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For Republicans, the months following the 2022 midterms have been consumed by a fair amount of introspection — and finger-pointing — about why the results were so underwhelming for the party. The secret ballot vote will take place during the open-press portion of the RNC's three-day winter meeting, which opens Wednesday. McDaniel, who was handpicked by then-President Donald Trump for the role, has faced heat from some Republicans and conservative media figures for the party's lackluster results in November. Meanwhile, an RNC official formally accused a McDaniel ally of engaging in "religious bigotry" aimed at Dhillon’s Sikh faith in discussing the race for party chair. I'm not surprised that folks coalesced behind her or around her as quickly as they did."

☆ Analysis: Tesla's price cuts promise more pain for money-losing U.S. EV startups
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Akash Sriram | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Tesla's move will "strengthen their ... competitive advantage over other automakers," CFRA Research analyst Garrett Nelson said. 'GAME OF THRONES' FOR EV STARTUPSBoth Rivian and Lucid have yet to turn a profit. Reuters GraphicsStill, Rivian had $13.8 billion in cash at the end of the third quarter - the most among the U.S. EV startups. "It's a 'Game of Thrones' battle for EV startups and they face some dire options over the next 12 to 18 months if they do not succeed in their financial targets," said Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives. Rivian sells its R1T pickup truck at a starting price of $73,000 while its R1S SUV starts at $78,000.

☆ Trump stopped short of endorsing any candidate for RNC chair: 'Let them fight it out'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Trump was asked about McDaniel and her challenger for RNC chair, Harmeet Dhillon. Trump said he likes both women but made no mention of Mike Lindell, who is also running for RNC chair. Trump made no mention of his ally, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, who is also running for the position of RNC chair. I believe she's well under 85 — with my math, I'd say somewhere around 70 to 75," Lindell told Insider on January 9. Lindell, Dhillon, and representatives for Trump and McDaniel did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.

☆ Tom Zhu: Elon Musk’s right-hand man at Tesla
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Hong Kong CNN —Tesla’s China chief has reportedly been given a big promotion. Tom Zhu, Tesla's executive in charge of China, speaks as a new Tesla experience store opens near West Lake on August 18, 2015 in Hangzhou, China. Zhu joined Tesla in 2014 and has been described as “pragmatic,” “industrious” and “a workaholic” by the Chinese media. Aerial view of Tesla Shanghai Gigafactory at Lingang New Area on July 11, 2021 in Shanghai, China. Tesla’s China successZhu’s reported promotion came after an impressive performance by Tesla’s China operations.

Hong Kong CNN —Production at the world’s biggest iPhone factory, disrupted since October by China’s Covid-19 restrictions and worker protests, is now running at nearly full capacity, according to a Chinese state media report. The sprawling campus in central China, owned by Apple (AAPL) supplier Foxconn, was running at 90% of planned production capacity at the end of December, the Henan Daily newspaper reported Tuesday. It cited an interview with Wang Xue, deputy general manager of the facility, which is also known as iPhone city. Gou’s office told CNN that it “denies the report and its contents.”Wang was quoted by the Henan Daily as saying iPhone City currently had about 200,000 workers on site. Analysts said the production woes at iPhone City would speed up the pace of Apple’s supply chain diversification away from China.

☆ Florida GOP to hold no-confidence vote in RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Marc Caputo | Marc Caputo Is A Senior National Political Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

The Florida GOP plans to hold a no-confidence vote in Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel next month, a crucial test of the embattled leader’s strength just days before her own re-election. He issued the petition in response to Republican Party of Florida Chairman Joe Gruters sending out a letter Tuesday endorsing McDaniel. The messy race for national chair reflects broader troubles in the Republican Party. The two candidates vying to succeed Gruters as Republican Party of Florida chair, Leon County Chair Evan Power and Sarasota County Chair Christian Ziegler, both told NBC News they support Dhillon. "This is about who is best to be RNC chair, and that's Ronna."

