Tuesday, November 29, 2022

Wake-Up Call: China Continues Clamp Down


China clamped down on rare nationwide protests against the zero-Covid policies.Police turned out to discourage gatherings in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong as the state media backed leader Xi Jinping’s restrictive approach to the pandemic. Protesters have made blank sheets of white paper the symbol to express their frustration with a regime that loathes dissent, and the stark visual has migrated to China’s heavily censored social media. Experts say demonstrations against Xi and the Communist Party are unlikely to result in a regime change in the near-term at least. Beijing can either change its Covid strategy and risk a surge of infections, undermining its credibility, or suppress the protests and stick with its zero-Covid plan. For now, the protests worried investors, causing U.S. stocks to drop.


➤FED STILL HAS MUCH TO DO TO CONTROL INFLATION: A senior Fed official said he expects inflation pressures to recede over the next year, though the central bank still has plenty to do to tame it.  New York Fed President John Williams indicated in a speech that he expects inflation to slow to between 5% and 5.5% by the end of the year and to between 3% and 3.5% next year. He did nothing to dispel forecasts that the central bank would raise rates by a half percentage point at its December meeting.

🛢YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND: Oil-and-gas companies expect to have more friends in Washington as the Republicans take over the House. The GOP will push to boost domestic energy production and could use its control of committees to scrutinize clean-energy programs—a contrast with the Biden administration’s shift from fossil fuels. Elsewhere in the nation’s capital, the Supreme Court heard arguments Monday in two public-corruption cases that address whether to limit how federal prosecutors can pursue fraud cases.

🚆BIDEN TRIES TO PASS LOOMING RAILROAD STRIKE TO CONRGESS: President Joe Biden on Monday asked Congress to intervene and block a railroad strike before next month’s deadline in the stalled contract talks, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said lawmakers would take up legislation this week to impose the deal that unions agreed to in September. “Let me be clear: a rail shutdown would devastate our economy,” Biden said in a statement. “Without freight rail, many U.S. industries would shut down.” In a statement, Pelosi said: “We are reluctant to bypass the standard ratification process for the Tentative Agreement — but we must act to prevent a catastrophic nationwide rail strike, which would grind our economy to a halt.”

✞LAWMAKER DIES: Rep. Donald McEachin (right), a Democrat from Virginia, has died at the age of 61 from colorectal cancer, his chief of staff announced on Monday. “We are all devastated at the passing of our boss and friend, Congressman Donald McEachin. Valiantly, for years now, we have watched him fight and triumph over the secondary effects of his colorectal cancer from 2013. Tonight, he lost that battle, and the people of Virginia’s Fourth Congressional District lost a hero who always, always fought for them and put them first,” Tara Rountree, McEachin’s chief of staff, said in a statement. “Until a new representative is elected, our office will remain open and continue to serve our constituents. The family asks for privacy at this time. Arrangements will be announced over the next few days,” Rountree added. McEachin has represented the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Fourth Congressional District, which stretches from the capital city of Richmond east toward Chesapeake, since 2017.


➤PENCE URGES TRUMP TO APOLOGIZE:  Former Vice President Mike Pence said Donald Trump should apologize for dining last week with rapper Ye and a well-known white nationalist, saying his former boss showed “profoundly poor judgment” and should denounce “their hateful rhetoric without qualification.” Pence is the most prominent Republican to criticize the former president for his meeting last week at his Mar-a-Lago resort with Ye, who was formerly known as Kanye West and has lost business partners after making anti-Semitic remarks, and white supremacist Nick Fuentes.  “President Trump was wrong to give a white nationalist, an anti-Semite and a Holocaust denier a seat at the table, and I think he should apologize for it,” Pence said in an interview airing Monday with Leland Vittert, an anchor with NewsNation.

➤16 MILE BACKUP GREETED SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MOTORISTS RETURNING FROM LAS VEGAS: Motorists returning to Southern California after a Thanksgiving weekend in Las Vegas had nothing but bad luck Sunday as traffic on the main route across the Nevada border backed up for 16 miles. The backup from the California state line was about 16 miles by 11:30 a.m. By about 3 p.m., it was 12 miles. By the evening it was down to 6 miles, and at about 7 p.m., it was 2 miles long, according to the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada’s online FAST dashboard.


