OceanaGold Releases Waihi District Pre-Feasibility Study with Attractive Economics and Initial Wharekirauponga Reserve of 1.2 Million OuncesThe City boss is enduring the worst run of his glittering managerial career after a six-game winless streak featuring five successive defeats and a calamitous 3-3 draw in a match his side had led 3-0. The 53-year-old, who has won 18 trophies since taking charge at the Etihad Stadium in 2016, signed a contract extension through to the summer of 2027 just over a week ago. Yet, despite his remarkable successes, he still considers himself vulnerable to the sack and has pleaded with the club to keep faith. “I don’t want to stay in the place if I feel like I’m a problem,” said the Spaniard, who watched in obvious frustration as City conceded three times in the last 15 minutes in a dramatic capitulation against Feyenoord in midweek. “I don’t want to stay here just because the contract is there. “My chairman knows it. I said to him, ‘Give me the chance to try come back’, and especially when everybody comes back (from injury) and see what happens. “After, if I’m not able to do it, we have to change because, of course, (the past) nine years are dead. “More than ever I ask to my hierarchy, give me the chance. “Will it be easy for me now? No. I have the feeling that still I have a job to do and I want to do it.” City have been hampered by a raft of injuries this term, most pertinently to midfield talisman and Ballon d’Or winner Rodri. The Euro 2024 winner is expected to miss the remainder of the season and his absence has been keenly felt over the past two months. Playmaker Kevin De Bruyne has also not started a match since September. The pressure continues to build with champions City facing a crucial trip to title rivals and Premier League leaders Liverpool on Sunday. Defeat would leave City trailing Arne Slot’s side by 11 points. “I don’t enjoy it at all, I don’t like it,” said Guardiola of his side’s current situation. “I sleep not as good as I slept when I won every game. “The sound, the smell, the perfume is not good enough right now. “But I’m the same person who won the four Premier Leagues in a row. I was happier because I ate better, lived better, but I was not thinking differently from who I am.” Guardiola is confident his side will not stop battling as they bid to get back on track. He said: “The people say, ‘Yeah, it’s the end of that’. Maybe, but we are in November. We will see what happens until the end. “What can you do? Cry for that? You don’t stay long – many, many years without fighting. That is what you try to look for, this is the best (way). “Why should we not believe? Why should it not happen with us?”
Please note: this story includes racist quotes from the 19th century. On May 10, 1869, the eyes of America focused on a makeshift ceremony in the middle of nowhere. Two railroad companies had spent six years on one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects of the 19th century: the construction of the first transcontinental railroad. One company had built from the east. The other from the west. This was the day they finally met up and linked their tracks together. The meeting point was a place called Promontory Summit in the desolate desert of northwest Utah. A thousand people — politicians, journalists, railroad executives and workers — traveled there for the monumental occasion. This historic moment would not have been possible without the sacrifices of Chinese immigrants. They had played a crucial role in constructing the western part of the railroad — the most difficult and dangerous section to build. As many as 1,200 Chinese immigrants died constructing it. However, on this day of celebration, railroad executives decided to exclude their Chinese workers from the official ceremony and photographs. Ouch. But Chinese Americans had reason to be hopeful in the wake of the transcontinental railroad's completion. Since they began arriving in America a couple decades before, they had been the target of discriminatory laws and violence. But now national news reports praised them as skilled and productive workers making invaluable contributions to America's economy. "The Chinaman is a born railroad builder, and as such he is destined to be most useful to California, and, indeed, to the whole Pacific slope," read one nationally circulated news report. The Daily Alta California , then the most popular newspaper in the state, declared that Chinese workers "do a better, neater, and cleaner job, and do it faster and cheaper than white laborers from the East." Political winds also seemed to be blowing in favor of Chinese Americans. In 1868, the United States signed the Burlingame Treaty, which strengthened diplomatic and trade relations with China and encouraged "free migration and emigration" between the two countries. In the decade to come, the Chinese population in America would swell by about 50 percent. Even more, this was the post-Civil War Reconstruction era, when Radical Republicans were amending the U.S. Constitution and fighting for the civil rights of freed slaves. Many hoped that new constitutional amendments and civil rights laws would apply to other excluded groups — including Chinese immigrants. Back then, the only immigrants who were allowed to become American citizens and obtain equal rights were "free white persons." In 1870, U.S. Senator Charles Sumner (R-Massachusetts), one of America's leading voices for abolition and civil rights, fought to open up a pathway for Chinese and other non-white immigrants to become citizens. But Western politicians, including in Sumner's own more racially progressive Republican party, saw this proposal as politically radioactive. In making his case against Sumner's bill to open a pathway to citizenship for Chinese immigrants, Senator William Morris Stewart (R-Nevada) warned that the West Coast would be "overpowered by the mob element that seeks to exterminate the Chinese" if it passed, and that "they will be slaughtered before any one of them can be naturalized under your bill." The effort to expand citizenship and civil rights to Chinese immigrants failed to pass Congress. But the "mob element" — as Senator Stewart called it — would nonetheless make life miserable for Chinese Americans. In an omen of the horrors to come, just one year later, a white mob in Los Angeles lynched 17 Chinese men and boys in a raid on Chinatown. It was one of the largest — if not the largest — mass lynching in American history. It became known as "the Chinese Massacre of 1871." All of this was before "The Panic of 1873," a financial crisis that would plunge America's economy into a long and miserable depression. In the depths of despair, white working-class Americans on the West Coast would rally around a new populist slogan: "The Chinese must go!" The completion of the transcontinental railroad may have, ironically, contributed to the coming populist backlash. For one, excitement over the transcontinental and other railroads led to a speculative bubble. Investors overestimated the money-making potential of railroads, and once the transcontinental railroad was up and running, reality began to set in about how much money railroads and