President Joe Biden and his wife, First Lady Jill Biden, are planning to attend President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration.  |
Good morning. It's Saturday. Thank you for reading Morning Brief. Send me a line—Ivan Pentchoukov. |
- President Joe Biden and his wife, First Lady Jill Biden, are planning to attend President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration.
- Justin Trudeau, the prime minister of Canada, met President-elect Trump at the Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Friday.
- The National Retail Federation projects that a record 183.4 million shoppers will visit stores and log on to websites from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday this year.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would be willing to enter a cease-fire agreement with Russia provided the unoccupied parts of his nation received NATO protection.
- Campfire Christmas: A singer-songwriter finally gave in to his wife's request to record a Christmas album. The results are heartwarming. Story after the news.
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| Ivan Pentchoukov
National Editor |
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President Joe Biden meets with President-elect Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on November 13, 2024. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images) |
President Joe Biden and his wife, First Lady Jill Biden, are planning to attend President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration, according to the White House. "The president promised that he would attend the inauguration of whomever won the election. He and the first lady are going to honor that promise and attend the inauguration," Andrew Bates, a spokesman for the White House, told reporters on Air Force One on Nov. 25. "He views that as an important demonstration of commitment to our democratic values and to honoring the will of the people as we continue to provide an orderly and effective transition." |
- Trump, who was in office for four years starting in January 2017, is preparing to return to the White House. He will be inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2025. He did not attend the inauguration of Biden, who was sworn in on Jan. 20, 2021.
- "To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th," Trump wrote on Twitter shortly before the social media platform banned him in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol, which followed widespread election fraud claims by Trump and other Republicans.
- Biden indicated earlier this year that he would attend the inauguration even if his preferred candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris, did not win. (More)
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- Claudia Sheinbaum, the president of Mexico, denied President-elect Trump's claim that Mexico would close its border with the United States.
- California elections officials are working to count almost 90,000 ballots and resolve issues with nearly 100,000 others by Dec. 3, the deadline for counties to report results of the presidential election to the California secretary of state.
- Wilbur Ross, former Commerce Secretary, told our colleague, Andrew Moran, that the risk of a big trade war as a result of Trump's proposed tariffs "is very small."
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A record number of shoppers—online and in person—are expected over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, officially marking the start of the 2024 Christmas shopping season. The National Retail Federation projects that 183.4 million shoppers will visit stores and log on to websites from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday this year. This estimate is up from the previous record of 182 million in 2023. While more companies and digital platforms are starting their holiday campaigns weeks before Thanksgiving, the five-day shopping sprint remains the busiest time for retailers and companies, says Katherine Cullen, the vice president of NRF's Industry and Consumer Insights. "Consumers are prioritizing gift-giving for the most important people in their lives, and retailers are prepared to help customers find everything on their shopping lists at great prices throughout the season," Cullen said. (More) |
- The U.S. Department of Commerce imposed tariffs of up to 270 percent on solar panel imports from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam—including from several Chinese-owned producers—citing evidence of unfair pricing and trade practices.
- America's turkey farmers and processors are facing a long streak of declining demand coupled with falling prices for their products.
- Beneath the glitz and glamour of the Las Vegas Strip, hundreds of hidden homeless people live in the filth and squalor of a 500-mile network of tunnels.
- A spell of dry weather this fall has contributed to significant movements in the salt line of the Delaware River posing a danger to clean drinking water in and around Philadelphia if it continues unabated.
- Eleven state attorneys general, led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, have filed an antitrust suit against the world's three largest asset managers—BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street—alleging that the trio have acted in unison against the coal industry.
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Are summer camps in China training American children to become "little overseas Chinese police"? A report uncovers Beijing's political infiltration, which is getting attention from U.S. lawmakers. We speak with a senior investigative reporter for more. Watch ➞ |
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would be willing to enter a cease-fire agreement with Russia provided the unoccupied parts of his nation received NATO protection. |
- The embattled leader said during a Nov. 29 interview with Sky News that such an arrangement would allow Kyiv to diplomatically seek the return of its occupied lands with Russia.
