Israel and Hezbollah have commenced a cease-fire that ends more than a year of cross-border air and rocket attacks and two months of Israel's ground war.  |
Good morning. It's Wednesday. Thank you for reading Morning Brief. Send me a line—Ivan Pentchoukov. |
- Israel and Hezbollah have commenced a cease-fire that ends more than a year of cross-border air and rocket attacks and two months of Israel's ground war to drive the Hezbollah terrorist group away from Israel's northern frontier.
- President-elect Donald Trump has filled all of the 25 slots on his cabinet.
- Walmart said it plans to end its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
- Chen Yixin, the head of China's Ministry of State Security, is personally driving a smear campaign in the United States against Shen Yun Performing Arts, a whistleblower within the Chinese Communist Party security apparatus recently revealed.
- The Grueling Years: Our columnist is thankful for colonists who endured countless tribulations to establish America. Story after the news.
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| Ivan Pentchoukov
National Editor |
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The Mar-a-Lago Club is seen on November 26, 2024 in Palm Beach, Florida. President-elect Trump has been residing at the club and announcing nominees for his upcoming administration. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images) |
President-elect Donald Trump's transition chief, Susie Wiles, announced on Tuesday that the president's cabinet is complete. We've been keeping track and have the details on the cabinet here. Our colleague, Nathan Worcester, looked over the picks and put together the highlights. |
- The Trump transition team announced on Nov. 26 that it signed a memorandum of understanding with the Biden administration to begin working together.
- "This engagement allows our intended Cabinet nominees to begin critical preparations, including the deployment of landing teams to every department and agency, and complete the orderly transition of power," Wiles said.
- Despite signing the memorandum, the Trump transition team will not use taxpayer dollars, government buildings, and General Services Administration technology in preparing to replace the Biden administration.
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Beyond the cabinet, the president-elect appointed prominent COVID-lockdown critic Jay Bhattacharya to lead the National Institutes of Health. Bhattacharya would be Robert F Kennedy Jr.'s subordinate if both are confirmed by the Senate next year. Trump named Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Kennedy has said he would move to fire hundreds of NIH employees on his first day at HHS. Jim O'Neill will serve as HHS deputy secretary, Trump said. Four More Key Picks: |
- Businessman John Phelan is Trump's choice for U.S. Navy secretary.
- Jamieson Greer is the pick for U.S. trade representative. Greer is a trade specialist who served as chief of staff to then-U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in the first Trump administration.
- Kevin Hassett, also a first-term veteran, is Trump's choice for director of the National Council of Economic Advisors
- Vince Haley was named as director of the Domestic Policy Council.
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Walmart said it plans to end its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. |
- The company announced that it will refrain from financing events aimed at sexually influencing children, stop participating in the Human Rights Coalition's Corporate Equality Index, and remove the gender-neutral term "Latinx" from its documents, according to conservative filmmaker Robby Starbuck, who had been talking to Walmart for a story on its DEI initiatives.
- The company will also change its Supplier Inclusion program, which was criticized because of its tendency to give "preferential treatment on the basis of race." Its purpose was to assist suppliers that were more than 51 percent owned by "protected classes," such as minorities, women, and LGBT individuals.
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The retail giant said it would not provide further funding beyond its 2020 commitment of $100 million to its nonprofit Center for Racial Equity, for which it promised funding for five years. Walmart will also "identify and remove inappropriate sexual and/or transgender products marketed to children," such as chest binders, which it sells on its website. (Full Story) More U.S. news |
- Cooking a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for 10 people will cost about $58 in 2024. That's lower than the two prior years but still higher than 2019.
- Thousands of flights have been disrupted across the United States on Thanksgiving week because of winter weather, with cold temperatures expected to persist throughout the week.
- U.S. consumers grew more upbeat in November on increased optimism around job availability, easing inflation expectations, and reduced recession fears, according to the latest report from The Conference Board.
- California Gov. Gavin Newsom said on Monday that the state could create new rebates for zero-emission vehicles if President-elect Donald Trump scraps federal tax credit for electric vehicle purchases.
- Newsom's program could possibly exclude Tesla cars, sparking criticism from CEO Elon Musk and other officials.