➤CHICAGO WOMAN WITH CONCEALED-CARRY LICENSE FOILS CAR-JACKING: A 23-year-old woman with a concealed-carry permit defended herself against four armed men who attempted to carjack her last week on the South Side of Chicago. The woman, who remains unidentified, was sitting in her car in the Calumet Heights neighborhood just after 2 a.m. on Wednesday near 89th Street and Kenwood Avenue when four men spilled out of a black sedan, according to a local CBS affiliate.

💸ONLY A THIRD SAY PAY IS FAIR: Only 32% of employees think their compensation is fair, according to a new survey by consulting firm Gartner Inc. Employees’ perceptions of unfairness can be attributed largely to trust — or lack thereof — in their organizations, according to Gartner, which surveyed more than 3,500 employees. Toxic culture, poor inclusivity, inadequate work-life balance and unfair experiences can all undermine that trust. These feelings have sharpened as record inflation has stressed budgets and a historically tight labor market has resulted in new hires scoring more generous salaries than those workers who stayed loyal throughout the so-called Great Resignation. New York City’s pay transparency law took effect at the beginning of November, drawing even more national attention to the issue. As many head into salary negotiations for 2023, worker impressions of equity and fairness loom large

🌋ERUPTING HAWAII VOLCANO SPURS WARNING FOR PEOPLE TO PREPARE: For the first time in nearly four decades, the biggest active volcano on Earth is erupting. Lava flows from Mauna Loa, at the heart of Hawaii’s Big Island, could threaten some roadways, but otherwise authorities said there was no immediate danger to populated areas. Officials told residents to be ready to evacuate if lava flows start heading toward populated areas.

➤TWO MINERALS NEVER BEFORE SEEN ON EARTH FOUND INSIDE 17-TON METEORITE: Two minerals that have never been seen before on Earth have been discovered inside a massive meteorite in Somalia. They could hold important clues to how asteroids form. The two brand new minerals were found inside a single 2.5 ounce (70 gram) slice taken from the 16.5 ton (15 metric tons) El Ali meteorite, which crashed to Earth in 2020. Scientists named the minerals elaliite after the meteor and elkinstantonite after Lindy Elkins-Tanton.


⚾ASTROS REACH DEAL WITH VETERAN 1ST BASEMAN JOSE ABREU: The Houston Astros agree on a 3-year-deal with free-agent first baseman José Abreu on Monday. The deal is pending a physical, this move will be adding another run-producing bat to the World Series champions lineup that's already filled with them. Abreu is second in baseball with 863 RBIs since his first season in the major leagues, which was 2014 and won the American League MVP award in 2020.

🏈DESHAUN WATSON 11 GAME SUSPENSION IS OVER, EXPECTED TO PLAY ON SUNDAY: For the first time in two years, Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson returns to the field Sunday after serving an 11-game suspension. The three-time Pro Bowler has not played in a regular season game since 2020. In August, the NFL and the NFL Players Association agreed to suspend him for 11 regular season games without pay and fined him $5 million after he was accused of sexual misconduct by more than two dozen women.

🏈MELVIN GORDON SIGNS ON WITH CHIEF'S PRACTICE SQUAD: Running back Melvin Gordon, who was recently released by the Denver Broncos after a rash of fumbles, soon could be playing against his former team. Gordon was signed to the practice squad of the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday, the Chiefs and Broncos meet twice this season, Week 14 in Denver and Week 17 in Kansas City.

🏀DALLAS MAVERICKS TO SIGN KEMBA WALKER TO BOOST BACKCOURT: The Dallas Mavericks intend to sign veteran guard Kemba Walker to address their glaring need for another creator in Luka Doncic's supporting cast.Dalla s will waive reserve point guard Facundo Campazzo, whose contract is nonguaranteed, to create an open roster spot for Walker. Walker has been training in Florida this season while awaiting an opportunity to sign with an NBA team.

🏈DEION SANDERS CONFIRMED HE WAS OFFERED COLORADO HEAD COACHING JOB: On Monday, Deion Sanders confirmed the report stating Colorado had offered him its head-coaching job was true and that he also had received interest from other schools.  The Jackson State football coach didn't say whether he's considering any of the opportunities. The Pro Football Hall of Famer has guided Jackson State to an 11-0 mark this season. The Tigers host Southern in the SWAC championship Saturday.

🏈NFL MNF:    Pittsburgh Steelers 24 vs Indianapolis Colts 17


⚽WORLD CUP:
  • Cameroon 3 vs Serbia 3
  • Ghana 3 South Korea 2
  • Brazil 1 vs Switzerland 0
  • Portugal 2 vs Uruguay 0


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