- "If we want to stop the hot phase of the war, we need to take under the NATO umbrella the territory of Ukraine that we have under our control," Zelenskyy said.
- "We need to do it fast. And then on the [occupied] territory of Ukraine, Ukraine can get them back in a diplomatic way."
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The comments mark the first time that Zelenskyy has expressed an openness to a cease-fire arrangement in which Ukraine does not control all of its territory. There have been several key shifts on the battlefield in recent weeks, including the launch of an experimental Russian missile and the loss of more territory to Russian forces in Ukraine-occupied Kursk. (More) |
- President Joe Biden reaffirmed U.S. support for Ukraine following Russia's massive drone attack against the country, which left more than a million Ukrainian households without electricity.
- Russia's defense minister Andrei Belousov has arrived in Pyongyang for talks with North Korean military and political leaders about the war in Ukraine.
- South Korea scrambled fighter jets as 11 Russian and Chinese military aircraft entered its air defense identification zone on Friday for more than four hours.
- Syria's second-largest city Aleppo was breached on Nov. 29. by terrorists who clashed with government forces on the city's western edge.
- The Israel Defense Forces has been experiencing gear shortages amid its war against the terrorist group Hamas in Gaza, according to IDF personnel and suppliers interviewed by The Epoch Times.
- Paris's Notre Dame Cathedral showed itself anew to the world on Friday after more than five years of reconstruction work following a devastating fire in 2019.
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This photograph shows the baptistery of Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral, designed by French artist and designer Guillaume Bardet, in Paris on November 29, 2024. (Christophe Petit/AFP via Getty Images) |
When we think of people living on the edge, we often think about jet-setters milking every last bit they can out of life—fast-paced and in perpetual motion. Truth be told, all of us live on the edge, at least some of the time, especially when it comes to physical balance. Humans in motion are constantly juggling balance and stability. By way of example, try this simple experiment: |
- Stand with your feet together and your arms by your sides.
- Try to stand perfectly still.
- Pay attention to the host of minor postural corrections your body performs to remain still.
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Standing still is a highly dynamic activity comprising dozens, if not hundreds, of small postural compensations. The problem is that operating at what I call the "fringe" of balance takes up nearly all of our compensatory abilities. We eventually find ourselves pushing our envelope of balance—reaching for the nails when on the ladder while fixing the gutter, leaping for the ball our grandchild whipped a bit far to one side, side-stepping the dog hurling in our direction while walking in the park—so let's try some exercises to make us stronger at the edges. (Instructions here.) — Kevin Shelley |
Musician David Nail released his first holiday-themed album, "A Christmas Campfire," inspired by the nostalgia of fireside songs. (Courtesy of David Nail) |
Singer-songwriter David Nail sounds right at home singing some of America's favorite carols. But he never thought he'd put out a Christmas record despite his wife Catherine asking him to over the years. However, an impromptu jam session made him realize something. If he was able to record Christmas songs in his own way—with acoustic instrumentation and a laid-back feel—he'd be able to turn his wife's request into a reality and spread a little Christmas cheer in the process. On November 1, Nail released his new project, "A Campfire Christmas." The EP (extended play) record is shorter than a full-length album and features five popular tunes like "White Christmas" and "Silver Bells." Now, the country artist is set to embark on a 13-show tour showcasing the music from this holiday release, with stops in cities like Knoxville, Tennessee; Boca Raton, Florida; and Syracuse, New York. Fans will not only get to hear some of their holiday favorites, they'll also get to sing along to some of Nail's biggest country hits like "Red Light" and "Let It Rain. And while Nail enjoys being on the road and sharing his music with his dedicated fan base, he also enjoys his days at home, spending quality time with his children. He's also been getting back to what caused him to fall in love with music in the first place—writing songs in those quiet moments alone. "I just enjoy making music. I feel like I'm as creative as I've ever been," he says. Read the full article by our colleague Rebecca Day here. |
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Thanks for reading. Have a wonderful day. |
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