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Labour leader, Peter Obi visited Atiku Abubakar of PDP at his house. What do you think they discussed?

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The details of the meeting between Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar have emerged ¹. They discussed issues affecting Nigeria and how to rescue the country. However, there are speculations that the meeting might be connected to the 2027 election. The meeting could have been about the following ² ³:
– *Zoning of the presidential ticket*: Atiku Abubakar wanted the PDP to zone the 2023 presidential ticket to the Southeast, but Nyesom Wike worked against it.
– *Peter Obi’s departure from PDP*: Wike played a significant role in Obi’s departure from the PDP.
– *Atiku’s willingness to step aside*: Atiku was willing to forego his presidential aspiration if the presidency was micro-zoned to the southeast region, where Obi hails from.
– *Wike’s counter-proposal*: Wike countered Atiku’s condition and promoted that the ticket be thrown open to the three sub-regions in the south (southeast, southwest, and south-south).

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Fox host pulls himself out of the running to be Treasury Secretary

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Fox Business host Larry Kudlow is being considered for a top economic job in the Trump administration according to a Wall Street Journal report
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Fox Business host Larry Kudlow pulled himself from consideration from a top economic job in the upcoming Trump administration just hours after it was reported he was being considered for a job.

Kudlow met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Florida this week and was being considered to lead the National Economic Council as well as the plum Treasury Department cabinet post, according to the Wall Street Journal.

But on Friday, he yanked his name from consideration.

‘Larry Kudlow recently signed a new deal to continue hosting his eponymous program on FOX Business and has no plans to leave his current role helming one of the highest rated shows on the network,’ a Fox News spokesperson said in a statement with DailyMail.com.

It comes after Trump tapped another Fox Newshost, Pete Hegseth, to lead the Defense Department earlier this week.

Kudlow, 77, is a conservative TV host who served as Trump’s director of the National Economic Council during his first term from April 2018 until he left office in January 2021.

After leaving office, Kudlow joined the Fox Business Network as a television host with a weekday program where he has regularly touted Trump’s economic proposals and has even had the ex-president on his show for interviews.

Kudlow was the latest name floated for a top economic job in the upcoming Trump administration.

The president-elect has rolled out a series of nominations, but he has yet to announce his picks to lead the Treasure Department, Commerce Department and Labor Department as well as who will fill key White House economic policy roles.

Other names that have been floated as potential Treasury Secretary nominees include hedge fund executive Scott Bessent who met with Trump in Florida last week and again on Friday.

Billionaire businessman and Trump’s longtime friend Howard Lutnick is also potentially up for the job. The Cantor Fitzgerald CEO is helping lead the Trump transition team and has been a vocal supporter of Trump’s economic proposals including tariffs.

Robert Lighthizer, who served as U.S. trade representative in Trump’s first term, and Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan are also both in consideration for top economic jobs.

Another billionaire and Trump supporter John Paulson recently ruled himself out of consideration for a role in the upcoming administration.

Larry Kudlow speaking outside the White House while serving as National Economic Council director during Trump’s first term in October 2018

 

 

 

Howard Lutnick

 

Scott Bessent

 

According to the Wall Street Journal, Trump is continuing his conversations with candidates on Friday.

Kudlow has been a vocal supporter of Trump’s agenda including the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants in the United States while criticizing Democrats’ legislation including the CHIPS Act and the bipartisan infrastructure deal.

While serving in Trump’s first term, Kudlow acknowledged that it is Americans and hot China who pay for tariffs, but he argued China’s GDP would suffer.

More recently, he argued for the use of tariffs as a negotiating tool and a pathway to free trade while touting proposed corporate tax cuts also pushed by Trump.

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Argentina orders arrests of pro-Bolsonaro rioters

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Scores of Bolsanaro supporters are believed to have fled to Argentina following prosecutions for the January 2023 riots
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Argentina’s courts have ordered the arrest of 61 Brazilians facing jail sentences for their involvement in the Brasilia riots last year.

In January 2023, supporters of Brazil’s former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro stormed Congress in an attempted overthrow of the new left-wing government led by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, commonly known as Lula.

Hundreds of the rioters were arrested, charged and released on bail. Some were convicted and sentenced.

But others fled to Argentina to escape their sentences – particularly after far-right politician Javier Milei was elected president in December 2023.

Judge Daniel Rafecas said the warrants would apply to those who had “convictions with definite prison sentences,” Brazilian news outlet Globo reported.

