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Overnight News Digest November 3, 2022 [1]
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Date: 2022-11-03
NPR
A theft ring that allegedly made millions from catalytic converters has been busted
This has been a major problem here in N. California. Mostly Prius’s have been targeted.
The Justice Department has arrested 21 people suspected of belonging to a theft ring that made millions of dollars from stolen catalytic converters, the car parts that have increasingly become targets across the country. A team of law enforcement agencies at the local, state and federal levels seized hundreds of millions of dollars in assets, such as homes, bank accounts and cash, cars and jewelry from the defendants. They are being charged with conspiracy to transport stolen catalytic converters, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and more. The federal government is seeking $545 million total in forfeitures. "This national network of criminals hurt victims across the country," FBI Director Christopher Wray said. "They made hundreds of millions of dollars in the process — on the backs of thousands of innocent car owners." The defendants have been charged in two different indictments in separate courts — the Eastern District of California and the Northern District of Oklahoma.
NPR
The U.S. is trying to mend ties with Venezuela. One big reason? Oil
BOGOTÁ, Colombia — Under former President Donald Trump, the United States pushed hard for regime change in Venezuela. In response to a crackdown on democracy by Venezuela's authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro, Washington in 2019 placed sanctions on the country's vital oil sector. Along with more than 50 countries, the U.S. recognized opposition leader Juan Guaidó as Venezuela's rightful president. And it encouraged the Venezuelan military to topple Maduro. But none of this has worked. The military continues to back Maduro, who has kept Venezuela's economy (barely) afloat by selling oil to China and other allies. Support for Guaidó, who wields no real power, is waning with more countries reengaging with Maduro. Now, Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the ban on Russian oil imports is prompting the U.S. to seek new sources of energy. For all these reasons, the Biden administration is extending a tentative olive branch to Venezuela.
The Guardian
Elon Musk announces Twitter mass layoffs to begin Friday
Elon Musk will begin mass layoffs at Twitter on Friday, sharply reducing the social media platform’s workforce, the company said in an email to staff on Thursday. “In an effort to place Twitter on a healthy path, we will go through the difficult process of reducing our global workforce on Friday,” said the email. The New York Times and Washington Post both reported on the layoffs and cited the internal email. All employees will receive an email on Friday, the notice said. Those who will keep their jobs will get an email to their work account, those being laid off will receive a notification to their personal email. Employees were reminded not to disclose “confidential company information” on social media or with press. The layoffs come as Musk was speculated to cut 50% of Twitter’s workforce, just days after becoming the head of the company he purchased for $44bn. That could mean thousands of jobs lost, as the company had more than 7,000 employees at the end of 2021 according to a regulatory filing.
Reuters
Police back Republican candidates in U.S. midterms, even those at Jan. 6 riot
NEW YORK, Nov 3 (Reuters) - The Wisconsin Fraternal Order of Police has endorsed some Democratic candidates in past elections. But this year, in each of the 13 races it weighed in on, the union decided Republicans would be more forceful champions of law enforcement. That was the case even in a competitive U.S. House of Representatives race, in which Democrat Brad Pfaff has repeatedly attacked his rival, Republican Derrick Van Orden, for attending the Jan. 6, 2021, pro-Trump rally at the U.S. Capitol. Reuters spoke to nine police unions and trade associations across the United States ahead of Tuesday's midterm elections, of whom six said their members were endorsing more right-wing candidates than in previous elections. The groups said Republicans had offered greater support to police in the wake of 2020 protests over police killings of Black people. The rightward shift held true even in races where a Republican candidate attended the Jan. 6 rally.
Reuters
Mexico succession puts scientist on path to be first woman president
MEXICO CITY, Nov 3 (Reuters) - The most historic legacy of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a left-leaning resource nationalist who casts his administration as a turning point in the annals of Mexico, may be to pave the way for the country's first woman leader. Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum, a 60-year-old physicist, environmentalist and longstanding ally of Lopez Obrador who has governed as mayor in tandem with his presidency, has emerged as early front-runner to be his party's candidate in 2024, despite hints she could be more moderate than him. Socially conservative, the headstrong president has built his power base on higher welfare spending, state control of natural resources and expanding the role of the armed forces, while pillorying critics as corrupt and self-serving. He has clashed with some feminists who view him as out of touch. Yet his government and Congress have also seen record female participation in a country where 'machista' culture has long been blamed for relegating women to subordinate roles and higher levels of violence against them than in regional peers.
Reuters
What if Biden doesn't run again? In my opinion Harris has zero chance.
WASHINGTON, Nov 3 (Reuters) - The U.S. midterm elections on Tuesday will do much more than shape the next two years of Joe Biden's presidency, they'll help determine whether he will run in 2024 as well, political analysts and advisers believe. While a new president's party historically suffers losses in Congress during the midterm election, Biden, 79, faces extra scrutiny. He and advisers have said as recently as Nov. 2 that he plans to run again, and that they're already making plans. White House officials expect him to run as well."I think we're due for a generational shift," said Thomas Alan Schwartz, a presidential historian at Vanderbilt University. "I think the midterms could be decisive on that level. If the Democrats lose badly, I think you may see a fairly strong push for Biden to take himself out of 2024." A trio of governors from deeply blue states - California's Gavin Newsom, Illinois' J.B. Pritzker and New Jersey's Phil Murphy - have already contacted potential donors and staff in the case that Biden stands down, according to two sources familiar with those efforts. None of the three would run against Biden in a primary, and they may defer to Harris, too, sources say.
Deutsche Welle
Germany wants to revive fund to save Amazon rainforest
Germany wants to release funds for the protection of the Amazon rainforest, a development ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday. "Germany supports this fund," the spokesperson said, adding it would discuss it with the transition team of Brazil's incoming president, Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva. This Amazon fund was set up in partnership with Norway in 2008 to help finance the protection of the rainforest and biodiversity. However, the two countries stopped making payments in 2019 after President Jair Bolsonaro took office and weakened environmental protection measures in the Amazon. Norway said Monday it would resume financial aid to Brazil under the fund that is endowed with well over $500 million (€500 million). The timeline for reactivating the fund depends on how quickly Brazil creates the conditions for resuming work on it, the spokesperson said, but added that "in the German government, there is a great will to reach out quickly."
New York Times (Sure is slippery in Russia)
Anatoly Karpov, the Russian lawmaker and former chess champion, is injured in an apparent fall.
Anatoly Karpov, the former chess champion who is now a member of Russia’s Parliament, was injured in a fall outside the Parliament building in Moscow on Saturday, Russian and international news media have reported. Mr. Karpov has been a loyal defender of Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, and of many of Russia’s more internationally contested acts, notably the annexation of Crimea and the invasion of Ukraine. But he has also expressed sympathy for the war’s civilian victims on both sides. Accounts in the Russian news media about the incident and the seriousness of Mr. Karpov’s injuries have sharply conflicted over the past few days, with speculation fed by the number of Putin critics who have died or suffered injuries since the invasion of Ukraine. People close to Mr. Karpov, however, have said that he slipped and fell.
NPR At last!
Chinese Tesla competitor unveils plans for flying car
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