- The federal government is giving Intel $7.8 billion in taxpayer dollars to boost chip manufacturing, the U.S. Department of Commerce said on Tuesday.
- Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Energy is giving electric vehicle maker Rivian a $6.6 billion loan to build a factory in Georgia.
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Our senior editor Jan Jekielek sits down with Jeff Clark, an assistant attorney general at the Department of Justice during the first Trump administration and now senior fellow and director of litigation at the Center for Renewing America. Watch ➞ |
Israel and Hezbollah have commenced a cease-fire that ends more than a year of cross-border air and rocket attacks and two months of Israel's ground war to drive the Hezbollah terrorist group away from Israel's northern frontier. The cease-fire came into effect at 9 p.m. ET on Tuesday. |
- The deal calls for Israel to evacuate Lebanese territory within 60 days, and for the Lebanese army to move in and secure the area.
- Lebanon has committed to having its army continue Israel's work of destroying Hezbollah's fortifications near the Israeli border, including tunnels meant to enable an Oct. 7-style attack.
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President Joe Biden, in announcing the deal, emphasized that Hezbollah will not be allowed to threaten Israel's security over the next 60 days, nor rebuild its terrorist infrastructure. Civilians on both sides, Biden said, "will soon be able to safely return to their communities and begin to rebuild their homes, their schools, their farms, their businesses and their very lives." (Full Story) More world news: |
- Top Canadian officials are working to reassure the incoming Trump administration of their commitment to border security, with the country's public safety minister pledging to further strengthen protocols to combat the flow of fentanyl into the United States. The moves are in response to President-elect Donald Trump, who threatened 25 percent tariffs on Canadian goods unless Ottawa gets tougher on border security.
- Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum struck a different tone, threatening to respond with a retaliatory tariff against the United States.
- The head of China's Ministry of State Security, Chen Yixin, is personally driving a smear campaign in the United States against Shen Yun Performing Arts, a whistleblower within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) security apparatus recently revealed.
- A Taiwanese surgeon and four other individuals have been charged with illegally brokering organ transplantation in China, a case that a local medical advocacy group said is alarming given that Beijing sources organs from prisoners of conscience.
- Germany's largest flat steel manufacturer, ThyssenKrupp Steel, is set to lay off 11,000 workers in an effort to cut costs.
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Afghan girls selling bread look for customers, at a market in Fayzabad district of Badakhshan province, Afghanistan, on Nov. 26, 2024. Omer Abrar/AFP via Getty Images |
A depiction of the First Assembly in Jamestown, Va., in 1619, by Thomas Armstrong, published in "Cassell's History of England, Vol. 3." |
As Thanksgiving Day approaches, it's a good time to reflect on the trials and tribulations America's early settlers faced to build this great country. One such example is seen with Jamestown's intrepid colonists, who endured a rough first few years until they finally found the thriving trade outpost that launched the American colonies. |
- In mid-December 1606, three tiny ships sailed for the New World from London. After a brief layover in the West Indies, the ships reached their destination, the Chesapeake Bay area of modern-day Virginia, on April 26, 1607.
- Aboard were 104 men who would remain behind when the ships returned to England. Recruited by the Virginia Company of London, their mission was to establish a colony and bring profits to the company and so to Britain.
- They selected a location for their settlement, built a fort, and watched as two of the ships sailed away. By year's end, only 38 of them were still alive.
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More colonists followed, but these faced grueling tribulations, including conflicts with the Native Americans, disease, and starvation. But then Jamestown finally found a lucrative niche market. In 1611, the newly arrived John Rolfe experimented with growing tobacco. By 1630, tobacco production had skyrocketed to 500,000 pounds exported to England. |
- The Virginia Company initially enticed these early colonists with books and pamphlets promoting the colony, often concealing the hardships they would face, but the colonists' motivations of looking for freedom and prosperity were similar to those who have immigrated to our shores ever since.
- Interestingly, the royal charters and instructions regarding the Virginia Company directly influenced our Declaration of Independence and Constitution.
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Read the full article by our colleague Jeff Minick here. |
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Thanks for reading. Have a wonderful day. |
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