The only impossible journey is the one you never begin

US President-elect *Donald Trump has made his first cabinet appointment* after his decisive election win over Kamala Harris, while signaling his intention to talk to Vladimir Putin. 🇺🇸 Trump's campaign manager *Susie Wiles will serve as his White House chief of staff* , the first woman to be named to the high-profile role. 🗳️ The election victory has shaken up world politics, and *Trump told NBC News he was "ready" to hold discussions with Vladimir Putin* . 🇷🇺 It marks a *seismic shift from the icy silence that has existed between Biden and Putin* since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

*Australia's prime minister has vowed to ban children under 16 from social media,* saying the pervasive influence of platforms like Facebook and TikTok was _"doing real harm to our kids"_. 🇦🇺 The *tech giants would be held responsible for enforcing the age limit and face fines* if regulators notice young users slipping through the cracks, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said. 📱 Australia is among the *vanguard of nations trying to clean up social media,* and the proposed age limit would be *among the world's strictest measures aimed at children.* The *new laws would be presented to state and territory leaders this week,* before being introduced to parliament in late November. Once passed, the *tech platforms would be given a one-year grace period* to figure out how to implement and enforce the ban.

Germany's conservative opposition *has heaped pressure on Chancellor Olaf Scholz's crisis-hit government to allow for speedy elections* by calling a confidence vote next week rather than next year. 🇩🇪 Speaking after a meeting of his parliamentary group, Christian Democrats (CDU) chairman *Friedrich Merz said Scholz's three-party coalition with the Greens and the Free Democrats (FDP) had _"failed"_*. After months of bitter infighting, *Scholz's fractious three-way coalition finally broke apart on Wednesday* night after the chancellor sacked his rebellious finance minister Christian Lindner from the FDP. The shock move *leaves the chancellor's Social Democrats (SPD) and the Greens ruling in a precarious minority government* at a time when Germany is facing multiple domestic and international crises.