Good morning. Now that the Senate’s made it official and the government will not shut down (at least until the next budget deadline in January), things are cooling down in D.C. For that reason, The Elective will temporarily move from a 5x per week schedule to a 3x per week schedule — Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

In today’s newsletter:

• A quick spin around the globe

• The government failed its own audit

• The fantastical saga of Rep. George Santos

• Pandas just might be coming back to America

• And much more!

Here’s today’s edition of The Elective:

 WORLD 

Around the world in 80 seconds

🇦🇿 Azerbaijan: Diplomats from (mortal enemies) Azerbaijan and Armenia were set to meet in D.C. next week. But Azerbaijan just canceled. They said the U.S. is too one-sided, and cited a U.S. diplomat's Congressional testimony. The two nations lie in the Caucasus mountains (the namesake of white people) and have been in conflict for decades. More than 100,000 ethnic Armenians fled Azerbaijan in September. The Armenian government called that "ethnic cleansing." International relations here are complicated. And, judging by this decision, not improving.

🇪🇹 Ethiopia: The African Development Bank (AfDB) lodged a formal complaint with Ethiopa. The bank said two of its staff members were assaulted and illegally arrested in the country’s capital of Addis Ababa. The Ethiopian government promised a speedy investigation. The AfDB provides economic development loans that normal banks may consider too risky. It is a project of the African Union (like the European Union, but looser).

🇳🇬 Nigeria: Nigeria's central bank said old money would remain in circulation. The cash was due to be removed and replaced with newer, more secure bills. But most money in Nigeria is held outside banks. The removal of old currency could have caused massive cash shortages in Africa's biggest economy. Eight hundred Nigerian naira are worth about one U.S. dollar.

🇪🇸 Spain: Spain's parliament narrowly voted to give Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez another term. Parliament picks the prime minister. But an election in July left the body without a clear majority for any party. Sanchez finally won after making deals with various minor parties. Among those deals: amnesty for the leaders of a failed, illegal secession movement for the Catalonia region. That plan sparked protests nationwide.

🇬🇧 United Kingdom: New U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron met with Ukraine's president in Kyiv. He promised British moral, diplomatic, and military support for “however long it takes" to defeat Russia. So far, the U.K. has given Ukraine $5.7 billion and trained 30,000 Ukrainian troops on British soil. Cameron's been on the job since Monday. He previously served as prime minister from 2010-2016.

 NEWS 

🪖 Pentagon: The Department of Defense failed its annual financial audit for the sixth year in a row (they've only done this audit...six times). Almost 1,600 auditors made 700 site visits to complete the work. The Pentagon’s comptroller said the result “is not a surprise” and officials blamed Congress for its unreliable budgeting process. Despite the failure, Defense claimed progress. Of the 29 department units examined, seven passed and eighteen failed. But those failures were given due to lack of reliable data. While that's not a true failure, it doesn’t exactly inspire confidence either. Look on the bright side, though: the Navy found $330 million.

🏛️ Santos: The bipartisan House Ethics Committee released its scathing report yesterday on embattled 35-year-old Rep. George Santos. It concludes there is "substantial evidence" the international man of mystery Congressman committed several crimes. It found he spent thousands of campaign dollars for personal benefit on Botox, designer clothes, porn, and more. Santos previously pleaded not guilty to 23 federal charges. A recent vote to expel him from the House failed. Many said they won't vote to expel him unless he's convicted. But Ethics Committee chair Rep. Michael Guest says he'll introduce another expulsion bill today. A two-thirds majority is required to give him the boot.

Santos has lied repeatedly about his past — about his literal ethnicity, his legal problems in Brazil, his history as a drag queen, his family connections to 9/11 and the Holocaust, his work history, his education, and more. In response to the Ethics report, Rep. Santos said he would not run for reelection (as if). But he again refused to resign. While we don't condone his behavior, we cannot wait for someone to make a movie about this guy.

 POLITICS 

Presidential candidate Nikki Haley called anonymous social media users a national security threat. She said “Every person on social media should be verified by their name.” A tech industry group isn’t taking it seriously, calling it campaign bluster “with a low degree of seriousness.” But her Republican rivals didn’t miss the chance to attack. Ron Desantis's weapon of choice: the Founding Fathers. He quickly pointed out that Alexander Hamilton and James Madison often wrote under a screen pen name. Vivek Ramaswamy called the idea “disgusting.” If implemented, the plan could get tossed out in court on First Amendment grounds. And while it may hurt her online (surprise surprise), a poll says 62% of Americans agree with her.

Alaska Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom (R) will run for Congress next year. Despite it’s Republican lean, Alaska’s sole Representative is Democrat Mary Peltola. She won last year against split Republican opposition. Alaska uses an odd (for America) ranked-choice voting system. Candidates of all parties compete in one “blanket” primary. The top four finishers advance to the general election. In the general, voters rank each candidate 1-4. If the top finisher doesn’t win more than 50% of the vote, the fourth candidate loses and his or her votes are reallocated depending on voter preference. That goes until somebody gets a majority. It’s complicated. If things had gone differently last year, a guy (literally) named Santa Clause might've won (and yes, he lives in a city called North Pole).

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is very unpopular. He just took office in May but a new poll says only 28% of Chicago voters approve of the job he’s doing. The good news is he’s beating his two predecessors. At one point, they each had an approval rating of only 27%. The bad news for Johnson is that once their numbers dipped so low, neither was reelected.

 TRIVIA 

 BRIEFS 

⚾ All 30 Major League Baseball team owners approved the Oakland Athletics' move to Las Vegas. The A's plan to play in a new $1.5 billion stadium on the strip. The new digs should be ready by 2028.

🪨 Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson met with a bipartisan group of senators in D.C. to promote military recruitment efforts. After the meeting, a bunch of old nerdy politicians posted cringe tweets trying to sound cool.

🐼 Giant pandas on lease to U.S. zoos have all gone home to China (or will soon). But in a speech this week, Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed to send more, calling pandas “envoys of friendship between the Chinese and American peoples.”

👩‍⚖️ Derek Chauvin, the ex-police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd wants a new trial. He asked the judge to overturn his conviction based on alleged new evidence. A Kansas pathologist believes a fatal surge of adrenaline from a rare tumor killed Floyd.

⚖️ The Canadian man charged with breaking into then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s house in San Francisco and attacking her elderly husband with a hammer was found guilty in federal court. He faces up to 50 years in prison.

🪖 The U.S. army is overturning the 1917 criminal convictions of 110 Black soldiers. The men were convicted of mutiny after a clash with white police officers at a military camp. The army found they “were not given fair trials.”

⛑️ Efforts continue to rescue 40 men trapped in a tunnel construction project in India. The plan is to drill out 200 feet of rock and insert a large tube they can escape through. Morale inside is said to be high.

 QUOTE 

 ANSWER 

1. 🇨🇳 China - 1.41 billion

2. 🇮🇳 India - 1.39 billion

3. 🇺🇸 United States - 336 million

4. 🇮🇩 Indonesia - 279 million

5. 🇵🇰 Pakistan - 241 million