☆ Fight for control of the RNC turns heated as some members demand change
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

CNN —Shortly before announcing her campaign against Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel, Harmeet Dhillon, a well-connected conservative attorney, phoned an important ally to solicit his thoughts. Republican voters and local officials have bombarded committee members with emails and calls about the party’s next chair, often berating them directly for the GOP’s underwhelming performance in the midterms, according to four committee members who requested anonymity to describe their experience. During the same period, her law firm received nearly $900,000 from the RNC, federal election data shows. We are all independent thinkers, and we know what’s best for our states,” said Jeff Kent, a committee member from Washington. “It’s very hard to beat an incumbent RNC chair if that incumbent wants to stay,” said Bill Palatucci, a New Jersey committeeman.

☆ Former RNC chair says the Republican party 'is not going to survive' if it continues being 'fixated' on Trump
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Former RNC Chair Michael Steele said the GOP threatens its own longevity by focusing on Trump. Steele said some GOP leaders want the party to move on from Trump and hope he'll be arrested by 2024. But he added that many GOP voters and state party organizations are still loyal to Trump. Steele served as RNC chair from 2009 to 2011 and endorsed President Joe Biden in 2020 but remains a Republican. Michael Schwartz/Getty ImagesThe former RNC chair said McDaniel effectively chose Trump, citing how she dropped her middle name "Romney" at Trump's request in 2017.

☆ Ronna McDaniel locked down votes for RNC chair despite the midterm debacle. Here's how she did it.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Jonathan-Allen-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Jonathan Allen | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +9 min

An ally, Richard Porter, an RNC member from Illinois, met with her in Washington to make sure she wanted to run for another two-year term. And the most ardent Trump critics among RNC members say McDaniel, Trump's pick for the post six years ago, is too close to him. Bill Palatucci, an RNC member from New Jersey, said he opposes McDaniel's re-election for that reason. For McDaniel to lose, an opponent would have to win the remaining undecided RNC members and swipe nearly two dozen avowed McDaniel backers. Lori Klein Corbin, an RNC member from Arizona who hasn’t committed to any candidate, said McDaniel hasn’t asked for her vote yet.

“What we do need is our voters need to vote early,” McDaniel, a longtime Trump ally, said during a televised interview on Fox News. McDaniel said the RNC has "perfected" the practice in states where it's legal before making her broader point about taking advantage of early and mail-in voting. He continues to raise false and unsubstantiated claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him, in part through vote-by-mail programs in battleground states. Early voting there has shattered records, suggesting an edge for Warnock. Trump, who handpicked McDaniel as RNC chair after the 2016 election, has not weighed in on the upcoming race.

☆ Premarket stocks: The last time the US faced a debt fight this bad it lost its AAA rating
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

In a note on Monday, Goldman Sachs analysts warned that the upcoming debt limit battle in Washington could spark the most uncertainty since the disruptive 2011 debates that cost America its perfect AAA credit score and caused chaos on Wall Street. “To raise the debt limit next year, bipartisan support will be necessary but hard to achieve,” Goldman Sachs economists wrote in the report. Goldman Sachs analysts wrote that the political environment has “echoes of 1995 and 2011” — two very tense standoffs over the debt limit that hurt Main Street and Wall Street. Pain ahead: “It seems likely that uncertainty over the debt limit in 2023 could lead to substantial volatility in financial markets,” wrote Goldman analysts. “A failure to make timely payments would likely hit consumer confidence hard,” Goldman Sachs wrote.

☆ Foxconn restoring production at world's largest iPhone factory
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Juliana Liu | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

The “epidemic situation” at the facility, known as iPhone City and normally home to hundreds of thousands of workers, has been brought under control, the Taiwanese contract manufacturer said in a statement on Monday. Its executives were quoted as telling Reuters that full production would resume between late December and early January. Analysts said the production woes at iPhone City would speed up the pace of Apple’s supply chain diversification away from China. In recent weeks, according to The Wall Street Journal, Apple (AAPL) has accelerated plans to shift some of its production outside China. If Apple moves aggressively, more than 50% of iPhone production could come from India and Vietnam by the 2025/2026 fiscal year, versus the single-digit percentage currently, he added.

