Presidential pardons

On Dec 23, Biden commuted the sentences of 37 out of 40 federal inmates on death row, converting the terms to life imprisonment without parole.

Unlike executive orders, clemency decisions cannot be reversed by a president's successor.

Trump restarted federal executions during his first term in office from 2017 to 2021 after a nearly 20-year pause.

Biden, who ran for president opposing the death penalty, put federal executions on hold when he took office in January 2021.

In recent weeks, he has faced pressure from congressional Democrats, opponents of capital punishment and religious leaders to commute federal death sentences before he leaves.

"Make no mistake: I condemn these murderers, grieve for the victims of their despicable acts, and ache for all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable loss," Biden said in a statement.

"But guided by my conscience and my experience ... I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level," he said. "In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted."

Trump's spokesman Steven Cheung criticized the commutations. "These are among the worst killers in the world and this abhorrent decision by Biden is a slap in the face to the victims, their families and their loved ones," he said in a statement.

Earlier last month, Biden commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 people and pardoned 39 more convicted of nonviolent crimes.

He also issued a full and unconditional pardon for his son Hunter on Dec 1, after repeatedly saying he would not do so. Hunter Biden had pleaded guilty to tax violations and was convicted on firearms-related charges.

The year also saw nationwide protests across college campuses over the Palestine-Israel conflict in the Gaza Strip. On April 30, the New York Police Department arrested about 300 pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University and the City College of New York after two weeks of demonstrations.

Beyond the political realm, natural disasters brought devastation to many parts of the country.

Hurricane Helene made landfall on Sept 26 in Florida's Gulf Coast as a Category 4 storm with winds of 225 kilometers per hour, causing devastation across 10 US states and killing at least 250 people.

Helene is now the deadliest hurricane to hit the mainland US since Katrina in 2005, in the New Orleans area, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Western North Carolina and the Asheville area were hit especially hard, with flooding that wiped out buildings, roads, utilities and land. Inland areas in parts of Georgia and Tennessee were also washed out.

Carter remembered

Former US president Jimmy Carter, who established diplomatic relations with China in 1979, died on Dec 29.

A Democrat who served one term after his election in 1976, Carter turned 100 years old on Oct 1, the first US president to reach that age.

Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, founded The Carter Center in Atlanta. The center is committed to advancing US-China relations.

"Today, the Center works to build synergy between China and the United States on issues of global importance, including fostering greater cooperation between them in other nations, providing resources and scholarship, and nurturing the next generation of young leaders who can shape the critical US-China bilateral relationship to be a cornerstone of global peace and prosperity," the center's website said.

Elsewhere, economic pressures and social tensions fueled labor disputes.

On Oct 5, some 45,000 dockworkers at East and Gulf coast ports returned to work after their union reached a deal to suspend a three-day strike.

The International Longshoremen's Association suspended the strike until Jan 15 to provide time to negotiate a new contract. The union and the US Maritime Alliance, which represents ports and shipping companies, said in a joint statement that they have reached a tentative agreement on wages.

Another point of contention is the automation by machines at ports, which the ILA is concerned will cost jobs.

Agencies contributed to this story.

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