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Boeing and Google give $1m each to Trump’s inauguration

The list also includes oil producer Chevron and technology giants Meta, Amazon and Uber.

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Photo Credit : Getty Image

US aviation giant Boeing has told BBC News it is donating $1m (£812,600) to an inauguration fund for President-elect Donald Trump.

Google has also confirmed that it has made a similar donation as the two firms join a growing list of major American companies contributing to the fund.

The list also includes oil producer Chevron and technology giants Meta, Amazon and Uber.

Trump’s inauguration, marking the start of his second term in the White House, is set to take place on 20 January. We are pleased to continue Boeing’s bipartisan tradition of supporting US Presidential Inaugural Committees,” Boeing said.

The company added that it has made similar donations to each of the past three presidential inauguration funds.

Boeing is working to recover from a safety and quality control crisis, as well as dealing with the losses from a strike last year. The company is also building the next presidential aircraft, known as Air Force One.

The two jets are expected to come into service as early as next year. During his first term as president, Trump forced the plane maker to renegotiate its contract, calling the initial deal too expensive. Google became the latest big tech firm to donate to the fund, following similar announcements by Meta and Amazon.

It also said it will stream the event around the world. Google is pleased to support the 2025 inauguration, with a livestream on YouTube and a direct link on our homepage,” said Karan Bhatia, Google’s global head of government affairs and public policy.

Car companies Ford, General Motors and Toyota have also donated a $1m each to the inaugural committee.

In the energy industry, Chevron confirmed that it has made a donation to the fund but declined to say how much.

“Chevron has a long tradition of celebrating democracy by supporting the inaugural committees of both parties.

We are proud to be doing so again this year,” said Bill Turene, Chevron’s manager of global media relations.

Credit: BBC

Business

Nigeria to Partner with Google on AI and digital innovation

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President Bola Tinubu is currently in talks with Google to strengthen the country’s role in artificial intelligence (AI) and digital innovation.

Announcing the discussions on X after meeting Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai in Paris, Tinubu said the partnership would expand cloud infrastructure, upskill workers, foster AI research, boost cloud adoption, and position Nigeria as a global tech hub.

The President cited Nigeria’s AI progress, including work with Awarri Technologies and the National Centre for AI and Robotics (NCAIR) to develop AI tools and a Large Language Model (LLM) for Nigerian languages.

Tinubu said the talks with google aligns with his Renewed Hope Agenda, with the Communications Ministry and NITDA providing oversight and overseeing implementation.

Tinubu, who is currently in Paris on a private visit, will also attend the AU Summit in Addis Ababa before returning to Nigeria.

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International

Gaza: Trump, Jordan’s king set for tense meeting

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President Donald Trump of the United States will on Tuesday meet Jordan’s King Abdullah for a tense encounter following the US president’s Gaza redevelopment idea and threat to cut aid to the US-allied Arab country if it refuses to resettle Palestinians.

Trump’s proposal, floated one week ago, for the US to take over Gaza, move its shell-shocked residents, and transform the war-ravaged territory into the Riviera of the Middle East prompted a negative response from the Arab world.

The concept has introduced new complexity into a sensitive regional dynamic, including a fragile ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Meanwhile, Hamas on Monday said it would stop releasing Israeli hostages from Gaza until further notice, alleging that Israel was violating the agreement to end strikes that have pummeled Gaza.

Trump later proposed canceling the ceasefire if Hamas doesn’t release all remaining hostages it took on October 7, 2023, by the weekend.

King Abdullah has said he rejects any moves to annex land and displace Palestinians. On Tuesday, he is expected to tell Trump such a move could spur radicalism, spread chaos in the region, jeopardize peace with Israel, and threaten his country’s very survival.

For his part, Trump has modified aspects of his initial proposal and doubled down on others. He has expressed increasing impatience with Arab leaders who see the idea as unworkable.

AFP

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International

Trump stops enforcement of US law banning bribery of foreign officials

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The United States of America President, Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday directing the US justice department to stop prosecuting Americans accused of bribing foreign government officials to win business.

The new Trump’s order mandates the US attorney general, Pam Bondi, to pause prosecutions under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 until she issues revised enforcement guidance that promotes American competitiveness.

“Future FCPA investigations and enforcement actions will be governed by this new guidance and must be approved by the attorney general,” the document said.

In a further analysis of the development, according to the White House, the law puts US firms at a disadvantage to foreign competitors because they cannot engage in practices that are “common among international competitors, creating an uneven playing field.”

“American national security depends on America and its companies gaining strategic commercial advantages around the world, and President Trump is stopping excessive, unpredictable FCPA enforcement that makes American companies less competitive,” according to a copy of a White House factsheet cited by Reuters.

Meanwhile, the anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International said the FCPA made the United States a leader in addressing global corruption.

Reacting to the development in a statement, Gary Kalman, executive director of Transparency International US, said Trump’s executive order “diminishes— and could pave the way for completely eliminating— the crown jewel in the US’s fight against global corruption.”.

Recall that in the past weeks, Trump has signed several executive orders, including dismantling US Agency for International Development.

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