related investments would actually make. When the bubble burst in 1873, it took the whole economy with it. The transcontinental railroad also integrated what had been effectively two separate American economies into one. Like the adoption of container ships during the globalization era of the 20th and 21st centuries, the transcontinental railroad increased competition in the economy by making it easier and cheaper to distribute and sell products to faraway places. This bigger, more competitive market was great for consumers, economic efficiency, and the nation's long-term economic growth. But, with the railroad now serving as a new pipeline for products, West Coast industries were suddenly forced to compete with the more efficient and mechanized industries of the East Coast. Nancy Qian, an economist at Northwestern University, says this made the economic downturn that followed the Panic of 1873 much worse in the West. Even more, during and after completion of the railroad, Chinese immigrants became a more sought after workforce, which effectively put a target on their backs. Increasing numbers of white workers began to resent them. They saw them as a culturally alien workforce, willing and able to do all sorts of jobs for less pay. And it wasn't just railroads. Chinese immigrants now worked in all sorts of West Coast industries, including manufacturing, agriculture, woodcutting, and mining. "While the Chinese constituted less than 10 percent of the population of California in 1870, they accounted for approximately 25 percent of the workforce," writes Beth Lew-Williams in her book The Chinese Must Go: Violence, Exclusion, and the Making of the Alien in America. As the economy cratered after the Panic of 1873, a scarcity of jobs led to a zero-sum mindset amongst white workers. Demagogues began to blame the labor competition posed by increasing numbers of Chinese immigrants for the miseries of white joblessness and meager pay. They painted Chinese immigrants as the servile tools of monopolistic corporations, which were becoming increasingly powerful in the rapidly industrializing United States. The mighty railroad companies — which now owned valuable land across the United States thanks to federal legislation that funded the transcontinental railroad — were a prominent example. Populists began to rail against big corporations for employing the cheap labor of Chinese immigrants instead of the labor of white people — many of whom, by the way, were also recent immigrants themselves. In late 1877, an Irish immigrant in San Francisco named Denis Kearney founded The Workingmen's Party of California. Kearney articulated a populist politics that combined pro-labor and anti-corporate rhetoric with virulent anti-Chinese racism. In one famous demonstration, in October 1877, Kearney led a mob to Nob Hill, a fancy part of San Francisco where the West Coast railroad barons had built mansions. Kearney gave a fiery speech to 2,000 people in front of the home of Charles Crocker, an executive at Central Pacific Railroad who had been instrumental in recruiting Chinese workers to build the transcontinental railroad. "The Central Pacific Railroad men are thieves, and will soon feel the power of the workingmen," Kearney said . "When I have thoroughly organized my party, we will march through the city and compel the thieves to give up their plunder. I will lead you to the City Hall, clean out the police force, hang the Prosecuting Attorney, burn every book that has a particle of law in it, and then enact new laws for the workingmen. I will give the Central Pacific just three months to discharge their Chinamen." In another speech, in front of a crowd in Boston, Kearney said, "The capitalist thief and land pirate of California, instead of employing the poor white man of that beautiful and golden State, send across Asia, the oldest despotism on earth, and there contracting with a band of leprous Chinese pirates, brought them to California, and now uses them as a knife to cut the throats of honest laboring men in that State." In rabble-rousing speech after speech, it was Kearney who popularized the slogan, "The Chinese must go!" Kearney and the Workingmen's Party would fail to achieve lasting political power, but their ideas proved to be popular on the West Coast. By the late 1870s, the writing was on the wall for both national political parties: if they wanted to win elections in West Coast states, they would need to clamp down on Chinese immigration. Back in those days, Washington — which didn't have much experience actually trying to regulate immigration — viewed immigration policy as something you cordially worked out with the origin countries of immigrants. American political elites also hoped to remain friendly with China, which they viewed as economically and geopolitically important. And so, in 1880, the administration of President Rutherford B. Hayes delicately worked with China to amend the Burlingame Treaty, which had encouraged the free flow of immigration between the two countries. This new treaty, the Angell Treaty , allowed the United States to "regulate, limit, or suspend" the flow of Chinese laborers to the country. Congress could now act. In 1882, after a presidential election, they did just that. Congress passed a forceful bill halting immigration of Chinese workers for twenty years and requiring Chinese immigrants already in the United States to register with the government and obtain "passports" so they could prove their legal status (similar to a " green card " today). Facing a national outcry, Congress went back to the drawing board a few weeks later. And they passed a watered-down version of the bill, which President Arthur signed into law on May 6, 1882. This 1882 law is now popularly known as "the Chinese Exclusion Act." It banned both skilled and unskilled Chinese laborers from immigrating to the US for ten years. Symbolically and politically, this bill was a big deal: it was the first significant crackdown on immigration in American history, a message that the federal government opposed Chinese immigration, and a reaffirmation that Chinese immigrants already in America could never become citizens. However, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was just one in a series of federal laws against Chinese immigrants — and, as Beth Lew-Williams makes clear in The Chinese Must Go , this 1882 law was actually quite ineffective. Basically, President Arthur and Congress threw a bone to the insurgent anti-Chinese movement, but they provided few resources for federal enforcement against Chinese immigration and introduced a bunch of loopholes that allowed Chinese immigrants to continue coming in. In the years after the Act's passage, West Coast newspapers and populist agitators grew angry that Chinese immigrants were still entering the country and demanded that the government do more. This was the beginning of what you might call the national fight against "illegal immigration" — because before this virtually all immigration to the United States was legal. But the growing discontent with the first iteration of the Chinese Exclusion Act wasn't just about its lack of enforcement and loopholes. For many white Americans, simply