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Sweden’s first female prime minister, Magdalena Andersson, resigns 12 hours after she was appointed

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Hours after being tapped as Sweden’s first female prime minister, Magdalena Andersson resigned yesterday after suffering a budget defeat in parliament and her coalition partner the Greens left the two-party minority government.

The government’s own budget proposal was rejected in favor of one presented by the opposition that includes the right-wing populist Sweden Democrats. Sweden’s third-largest party is rooted in a neo-Nazi movement. The vote was 154-143 in favor of the opposition’s budget proposal.

Andersson, leader of the Social Democratic party, decided it was best to step down from the post more than seven hours after she made history by becoming the first woman to lead the country.

“For me, it is about respect, but I also do not want to lead a government where there may be grounds to question its legitimacy,” Andersson told a news conference.

Andersson, who was finance minister before briefly becoming prime minister, informed parliamentary Speaker Andreas Norlen that she is still interested in leading a Social Democratic one-party government.

Norlen, the speaker of Sweden’s 349-seat parliament, said he will contact Sweden’s eight party leaders “to discuss the situation.” Today, he will announce the road ahead.

Andersson said that “a coalition government should resign if a party chooses to leave the government. Despite the fact that the parliamentary situation is unchanged, it needs to be tried again.”

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Trump names campaign manager Susie Wiles as chief of staff

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US President-elect Donald Trump named his campaign manager, Susie Wiles, as White House chief of staff on Thursday, his first major appointment since winning this week’s election.

“Susie is tough, smart, innovative, and is universally admired and respected,” Trump said in a statement. “Susie will continue to work tirelessly to Make America Great Again. It is a well deserved honor to have Susie as the first-ever female Chief of Staff in United States history.”

Trump went through four chiefs of staff — including one who served in an acting capacity for a year — during his first administration, part of record-setting personnel churn in his administration.

Wiles, 67, a Florida native is credited with running a more disciplined campaign operation than Trump’s first run.

She appeared with Trump on stage at his election night victory celebration, but chose not to speak, being the only one not to do so.

She is the daughter of late sportscaster Pat Summerall.

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Joe Biden asks Americans to accept Trump’s victory, promises peaceful transition

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The United States President Joe Biden has asked Americans to accept the victory of Republican Party candidate Donald Trump in the presidential election.

On November 6, Trump won the presidential election after exceeding the magic number of 270 electoral college votes.

Trump defeated Kamala Harris of the Democratic Party, who has 219 electoral college votes.

Harris has congratulated Trump on his electoral victory.

During a speech on Thursday at the White House Rose Garden, Biden said, “We accept the choice the country made.”

“I know for some people, it’s time for victory to state the obvious. For others, it’s a time of loss,” the US president said.

“Campaigns are contests of competing visions. The country chooses one or the other.

“I’ve said many times, you can’t love your country only when you win. You can’t love your neighbour only when you agree.

“I will do my duty as president. I’ll fulfil my oath and honour the Constitution. On January 20, we will have a peaceful transfer of power here in America.

“Remember, defeat does not mean we are defeated. We lost this battle. The America of your dream is calling for you to get back up.

“The America experiment endures. We are going to be okay, but we need to stay engaged. We need to keep going. Above all, we need to keep the faith.”

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Iran president says Trump win ‘makes no difference’

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Iran on Thursday called Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election an opportunity for the United States to reassess past “wrong policies”.

Trump, who is set to return to the White House in January after defeating US Vice President Kamala Harris in Tuesday’s election, had pursued a “maximum pressure” strategy on Iran during his first term.

“We have very bitter experiences with the policies and approaches of different US governments in the past,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA.

Trump’s win, he added, was a chance “to review previous wrong policies”.

President Masoud Pezeshkian said later that Trump’s victory “makes no difference” to Iran which had “prioritised developing relations with Islamic and neighbouring countries”.

“We will not have a narrow or restricted view when developing our relations with other countries,” he said, quoted by IRNA.

Iran and the United States have been adversaries since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, which overthrew the Western-backed shah, but tensions peaked during Trump’s first term from 2017 to 2021.

Before Trump was declared the winner on Wednesday, Iran had dismissed the US election as irrelevant.

“The general policies of the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran are fixed,” said government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani.

“It doesn’t matter who becomes president. Plans have already been set so that there is no change in people’s livelihood,” she added.

During his first term, Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and imposed harsh sanctions on the Islamic republic.

In 2020, under Trump’s presidency, the United States killed revered Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps general Qasem Soleimani in an air strike on Baghdad airport.

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Bodex F. Hungbo, SPMIIM is a multiple award-winning Nigerian Digital Media Practitioner, Digital Strategist, PR consultant, Brand and Event Expert, Tv Presenter, Tier-A Blogger/Influencer, and a top cobbler in Nigeria.

She has widespread experiences across different professions and skills, which includes experiences in; Marketing, Media, Broadcasting, Brand and Event Management, Administration and Management with prior stints at MTN, NAPIMS-NNPC, GLOBAL FLEET OIL AND GAS, LTV, Silverbird and a host of others

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