☆ Apple is accelerating plans to move production out of China as protests and riots intensify in response to zero-Covid policies, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Bethany Biron | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Apple is increasing its efforts to shift production outside of China, according to the Wall Street Journal. Production at factories like Foxconn has taken a massive hit amid riots over zero-Covid policies. Shifting production will likely be difficult in the current global economic climate, sources told WSJ. In November, the area known as "iPhone City" erupted into violent protests among employees over withheld pay and strict zero-Covid policies that prompted a lockdown in Zhengzhou. The protests, which coincided with the start of the holiday shopping season in the US, have led to significant supply chain issues and shortages of Apple iPhone products.

☆ China’s Zhengzhou, home to world’s largest iPhone factory, ends Covid lockdown
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Juliana Liu | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Hong Kong CNN Business —The central Chinese city of Zhengzhou, home to the world’s largest iPhone factory, has lifted a five-day Covid lockdown, in a move that analysts have called a much-needed relief for Apple and its main supplier Foxconn. Zhengzhou is the site of “iPhone City,” a sprawling manufacturing campus owned by Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn that normally houses about 200,000 workers churning out products for Apple (AAPL), including the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max. The troubles started in October when workers left the campus in Zhengzhou, the capital of the central province of Henan, due to Covid-related fears. Total iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max shipments in the current quarter would be 15 million to 20 million units less than previously anticipated, according to Kuo. Due to the high price of the iPhone 14 Pro series, Apple’s overall iPhone revenue in the current holiday quarter could be 20% to 30% lower than investors’ expectations, he added.

☆ GOP to conduct post-election audit after disappointing midterms
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

The party’s disappointing midterm results earlier in the month marked a breaking point of sorts for some committee members, who are now more open to change. Ten years have passed since the RNC last commissioned a post-election audit. Some RNC members were particularly concerned after she offered a rosy assessment of the GOP’s performance during a conference call the day after the midterms. Now, McDaniel is tasked with maintaining unity within her party as a growing number of GOP leaders push back against Trump’s influence. In recent days, some of them, including former Vice President Mike Pence, have condemned Trump’s recent private meeting with white supremacist and antisemite Nick Fuentes.

☆ Asia shares take comfort in China property rally
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Wayne Cole | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Shares of Chinese property companies surged after the country's securities regulator lifted a ban on equity refinancing for listed property firms. read moreThat helped Chinese blue chips (.CSI300) bounce 1.1%, while MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) added 0.7%. Markets were still nervous that the widening web of restrictions in China would lead to more public unrest and further undermine growth. read more"The zero China COVID policy has been an absolute gut punch to Apple's supply chain," said Daniel Ives, an analyst at Wedbush. The dollar index rallied to 106.57 , having been as low as 105.31 overnight.

☆ Gov. Kristi Noem suggests RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel should be replaced after midterm losses: 'I don't know a party that can continue to lose like we have and keep their jobs'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Noem hinted at replacing RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel, a staunch supporter of Trump. Talks of replacing McDaniel were kicked up as Republicans tossed around blame over the midterms. Kristi Noem said the GOP should consider replacing Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel after heavy midterm losses. McDaniel, who has served as chair of the RNC since 2017, has also been an ardent supporter of Trump. Despite blame for the midterms being spread around the GOP, McDaniel indicated on November 14 she planned to run for another two-year term, Politico reported.

☆ Apple has a huge problem at Foxconn's iPhone factory in China
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Juliana Liu | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

“Every week of this shutdown and unrest we estimate is costing Apple roughly $1 billion a week in lost iPhone sales. Now roughly 5% of iPhone 14 sales are likely off the table due to these brutal shutdowns in China,” he said. Security forces clash with workers during a protest outside Apple supplier Foxconn's factory in Zhengzhou, China, on November 23. Covid outbreakEarlier this month, Apple said shipments of its latest lineup of iPhones would be “temporarily impacted” by Covid restrictions in China. Even before this week’s demonstrations, Apple had started making the iPhone 14 in India, as it sought to diversify its supply chain away from China.