preventing the flow of new Chinese immigrants wasn't enough. They wanted expulsions and deportations of the Chinese people who already lived here — even though the vast majority of them were here legally. And soon white vigilantes would take matters into their own hands. However, President Chester A. Arthur — who had only recently been elevated to the presidency after James Garfield was assassinated — objected to the law and decided to veto it. He believed it was too harsh. In his veto message , Arthur said the law would damage diplomatic and trade relations with China, which he and many others believed were vital to American interests. He objected to provisions requiring Chinese Americans to register with the government and obtain documents to prove their legal status, calling it "undemocratic and hostile to the spirit of our institutions." Even more, Arthur said, America "profited" from the work of Chinese immigrants — a belief held by many of the West Coast's business elites. "They were largely instrumental in constructing the railways which connect the Atlantic with the Pacific," President Arthur said. "The States of the Pacific Slope are full of evidences of their industry. Enterprises profitable alike to the capitalist and to the laborer of Caucasian origin would have lain dormant but for them." Arthur contended that the Chinese immigrants could continue to help develop and enrich America and, basically, do jobs that white people didn't want to do. Arthur's veto, however, proved to be a political disaster. Many Americans erupted with anger. The Knights of Labor, a growing national labor union, organized thousands of workers to protest it. Across California, townspeople burned and hanged President Arthur's effigy. Members of Arthur's own Republican party worried his veto meant that they would fail to win elections on the West Coast for the foreseeable future. Facing a national outcry, Congress went back to the drawing board a few weeks later. And they passed a watered-down version of the bill, which President Arthur signed into law on May 6, 1882. This 1882 law is now popularly known as "the Chinese Exclusion Act." It banned both skilled and unskilled Chinese laborers from immigrating to the US for ten years. Symbolically and politically, this bill was a big deal: it was the first significant crackdown on immigration in American history, a message that the federal government opposed Chinese immigration, and a reaffirmation that Chinese immigrants already in America could never become citizens. However, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was just one in a series of federal laws against Chinese immigrants — and, as Beth Lew-Williams makes clear in The Chinese Must Go , this 1882 law was actually quite ineffective. Basically, President Arthur and Congress threw a bone to the insurgent anti-Chinese movement, but they provided few resources for federal enforcement against Chinese immigration and introduced a bunch of loopholes that allowed Chinese immigrants to continue coming in. In the years after the Act's passage, West Coast newspapers and populist agitators grew angry that Chinese immigrants were still entering the country and demanded that the government do more. This was the beginning of what you might call the national fight against "illegal immigration" — because before this virtually all immigration to the United States was legal. But the growing discontent with the first iteration of the Chinese Exclusion Act wasn't just about its lack of enforcement and loopholes. For many white Americans, simply preventing the flow of new Chinese immigrants wasn't enough. They wanted expulsions and deportations of the Chinese people who already lived here — even though the vast majority of them were here legally. And soon white vigilantes would take matters into their own hands. By 1885, anti-Chinese forces in the West had become emboldened by the federal government's actions declaring that Chinese immigration was, in fact, a problem that needed to be solved. But they were also frustrated that Chinese workers seemed to keep coming into the country. Even more, they were angry about the continued presence of Chinese people in their communities and workplaces. The first purges of Chinese Americans in towns across the West began spontaneously in response to inciting incidents. But what began as a movement characterized by sporadic outbursts of violence would soon morph into a premeditated political strategy of ethnic cleansing. In Eureka, California, on February 6, 1885, two Chinese men got into a dispute and began firing guns at each other. One of them accidentally shot a white city councilman crossing the street. Shortly after, a mob of white residents stormed into the city's Chinatown chanting "Hang all the Chinamen!" and "Burn Chinatown!" City leaders, including the mayor, sheriff, and a Christian minister, intervened to prevent arson and murders, but white gangs looted Chinatown. And, within about 48 hours, local vigilantes rounded up Chinese residents — hundreds of people — forced them onto steamships bound for San Francisco and told them to never return again. It became known as "the Eureka method" of expulsion and was soon copied by neighboring cities. Later that year, in Rock Springs, Wyoming, a fight broke out between some Chinese and white miners that quickly exploded into horrific violence. Both groups were employed by the Union Pacific Coal Company (the same Union Pacific that built half of the transcontinental railroad). White miners, themselves immigrants, had grown to resent Chinese miners. On numerous occasions , Union Pacific had brought in Chinese workers after white workers went on strike for better wages, leading the white miners to view their Chinese counterparts as low-wage scabs. (Union Pacific, however, had also brought in Scandinavian immigrants in a similar way, but that didn't seem to elicit the same level of rage.) This particular fight was over whether Chinese or white workers would get to work in a particularly lucrative mine. It got very ugly very fast. After the dispute, a white mob descended on Chinatown, murdered 28 Chinese miners and wounded 15 others, drove the whole Chinese community out, and set their homes and stores ablaze. The incident was dubbed "The Rock Springs Massacre." In Tacoma, Washington, a couple months later, residents took a more methodical, premeditated approach. "The violence of Tacoma differed from incidents at Eureka and Rock Springs," writes Lew-Williams. "The Tacoma expulsion was not a spontaneous act by a mob angered by a triggering incident. Rather, it was cold and deliberate collective action that was publicly announced well in advance." Nonetheless, while it may have been more orderly and less sudden, it resembled "the Eureka method." White vigilantes — including Mayor Jacob Weisbach and other local political leaders — forcibly expelled all of Tacoma's Chinese residents, this time putting them on a train instead of boats. They then demolished Tacoma's Chinatown. Truckee, California, took a different approach to Chinese expulsion. Truckee sits in the basin underneath the Sierra Nevada peaks where Chinese rail workers had painstakingly