Trump.

Whoever takes the White House may have their hands tied by Congress, which is also up for grabs in Tuesday's vote.

CBS projects Republicans will win control of the Senate after wresting two seats in West Virginia and Ohio from the Democrats and beating off a stiff challenge in Texas.

Neither party seemed to have an overall edge in the House, which Republicans narrowly control.

Around 86 million voters cast their ballots early amid one of the most turbulent campaigns in recent American history.

Vice-President Harris, 60, only became the Democratic Party candidate in July, after President Joe Biden withdrew from the race under pressure from within the party.

Trump, 78, was the target of two assassination plots - narrowly avoiding a sniper's bullet in Pennsylvania.

The former president said he felt "very confident" as he voted earlier on Tuesday near his home in Palm Beach, Florida, with his wife, Melania.

"If I lose an election, if it's a fair election, I'm going to be the first one to acknowledge it," he said.

He posted earlier on his social media platform, Truth Social, saying "law enforcement coming" to Philadelphia because of "massive cheating".

Philadelphia's police department told BBC Verify they were unaware of any electoral fraud. The city's top prosecutor said the allegation had "no factual basis whatsoever".

Both sides have armies of lawyers on standby for legal challenges on and after election day.

If Harris won, she would become the first woman, black woman and South-Asian American to win the presidency.

Trump would become the first president to win non-consecutive terms in more than 130 years. He is also the only president to be impeached twice and the first former president to be criminally convicted.

CBS exit poll data suggests Harris may have under-performed with women.

Some 54% of female voters cast their ballots for her, the numbers indicate. But Joe Biden won the support of 57% of women in 2020.

Law enforcement agencies nationwide are on high alert for potential violence.

About 30 bomb threats hoaxes targeted election-related locations nationwide on Tuesday, more than half of them in the state of Georgia alone, reports CBS.

Credit: BBC

The whispered secret that could win Donald Trump the 2024 US Election'

 

By nytimespost

 

Outside a polling station on election day in the US swing state of Wisconsin a grandmother is reluctant to tell the Express who she plans to vote for.

Looking around she drops her voice to a whisper. Leaning her head a little closer she stated: “I’m voting for Donald Trump.”

“I have a son with four children and he just can’t afford to improve his house in the way he should. Under Trump things were better,” she added with a nod of the head.

Told like a dirty secret that required instant and significant justification, her reluctance to broadcast voting intentions could be underwood given the district was quite heavily Democrat.

But it made me wonder; how many of these silent Trump voters are out there?

For both the media and people in general, loud visible trends are far easier to identify and understand than subtle, quiet undercurrents.

But in politics this phenomenon should not be underestimated, especially when it comes to votes for right-wing parties.

Ahead of the British General Election of 1992 polls had all predicted the Labour Party would win.

However, these projections proved to be totally wrong and the Conservative Paty won a conclusive majority.

It turned out that voters had told pollsters one thing about who they intended to vote for in pre-election questions and a when the day came did something completely different.

The phenomenon has become known as the ‘shy Tory factor’ and there are many examples in the years that followed of similar trends.

Speaking to the two sides of the US Election it’s clear that Democrats are feeling far more confident than their opponents.

“They’re just saying it’s close because they need to make sure people turn out to vote,” a campaigner told me in Millwaukee, “Harris is going to win easily.”

“…when Harris wins. And she will win,” said another, “they’re going to be unhappy.”

Republicans on the other hand were much more circumspect many described it as being “close” or a “nail-biter.”

That is with the exception of a man with a giant Donald Trump display in his yard.

“I think it’s going to be a landslide” he said, “he’ll win every single one of the states.”

But as America takes to the polls today, you have to wonder whether the shy-Trump factor will prove significant.

“I’m not a psychiatrist [but] I think there are folks who are hesitant because of the potential angry response from [those] voting the other way,” Dr Christopher Pagel told us in a small town in southern Wisconsin.

