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Rising Costs: High-Priced Turkeys Strain Food Banks Ahead of Thanksgiving (Bloomberg)
High turkey prices and historically low production are creating a critical shortage of the birds for food banks nationwide as Thanksgiving approaches, leaving many facilities unable to meet demand for holiday meal donations.
Turkey costs have soared 44% this year, contributing to shortages that are straining the budgets and inventories of charitable organizations. Food banks are struggling with higher prices for turkey and other proteins, an issue compounded by the government shutdown, which limited food assistance.
The US Department of Agriculture estimates
turkey production at the lowest levels in 40 years. Wholesale prices — what retailers pay to buy in bulk — are forecast at about $1.35 a pound, compared to just 94 cents in 2024, according to the agency.
GOP Cracks on Econ: More Republicans Disapprove of Trump’s Economy as Affordability Crisis Deepens (Axios)
Voters increasingly disapprove of the way President Trump is handling the economy and believe his policies are raising prices, according to a new poll from CBS News/YouGov.
The discontent is also showing up in significant numbers among Republican voters, as the affordability crisis is affecting sentiment within Trump's own base. Trump's approval on the economy has fallen to 36%, down from 51% in March, according to the poll.
Cases Thrown Out: James Comey, Letitia James Charges Dismissed by US Federal Judge (Bloomberg)
A federal judge threw out the criminal charges against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, ruling that the prosecutor who brought the cases had been illegally appointed.
The appointment of Lindsey Halligan as interim US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia was unlawful, US District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie said in a ruling Monday.
Trump abruptly installed Halligan in September after her predecessor resigned under pressure to bring charges against Comey and James. She was the sole prosecutor who secured separate grand jury indictments against both officials.
In response, Attorney General Pam Bondi said the Justice Department would take an “immediate appeal” of the judge’s rulings and also pursue “all available legal action,” according to Politico.
NYC City Hall Latest: Mamdani Taps Ex-Goldman Partner, Developer for Transition Team to Mayor's Office (Bloomberg)
New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has selected several corporate executives to join his transition team as the democratic socialist seeks to mollify concerns his policies might harm the city’s business community.
Among those chosen to help in his move to City Hall are former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. partner Margaret Anadu, developer Jed Walentas and Kathy Wylde, head of the Partnership for New York City. Wylde and Anadu will serve on the Committee on Economic Development & Workforce Development, and Walentas will join the Committee on Housing, according to a statement from Mamdani’s transition team on Monday.
Diplomatic Outline: US and Ukraine Draft New 19-Point Peace Plan but Defer Biggest Decisions (Financial Times)
The US and Ukraine have drafted a new 19-point peace deal, but left the most politically sensitive elements to be decided by the countries’ presidents.
After hours of painstaking talks, the US and Ukrainian teams reached agreements on several issues, but “placed in brackets” the most contentious points — including territorial issues and relations between NATO, Russia and the US — for Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskiy to decide, according to the Financial Times.
Each side will now take the latest working drafts
back to Washington and Kyiv to brief the presidents. The US and Russia are also holding meetings in Abu Dhabi to discuss the 19-point framework as part of the broader negotiations.
Investigations: Ukraine Says It's Probing Over 178,000 War Crimes Amid Trump Peace Plan Talks (Axios)
The number of war crime investigations open in Ukraine at the start of the fall was 178,391, Ukrainian prosecutor Vitalii Dovhal told CBS.
The revelation comes as Ukrainian and US officials hold talks on President Trump's peace plan that would force Kyiv to make concessions including ceding additional territory to Russia's invading forces and accepting full amnesty for Russians accused of war crimes.
US-China Talks: Trump Says He’ll Visit China, Xi Presses US Leader on Taiwan (Bloomberg)
US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday held their first talks since agreeing to a tariff truce last month, discussing trade, Taiwan and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Trump said the telephone call was “very good” and that the leaders spoke about purchases of soybeans and other farm products as well as curbing shipments of illegal fentanyl. The US president said he agreed to visit Beijing in April, and that he had invited Xi for a state visit next year.