built tunnels to allow passage for the transcontinental railroad ( see Part 1 of this story ). It boomed in population during and after the railroad's construction, and many Chinese rail workers made it their home. By 1870, around a third of Truckee's population was of Chinese descent. It had one of the biggest Chinatowns in the United States. White residents of Truckee had long made life difficult for its Chinese residents. In 1876, for instance, white militants — part of a secretive group called "The Caucasian League" — murdered a Chinese woodcutter and wounded others and then, despite a trial, were found innocent (these types of acquittals for racist thugs and vigilantes were common in the West back then). Over the years, Truckee's Chinatown was burned in a series of mysterious — but actually not so mysterious — fires. In fact, after one such fire, the town forced their Chinese residents to build a new Chinatown across the Truckee River. This new Chinatown had no bridge, so they had to cross the river by ferry. But this wasn't enough for the white residents of Truckee. They wanted Chinese people gone from the area completely. In the winter of 1885-86, a local lawyer and newspaper owner named Charles McGlashan was inspired by the cascade of purges across the West Coast. However, by then, there seemed to be some growing political and legal blowback for these extralegal expulsions. The town of Eureka, for example, was being sued by their former Chinese denizens for reparations. National politicians condemned violence in places like Rock Springs. It was within this context that McGlashan pioneered what became known as "The Truckee Method," a relatively non-violent — but still violent — boycott and harassment campaign against Chinese businesses and white businesses that employed Chinese people. The aim was to starve the Chinese out by eliminating their local economic opportunities and making their lives miserable. The campaign proved successful in ridding the town of Chinese residents and was copied by numerous other towns up and down California. McGlashan became a leader in an anti-Chinese boycott movement across the state. Over the course of 1885 and 1886, more than 160 communities across the West Coast would expel their Chinese inhabitants. And they made it abundantly clear to national politicians: many Western voters were not satisfied with the 1882 law. In 1888, President Grover Cleveland — hoping to carry Western states in his upcoming reelection battle — signed into law another Chinese Exclusion Act that had more teeth than the first one. This one prohibited all Chinese laborers from coming into the country — whether or not they had resided in the United States previously. It was a policy that was easier to enforce and administer. It was also quickly implemented, leaving thousands of Chinese immigrants who had traveled abroad stranded and unable to return. It was also a policy that angered China and marked the beginning of an age in which the United States set restrictive immigration policy unilaterally. After President Cleveland signed this legislation into law, many white westerners took to the streets to celebrate. This was only two years after the unveiling of the Statue of Liberty, which proclaimed that America was a refuge for "your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free." Four years later, with the Geary Act, Washington renewed Chinese exclusion for another ten years, expanded the power of the federal government to enforce anti-Chinese immigration laws, and implemented the registration and "passport" system that President Arthur had called "undemocratic and hostile to the spirit of our institutions." The Chinese Exclusion Acts — and the mob violence, pogroms, boycotts, and other forms of expulsion — had their intended effect. In 1890, the US Census Bureau recorded 107,488 Chinese people living in the United States. In 1900, that number dropped to 89,863. And by 1910, it was 71,531. The restrictions on Chinese immigration would not begin to be lifted until World War II. Historians have found that the economies of towns suffered after they kicked out their Chinese residents. Eureka, California faced all sorts of economic problems. "For most white residents, the financial loss was immediate," writes Jean Pfaelzer in her book Driven Out: The Forgotten War Against Chinese Americans . Businesses lost workers. "Some went into debt to pay higher salaries to new white employees." Landlords lost tenants. Stores lost customers. Chinese entrepreneurs had run the laundries in the town, and now people were stuck with dirty clothes. Chinese vegetable growers had provided the town with its produce and their disappearance meant no more fresh veggies. "White residents tried their hands at growing their own vegetables but complained about their poor results, the lack of variety of food, and the rotting produce that was shipped north from San Francisco," writes Pfaelzer. It was similar in Truckee. "The Chinese were renters, shoppers, and low-paid laborers, and white agents made money from their legal, real estate, and commercial transactions," writes Pfaelzer. Charles McGlashan, the leader of the anti-Chinese boycott, sought to replace Chinese laundromats with an "expensive steam laundry," but it was "simply too large and expensive for the needs of the small railroad town, and the Truckee Laundry Association was sued by its major investors." Truckee businesses desperately recruited white workers with advertisements, but "cheap white labor did not emerge, and mountain inns and hotels faced a summer season without food, while lumber camps could not staff their cookhouses." Across California, near the start of the spring of 1886, "large-scale farmers, food processors, and cannery owners realized that they would not be able to carry on their businesses without the Chinese," writes Pfaelzer. Of course, all of these are just anecdotes about local effects. And, until recently, we've had no rigorous economic study of the effects of Chinese exclusion on the American economy. But in a new study, economists Nancy Qian, Joe Long, Carlo Medici, and Marco Tabellini provide just that. The title of their working paper is "The Impact of the Chinese Exclusion Act on the economic development of the Western United States," but Nancy Qian, an economist at Northwestern University, says their study's estimated effects really include all the anti-Chinese laws, discrimination, and purges that affected Chinese Americans after 1882. "If vigilante violence and discrimination had been milder, then the anti-Chinese legislations would have probably had a smaller negative effect on the US economy," Qian says. Namely, these laws would have reduced the inflow of Chinese immigrants, but they would not have caused as many Chinese Americans to flee communities, workplaces, and, more broadly, the United States. In this way, Qian and her colleagues' study may provide some insight into the effects not only of the restricted inflow of immigration — the official intent of the Chinese Exclusion Act — but also of mass deportations since many Chinese were forced out of communities and ultimately left the country. Chinese immigrants had been vital