Zohran Mamdani, the young upstart of the US left, was readying Wednesday to take over as New York mayor for a term sure to see him cross swords with President Donald Trump.After the clocks strike midnight (0500 GMT Thursday), bringing in 2026, Mamdani will take his oath of office at an abandoned subway stop, taking the helm of the United States’ largest city. He will be New York’s first Muslim mayor.His office says the understated venue for the swearing-in reflects his commitment to working people, after the 34-year-old Democrat campaigned on promises to address the soaring cost of living. “Our campaign was built around listening to the people of New York, and we will govern in the same way. Tomorrow, we get to work,” Mamdani said Wednesday on X.But it remains to be seen if Mamdani — virtually unknown a year ago — can deliver on his ambitious agenda, which envisions rent freezes, universal childcare and free public buses.Once an election is over, “symbolism only goes so far with voters. Results begin to matter a whole lot more,” New York University lecturer John Kane said.How Trump handles Mamdani’s arrival at City Hall could be a decisive factor. The Republican, himself a New Yorker, has repeatedly criticized Mamdani, but the pair held surprisingly cordial talks at the White House in November.Lincoln Mitchell, a political analyst and professor at Columbia University, said the meeting “couldn’t have gone better from Mamdani’s perspective.”But he warned their relationship could quickly sour. One flashpoint might be immigration raids as Trump wages an expanding crackdown on migrants across the United States.Mamdani has vowed to protect immigrant communities.Before the November vote, the president also threatened to slash federal funding for New York if it picked Mamdani, whom he called a “communist lunatic.”The mayor-elect has said he believes Trump is a fascist.- Block party -Mamdani’s private swearing-in at midnight to start his four-year term will be performed by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who successfully prosecuted Trump for fraud.A larger, ceremonial inauguration is scheduled for Thursday with speeches from left-wing allies Senator Bernie Sanders and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.Around 4,000 ticketed guests are expected to attend the event outside City Hall.Mamdani’s team has also organized a block party that it says will enable tens of thousands of people to watch the ceremony at streetside viewing areas along Broadway.In a first for the city, Mamdani will use several Korans to be sworn in as mayor — two from his family and one that belonged to Puerto Rico-born Black writer Arturo Schomburg, The New York Times reported.The new job comes with a change of address as he swaps his rent-controlled apartment in the borough of Queens for the luxurious mayor’s residence in Manhattan.Some had wondered if he would move to the official mansion given his campaigning on affordability issues. Mamdani said he is doing so mainly for security reasons.Born in Uganda to a family of Indian origin, Mamdani moved to New York at age seven and enjoyed an elite upbringing with only a relatively brief stint in politics, becoming a member of the New York State Assembly before being elected mayor. Compensating for his inexperience, he is surrounding himself with seasoned aides recruited from past mayoral administrations and former US president Joe Biden’s government.Mamdani has also opened dialogue with business leaders, some of whom predicted a massive exodus of wealthy New Yorkers if he won. Real estate leaders have debunked those claims.As a defender of Palestinian rights, he will have to reassure the Jewish community of his inclusive leadership. Recently, one of his hires resigned after it was revealed she had posted antisemitic tweets years ago.

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Paris was welcome to Hollywood star George Clooney after the actor got French citizenship — and took the opportunity to bash France, too.Trump, whose administration has backed anti-immigration parties in Europe, said key ally France had a “horrendous” problem with crime and immigration.An official decree seen by AFP on Monday showed that 64-year-old Oscar winner Clooney, his wife Amal Alamuddin Clooney and their two children had become French citizens.”Good News! George and Amal Clooney, two of the worst political prognosticators of all time, have officially become citizens of France which is, sadly, in the midst of a major crime problem because of their absolutely horrendous handling of immigration,” Trump said on his Truth Social network.In one of a string of posts on New Year’s Eve, Trump added that France’s alleged problems were “much like we had under Sleepy Joe Biden,” his Democratic predecessor.”Oceans Eleven” star Clooney is a long-term Democratic supporter and fundraiser, and a vocal critic of Trump.In his social media post, Trump recalled the fact that the actor backed Biden during the 2024 US presidential election but then “dumped” him becoming concerned about the Democrat’s age during a fundraising event he hosted.”Clooney got more publicity for politics than he did for his very few, and totally mediocre, movies. He wasn’t a movie star at all, he was just an average guy who complained, constantly, about common sense in politics,” Trump said.Clooney’s newly acquired citizenship has also raised hackles in France. A junior member of President Emmanuel Macron’s government Wednesday criticized Clooney getting his passport despite speaking poor French, saying the move suggested a “double standard.”The news comes ahead of language requirements for citizenship being toughened for everyone else under new immigration rules from January 1.

The US military announced Wednesday that three people were killed in strikes on three alleged drug boats in international waters, bringing the death toll in Washington’s campaign against what it says are narcotics traffickers to at least 110.US Southern Command, which is responsible for American forces operating in Central and South America, said the strikes on Tuesday targeted “three narco-trafficking vessels traveling as a convoy.” All three people killed were on one boat. The exact location of the strikes was not immediately made clear. Previous strikes have taken place in the Caribbean or the eastern Pacific.The military said that the targeted vessels were operated by “Designated Terrorist Organizations” that it did not identify.Accompanying the statement, posted on X, was a video showing three boats traveling together at sea and then hit by a series of explosions.”Three narco-terrorists aboard the first vessel were killed in the first engagement. The remaining narco-terrorists abandoned the other two vessels, jumping overboard and distancing themselves before follow-on engagements sank their respective vessels,” it said.The military said it had notified the Coast Guard to “activate the Search and Rescue system,” without offering more details about the fate of those aboard the other boats.Since September, the US military has carried out more than 30 such strikes on what it says are boats used to smuggle drugs to the United States, without providing any concrete evidence that the targeted boats are involved in trafficking.International law experts and rights groups say the strikes likely amount to extrajudicial killings as they have apparently targeted civilians who do not pose an immediate threat to the United States.In recent months, US President Donald Trump has waged a pressure campaign against Venezuela’s leftist President Nicolas Maduro, accusing him of running a drug cartel.Maduro denies the allegation and has accused Washington of seeking regime change to gain access to the Latin American country’s massive oil reserves.