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November 11: SNAP Benefit Proposal and Trump’s Expected Talks With Xi and Putin
In Washington
A report published Wednesday says Secretary of State Marco Rubio spent more than $1.2 million in taxpayer funds on personal trips to watch University of Florida football games. His son Anthony plays for the Gators. Ethics watchdogs are questioning the necessity of repeated flights between Washington and Gainesville.
Republicans blocked an effort to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after a procedural vote failed by seven votes. Eleven Democrats missed the vote. Some cited traffic or conflicting events; others accused Speaker Mike Johnson of closing voting early.
The White House has added 15 staffers to its counsel’s office ahead of an expected increase in congressional investigations in January, the Washington Post reports.
And ABC News reports the Trump administration moved Tuesday to remove millions of people from SNAP and other assistance programs. CNN reports nearly one in five SNAP recipients could lose benefits under the proposal.
On war diplomacy
President Trump said November eighth that he expects to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Shenzhen to discuss ending the U.S. war with Iran and nuclear arms control. Trump plans to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit there November eighteenth and nineteenth. China’s foreign ministry says it is communicating with the parties but has not confirmed the meeting. Washington and Tehran remain at odds over the Strait of Hormuz.
Separately, NATO is participating in U.S.-convened talks in Abu Dhabi on Europe’s security after the Russia-Ukraine war. NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander says it remains to be seen whether Putin is serious about peace.
In Trinidad and Tobago
The country’s highest court has overturned a 1986 law criminalizing consensual sexual relations between adults of the same sex.
In Spain
Housing costs and wages are driving mass walkouts across several cities in Spain’s first general strike in 14 years.
In Portugal
Portugal has closed roughly 8,000 schools and shut nonessential services ahead of Storm Charles. It is the first time in living memory that a storm forecast has prompted nationwide school closures.
On AI chip export controls
A Chinese university with longstanding ties to the People’s Liberation Army reportedly acquired two Nvidia H200 processors despite being on the U.S. export blacklist.
In a separate dispute, Axios reports Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confronted Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick over the failure to add Nvidia customer Megaspeed to a list of companies posing national security concerns. Commerce oversees exports of sensitive U.S. technology.
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