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Jennifer Garner, John Legend attend lavish U.S. state dinner for France’s Macron

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Jennifer Garner, John Legend attend lavish U.S. state dinner for France’s Macron

WASHINGTON, Dec 1 (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden rolled out the pink carpet on Thursday for celebrities, lawmakers, and titans of business on the White Home’s first state dinner in honor of French President Emmanuel Macron.

The dinner is the crowning social occasion of a visit aimed toward displaying Biden’s dedication to Washington’s oldest ally at the same time as the 2 nations wrangle over the right way to deal with Russia’s conflict in Ukraine, subsidies for U.S. merchandise and different points.

The visitor checklist included actress Jennifer Garner and her daughter with Ben Affleck, Violet; singer John Legend and mannequin Chrissy Teigen; “Vogue” editor Anna Wintour; and director Baz Luhrmann.

These celebrities joined members of Biden’s Cupboard, lawmakers, and enterprise leaders together with Financial institution of America Corp (BAC.N) CEO Brian Moynihan, KKR & Co Inc (KKR.N) investor Henry Kravis and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) president Brad Smith.

On Thursday night time, Biden and his spouse, Jill, welcomed the Macrons again to the White Home for the dinner after diplomatic conferences earlier within the day.

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Each presidents wore tuxedos. Jill wore an Oscar de la Renta lace gown and dangly silver earrings. Macron’s spouse, Brigitte, was clad in Louis Vuitton.

Lower than two weeks after Biden’s granddaughter was married on White Home grounds, the occasion introduced a contact of pizzazz to the businesslike presidential residence, whose social calendar was undermined by precautions taken within the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Company strutted alongside the pink carpet in entrance of reporters to a reception within the White Home earlier than taking a trolley bus to a pavilion on the South Garden for the formal dinner round 10 p.m.

There they have been handled to toasts, music from Jon Batiste, Chardonnay from the Napa Valley and cheeses from Oregon, California and Wisconsin. Some 200 Maine lobsters have been flown in for the candle-lit event.

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“It will be hearth,” Batiste informed reporters of his efficiency as he arrived.

The lavish Washington dinner is considered one of few occasions that convey collectively individuals together with the president’s son Hunter and Kevin McCarthy, who leads a Republican congressional delegation that has vowed to analyze his enterprise dealings.

Macron arrived in Washington on Tuesday for his second state go to to america for the reason that French chief took workplace in 2017.

Biden, 80, and Macron, 44, have had many conferences at worldwide gatherings however this was the longest time they’ve spent collectively.

“Tonight we have a good time the enduring alliance between France and america,” Biden stated as visitors clinked their champagne flutes. “Vive la France and God bless America.”

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Macron added that the 2 nations come from “the identical values” of “we, the individuals.”

Reporting Steve Holland and Jeff Mason; Writing by Trevor Hunnicutt; Modifying by Gerry Doyle and Lincoln Feast

Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Belief Rules.

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Live news: SingPost shares slump after CEO fired over handling of whistleblower report

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Live news: SingPost shares slump after CEO fired over handling of whistleblower report

While the holiday spirit will dominate the news agenda, there are notable developments to watch across the world, as the three defining themes of 2024 — elections, war and inflation — continue to hum in the background.

On Tuesday, Moldova’s pro-EU president-elect Maia Sandu will attend her inauguration. Her narrow election victory in October, despite alleged Russian meddling in the process, will set the former Soviet country on a path to EU membership.

Maia Sandu © Dumitru Doru/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Georgia, on the other hand, will on Sunday swear in Mikheil Kavelashvili to the presidency, a pro-Russian firebrand and Croatia will hold a first-round presidential vote on Sunday.

On Monday, Mozambique’s top court is set to give a verdict on the country’s disputed election in October, while Albanian opposition parties block roads demanding Prime Minister Edi Rama’s resignation

Bank of Japan governor Kazuo Ueda will deliver a speech on Christmas Day. Economists will pore over his words for clues on how president-elect Donald Trump’s tariffs will affect the pace and trajectory of monetary policy.

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UK third-quarter GDP figures will be out on Monday, after months of disappointing economic releases for chancellor Rachel Reeves.

Read more in The Week Ahead

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Who is Sebastian Zapeta? Guatemala migrant set a woman on fire on New York City subway

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Who is Sebastian Zapeta? Guatemala migrant set a woman on fire on New York City subway

A Guatemala migrant has been arrested for allegedly setting a woman on fire and burned to death on a subway train in Brooklyn, New York, early Sunday morning. The incident occurred at the Stillwell Avenue Subway station in Coney Island around 7:30 a.m.

