China summons US envoy to protest detention of Huawei executive
BEIJING — China summoned the U.S. ambassador to Beijing on Sunday to protest Canada’s detention of a senior executive of Chinese electronics giant Huawei at Washington’s behest and demand the U.S. cancel an order for her arrest.
The official Xinhua News Agency said Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng “lodged solemn representations and strong protests” with Ambassador Terry Branstad against the detention of Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou. Meng, who is reportedly suspected of trying to evade U.S. trade curbs on Iran, was detained on Dec. 1 while changing planes in Vancouver, Canada.
The Xinhua report quoted Le as calling Meng’s detention “extremely egregious” and demanded the U.S. vacate an order for her arrest. It quoted Le as calling for the U.S. to “immediately correct its wrong actions” and said it would take further steps based on Washington’s response.
The move followed the summoning of Canadian Ambassador John McCallum on Saturday over Meng’s detention and a similar warning of “grave consequences” if she is not released.
The Canadian province of British Columbia said in a statement Sunday it canceled a trade mission to China because of Meng’s detention. The announcement came amid fears China could detain Canadians in retaliation.
Macron to break silence, address French nation amid protests
PARIS — Pressure mounted on French President Emmanuel Macron to announce concrete measures to calm protests marked by violence when he addresses the nation Monday evening, and breaks a long silence widely seen as aggravating a crisis that has shaken the government and the whole country.
The president will consult in the morning with an array of national and local officials as he tries to get a handle on the ballooning and radicalizing protest movement triggered by anger at his policies, and a growing sense that they favor the rich.
Macron will speak from the presidential Elysee Palace at 8 p.m. (1900 GMT), an Elysee official said. The official wasn’t authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity.
Government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux said earlier on LCI TV station he was “sure (Macron) will know how to find the path to the hearts of the French, speak to their hearts.” But, he added, a “magic wand” won’t solve all the problems of the protesters, known as “yellow vests” for the fluorescent safety vests they often wear.
Last week, Macron withdrew a fuel tax hike — the issue that kicked off protests in mid-November — in an effort to appease the protesters, but the move was seen as too little too late.
African-American North Carolina voting rights activist dies
LOUISBURG, N.C. — Rosanell Eaton, an African-American voting rights activist who successfully helped challenge voting restrictions supported by North Carolina Republicans, has died. She was 97.
Eaton’s daughter, Armenta Eaton, says her mother died Saturday at home in Louisburg, North Carolina.
Rosanell Eaton was a poll worker or precinct judge for decades who had registered to vote as a young woman in rural Franklin County despite Jim Crow restrictions.
When white men told her she had to recite the preamble to the U.S. Constitution before she could register to vote, she did it from memory, her daughter said.
Eaton grew up on a farm and went to segregated schools. Her advocacy for voting rights came in the face of racist attacks, as her house was shot at and crosses were lit on fire in her yard, her daughter said.
From wire sources