to many West Coast industries. "By 1882, the Chinese had spread out across a lot of different sectors, and they were taking the skills that they had learned, mining, building the railroad, and also the ones they brought from China — they were applying it to lots of different things," Qian says. This, she says, made the economy better for just about everyone. "The sad punchline" of their study, Qian says, "is that very few people benefited from the Chinese Exclusion Act" and later laws and community actions. Western businesses suffered, and cities and towns across the West that saw their Chinese populations decline or disappear became less economically vibrant. For example, Qian and her colleagues find there was a slowdown in Western manufacturing, a sector in which many Chinese immigrants had worked. The crackdown against Chinese immigrants, Qian says, hurt most of the white population in the West. And, further, it made West Coast towns and cities that had large Chinese populations in 1882 less of a magnet for white workers from the East because economic opportunities in these places shriveled. The economists find that Chinese exclusion, in its many 1882 and post-1882 incarnations, slowed down the economic growth and development of the West. But Qian and her colleagues find there was at least one clear group of workers who benefited from Chinese exclusion: local white miners. It's interesting because the first wave of Chinese immigrants who came here, after 1849, came to America with the hope of finding gold. And the first discriminatory laws they faced were at the local level and aimed to discourage Chinese immigrants from mining. It also provides more context for the resentment and rage of white miners that exploded in the Rock Springs massacre. Mining is maybe more zero sum than other parts of the economy. There's a fixed level of stuff in the ground and one person's gain in finding valuable minerals is another person's loss. But Qian's study suggests most of the economy didn't work this way. It was not zero sum. Chinese workers actually improved the economic lives of most white workers and businessmen. As a concrete example, she points to Chinese woodcutters. "So the Chinese workers — who were chopping down trees and making them into planks for the railroad — were now chopping down trees and making them into planks for the construction of houses and bars and hotels in western towns," Qian says. "This is a very valuable skill. Now, all of a sudden, they leave. That doesn't just affect the lumber mill. But you have to think about all the people who are relying on using the wood. So now the doctor's office, the barmen, the hotel men, the railroad, everyone now has to pay more for wood. I mean, this is just a very important material for the whole economy." So, if there's a lesson from Qian's study, it's that, yes, maybe immigration restrictions and expulsions or deportations can actually help some native workers. But, really, the cost is tremendous — not just for the immigrants themselves but also for almost everyone else. The story of what happened to Chinese immigrants is horrific. And in recent years, towns on the West Coast that purged their Chinese populations have begun to memorialize this dark period of history and honor the Chinese people who were kicked out of their towns. For example, the city of Tacoma worked with the Chinese Reconciliation Project Foundation, a nonprofit, to create a park, which is called Tacoma Chinese Reconciliation Park . Since 2021, an organization called the Eureka Chinatown Project has done various projects around Eureka to "honor the history and culture of the first Chinese people in Humboldt County, California" (the county Eureka is in). Earlier this year, Truckee unveiled a plaque to commemorate the two Chinatowns that once existed in the town. Many Americans remain ignorant of this history, and the organizers behind these projects want to educate them about it — with the hope history won't repeat itself. When researching this history, we read a number of illuminating books. We thank the historians for their work. You can check them out yourself: Ghosts of Gold Mountain: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad by Gordon H. Chang Driven Out: The Forgotten War against Chinese Americans by Jean Pfaelzer The Chinese Must Go: Violence, Exclusion, and the Making of the Alien in America by Beth Lew-Williams
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Net zero plans for Armed Forces could ‘put soldiers at risk’FORT WORTH, Texas -- Navy quarterback Blake Horvath had a 95-yard touchdown run, the longest in school history, in the Armed Forces Bowl against Oklahoma on Friday. Horvath's score with 3:49 left in the third quarter tied the game at 14-14. The previous record for the Midshipmen came during the Roger Staubach era, when Johnny Sai had a 93-yard run against Duke in 1963. After faking a handoff, Horvath ran straight up the middle into the open field. Brandon Chatman cut off a pursing defender around the Sooners 20 and by time cornerback Woodi Washington was able to catch up, Horvath stretched the ball over the goal line while going down — though he was initially ruled short before a replay review resulted in the touchdown. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-footballMon : Eurogroup Meeting; Chinese CPI & PPI (Nov), EZ Sentix (Dec), US Employment Trends (Nov) Tue : RBA Policy Announcement, EIA STEO; German Final CPI (Nov), Norwegian CPI (Nov), US NFIB (Nov), Chinese Trade Balance (Nov), Chinese Central Economic Work Conference Wed : BoC & BCB Policy Announcement, OPEC MOMR; South African CPI (Nov), US CPI (Nov) Thu : ECB & SNB Policy Announcements, Norges Bank Regional Network, IEA OMR; Australian Employment (Nov), UK GDP Estimate (Oct), US Initial Jobless Claims (w/e 7th), PPI (Nov), Japanese Tankan Index (Q4) Fri : N/A Chinese Inflation (Mon) : Chinese inflation data for November will provide the latest clues into the underlying health of the world’s second-largest economy following the slower-than-expected pace of annual growth in consumer prices and continued decline in factory gate prices seen the month before. As a reminder, the price data for October was softer than anticipated with CPI YY at 0.3% vs. Exp. 0.4% (Prev. 0.4%) and PPI YY at -2.9% vs. Exp. -2.5% (Prev. -2.8%). The monthly change in consumer prices also fell into deflation territory at -0.3% vs. Exp. -0.1% (Prev. 0.0%). The annual rise in CPI was facilitated by a 2.9% increase in food prices, as well as a 0.2% and 0.4% rise in consumer goods inflation and services prices, respectively. Conversely, housing rent fell 0.3% which attests to the ongoing property sector woes, while the costs of fuels for transport saw a double-digit percentage drop of 10.5% and contributed to a 4.8% decline in the transportation and telecommunication category. Furthermore, there was a steeper drop in China’s producer prices which was in deflation for a 25th consecutive month in October amid a 3.3% decline in the costs of production materials with a 5.1% drop in mining and 4.0% decline in raw material costs, while the factory gate price for consumer goods fell 1.6% and durable goods fell 