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Eritrea appoints first ambassador to Ethiopia since 1998

Two Eritrean sisters get reunited in their home country after more than two decades without seeing each other. Photo: STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images

Eritrea has appointed an ambassador to its southern neighbor Ethiopia for the first time in two decades, the country's information minister announced on Twitter.

Why it matters: Earlier this month, the leaders of the two African nations announced an end to a war that had left 80,000 dead between 1998 and 2000 and hostilities frozen in the years since. The relationship has quickly thawed under the leadership of Ethiopia's new reform-minding prime minister, Abiy Ahmed.

Go deeper

Ursula Perano, Shawna Chen
Updated 40 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Trump grants flurry of last-minute pardons

Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty

President Trump issued 73 pardons and commuted the sentences of 70 individuals early Wednesday, 11 hours from leaving office.

Why it matters: It's a last-minute gift to some of the president's loyalists and an evident use of executive power with only hours left of his presidency. Axios reported in December that Trump planned to grant pardons to "every person who ever talked to me."

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow
Alayna Treene, author of Sneak Peek
1 hour ago - Politics & Policy

Trump revokes ethics order barring former aides from lobbying

Photo: Spencer Platt via Getty

Shortly after pardoning members of Congress and lobbyists convicted on corruption charges, President Trump revoked an executive order barring former officials from lobbying for five years after leaving his administration.

Why it matters: The order, which was signed eight days after he took office, was an attempt to fulfill his campaign promise to "drain the swamp."

  • But with less than 12 hours left in office, Trump has now removed those limitations on his own aides.
Lachlan Markay
2 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Trump pardons former GOP fundraiser Elliott Broidy

President Trump has pardoned Elliott Broidy, a former top Republican fundraiser who pleaded guilty late last year to conspiring to violate foreign lobbying laws as part of a campaign to sway the administration on behalf of Chinese and Malaysian interests.

Why it matters: Broidy was a deputy finance chair for the Republican National Committee early in Trump’s presidency, and attempted to leverage his influence in the Trump administration on behalf of his clients. The president's decision to pardon Broidy represents one last favor for a prominent political ally.

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow