The Economist-America and China resume military communications resolution filed to expel Santos from the House In brief

1. President Joe Biden admitted that America had “real differences with Beijing” a day after he met Xi Jinping, his Chinese counterpart. Speaking to business leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, Mr Biden said America and China had agreed to resume military communications to “reduce the risk of miscalculation.” He also vowed to keep pushing for “high-standard trade that advances workers’ rights”.

2. The Republican chair of the House of Representatives’ ethics committee filed a resolution to hold a vote to expel George Santos from the chamber following the committee’s report that alleged he spent campaign funds on Botox and casinos, among other misdeeds. On Thursday Mr Santos, a scandal-ridden Republican from New York, was defiant but said he would not seek re-election.

3. Rosalynn Carter, the former first lady, entered home hospice care aged 96. Her husband, Jimmy, did so in February. The philanthropic couple still lives in the single-storey house in Plains, Georgia, that they built between 1960 and 1961. They made a public appearance in Plains in September, shortly before Jimmy’s 99th birthday. Mrs Carter revealed in May that she had been diagnosed with dementia.

4. Joe Biden signed a stop-gap funding bill to avoid a government shutdown. The bill ensures the federal government will be funded until after Christmas, with some funding expiring on January 19th and some on February 2nd. Although it was introduced by Mike Johnson, the ultra-conservative new House speaker, it was passed with bipartisan support.

5. Demonstrations calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas escalated across America. On Wednesday evening, Capitol Police clashed with protesters outside the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington, DC. On Thursday, similar events shut down bridges in San Francisco and Boston, bringing traffic to a standstill; 50 activists were arrested. President Joe Biden has so far rejected calls for a ceasefire.

6. A federal judge ruled that North Dakota’s redistricting plan violates the voting rights of two Native American tribes. In February last year, the Mountain Turtle Band of Chippewa Indians and the Spirit Lake Nation sued the state after it approved a new legislative map which the tribes said diluted their votes. The judge gave the state until December 22nd to find a solution.

7. There were at least 261 incidents of gun crime in American schools in the first nine months of 2023, more than triple the whole of 2018. That is according to David Riedman, a data scientist who worked with The Economist to investigate the damaging impacts of school shootings. No federal record tracks every time a gun is fired in a school, though four Democratic senators are championing a bill that would change that.

Today’s quiz question:

Which is the only state with a unicameral legislature?

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