Johnson re-elected as House speaker; Trump to be sentenced, and more
The World in Brief from The Economist
The Economist
4.1 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 4 January 2025
⏱️ 5 minutes
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, you're listening to the free edition of the world in brief from The Economist. |
| 0:11.2 | As a reminder, if you subscribe to The Economist, you'll get access to a deeper look at the day ahead, updated three times a day. |
| 0:20.1 | If you're already an Economist subscriber, visit |
| 0:22.9 | economist.com slash espresso or visit our espresso app to start listening. Here's today's |
| 0:29.5 | free edition. |
| 0:34.7 | This is the world in brief from The Economist. |
| 0:42.4 | Our top stories. |
| 0:45.4 | Mike Johnson, a Republican, was re-elected as Speaker of America's House of Representatives. |
| 0:51.8 | Despite an endorsement from Donald Trump, three Republicans initially voted against |
| 0:56.2 | Mr. Johnson. Given the party's tight majority, that would have been enough to trigger another ballot |
| 1:01.6 | and delay the start of the 119th Congress. But two subsequently changed their minds, securing |
| 1:08.0 | Mr. Johnson just enough votes to win. |
| 1:11.6 | The judge overseeing Mr. Trump's hush money case said he would sentence the president-elect |
| 1:17.6 | on January 10th, but that Mr. Trump would not face prison time. |
| 1:21.6 | Mr. Trump had argued that his conviction on 34 felony counts should be dismissed because the proceedings would impede his presidential transition. |
| 1:31.1 | The judge wrote that tossing the jury verdict would undermine the rule of law in immeasurable ways. |
| 1:39.3 | President Joe Biden blocked Nippen Steele's proposed takeover of U.S. Steel, claiming it could threaten |
| 1:45.9 | America's national security. |
| 1:48.3 | A government review panel recently failed to agree on whether that was true. |
| 1:52.8 | Mr. Trump had also vowed to block the takeover by the Japanese company. |
| 1:57.2 | In September, U.S. Steel's boss said that the firm would have to leave Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, if the deal fell through. |
| 2:06.2 | Efforts to form a new Austrian government collapsed. In September, the Hard Right Freedom Party came first in the country's parliamentary elections. |
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