Holiday Lights Come Alive

Chinese universities are sending students home and police are fanning out in Beijing and Shanghai to prevent more protests. That comes after crowds angered by severe anti-virus restrictions called for leader Xi Jinping to resign in the biggest show of public dissent in decades. Authorities have eased some controls after demonstrations in at least eight mainland cities and Hong Kong. But they showed no sign of backing off their larger “zero-COVID” strategy that has confined millions of people to their homes for months at a time. Security forces have detained an unknown number of people and stepped up surveillance. With police out in force, there was no word of protests Tuesday in Beijing, Shanghai or other major cities that saw crowds gather over the weekend.

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — A top Qatari official involved in the country's World Cup organization has put the number of worker deaths for the tournament “between 400 and 500” for the first time, a drastically higher number than any other previously offered by Doha.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says war-torn Ukraine will one day become a member of the world’s largest security alliance. It's a commitment that NATO leaders made to Ukraine 14 years ago. But some say it led in part to Russia's invasion. Stoltenberg's remarks came as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his NATO counterparts gathered Tuesday in Romania to drum up urgently needed support for Ukraine, including deliveries of electrical components for the war-torn country's devastated power transmission network. Ukraine’s grid has been battered since early October by targeted Russian strikes. Stoltenberg says Russian President Vladimir Putin “is trying to use winter as a weapon of war against Ukraine.”

Soccer is not human society itself, with all its thorny issues. But it is at times a reflection of  the entire planet. Nations, their disputes and their aspirations don't just go away when the World Cup begins. The political issues have been coming fast and furious on a near-daily basis at one of the most heavily scrutinized World Cups in the tournament’s history. And outside the tournament bubble, the world itself has kept turning in some of its harshest ways. The rest of the world, it turns out, doesn’t end where the soccer pitch begins.

Global shares are mostly higher as jitters over protests in China about its stringent anti-COVID policies fade. Hong Kong's benchmark gained 5.2% and most other markets in Europe and Asia advanced. U.S. futures edged higher. Oil prices rose more than $1 per barrel. China's economy has been stifled by a “zero COVID” policy which includes lockdowns that have intermittently threatened the global supply chain. The Conference Board will release its consumer confidence index for November later Tuesday. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will speak at the Brookings Institution about the outlook for the U.S. economy and the labor market on Wednesday.

The last World Cup clash between the United States and Iran 24 years ago is considered one of the most politically charged matches in soccer history.This time, the political overtones are just as strong and relations perhaps even more fraught as the U.S. and Iran face off once again on Tuesday in Qatar.Iran’s nationwide protests, its expanding nuclear program and regional and international attacks linked back to Tehran have pushed the match beyond the stadium and into geopolitics.

Qatar's soccer team was the first World Cup host nation to lose its opening match and followed that with a second loss that knocked it from the tournament before the end of the group stage. It is only the second host to be eliminated in group play. But rating it a disappointment depends on the expectations of the young program and the overall goals of the Qatar government in hosting the World Cup. Qatar didn't bid on the World Cup to win the tournament but rather to showcase its country to the world.