NYPD apprehends suspect after deadly subway attack; community rallies for justice.(Mario Nawfal)

The suspect, identified as 33-year-old Sebastin Zapeta, is believed to have entered the US from Guatemala approximately a year ago. It remains unclear whether he entered the country legally or illegally.

During a press conference Sunday evening, New York Police Department (NYPD) officials, including Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, explained, “As the train pulled into the station, the suspect calmly walked up to the victim. The female victim was in a seated position.”

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“The suspect used what we believe to be a lighter to ignite the victim’s clothing, which became fully engulfed in a matter of seconds.”

Officers on patrol at the station were alerted to the situation by the smell and sight of smoke. While responding at the scene, they discovered a person inside the train car fully engulfed in flames. The fire was extinguished with assistance from an MTA employee using a fire extinguisher. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.

Elon Musk and Mayor Eric Adams condemns subway attack

Zapeta remained at the scene after the incident. He was found seated on a bench outside the train car. Body-worn cameras worn by responding officers captured clear footage of the suspect. Tisch noted, “Body-worn cameras on the responding officers produced a clear and detailed look at the killer.”

Following the release of the suspect’s description and photographs to the public, three high school students recognized the man and called 911. Transit officers confirmed the description and located the suspect on a moving train. The train was stopped at the next station, where officers boarded, identified the man, and arrested him without further incident.

ALSO READ| Can Elon Musk become US president? Donald Trump big remarks amid raging debate

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New York City Mayor Eric Adams expressed his condolences to the victim’s family, calling the attack a “senseless killing.”

“Grateful to the young New Yorkers and transit officers who stepped up to help our NYPD make a quick arrest following this morning’s heinous and deadly subway attack. This type of depraved behaviour has no place in our subways, and we are committed to working hard to ensure there is swift justice for all victims of violent crime.”

Tesla boss Elon Musk also took to X (formerly Twitter) to express his frustration. “Enough is enough,” he posted, along with the Guatemala migrant’s subway CCTV shot.

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Trump names Treasury adviser from first term to chair economic panel

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Trump names Treasury adviser from first term to chair economic panel

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Donald Trump has tapped Stephen Miran, an economist who served during his first term, to chair his Council of Economic Advisers.

With the nomination, the president-elect is seeking to elevate to a White House economic post not only a critic of Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell but one who has accused the Biden administration of manipulating the economy and “usurping” the central bank’s role.

“Steve will work with the rest of my Economic Team to deliver a Great Economic Boom that lifts up all Americans,” Trump said in a statement on Sunday.

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Miran was a senior adviser for economic policy at the Treasury department in the first Trump administration.

Currently a senior strategist at hedge fund Hudson Bay Capital Management, he said he was honoured. “I look forward to working to help implement the President’s policy agenda to create a booming, noninflationary economy that brings prosperity to all Americans!” he posted on X.

The White House Council of Economic Advisers is a three-person group that advises the president on economic policy.

Trump has threatened US trading partners, vowing to impose sweeping tariffs, including 25 per cent levies on goods from Mexico and Canada and 10 per cent on China’s imports, on his first day in office.

On the campaign trail, Trump vowed to impose blanket levies of 20 per cent on all US imports, as well as tariffs of 60 per cent on those from China, suggesting his second-term policies could be more protectionist and disruptive to the global economy and markets than his first.

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The president-elect has also pledged to renew tax cuts he enacted during his first spell in the White House.

Earlier this year, Miran co-wrote a paper accusing Biden’s Treasury department of manipulating the economy during the election, arguing the government’s dependence on short-term debt amounted to “stealth quantitative easing and impedes the Fed’s ability to fight inflation.

“By adjusting the maturity profile of its debt issuance, Treasury is dynamically managing financial conditions and, through them, the economy, usurping core functions of the Federal Reserve”, he wrote with economist Nouriel Roubini.

“We dub this novel tool ‘activist Treasury issuance,’ or ATI. By manipulating the amount of interest-rate risk owned by investors, ATI works through the same channels as the Fed’s quantitative easing programs.”

In FT Alphaville last year, Miran co-authored a piece warning against the perils of a two-tier bond market, which “would impair Treasuries’ ability to serve as risk-free collateral underpinning the global financial system” and bring to the US the chaos of a defaulting emerging economy.

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Miran has also hit out at Powell for urging more aggressive fiscal and monetary stimulus in October 2020, about a month before that year’s election, to aid the economic recovery amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Powell was wrong politically and economically when he urged Congress to ‘go big’ on fiscal stimulus in October of 2020, on the eve of a Presidential election, suggesting that voters favour Democrats’ $3 trillion proposals over Republicans’ $500 billion”, Miran wrote on X in September. “We know what happened next.”

Miran must be confirmed by the US Senate.

Last month, Trump named Kevin Hassett as chair of the National Economic Council.

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