In June this year, Brazilian authorities issued an extradition request to Argentina seeking help in extraditing more than 140 prosecuted rioters. But many in Brazil questioned whether the Milei government would agree. The Argentine president is a friend of Bolsanaro’s and has been a staunch critic of Lula.

However, in October, Argentina cancelled political asylum for people who have been convicted of crimes in their home country.

And on Friday, an Argentinian Federal Court judge ruled that the arrest warrants should be issued, noting the request of Brazil’s supreme court.

Local media also reported that local police on Friday had arrested one fugitive in La Plata city, about 60km (37 miles) from the Argentine capital Buenos Aires.

It is unclear if the whereabouts of the other rioters are known.

The Brazilian government believes the January 2023 riots were part of a coup attempt orchestrated by Bolsonaro following his defeat in a tightly contested presidential election the previous October. He denies any involvement.

But in the weeks following the election, he made repeated claims on social media questioning the results of the vote and the integrity of Brazil’s electronic voting system.

Less than a week after Lula was inaugurated in January 2023, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed the Congress building, the Supreme Court and Presidential Palace in Brasília.

The arrest warrants come just two days after another attack in Brasilia’s Three Powers Plaza, where a former political candidate committed a suicide bomb attack outside the Supreme Court.

Police have named the man as Francisco Wanderley Luiz, who stood unsuccessfully in council elections for Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party.

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‘Rebuild post-Brexit relations with EU,’ says Bank boss

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'Rebuild post-Brexit relations with EU,' says Bank boss
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Story by Mitchell Labiak and Faisal Islam – Business reporter and economics editor, BBC News

The UK must “rebuild relations” with the EU “while respecting the decision of the British people” who voted to leave in 2016, the Bank of England’s governor will say later.

Andrew Bailey’s Mansion House speech to investors will mark some of his strongest comments yet on Brexit, saying one of its consequences has been weaker trade.

He has previously avoided commenting on the topic because of the Bank’s independence from Westminster politics.

“As a public official, I take no position on Brexit per se,” he will say. “But I do have to point out consequences.”

Mr Bailey will say the changed relationship with the EU has “weighed” on the economy.

“The impact on trade seems to be more in goods than services… But it underlines why we must be alert to and welcome opportunities to rebuild relations while respecting the decision of the British people.”

Mr Bailey will also say the UK should not focus “just on the effects of Brexit”, warning about the “broader fragmentation of the global economy”.

His Brexit comments go much further than he previously has on the topic. Last November, he said the decision had “led to a reduction in the openness of the UK economy”.

Assessing the impact of the UK’s decision to leave the EU on the economy has been tricky given the multiple economic shocks in recent years.

The Office for Budget Responsibility and other independent analysts estimate the economy is 4% smaller over the past 15 years as a result.

Goods trade, especially in food and farm exports, has been especially hit by the imposition of new trade barriers. Trade in services, such as banking, has done better than expected, however.

The government remains opposed to rejoining the EU, but Prime Minister Keir Starmer and some EU politicians have said there could be a better relationship.

Spain’s Finance Minister Carlos Cuerpo told the BBC: “We need to be positive here and optimistic that a better deal can be actually closed on that front.”

A UK government spokesperson said: “We are committed to resetting our relationship with our European partners… and improving our trade and investment relationship.”

Mr Bailey’s Mansion House address will come alongside a speech by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who will talk about her plans to shake up the UK pension system in a bid for growth.

She wants council pension pots to be merged so they can make bigger investments to generate higher returns, a move criticised as risky by some.

“The UK has been regulating for risk, but not regulating for growth,” she will say.

The annual event comes as the government also faces criticism from businesses for holding back growth through tax raises, which Reeves has said are necessary to “properly fund” public services.

‘Bottom line’

Mr Bailey’s speech will go on to address the wider UK economy and its lack of growth.

“Bottom line, it’s not a good story,” he will say, describing how productivity has fallen since the 2008 economic crash and has not recovered since.

He will explain that the UK is not alone in having this problem, which he says also affects other parts of Europe, but notes that the US has “a better story to tell”.

Mr Bailey will also echo Reeves’ concern that the UK pension system is “fragmented” and requires “heavy lifting” to fix it.

Former Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has said there was “much to welcome” in Reeves’ suggested reforms, though shadow chancellor Mel Stride has added that Conservatives will be “looking closely at the detail”.

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