The World That Was

Adrian Olivier,

Sunday 12 January – Sunday 19 January:

On Monday, U.S. President Joe Biden gave his final address from the State Department on the standing of American foreign policy and national security before leaving office. He defended his disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan and urged Donald Trump to continue military support for Ukraine. He warned about climate change, calling it the single greatest existential threat to humanity, and criticized the incoming administration’s skepticism about clean energy, pointing to China’s dominance in the sector. Biden also highlighted progress in deterring China, asserting that it will not surpass the U.S. economically. 

On Monday, it was reported by Semafor that the Washington Post’s daily readership was down to 3 million by the middle of 2024 – down from 22.5 million daily users in 2021. That is quite the cratering of readership by any standard. While there was a large drop in subscribers following Jeff Bezos’ decision to withold an endorsement of outgoing Vice President Kamala Harris, the Post’s falling readership cannot be entirely attirbuted to that decision. It is representative of the American public’s distrust of mainstream media and an unwillingness to pay for news. The Wall Street Journal reported that the Post’s revenue fell from $190 million in 2023 to $174 million last year.

On Tuesday, Donald Trump’s defence secretary nominee, Pete Hegseth, attended his Senate hearing, which was interrupted multiple times by protesters who were swiftly removed. In the roughly four-hour hearing, Hegseth was praised by Republicans and criticized by Democrats. Hegseth pledged to restore the U.S. military’s “warrior culture,” declaring that his service as a National Guard junior officer in Iraq, Afghanistan and the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay would bring a needed refocus to a Pentagon concerned more with diversity and equity than lethality and readiness. “It is time to give someone with dust on his boots the helm. A change agent,” the former Fox News host said. Democrats charged that Hegseth would alienate female service members and potential recruits and that his personal conduct and lack of experience disqualified him to be defence secretary.

On Wednesday, following a December inflation report, U.S. stocks soared. The Labor Department reported a 2.9% rise in the consumer price index over the year and a 0.4% rise from the previous month, driven by a 4.4% jump in gas prices. The so-called core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.2%, its smallest gain since July and less than the 0.3% increase expected by economists. the three major U.S. stock indexes all recorded their best day since the post-election rally on Nov. 6. The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 1.7% or more. The Nasdaq Composite added 2.5%. Blockbuster earnings from JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and other megabanks added to the euphoria. The yield on 10-year Treasury notes dropped to around 4.653% from Tuesday’s 4.787%. It was the largest one-day decline since November.

On Wednesday, President Biden and the prime minister of Qatar announced that both Israel and Hamas had accepted a truce. The next day, Israel’s security cabinet approved the agreement on a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip that would free Israeli hostages, ending two days of debate that had underscored the pact’s fragility. Approval of the multi-phase deal came hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had accused Hamas of reneging on parts of an agreement originally announced Wednesday, said negotiators had reached an agreement. The full cabinet convened on Friday to vote on it. Netanyahu’s office told the families of hostages that preparations were underway for the possibility of the deal going into effect as soon as Sunday. President-elect Donald Trump, who had pushed hard for a deal to be wrapped up before his inauguration on Monday, weighed in again as negotiators debated the last points. 

On Thursday, SpaceX launched its seventh flight test of the Starship rocket, which lifted off from Starbase in Texas at 16:37 local time. The Super Heavy booster rocket returned to Earth and was caught for the second time by the catch tower arms. However, eight and a half minutes after stage separation of Starship from the booster rocket, a fire developed and the rocket exploded. The explosion produced a spectacular view as pieces of it streaked across the sky. Elon Musk reposted one video, saying, “Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed!” The explosion prompted aircraft flying in the Caribbean region to hold their positions or divert to other routes to avoid any potential debris from the spacecraft, according to Flightradar24, an aviation-tracking service.

On Friday, Chinese leader Xi Jinping and President-elect Donald Trump vowed to engage closely on major issues in a phone call. In a social media post, Trump said the pair discussed trade, fentanyl, TikTok and many other subjects. “It is my expectation that we will solve many problems together, and starting immediately,” Trump wrote. He provided no details of what was said, though he added, “President Xi and I will do everything possible to make the World more peaceful and safe.” China’s readout of the call, published by state media, said the pair agreed to establish a strategic communication channel to maintain regular contact on major issues. It quoted Trump telling Xi he looked forward to the pair meeting as soon as possible. China’s account didn’t mention TikTok and Trump didn’t elaborate on how the app was discussed. 

On Friday, the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics released population data which showed a continued decline in the country’s population, though a slight increase in births. China has seen birth numbers plummet since 2017, the year after it ended the one-child policy, despite Beijing’s encouragement of couples to have three children. Births rose to 9.54 million from 9.02 million in 2023. Meanwhile, the number of deaths dropped to 10.93 million last year from 11.10 million in 2023. That brought China’s total population to 1.408 billion last year from 2023’s 1.410 billion. China’s fertility rate—the number of children a woman has in her lifetime—is less than half of the replacement rate of 2.1, meaning that each generation will be less than half the size of the one before it. The U.N. expects China’s population to drop to 639 million, less than half of what it is now, by the end of the century. 

On Saturday, shortly before a law took effect requiring TikTok to shed Chinese ownership or face closure in the U.S., TikTok began halting service for 170 million Americans. It marked the first time the U.S. government has compelled the closure of such a widely used app, and disrupted millions of American businesses and social-media entrepreneurs who use TikTok to connect with customers and fans. TikTok users started seeing a message late Saturday saying, “Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now. A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now. We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!”

On Sunday, President-elect Donald Trump said he would issue an executive order on Monday to reinstate TikTok in the U.S. and that he wants the country to have an ownership position in the app. “I’m asking companies not to let TikTok stay dark!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. He said the order would extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions take effect, so that the administration can make a deal to protect our national security. Trump said the order would “also confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order.” TikTok was seeking such an assurance from the Biden administration. The president-elect said he wants the U.S. to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture, although he didn’t provide further details about how such a joint venture would be structured. “By doing this, we save TikTok,” he wrote.

On Sunday, the cease-fire in Israel’s war with Hamas went into effect, with the first three Israeli hostages released by Hamas, beginning a drawn-out process that will see 33 captives freed over the next six weeks in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. The halt in fighting was delayed by about three hours Sunday morning after Hamas failed to hand over the names of hostages it planned to release by the time the agreement was originally meant to come into effect, highlighting the challenges ahead to implementing a truce between two bitterly opposed sides. Hours later, the militant group made a public announcement of the names of the first three Israeli women to be released, a move that put the deal back on track but which sidestepped the official negotiating channels with Israel and undercut Israel’s ability to inform the women’s families. The three women are Romi Gonen, a 24-year-old waitress who was taken from the Nova music festival in southern Israel; Doron Steinbrecher, 31, a veterinary nurse who was kidnapped from her home in kibbutz Kfar Aza; and Emily Tehila Damari, 28, a British-Israeli citizen who was also taken from her home in Kfar Aza. Israel’s prison service said Sunday that it had received the list of Palestinian prisoners to be freed and was preparing for their release. Hamas said earlier Sunday the delay in submitting the list of hostages was because of “technical and field-related reasons” and that it was committed to the terms of the agreement.