☆ Apple supplier Foxconn apologises for hiring blunder at COVID-hit China plant
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Workers said on videos circulated on social media that they had been informed that Foxconn intended to delay bonus payments. The person said the company had reached "initial agreements" with employees to resolve the dispute and production at the plant continued on Thursday. The Zhengzhou plant employs more than 200,000 people to make Apple Inc (AAPL.O) devices including the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max. Apple said it had staff at the factory and was "working closely with Foxconn to ensure their employees' concerns are addressed”. Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives expects the shutdowns to cost Apple about $1 billion a week in lost iPhone sales.

A source familiar with the situation in Zhengzhou said production at the plant was unaffected by the worker unrest and output remained "normal". It makes most of the phones at the Zhengzhou plant, though it has other smaller production sites in India and southern China. Shares of Foxconn have slipped 2% since the unrest emerged in late October. Before the unrest, the Zhengzhou plant employed some 200,000 people. To retain staff and lure more workers Foxconn has had to offer bonuses and higher salaries.

"He's probably going to spend more time on Twitter than any Tesla investor feels comfortable about." Sales of Musk's own Tesla shares - totaling $20 billion since he disclosed his Twitter stake - have added to the pressure. "I think he's finally reached a point where he's really challenging himself. 'MINIMAL TIME'The Tesla board has expressed concerns about Musk's commitment to SpaceX and several smaller companies. So I think Tesla would continue to do very well even if I was kidnapped by aliens or went back to my home planet maybe."

☆ Fact Check-No evidence drug overdose was main cause of death for George Floyd in 2020
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner ruled Floyd’s death a homicide with the cause of death as “cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint and neck compression” (here). Under cross examination by Chauvin’s lead lawyer, Baker said that certain heart diseases or use of opioids can be fatal but that neither directly caused Floyd’s death. Reuters reporting on additional expert testimony during the trial that countered the defense’s claim that opioid use caused Floyd’s death can be found (here), (here), (here) and (here). But the fentanyl levels in Floyd’s blood should not be the sole factor in determining his cause of death. Available evidence about George Floyd’s death and toxicology test results do not show that his main cause of death was a drug overdose and toxicology results alone cannot identify a lethal level of fentanyl or other drugs in the body.

☆ Taiwan’s virtual beauty brand struggles on Wall Street debut
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Michelle Toh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Hong Kong CNN Business —Taiwan’s latest entrant to Wall Street has had a rough ride since it went public a week ago. Perfect Corp. lends its technology to beauty and fashion brands. Perfect Corp. founder and CEO Alice Chang said she spoke to CNN Business while wearing the company's "digital makeup" on a conference call. The question was: “How can I link the virtual beauty with the real world beauty?” Chang recalled. Perfect Corp. is one of a handful of Taiwanese companies to list in the United States in recent years, according to Dealogic data.

Oct 25 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) posted its slowest quarterly revenue growth in five years on Tuesday as the tough macroeconomic conditions hit PC sales and slowed cloud growth, which had supercharged the earnings for years. "The PC market was worse than we expected in Q1," Brett Iversen, head of Microsoft's investor relations, told Reuters. Windows OEM business, which includes the operating software Microsoft sells to PC makers, dropped 15% year-on-year. Microsoft's broader Intelligent Cloud division posted a 20% rise in revenue to $20.33 billion, almost in line with estimates of $20.37 billion, according to Refinitiv. Net income fell to $17.56 billion, or $2.35 per share, during the quarter ended Sept. 30, from $20.51 billion, or $2.71 per share, a year earlier.

☆ In Nevada, national Republicans exude optimism over Senate takeover: 'People are fed up'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( Natasha Korecki | Natasha Korecki Is A Senior National Political Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

The Nevada Senate race remains within the margin of error, but McDaniel called Scott’s aggressive early spending critical to having blunt attacks from Democrats, when the national conversation centered on the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade. [Then] once our candidates had the money to get on TV, they closed the gap," McDaniel said. Vance in Ohio, McDaniel and Scott both quickly called it a “team sport,” without specifically naming McConnell, despite his group’s sizable investments. Some Republicans have expressed frustration over Scott, saying he spent too much too soon while his group’s fundraising this year fell behind the pace it held in previous campaign years. Cortez Masto, the first-ever Latina elected to the Senate, scoffed when asked about Laxalt's contention that he's eating into her Latino support.

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