3.1%. Nonetheless, China’s National Bureau of Statistics deputy head anticipates consumer prices to recover for the remainder of the year citing an improved economic situation, seasonal factors and a diminishing carryover effect. Of note, November CPI Y/Y is expected at 0.5% and PPI Y/Y is expected at -2.8%. RBA Policy Announcement (Tue) : The RBA is likely to keep rates unchanged at its meeting next week with a recent Reuters poll showing unanimous forecasts for the central bank to remain on pause, while money markets are pricing an 85% for the Cash Rate to be kept at 4.35% and just a 15% likelihood of a 25bps cut. As a reminder, the central bank opted to keep the Cash Rate unchanged for the 8th consecutive meeting last month which economists had unanimously forecast, while the rhetoric provided little fresh insight as it reiterated that the board will continue to rely upon the data and evolving assessment of risks, as well as noted that inflation remains too high and is not expected to return sustainably to the midpoint of the target until 2026. Furthermore, it stated that policy will need to be sufficiently restrictive until the board is confident that inflation is moving sustainably towards the target range and it repeated that the board is not ruling anything in or out. The post-meeting press conference also provided little in the way of fresh clues as RBA Governor Bullock stated that the last part of bringing inflation down is not easy and rates need to stay restrictive for the time being, while she thinks there are still risks on the upside for inflation but noted they will be ready to act if the economy turns down more than expected. Bullock also noted that they have the right settings at the moment and there were no discussions on specific scenarios for rate changes, as well as stated the current Cash Rate path priced by the market is as good as any. The minutes from the meeting further suggested a lack of urgency to act as it noted the Board is vigilant to upside inflation risks and policy needs to remain restrictive, while it saw no immediate need to change the Cash Rate and would need more than one good quarterly inflation report to justify a rate cut. The rhetoric from officials since then continues to suggest the central bank is keeping its options open as Governor Bullock stated the RBA will be in a position to consider rate cuts at some point, as long as inflation continues on its gradual slowing path and the Board can respond if inflation falls more quickly than forecast, as well as noted that they do not need inflation to be at the target to cut, but needs to be sure that it is heading there. Furthermore, a couple of the big 4 banks in Australia have adjusted their rate cut calls including ANZ Bank which pushed back its forecast for the first RBA rate cut to May next year from February and now only sees two 25bp cuts vs a prior view of three cuts, while Westpac also now expect the RBA to start cutting rates in May 2025 vs. a prior forecast of February 2025, although money markets have recently shifted to fully pricing a first cut in April after disappointing Australian GDP data for Q3. Chinese Trade (Tue): China will release its trade figures for November which participants will be eyeing to see if there is an improvement from the mixed figures seen in October. The prior data saw a larger-than-expected trade surplus of USD 95.72bln vs. Exp. 76.03bln (Prev. 81.71bln) and a double-digit surge in exports of 12.7% vs. Exp. 5.2% (Prev. 2.4%) but imports contracted at a steeper-than-feared pace of -2.3% vs. Exp. -1.5% (Prev. 0.3%). The rise in exports in October surpassed even the most optimistic of analysts' estimates to register the fastest growth since March 2023. It also followed a series of policy support announcements by officials in Beijing including the PBoC’s cuts to the RRR and across its short-term funding rates, while the month of October also saw a return to expansion territory of China’s factory activity after five consecutive months of contraction. However, this further improved in November and provides some encouragement for the upcoming release. Conversely, imports contracted by more than feared in October which highlights China’s weak domestic demand and consumption amid the ongoing property sector woes and trade frictions with the latter likely to worsen next year owing to the threat of increased tariffs on Trump’s return to the White House. In terms of the expectations for the upcoming data, the Trade Balance is seen at a surplus of USD 95.5bln, while exports growth is seen at 8.5% and Imports at 0.3%. Chinese Central Economic Work Conference (Tue-Wed) While no major numerical targets are expected (typically set at the Two Sessions), the market will be closely watching for shifts in tone on fiscal and monetary policy heading into next year. Currently, the stance is proactive on fiscal policy and prudent on monetary policy. The focus will likely be on whether there’s a new emphasis on boosting domestic demand or supporting the property market. Analysts will also be attentive to any changes in rhetoric that could signal a shift toward more aggressive policy support. That being said, the Chinese press played down prospects for stimulus as it warned against blindly pursuing faster growth and signalled more focus on supporting consumption in a flurry of articles ahead of the Central Economic Work Conference, according to Bloomberg. Analysts at ING “expect the markets would be satisfied with a shift to signal more aggressive policy support but may be disappointed if the release offers little new content.” BoC Policy Announcement (Wed) : The BoC is widely expected to cut rates on Wednesday 11th December, although money market pricing suggests the magnitude will be either a 25 or 50bps move. Markets were pricing in the decision to be a coin toss between a 25 or 50bps reduction. Recent data has been mixed, the latest Inflation report saw inflation come in hotter than forecast while growth data disappointed. However, the November jobs report was dovish with a notable rise in the unemployment rate, this saw markets lean more towards a 50bps rate cut, with 43bps of easing currently priced, implying a c. 70% probability of another 50bps rate cut. The prior BoC meeting saw the central bank cut rates by 50bps, a decision made to support economic growth and keep inflation close to the middle of the 1-3% target range. Participants have been questioning whether the BoC will go ahead with another 50bps rate cut to support economic growth, or perhaps slow to a 25bps rate cut due to the recent uptick in inflation, but the recent jobs report has seen these expectations lean towards the more dovish outcome. Note, that this meeting will not see an update to the monetary policy report and economic forecasts. BCB Policy Announcement (Wed): The BCB is expected to hike rates by 75bps next week, according to 31/40 economists surveyed by Reuters, with 5 expecting a 50bps hike and four looking for a 100bp hike. There has been a notable weakening in the BRL recently after the recent fiscal package announcements from the government. The spending cuts and income tax reform were perceived poorly and enhanced fiscal fears