Scoop: Trump
Ready to Talk with Maduro Over Venezuela Strikes (Axios)
President Trump has told his advisers he's planning to speak directly with Nicolás Maduro, even as the US designated the Venezuelan president Monday as the head of a terrorist organization, administration officials told Axios.
Trump's decision is an important milestone in his gunboat diplomacy aimed at Venezuela — and could be a sign that US missile strikes or direct military action on land are not imminent, those sources say.
Trolls Unmasked: X’s New Location Tags Expose Foreign-Run MAGA Accounts (Politico)
Over the weekend, X rolled out a new feature designed to increase transparency on the social media platform and enable users to better determine whether accounts they are engaging with are authentic or a bot, according to Politico.
The effects were immediate — and may be long-lasting. The left relished the sudden revelation that many popular MAGA accounts were actually foreign accounts with no business interfering in American politics. And those in MAGA’s orbit were confronted with the fact that many of the accounts they interacted with were not actually based in the US — and may have nefarious motives for their activity.
Immigration Impact: In Cities Targeted by ICE, Empty Desks and School Disruptions Follow (Washington Post)
The effects of the Trump administration’s immigration deployment in Charlotte tore through schools last week, disrupting learning as more than 20 percent of students stayed home from class.
Schools were off-limits for immigration enforcement for years, but Trump rescinded that policy in January.
In Charlotte, federal agents arrested
more than 250 undocumented immigrants from Nov. 15 to 19. 30,000 students were absent in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school district — an attendance rate of 79 percent compared to an average rate of 93 percent.
American Health Divide Grows: Kennedy’s Vaccine Pledges to Republicans Begin to Unravel (New York Times)
US Health Secretary RFK Jr.’s personal skepticism about vaccines is now shaping the nation’s public health policy. It has also raised more questions about the decisions of key Republican senators who had been wary of confirming Kennedy, only to swallow their concerns early this year and support him.
A leading skeptic was Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a doctor and the chairman of the Senate’s health committee, who agonized over whether to cast the crucial vote to back RFK Jr. He ultimately did so after outlining in a speech on the Senate floor a list of concessions he said he had secured from Kennedy, all aimed at limiting his ability to impose anti-vaccine views on the agency.
Nine months later, some of the most consequential promises that Cassidy said he had secured from Kennedy appear to have been breached or broken altogether.
Market Turns: Alphabet’s Rally Threatens World’s Most Valuable Stock Standings (Bloomberg)
Alphabet Inc. shares are poised to shake up the ranking of the world’s most valuable companies, amid signs the search giant is making headway in efforts to rival Nvidia Corp.’s bestselling AI accelerator.
Tech Savings: Apple’s Best Black Friday Deals Are Here — Save on iPads, MacBooks, and More (New York Times - Wirecutter)
Officially Opening December 4: Jack Thorne's A Christmas Carol Begins Off-Broadway Previews with Michael Cerveris as Scrooge (Playbill)
A Christmas Carol is now in performances at the Perelman Performing Arts Center in downtown Manhattan, which has been transformed into a winter wonderland this holiday season. Previews for the off-Broadway bow began at PAC-NYC this week ahead of a Dec. 4 opening night, and the already extended run continues through Jan. 4.
The production, directed by Matthew Warchus, returns to New York after years of annual holiday presentations at London's Old Vic Theatre and a 2019 Broadway run. It has collected money for non-profits focused on food insecurity since its 2017 premiere, carrying on the legacy Dickens intended with A Christmas Carol, with funds from PAC- NYC's run going to River Fund, which supports low-income families.
This latest show—co-directed by Thomas Caruso—is more immersive than previous stagings, brimming with merriment, tasty treats, and holiday cheer as it wraps the audience around the action and invites the communal holiday spirit in us all. PAC-NYC's reconfigurable space places seating on three sides of the stage for the first time in New York.
Buy tickets to the performance here. PAC-NYC's cyber sale ends today—grab 20% off select performances with the code CYBERCAROL at checkout.
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