October 6, 2023

Friday, October 6, 2023. Annette’s News Roundup.

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Joe is always busy.

White House planning face-to-face meeting with Xi Jinping in California In November.

President Biden greets Chinese President Xi Jinping in Indonesia last year.

The White House has begun making plans for a November meeting in San Francisco between President Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping — an attempt to stabilize the relationship between the world’s two most powerful countries, according to senior administration officials.
“It’s pretty firm” there will be a meeting, said one administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the engagement has not yet been announced formally. “We’re beginning the process” of planning, the official said.
A second senior administration official said that Biden looks forward to meeting Xi, but that “nothing has been confirmed yet.”

The in-person meeting would be the first between the leaders of the two largest economies since they met on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, last November. There, both presidents emphasized the importance of face-to-face diplomacy and expressed hope they could get U.S.-China relations back on track.
But after Biden ordered the shoot-down of a Chinese spy balloon that traveled over the continental United States in February, ties frayed further.

In an effort to re-engage, four top Biden administration officials have traveled in recent months to Beijing, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and climate envoy John F. Kerry. Last month, national security adviser Jake Sullivan held two days of talks with Wang in Malta. The White House described those conversations as “candid, substantive and constructive.” (Washington Post)

Biden officials will resume Venezuela deportations, extend border wall.

U.S. officials said Thursday that they will resume direct deportation flights to Venezuela and fast-track construction of new barriers along the southern border, moves aimed at curbing the record number of illegal crossings into the United States under President Biden.


Nearly 500,000 Venezuelans have crossed the southern border since 2020, and U.S. authorities have had little ability to return them as a result of strained U.S. relations with the autocratic government of President Nicolás Maduro.

Biden officials who briefed reporters on the plans Thursday did not say how many deportation flights they planned to send, and declined to discuss negotiations with the Maduro government. The announcement comes two weeks after Biden extended temporary legal status to more than 470,000 Venezuelans living in the United States, saying political and economic turmoil in their homeland made it unsafe to send them home.


Only Venezuelans who arrived before July 31 are eligible for the temporary legal status, and Biden officials said those who have arrived illegally since then will be a priority for the deportation flights.


Venezuelans account for the largest number of migrants staying in badly strained shelters in New York, whose mayor, Eric Adams (D), has become a sharp critic of President Biden’s handling of border issues. Other Democrats have criticized Biden for leaving in place U.S. economic sanctions on Venezuela that they say are driving even more people to flee.


The Maduro government issued a statement Thursday acknowledging the deal while blaming the exodus of its citizens on U.S. policies it denounced as a “direct consequence of coercive unilateral measures and the blockade of our economy.”
More than 7 million Venezuelans have left their nation over the past decade, and many of those making the dangerous trek through Panama’s Darien jungle en route to the United States have been living in Colombia, Ecuador and other nations in the region. They now risk a return to a country roiled by food shortages, power blackouts and organized crime.


The Department of Homeland Security said the decision to resume Venezuela deportations was “consistent with the Administration’s efforts to implement a strategy of humane, safe, and orderly enforcement of our immigration laws and to process individuals in a fair and fast manner.” (Washington Post).
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Kamala is always busy.

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Senator Dianne Feinstein’s funeral.

Dianne Feinstein’s Funeral: What to know.

Dianne Feinstein, who rose to national prominence representing California in the U.S. Senate for more than 30 years, …[was] laid to rest on Thursday after a public memorial service in San Francisco.

President Biden … deliver[ed] remarks via audio, while some of the nation’s other leaders, including Vice President Kamala Harris, …. [spoke] in person on the steps of City Hall, along with Ms. Feinstein’s granddaughter.

A trailblazing Democratic power broker, Ms. Feinstein died on Sept. 29 at age 90. After years of declining health, during which she resisted calls to leave Washington, she announced that she intended to retire at the end of her term in January 2025. An intense race was already underway to succeed her.

Ms. Feinstein’s body was flown from Washington to San Francisco over the weekend so that she could lie in state not in the Capitol Rotunda, as many other prominent politicians have done, but in her beloved hometown, where she served as the city’s first female mayor through a period of great tumult.

Here’s what to know about the funeral:

Can I watch it?

The City Hall service … [was]closed to the public but livestreamed on the city government’s YouTube channel. You can watch it here.

Who [spoke] …?

• President Biden, who … deliver[ed] his remarks by recorded audio.

• Vice President Harris, who served alongside Ms. Feinstein as the junior senator from California.

• London Breed, the only woman besides Ms. Feinstein to serve as San Francisco’s mayor.

• Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the Senate majority leader.

• Representative Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California and the former House speaker, who had defended Ms. Feinstein amid calls that she needed to step down.

• Eileen Mariano, Ms. Feinstein’s granddaughter.

What happens to the open Senate seat?

Gov. Gavin Newsom of California appointed Laphonza Butler, the president of Emily’s List and a former labor leader, to fill the vacancy and serve out Ms. Feinstein’s term. She was sworn in this week in Washington.

Though he had previously said that it would be an “interim” appointment, the governor assured Ms. Butler that it was up to her whether to run in next year’s election. If she does, she would face three other high-profile California members of the House already vying for the seat: Barbara Lee, Katie Porter and Adam Schiff.

Again, you can watch the funeral here 👇.

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Trump sucks the air out of the airwaves every day.

What greater madness could happen to the House.

Trump lawyers filed a motion to dismiss the charges brought by Jack Smith in DC arguing presidential immunity - stating that he’s being charged for actions that are “at the heart of his official responsibilities” as president. He will lose. The trial is scheduled for March 4,2024.

The Australian in question is billionaire Anthony Pratt, who then shared them with more than a dozen foreign officials.

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Alabama will finally have 2 black-opportunity voting districts in 2024.

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Touch 👇 to watch Simone Biles in slow motion.

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