in Brazil, this took USD/BRL to a peak of 6.1150, the highest level on record. Meanwhile, recent economic data has shown the economic resilience of the Brazilian economy in Q3, with GDP growth of 0.9% Q/Q and 4.0% Y/Y, and is supported by strong domestic fundamentals like low inflation and a robust labour market, analysts have said. However, November's inflation data showed a surge, driven by food and transportation costs, with the IPCA-15 rising +0.6% M/M and 4.8% Y/Y, both higher than expected. Given these developments, the BCB is likely to maintain a cautious stance, continuing its tightening cycle to combat rising inflation and persistent inflation expectations, Pantheon Macroeconomics said. The consultancy expects that the impact of high real interest rates and external pressures, including a weak global trade environment, are expected to start weighing on economic activity ahead. Accordingly, Pantheon expects the BCB to raise its Selic rate by 50bps on December 11th, as it aims to curb inflationary pressures and anchor price stability. Looking ahead, the latest weekly analyst survey by the BCB saw the year ahead Selic rate between 12.5 and 12.75%, up from the prior week’s 12.25%. US CPI (Wed): The analyst consensus currently expects US consumer prices to rise +0.2% M/M in November, matching October's print, while the core rate of CPI is seen rising +0.3% M/M, again, matching October's print. Wells Fargo says that although some inflationary pressures, such as an overheated labour market, are easing, new challenges to disinflation have arisen, including potential tariffs and tax cuts, and warns that these could make achieving the Fed's 2% inflation target more difficult in the final stages of the inflationary cycle. Analysts expect the data will form a key part of the FOMC's deliberations at its December 18th policy meeting; money markets are currently pricing a 25bps rate cut with around 89% certainty. The likelihood of another 25bps rate cut increased after the November jobs report, which saw a beat on the headline, but not enough for the Fed to consider a pause while the unemployment rate ticked up. ECB Policy Announcement (Thu) : Expectations are for the ECB to cut the deposit rate by 25bps to 3.0% with markets assigning a circa 85% chance of such an outcome (with a 15% probability for a 50bps rate cut). The prior meeting in October saw the ECB pull the trigger on a 25bps rate cut despite policymakers initially positioning themselves for a pause in the wake of the September meeting. Since the October meeting, focus has increasingly been on growth metrics with survey data showing a marked drop in the November Eurozone Composite PMI to 48.1 from 50.0 with heavy pessimism surrounding the French economy. The accompanying release noted “the eurozone's manufacturing sector is sinking deeper into recession, and now the services sector is starting to struggle after two months of marginal growth." On the inflation front, headline Y/Y CPI rose in November to 2.3% from 2.0%, which was largely expected on account of base effects. Core inflation remained at a stubborn level of 2.7% whilst services inflation ticked marginally lower to 3.9% from 4.0%. The tone of messaging from ECB officials has failed to endorse a 50bps move with the influential Schnabel of Germany going as far as saying that she sees only limited room for additional cuts, whilst other members have also stressed a cautious approach to rate cuts. Overall, despite the weak growth outlook for the Eurozone which is also complicated by Trump’s return to the White House, developments on the inflation front suggest there is still more work done to return inflation to target. In recent weeks, policymakers have also stressed the need for the Bank to step away from recent data dependency and focus on forward-looking expectations. On which, the accompanying macro projections are likely to be viewed as stale given that the cut-off date did not encapsulate the latest French political woes, whilst as highlighted by ING, “the ECB normally also applies a ‘no policy change’ assumption to its forecasting. ING expects projections to be little changed vs. September. As such, those on the GC looking for a 50bps cut are unlikely to be supported by the latest forecasts. Looking beyond the upcoming meeting, assuming the ECB cuts by 25bps, an additional 130bps of loosening is seen by end-2025. SNB Policy Announcement (Thu) : Expectations are for the SNB to lower rates by 25bps to 0.75% (8 surveyed look for a 25bps cut, 4 look for 50bps). Market pricing sees a 56% chance of a 50bps cut and a 44% chance of a smaller 25bps move. As such, the decision is finely poised in the eye of the market and likely to generate some traction for CHF. As a reminder, at the prior meeting, the SNB opted to cut its policy rate by 25bps to 1.0% while signalling that further cuts were likely and stated that it is prepared to intervene in the FX market as necessary. In terms of the economic backdrop for the meeting, inflation has remained lacklustre with an average rate of 0.7% over the prior quarter which is some way south of the SNB’s Q4 forecast of 1.0%. From a growth perspective, Q3 GDP slowed to 0.4% Q/Q from the Q2 rate of 0.6%. Crucially for the SNB, Capital Economics highlights that the CHF is weaker than it was at the time of the last meeting. As a reminder, the board previously highlighted the negative impact that CHF strength was having on the domestic economy. Capital Economics favours a smaller 25bps move on the basis that the SNB will likely maintain its gradual approach to loosening policy after avoiding such a move at the time of the last meeting. However, it is worth noting that the SNB only meets on a quarterly basis (ie. less frequently than most other major central banks) and comments from SNB Chair Schlegel have been particularly dovish in which he noted that he can’t currently rule out a return to negative interest rates. This allied with the soft outturn for inflation could easily make the case for a 50bps move. In the event that the SNB goes with a 25bps cut, accompanying commentary is likely to remain dovish. Looking beyond the upcoming meeting, Capital Economics looks for 25bps cuts at the March and June meetings, reaching a terminal rate of 0.25%. Australian Jobs (Thu) : The Australian jobs report for November is expected to show Employment Change ticking up to 25k (prev. 15.9k), Unemployment Rate rising to 4.2% (prev. 4.1%), and Participation Rate remaining stready67.1% (prev. 67.1%). Desks warn of seasonality factors surrounding Black Friday. “On a multi-month basis, this result would not materially change the broader narrative of a relatively solid labour market that is gradually becoming more balanced”, say analysts at Westpac, as they anticipate any strength to be associated with firmer hours rather than headcount. Westpac forecasts 20k for the Employment Change and a 4.2% Unemployment Rate. It’s also worth keeping in mind the jobs report will be released a couple of days after the RBA confab. UK GDP (Thu) : October’s GDP is expected at +0.2% on a M/M basis vs. the 0.1% contraction seen in September. As a reminder, the prior release saw a negative M/M outturn for GDP which saw the Q3 figure come in at a lackluster 0.1%. The slowdown in growth was triggered by “volatility within industry, particularly manufacturing”, according to ING. This time around, analysts at Investec look for a rebound in output for ICT industries, constrained growth in the services industry, a flat performance for the manufacturing sector and a pick-up in the construction industry. For Investec, this nets out at a 0.2% M/M increase with the desk expecting a Q4 outturn of 0.4% Q/Q with that pace to be maintained over 2025. From a policy perspective, services inflation and real wage growth are still very much front and centre at the BoE, which combined with the volatility in monthly GDP metrics, means that the release will likely have little impact on BoE pricing which currently has just 2bps of loosening for the December meeting and a total of 72bps by end-2025. This article originally appeared on Newsquawk
