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Tuesday, March 21, 2023

Don't miss The Daybreak Daily — scroll to the bottom of these top news stories

Biden Issues First Veto on Republican ESG Investing Bill

Fox News: President Joe Biden vetoed a bill for the first time in his presidency on Monday, arguing that the legislation was overly influenced by “MAGA Republicans.” The Republican-led legislation prevented Biden’s administration from taking environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) issues into account when making investment decisions. GOP lawmakers argue ESG is a measure of a corporation’s loyalty to “woke” cultural movements and should not be taken into account. The bill specifically ended enforcement of a new Labor Department rule that urged private retirement plan fiduciaries to consider ESG in their investment decisions (Fox News). Associated Press: Critics say environmental, social and governance (ESG) investments allocate money based on political agendas, such as a drive against climate change, rather than on earning the best returns for savers. It’s just the latest manifestation of the new relationship, and Biden is gearing up for even bigger fights with Republicans on government spending and raising the nation’s debt limit in the next few months (Associated Press).

Xi Jinping Visits Russia for Show of Solidarity

Daily Wire: Chinese leader Xi Jinping arrived in Moscow Monday to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on what Beijing labeled a “mission of peace.” The visit underscores strengthening ties between the two powerful nations and comes as Xi is trying to negotiate a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. Xi hailed a “new era” and said his first state visit to Russia since the start of the war would give “new momentum” to relations. The visit is China’s strongest show of support for Russia since the war began (Daily Wire). CNN: Top US diplomat Antony Blinken said the visit showed China’s intent to provide “diplomatic cover” for alleged Russian atrocities in Ukraine. Western leaders have expressed skepticism about China’s potential role as a peacemaker and its claimed neutrality. The United States and its allies have instead since last month warned that China is considering sending lethal aid to Russia for its war effort (CNN). CBS Mornings: Chinese President Xi Jinping has arrived in Moscow in an apparent show of solidarity with Russian President Vladimir Putin — just days after an arrest warrant was issued for Putin by the International Criminal Court and his surprise visit to Ukraine (Twitter). Insider News: China’s Xi Jinping praises Vladimir Putin during visit to Russia (Twitter).

Biden Signs Bipartisan Legislation to Declassify Intelligence Surrounding Covid Origins

Associated Press: President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan bill Monday that directs the federal government to declassify as much intelligence as possible about the origins of COVID-19 more than three years after the start of the pandemic. The legislation, which passed both the House and Senate without dissent, directs the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to declassify intelligence related to China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology. It cites “potential links” between the research that was done there and the outbreak of COVID-19, which the World Health Organization declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020. The law allows for redactions to protect sensitive sources and methods (Associated Press). Josh Hawley: Huge victory for transparency. Now time for accountability (Twitter).

GOP Seeks Testimony from AG Alvin Bragg Regarding Possible Trump Indictment

Townhall: House Republican Leaders — including Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH), Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY), and Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil (R-WI) — dispatched a letter to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on Monday demanding information related to the woke DA’s case against former President Donald Trump. The information Republican lawmakers demanded includes “communications, documents, and testimony relating to Bragg’s unprecedented abuse of prosecutorial authority and the potential indictment of former President Donald Trump”(Townhall). Daily Wire: If Bragg does indict Trump, it would be the first indictment of a former U.S. president. The basis for an indictment, especially considering the political ramifications, is dubious. Other prosecutors have looked at the facts of the case and declined to pursue legal action against Trump (Daily Wire).

Amazon to Lay Off an Additional 9,000 Employees After Just Releasing 18,000

CNBC: Amazon will lay off 9,000 more employees in the coming weeks, CEO Andy Jassy said in a memo to staff on Monday. The cuts are on top of the previously announced layoffs that began in November and extended into January. That round totaled more than 18,000 employees, and primarily affected staffers in its retail, devices, recruiting and human resources groups. Amazon made the decision to lay off more employees as it looks to streamline costs (CNBC). Wall Street Journal: Amazon has also cut back on projects and pulled back investment in certain areas. Earlier this month, it confirmed it was pausing construction on a massive corporate real estate complex near Washington, D.C., that it calls its second headquarters, or HQ2. While the first phase of its project is nearly complete, Amazon had originally planned to break ground on the second phase of the project, which includes three 22-story office buildings, during the first quarter of 2023 (Wall Street Journal).

