Trump faulted for dinner with white nationalist, rapper Ye

Former President Donald Trump is drawing criticism for dining with a Holocaust-denying white nationalist and the rapper formerly known as Kanye West. The meeting came days after Trump launched his third campaign for the White House. Trump had dinner Tuesday evening at his Mar-a-Lago club with West, who is now known as Ye, as well as far-right activist Nick Fuentes, who has used his online platform to spew antisemitic and white nationalist rhetoric. Ye has also made a series of antisemitic comments in recent weeks. Trump says he gets along great with Ye and didn’t know Fuentes or his views.

Argentina breathes collective sigh of relief after victory

Argentines have breathed a collective sigh of relief as the country obtained a 2-0 victory over Mexico dissipating doubts that had emerged about Lionel Messi’s team after the shock loss against Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. The doubts that had emerged about the fitness of the national team at the World Cup, long considered one of the favorites, appear to have dissipated amid the jubilation over the result of a game that was crucial to decide the country’s fate in the tournament. “I’m so proud. I truly loved the match,” said Luciana Medina, a 23-year-old communications student.

Judge to decide on Florida face-biter insanity plea

A former college student who randomly killed a Florida couple in their garage six years ago and then chewed on one victim’s face is finally set to go on trial on Monday. Austin Harrouff has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to two counts of first-degree murder. He waived a jury trial, so Judge Sherwood Bauer will decide whether Harrouff was insane when he killed John Stevens and Michelle Mishcon Stevens. If found guilty, Harrouff will receive a sentence of life in prison without parole. If found insane, he would go to a mental hospital, likely for life.

Taiwan president resigns as party leader after election loss

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has resigned as head of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party following local election losses suffered by her party. Tsai offered her resignation on Saturday evening, a tradition after a major loss, in a short speech in which she also thanked supporters. She said she will shoulder the responsibility as she had hand-picked candidates in Saturday’s elections. Voters in Taiwan overwhelmingly chose the opposition Nationalist party in several major races across the self-ruled island. Chiang Wan-an, the Nationalist party’s mayoral candidate, won the closely watched seat in capital Taipei. Lingering concerns about threats from rival China, which claims Taiwan as its territory, took a backseat to more local issues.

More anti-COVID protests in China triggered by deadly fire

Protests against China’s restrictive COVID-19 measures appeared to roil in several cities Saturday night, in displays of public defiance fanned by anger over a deadly fire in the western Xinjiang region. Many protests could not be immediately confirmed, but in Shanghai, police used pepper spray to stop around 300 protesters who had gathered at Middle Urumqi Road at midnight. Protesters brought flowers, candles and signs reading “Urumqi, November 24, those who died rest in peace” to memorialize the 10 deaths caused by a fire in an apartment building in Xinjiang’s capital city Urumqi.

Whole Foods decision to pull lobster divides enviros, pols

Environmental groups are once again at odds with politicians and fishermen in New England in the wake of a decision by high-end retail giant Whole Foods to stop selling Maine lobster. Whole Foods recently said that it will stop selling lobster from the Gulf of Maine at hundreds of its stores around the country. The company cited decisions by a pair of sustainability organizations to take away their endorsements of the U.S. lobster fishing industry. The organizations, Marine Stewardship Council and Seafood Watch, both cited concerns about risks to rare North Atlantic right whales from fishing gear. Entanglement in gear is one of the biggest threats to the whales.

Biden eases Venezuela sanctions as opposition talks resume

The Biden administration is easing some oil sanctions on Venezuela in an effort to support newly restarted negotiations between the Venezuelan government and its opposition. The Treasury Department is allowing Chevron to resume “limited” energy production in Venezuela after years of sanctions that have dramatically curtailed oil and gas profits that have flowed to President Nicolás Maduro’s government. Earlier this year the Treasury Department again allowed the California-based Chevron and other U.S. companies to perform basic upkeep of wells it operates jointly with state-run oil giant PDVSA. Under the new policy, profits from the sale of energy would be directed to paying down debt owed to Chevron, rather than providing profits to PDVSA.

By wire sources