IRVING, Texas (AP) — The NFL will consider expanding replay assist to include facemask penalties and other plays. Officials have missed several obvious facemask penalties this season, including two in a three-week span during Thursday night games. “When we see it, because I see it like yourselves and the fans, I have an opportunity to see it from a different angle and see it from a slow-mo,” NFL executive Troy Vincent said Wednesday at the league’s winter meetings. “When you think about the position of where the officials are, things are happening so fast. Sometimes the facemask can be the same color as the gloves. There’s a lot happening. Concerning? Yes, because that’s a big miss. That’s a big foul. That’s why we would like to consider putting that for the membership to consider putting that foul category that we can see, putting that (penalty flag) on the field to help. There is a frustration, and we believe that is one category we can potentially get right." Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold was grabbed by his facemask and brought down in the end zone to end Minnesota’s comeback attempt against the Rams on Oct. 24. But there was no call. On Oct. 3, officials missed a facemask on Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving while he ran for 7 yards late in the fourth quarter. Tampa Bay instead was called for holding on the play, got forced out of field-goal range and Kirk Cousins rallied the Falcons to an overtime victory. “That is one this year, the facemask seems like it was the obvious one” Vincent said. “That keeps showing up.” Vincent also cited hits on a defenseless player, tripping, the fair catch, an illegal batted ball, an illegal double-team block, illegal formations on kickoffs and taunting as other areas that warrant consideration for replay assist. Current rules only allow replay assist to help officials pick up a flag incorrectly thrown on the field, or in assisting proper enforcement of a foul called on the field. The NFL’s Competition Committee will review potential recommendations for owners to vote on for expanding replay assist. Vincent was emphatic about the league’s desire to eliminate low blocks that could lead to serious injuries. “The low block below the knee needs to be removed from the game,” Vincent said. “You look at high school, you look at college, too. Every block should be above the knee, but below the neck. All the work that we’ve done for the head and neck area, all the things that we’ve taken out of the game, this is the right time for us to remove the low block out of the game. Be consistent with high school. Be consistent with college. Every block should be above the knee and below the neck.” The league will consider changes to the onside kick after dramatically overhauling the kickoff rule on a one-year basis. “We need to look at that. That’s a dead play,” Vincent said of the onside kick’s low success rate. “That is a ceremonial play. Very low recovery rate. When we look at the kickoff and maybe where the touchback area should be during the offseason, we need to revisit the onside kick.” Options include giving the team an opportunity to run one play to gain a certain number of yards to keep possession. The Washington Commanders’ search for a new stadium site includes options in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia, and work has escalated on one in particular. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and controlling owner Josh Harris met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill last week about the RFK Stadium site in Washington, which requires a bill getting through Congress to transfer the land to the District government before anything else can happen. “I think there’s a bipartisan support for this,” Goodell said, adding he’d like to see it get to a vote soon. “We hope that it will be addressed and approved so that it’s at least an alternative for the Commanders if we go forward. I grew up in Washington, and I know would be exciting for a lot of fans.” The NFL continues to discuss a potential 18-game season, but would need approval from the players’ union. “We are doing analysis I would say, but we are not finalizing any plans at this point,” Goodell said. “They’ll share that analysis with the players’ union, which would need to agree to any change.” AP Sports Writer Stephen Whyno contributed. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nflFintech company Piston Technologies is planning to raise around $10-12 million in series A funding by June, 2025 to expand its business in the US. San Francisco based Piston, a digital payment solutions provider, has recently secured an early stage investment of $1.2 million from Pear VC, a Silicon Valley-based early-stage venture capital firm. “We want to raise capital to grow fast, but we also want to be conscious about it. The next round should probably be $10-12 million. We will see how it goes. We will try to raise as little as possible,” said Shivam Shah, COO & Founder, Piston Technologies Inc. “Our current investor will continue to participate in the fund raising. We are obviously in talks with other investors as well. Maybe we will get a mix of all,” Shah said. Shah of Kolkata teamed up with Vikram Sekhon to set up Piston Technologies in October 2023. Its platform has introduced features designed to enhance the B2B payment experience in the US. The QR-based technology enables direct B2B transactions, eliminating the need for intermediaries, while offering cost savings by bypassing traditional payment processors. Shah said the proposed series A fund raising is to support market expansions in North America. “It will be for expansion and to build our sales, engineering and R&D team. Because we want to add a lot of product lines,” he said. The company plans to stick to the US and the North American markets for now, while India will continue to be its hub for development, engineering and customer support operations. “In our Kolkata office, we have around 25 people. We want to expand to around 500 people by 2026. The core team in Kolkata has been working on engineering for building products,” Shah added . CommentsWall Street slips as technology stocks drag on the marketCarolina Panthers at Philadelphia Eagles odds, picks and predictions