“It feels like there’s more vandalism of Trump signs than there are on the other way.

“There’s a higher chance of there being a verbal altercation if folks are announcing [who they are voting for. None of my friends wear any Trump paraphernalia in [the Democrat-heavy area of] Dane County just because we don’t want the confrontation.

“I know folks who have a Maga hat they’ll put it on their mantelpiece kind of facing away from the street, trying to keep it a little a little secretive.”

Pagel believed that this silent block of voters would have an impact on the election that may well be being underestimated.

“I guarantee you there’s going to be a disparity between the percentage of folks who have yard signs versus the results in that county,” he added.

“I am confident there are a lot of Trump supporters who have nothing in their yard, don’t have any bumper stickers on the car and they’re just quietly going to vote how they want.

“In my neighborhood, it’s about 4 to 1 Harris versus Trump signs. But it’ll be interesting to see what the results for my for my little village are.”

At this stage, it’s all just wishful thinking and speculation. We’ll know when the votes start to be tallied whether the silent Trump voters have raised their voices in the space it matters most: the voting booth.

Credit: NEW YORK TIMES POST

    

Netanyahu fires Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, protests erupt across country By

By nytimespost

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday dismissed his popular defense minister, Yoav Gallant, in a surprise announcement that came as the country is embroiled in wars on multiple fronts across the region. The move sparked protests across the country.

Netanyahu and Gallant have repeatedly been at odds over the war in Gaza. But Netanyahu had avoided firing his rival before Tuesday as the world’s attention was focused on the U.S. presidential election. Netanyahu cited “significant gaps” and a “crisis of trust” between the men in his Tuesday evening announcement.

“In the midst of a war, more than ever, full trust is required between the prime minister and defense minister,” Netanyahu said. “Unfortunately, although in the first months of the campaign there was such trust and there was very fruitful work, during the last months this trust cracked between me and the defense minister.”

In the early days of the war, Israel’s leadership presented a unified front as it responded to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack. But as the war has dragged on and spread to Lebanon, key policy differences have emerged.

While Netanyahu has called for continued military pressure on Hamas, Gallant had taken a more pragmatic approach, saying that military force has created the necessary conditions for at least a temporary diplomatic deal that could bring home hostages held by the terrorist group.

Many of the families of the hostages, along with tens of thousands of people who have joined anti-government protests, accuse Netanyahu of scuttling a deal in order to maintain his hold on power. Netanyahu’s hard-line partners have threatened to bring down the government if he makes concessions to Hamas, raising the risk of early elections at a time when the prime minister’s popularity is low.

“Firing Gallant in the middle of a war is an act of madness,” opposition leader Yair Lapid said on X. “Netanyahu is selling Israel’s security and the Israeli army soldiers for a disgraceful political survival.”

The grassroots forum representing hostage families said Gallant’s dismissal is “a direct continuation of the ‘efforts’ to torpedo the abductee deal.” It called on the new defense minister, Israel Katz, to make an “explicit commitment” to end the war and reach a deal to bring home their loved ones.

Within hours, thousands of protesters gathered in central Tel Aviv, blocking the city’s main highway. The crowd, many holding blue and white Israeli flags and others blowing whistles and pounding drums, gathered around a small bonfire in the middle of the road. About 1,000 other demonstrated outside Netanyahu’s home in Jerusalem. Protesters gathered and blocked roads in several other spots across the country.

The dismissal comes at a delicate time. Israeli troops remain bogged down in Gaza, over a year after invading the territory, while Israeli ground troops are pressing ahead with a month-old ground invasion against Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.

Israel has also clashed with Iranian-backed groups in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, and is facing the possibility of another strike by Iran. Iran has vowed to avenge an Israeli strike that came in response to an Oct. 1 Iranian missile attack, itself a reprisal for earlier Israeli attacks on Iranian-linked targets.

Israel’s Channel 12 TV said that Netanyahu’s decision was prompted by Gallant’s decision this week to send out thousands of draft notices to young ultra-Orthodox men.

