Month: November 2022

The White House confirmed on Thursday that President Biden will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday, Nov. 14, at the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia. Although they have met virtually, it will be their first in-person meeting between the two since Mr. Biden took office.

A meeting between Biden and Xi had been under discussion by U.S. and Chinese officials in the weeks leading up to the summit, as the U.S. aims to navigate their relationship with China. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement: “The leaders will discuss efforts to maintain and deepen lines of communication between the United States and the [People’s Republic of China], responsibly manage competition, and work together where our interests align, especially on transnational challenges that affect the international community. The two leaders will also discuss a range of regional and global issues.”

During a press conference, Biden said he has told Xi in the past that he’s “looking for competition, not conflict,” adding, “and so what I want to do with him when we talk is lay out what each of our red lines are and understand what he believes to be in the critical national interests of China, what I know to be the critical interests of the United States, and to determine whether or not they conflict with one another … And if they do, how to resolve it and how to work it out.”  The president said he anticipated that the two leaders will discuss Taiwan, as well as China’s relationship with other countries in the region. The two leaders spoke by phone in July for more than two hours over tensions in Taiwan.

Biden embarked on a three-part trip to Egypt, Cambodia and Indonesia, and will first stop in Egypt for the COP27 United Nations climate change summit, then head to Cambodia this weekend for the annual U.S.-ASEAN summit and East Asia Summit, and finally travel to Bali for the G20 summit.

Editorial credit: 360b / Shutterstock.com

A judge in Virginia ruled Wednesday that former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich must testify in front of a special grand jury in Georgia before the end of the month.  Siding with prosecutors, Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Robert Smith said Gingrich must testify in front of the special grand jury in Atlanta before Nov. 29. The 79-year-old Gingrich has repeatedly attempted to avoid testifying in the probe, arguing that the appearance in Atlanta was “not necessary and would impose an undue hardship.”

The probe, which was launched last year by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, is investigating possible interference by then-president Donald Trump and others in the 2020 election in Georgia. Willis is seeking to question Gingrich about contact he had with Trump’s campaign in 2020, when Gingrich is accused of pushing for television ads to promote “the false narrative that election workers had smuggled suitcases containing fake ballots” into a location where ballots were being counted. In court filings, Willis has called Gingrich a “necessary and material witness for the investigation.”

Gingrich’s attorney John Burlingame said his client would likely appeal the decision, arguing that Gingrich’s upcoming appearance before the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol should spare Gingrich from the separate probe in Georgia. That interview is scheduled for Nov. 21.

Editorial credit: Christopher Halloran / Shutterstock.com

Meta, Facebook’s parent company, has announced over 11,000 layoffs. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a message to employees Wednesday: “Today I’m sharing some of the most difficult changes we’ve made in Meta history. I’ve decided to reduce the size of our team by about 13% and let more than 11,000 of our talented employees go.”

According to the the message from Zuckerberg, employees who are laid off will receive “16 weeks of base pay plus two additional weeks for every year of service, with no cap.” The layoffs follow a cost-cutting trend among big tech companies; Amazon recently announced that they would be extending a hiring freeze, and Apple is instituting a partial hiring freeze in October. Twitter announced drastic layoffs after being purchased by Elon Musk last month.

Zuckerberg, who attributed the layoffs to poor investments in the wake of COVID-19, also said: “We are also taking a number of additional steps to become a leaner and more efficient company by cutting discretionary spending and extending our hiring freeze through Q1 … At the start of Covid, the world rapidly moved online and the surge of e-commerce led to outsized revenue growth. Many people predicted this would be a permanent acceleration that would continue even after the pandemic ended. I did too, so I made the decision to significantly increase our investments.”

Zuckerberg said in his statement that the strategy of increased investments backfired: “Not only has online commerce returned to prior trends, but the macroeconomic downturn, increased competition, and ads signal loss have caused our revenue to be much lower than I’d expected.”

Editorial credit: pcruciatti / Shutterstock.com

As of early Wednesday, control of the U.S. House and Senate were up in the air as states across the country tallied votes, and many midterm election races remained neck-and-neck. Millions of Americans also cast their votes in key races for governor, secretary of state and other offices down the ballot.

The close contests will determine whether Democrats keep the majority in the House and Senate, or if Republicans will seize control of one or both chambers of the legislature. Democrats picked up a pivotal Senate seat in Pennsylvania, as Lt. Gov. John Fetterman was projected to defeat Republican Mehmet Oz; however critical Senate races in Georgia, Wisconsin, Nevada and Arizona were undetermined as of early Wednesday.

Some projections had Republicans ending up with 220 seats in the House, giving them the narrow majority. Republicans came into Election Day hoping to take commanding control of the chamber, which could make a huge difference for President Biden, whose legislative hopes rest on whether Democrats can push his agenda through Congress.

Editorial credit: LenaSunagatova / Shutterstock.com

A suspect is in custody and one student is dead after a shooting at a North Seattle school on Tuesday morning. Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell, Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz and Representative Pramila Jayapal held a press conference to provide updates about the shooting, where they announced that the student who was shot had died from their injuries.

Just before 10:00 a.m., officers responded to Ingraham High School on North 135th St. for reports of a shooting. When officers arrived, they immediately entered the school and found a student with a gunshot wound. Police said the victim was taken to Harborview Medical Center with life-threatening injuries, and later died. The victim was not identified, and police have not said whether the suspect is a student.

While students were in lockdown and the suspect was at large, parents reported not receiving any communication from the school about the shooting, having heard the news from either social media, text messages or word-of-mouth from neighbors. The Seattle public school district tweeted: “There was gunfire reported at Ingraham High School this morning. One student is believed to have been shot. The campus is currently on lockdown. Seattle Police are on the scene and working with the district’s Safety and Security team. SPD is searching the area for the suspect.”

The campus was placed on lockdown and police secured the campus; and before noon, students were released one classroom at a time. Police then set up a location for families to reunite with students. All activities at the high school are suspended for Wednesday and Thursday.

Editorial credit: VDB Photos / Shutterstock.com