UN: Climate Time-Bomb is Ticking

And their “solutions” could be economically devasting. Spencer Brown: The generally pointless and chronically hypocritically United Nations is back to preaching about climate change rather than taking meaningful action to punish bad actions by nations such as China, Russia, and Iran. This time, the global wokescolds at the UN are calling for massive acceleration of “climate” efforts that include ending oil, gas, and coal — and redistributing wealth on a global scale to achieve its goal of “net zero” emissions worldwide (Townhall). UN: The Acceleration Agenda calls for a number of other actions. Specifically: No new coal and the phasing out of coal by 2030 in OECD countries and 2040 in all other countries. Ending all international public and private funding of coal. Ensuring net zero electricity generation by 2035 for all developed countries and 2040 for the rest of the world. Ceasing all licensing or funding of new oil and gas – consistent with the findings of the International Energy Agency. Stopping any expansion of existing oil and gas reserves. Shifting subsidies from fossil fuels to a just energy transition. Establishing a global phase down of existing oil and gas production compatible with the 2050 global net zero target (UN).

Federal Reserve Juggles Possibility of Hiking Interest Rate Later This Week

CNBC: Amid turmoil in the financial sector and uncertainty ahead, the Federal Reserve will likely approve a 0.25 percentage point increase at this week’s policy meeting. That will mark one year since the central bank began the current rate-raising cycle. Over the last 12 months, inflation spiked to a 40-year high and only recently started to ease, but all of that monetary policy tightening has been tied to issues that are disrupting the banking industry now. For consumers, that means they must still pay a higher price to borrow while continuing to grapple with a persistently high cost of living — all while suffering a crisis of confidence when it comes to their savings accounts (CNBC). Reuters: The Fed’s current target range is 4.5%-4.75%. Market pricing has swung wildly over the past 10 days with investors going from expecting a bigger half-point rate rise before banking stresses emerged to at one point seeing rates unchanged. Among economists, those who predict a quarter-point rise do so without ruling out the potential for a pause (Reuters).

The Terrorist Organization Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Shows Signs of Weakening

Reuters: Britain on Monday sanctioned senior officials from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including those who it said were responsible for managing the group’s financial investments. Britain, along with the European Union and the United States, has in recent months issued several waves of sanctions against Iran, citing a widespread and often violent crackdown on protests after the death of young Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in morality police custody in September (Reuters). Daily Wire: At a meeting on January 3 between the IRGC and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, it was acknowledged that some of the IRGC forces had aided protesters. Some commanders informed the meeting that the bulk of forces they supervised refused to stand against Iranian citizens and rejected orders to shoot at them. Mahmoud Mohammadi Shahroudi, the commander in charge of paramilitary Basij seminary students, acknowledged roughly 5,000 members had exited the organization (Daily Wire).

San Jose Sharks Goalie James Reimer Declines to Wear LGBTQ Jersey on Pride Night

Washington Examiner: San Jose Sharks goalie James Reimer is under fire after he refused to wear an LGBTQ-themed “Pride Night” jersey ahead of his team’s Saturday home game against the New York Islanders. Reimer was not on the ice during the Sharks’ pregame warmup when the team wore the jerseys. Reimer boycotted the warmup skate and refused to wear the jersey due to his Christian faith (Washington Examiner). San Jose Sharks: A statement from Goaltender, James Reimer (Twitter). NBC: Reimer is the second NHL player this season to refuse to take part in warmups with Pride-themed jerseys, with Philadelphia’s Ivan Provorov declining to in January. Reimer was not slated to start in Saturday night’s home game against the New York Islanders (NBC).

10.

Cuban Baseball Player Escapes Team Hotel, Defects to US After Team Loss in Semi-Finals

Miami Herald: A veteran Cuban baseball player defected in Miami on Monday, a day after the team played in a World Baseball Classic game against the United States at LoanDepot Park in Little Havana. Iván Prieto González, who was the catcher in the Cuban team bullpen helping pitchers warm up, stayed in Miami after the game and didn’t show up at Miami International Airport for the team’s flight to Havana. Prieto played eight seasons on the island with teams from the provinces of Holguín and Granma (Miami Herald). MLB Agent Lisette Carnet: Ivan Prieto, Cuban catcher from WBC escaped from his hotel and defected. He was not on the flight back to Cuba with his team (Twitter).

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