Under a longstanding and controversial arrangement, religious men are exempt from military service, which is compulsory for most Jews. This system has bred widespread resentment among the secular majority, and Israel’s Supreme Court has ordered the government to scrap the system. Netanyahu, whose governing coalition depends on ultra-Orthodox parties, has not yet implemented the order.

Earlier Tuesday, Gallant had visited Israeli troops stationed near the Lebanese border, where he talked of the need to enlist ultra-Orthodox soldiers, saying it was needed to improve security and national solidarity. “This is the people of Israel. There is no one else.”

Channel 13 TV said Netanyahu had also taken advantage of the U.S. election, when American attention is focused elsewhere, to dismiss his rival.

The White House on Tuesday declined to comment on the firing but called Galant “an important partner on all matters related to the defense of Israel.”

“As close partners, we will continue to work collaboratively with Israel’s next Minister of Defense,” the White House National Security Council said.

Gallant, a former general who has gained public respect with a gruff, no-nonsense personality, said in a statement: “The security of the state of Israel always was, and will always remain, my life’s mission.”

He was expected to deliver a statement on national television later Tuesday.

A previous attempt by Netanyahu to fire Gallant in March 2023 sparked widespread street protests against Netanyahu. He also flirted with the idea of dismissing Gallant over the summer but held off until Tuesday’s announcement.

Katz, his replacement, currently serves as foreign minister and is a longtime Netanyahu loyalist and veteran Cabinet minister. Katz thanked Netanyahu and pledged to lead the security establishment to victory in the wars against Israel’s enemies.

Katz, 69, was a junior officer in the military decades ago and has little military experience, though he has been a key member of Netanyahu’s Security Cabinet over the years. Gideon Saar, a former Netanyahu rival who rejoined the government in September, will take the foreign affairs post.

Netanyahu has a long history of neutralizing his rivals. In his statement, he claimed he had made “many attempts” to bridge the gaps with Gallant.

“But they kept getting wider. They also came to the knowledge of the public in an unacceptable way, and worse than that, they came to the knowledge of the enemy — our enemies enjoyed it and derived a lot of benefit from it,” he said.

Credit: NEW YORK TIMES POST

Iconic Photograph of United America - Love it!

 HISTORIC MOMENT 

President George W. Bush (center) welcomes president-elect Barack Obama (second left) at the White House in January 2009, with George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter (left to right). (AP)

Credit: AP

Miss Universe 2024: Chidimma Adetshina Ranks Second in World Pre-arrival Hot Picks

(Tori.ng) Nigerian beauty queen, Chidimma Adetshina has placed 2nd in the world’s Miss Universe pre-arrival hot picks.

This was made public in a viral pre-arrival poll on Tuesday.

The 23-year-old was ranked ahead of the 73rd edition of the global Miss Universe pageant on November 16, 2024.

Recall that Chidimma arrived in Mexico in October 2024, to compete for the crown.

The news of Adetshina’s position has thrilled Nigerians, who believe she has a strong chance to win.

Credit:Tori.ng 

System collapse: Again, EEDC apologizes to consumers

 

(Vanguard)The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company, EEDC has informed its numerous customers that due to a system collapse that occurred in the afternoon on Tuesday, they will not be having power supply as usual.

The head of communications, EEDC, Mr  Emeka Ezeh said as a result of the break in transmission from the National Grid, their customers will now experience loss of power.

“The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company PLC (EEDC) wishes to inform her esteemed customers of a general system collapse that occurred at 13:52 hours today, 5th November 2024.

“This has resulted in the loss of supply currently being experienced across the EEDC network.

“Consequently, due to this development, all our interface TCN stations are out of supply, and we are unable to provide services to our customers in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, and Imo States.

“We are on standby awaiting detailed information about the collapse and restoration of supply from the National Control Centre (NCC), Osogbo,” Eze disclosed.

Credit: Vanguard