‘Accidental discharge’ of firearm prompts panic at Atlanta airport
Gunfire at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Saturday resulted from an “accidental discharge” of a firearm, officials said, but it caused holiday travelers to flee and seek cover, as some believed there was a gunman inside one of the terminals. The airport tweeted that there was no gunman or danger to passengers or employees and that no one was injured. The incident happened at 1:30 p.m. Officials gave an “all-clear” and resumed normal operations about two hours later. The panic occurred during one of the busiest times of the year for air travel. The Transportation Security Administration has said airline travel this Thanksgiving was expected to approach pre-pandemic levels.
Hunter Biden’s firm helped secure cobalt for Chinese
An investment firm where President Joe Biden’s son Hunter was a founding board member helped facilitate a Chinese company’s purchase from a U.S. company of one of the world’s richest cobalt mines, located in the Congo. The metal is a key ingredient in batteries for electric vehicles. In 2013, Hunter Biden and two other Americans joined Chinese partners in establishing the firm, known as BHR and formally named Bohai Harvest RST (Shanghai) Equity Investment Fund Management Co. One of the firm’s most successful investments was in 2016, when it bought and sold a stake in CATL, a Chinese company that is now the world’s biggest maker of electric vehicle batteries.
GOP is energized, but ‘Trump cancel culture’ poses threat
As Republican governors held their postelection conference recently in Phoenix, there was an unmistakable air of celebration. Virginia Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin was swarmed with well-wishers and favor-seekers who believed his victory in a liberal-leaning state offered the party a road map for next year’s midterms. Out of earshot of reporters, however, a less-triumphant conversation was taking place among the governors: What could be done about Donald Trump? In a private meeting, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan brought up Trump’s campaign of retribution against incumbent Republicans he dislikes — an effort that appears to be escalating. “It’s outrageous, unacceptable and bad for the party,” Hogan said, calling Trump’s intervention “Trump cancel culture.”
US tries to convince Arab allies it isn’t abandoning them
The Biden administration is trying to convince its Arab allies that the United States, despite appearances to the contrary, is not fed up with the region and headed for the doors. It is a tough sell. At a meeting Saturday in Bahrain, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin faced tough questions about how Arab allies were supposed to deal with the whiplash of a U.S. national security policy that upends itself every four to eight years with a new president. With President Joe Biden now trying to undo President Donald Trump’s own undoing of President Barack Obama’s Iran nuclear deal, some Arab allies expressed frustration that they were caught in the middle.
By wire sources
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