Weekly News Roundup - 11/22/24
Biden races to help Ukraine with what time he has left // Gaetz goes down and Hegseth feels the heat // Chinese work biggest hack of U.S. telecom ever?
Welcome to the 47th Weekly News Roundup of 2024. The archive for all weekly news roundups is here.
In 2024, the Border Stalkers Substack is featuring one news update a week, and one book a month, with weekly posts on each book. The book of the month schedule is here.
These weekly dispatches are designed for people who may not have time to do more than glance at the headlines, or who want to stay informed without becoming obsessed by politics and news. These roundups are a targeted way to get a sense of the shape of the past week on the national level. Without such a map, we can be disoriented, not knowing where we have been over the past several days, or where we may be going.
But by spending concentrated, limited time thinking about the big picture, we can devote more of our time to where “agency and justice begin and end,” as Karen Swallow Prior put it: “on the ground, bodily, in community and real relationships, in flesh and blood.”
Quotes of the Week
"Maybe you still love me. Maybe you don't. Either you will, or you won't." - Jeff Tweedy
"The fact that Musk — no conservative, although arguably an idiosyncratic libertarian — is now such an enthusiastic participant with a Republican administration is a vivid message for Democrats in this post-election period: The reflexive demonization of anyone who disagrees with them drives people away and does more harm than good." - Jim Geraghty
Big Stories This Week
The Biden administration sought to do as much as it can to help the besieged Ukraine government fend off Russia's grinding invasion, which reached its 1,000th day this week, before Biden leaves office. Ukrainian President Volodmyr Zelensky has said he knows that incoming President-Elect Trump wants to end the conflict. The U.S. gave Ukraine permission to use longer-range missiles and said it will send $275 million in new weapons, along with land mines intended to repel a ground invasion. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin responded by lowering the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons.
Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration for attorney general after it became clear there were not enough Republican votes in the Senate to approve him. "Having a nominee who may have some limits would be a dramatic improvement over Gaetz, who showed no sign of having any," wrote Ben Wittes.
The chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee disclosed that Chinese hackers have enabled their government to listen to phone calls and read text messages in the U.S. across all telecom providers. He called it "the most serious telecom hack in our history."
The presidential election vote count is now at 99% finished. The latest numbers are Trump with 76.7 million votes to Harris with 74.2 million votes, a 50.0% to 48.3% margin. The raw vote margin was originally 4 million the day after Election day, but it is now a total of about 2.5 million votes that separates the two in the popular vote.
Week in Review
Friday, Nov. 15
The Seattle Times reports that Boeing has issued layoff notices to 400 employees
Saturday, Nov. 16
President Biden meets face to face with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, the last meeting between the two before Biden exits office, on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru.
Voluntary evacuation notices are issued for residents on the New Jersey and New York border as a wildfire brought on by drought and high winds continues to burn into its 10th day, having consumed over 5,000 acres of land.
Donald Trump names oil and gas CEO as his nominee for energy secretary.
Sunday, Nov. 17
The U.S. gives Ukraine approval to use ATACM ballistic missiles, which can strike nearly 200 miles into Russia with greater precision and larger payloads than any of Ukraine's other weaponry.
Russia launches a missile and drone attack on Ukraine that knocks out parts of the country's power grid and kills at least 10 people.
An Israeli strike in central Beirut kills the main spokesman for Hezbollah. In Gaza, another Israeli airstrike kills at least 30 people.
Pope Francis is calling for an investigation into whether Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, according to excerpts of a new book.
Two people are killed and ten are wounded in two separate shootings along the parade route in New Orleans during a local celebration.
Monday, Nov. 18
President Biden requests $98 billion from Congress for disaster relief in the wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
Tuesday, Nov. 19
The war in Ukraine reaches its 1,000th day after the invasion by Russia. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin lowers the threshold for a nuclear strike, in a thinly veiled response to the U.S. green light for Ukraine's use of longer range missiles.
Donald Trump attends the launch of a SpaceX Starship rocket in South Texas as a guest of Elon Musk.
The son of Norway's crown princess is arrested on suspicion of rape.
Wednesday, Nov. 20
The Biden administration makes more major announcements about the war in Ukraine. It says it will provide $275 million in new weapons to help Ukraine resist the Russian advance, and it announces that the U.S. will provide Ukraine with land mines to stop the advance of Russian ground troops.
A 35-year old Tennessee man is convicted of plotting to kill FBI agents who were investigating his role in the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. He faces life in prison.
A police report from 2017 is made public after a public records request, and details the allegations of a woman who claims that the nominee for Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, sexually assaulted her. She says she believes something was put in her drink that caused her to black out.
U.S. regulators propose forcing Google to sell its web browser, Chrome, and accuse the company of maintaining an abusive monopoly.
The FBI arrests a 30-year old Florida man for planning to bomb the New York Stock Exchange.
A "bomb cyclone" storm brings heavy rain and high winds to the U.S. Northwest, killing two people.
Thursday, Nov. 21
Matt Gaetz withdraws from consideration for Attorney General, after it becomes clear that at least four Republican senators will not support his nomination. The GOP holds a three-seat majority in the Senate and Vice President J.D. Vance is a tie-breaking vote, so four Republicans votes are enough to stop any nomination or piece of legislation that is opposed by Democrats as well.
The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, says that Chinese government hackers have been listening to U.S. phone calls and reading text messages in what he calls "the most serious telecom hack in our history." Over the past week, Warner says, it's become clear that "every major provider has been broken into.”
Russia says it has fired a new intermediate-range ballistic missile into Ukraine that U.S.-air defense systems cannot stop and which can reach into other nations as well, in response to Biden's decision to allow Ukraine to fire ATACM ballistic missiles, provided by the U.S., deep into Russian territory.
Trump names Pam Bondi, former Florida attorney general, as his new pick for the nation's top law enforcement job.
Brazilian authorities recommend criminal charges against former president Jair Bolsonaro for plotting a coup.
Interesting Reads
Putin Sees America Hurtling to Disaster, With Trump at the Wheel, by Mikhail Zygar for The New York Times
The World Is Watching the U.S. Deal With Bird Flu, and It’s Scary, by Tulio de Oliveira for The New York Times
Why people are protesting over a deadly roof collapse in Serbia, by Dusan Stojanovich for The Associated Press
Why Does No One Understand the Real Reason Trump Won? by Michael Tomasky for The New Republic
We Are All Discovering that Influencers Exist! by Renee DiResta
Democrats Don't Have To Be Perfect—But In Today's Media Environment They'll Always Be Seen As Failures, by Brian Beutler for Off Message
