Mike Pence Vows To End School Shootings, But Twitter Users Seem Skeptical

Vice President Mike Pence promised that the Trump administration would make school shootings a thing of the past, but Twitter users are skeptical. 

Very skeptical.

Pence tweeted out the vow on Wednesday in response to a school shooting in Santa Clarita, California, where a gunman killed two students and injured several others with a semiautomatic handgun.

The tweet came paired with another in which he offered thoughts and prayers to the victims.

However, since the National Rifle Association helped elect Donald Trump president in 2016, many Twitter users assumed that Pence’s promise was just empty words.

Some people expressed their frustration visually.

Others wondered if Wednesday’s shooting meant the artificial moratorium against talking about gun control out of respect to the victims was now back in effect.

Another person decided to help out the VP by slightly editing the tweet for accuracy.

Prepare for ‘wow!’: These 3 hot SUVs could blow the doors off the LA Auto Show

LOS ANGELES – Ford has long battled the likes of General Motors, Fiat Chrysler and Toyota. Now, it has a new automaker in its crosshairs.

It’s Tesla.

Ford plans to introduce a “Mustang-inspired” SUV next week, dubbed the Mustang Mach-E, as part of the media preview of the Los Angeles Auto Show. It’s one of three new vehicles well positioned to become the breakout stars of the first big event of the new auto show season.

This year’s 10-day event is kicking off with media previews Tuesday and opens to the public Nov. 22. It will have about 1,000 new vehicles on display.

Let’s take a look at the SUVs that are expected to wow the crowd.

European stocks seen higher on US-China trade deal hopes

• White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow claimed on Thursday that phase one of a trade deal between the world's two largest economies was "getting close."

European stocks were set to open higher Friday morning as traders digest optimistic sounds out of the White House on a prospective trade deal between the U.S. and China.

The FTSE 100 was seen around 38 points higher at 7,331, the DAX was expected to open up around 84 points at 13,264 and the CAC 40 was set to climb around 33 points to 5,933, according to IG data.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow claimed on Thursday that phase one of a trade deal between the world's two largest economies was "getting close," according to Reuters, while Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesman Gao Feng continued Beijing's call for a removal of existing tariffs.

Stocks in Asia Pacific mostly advanced on Friday as investors reacted to the developments, with South Korean and Australian indexes leading gains.

Back in Europe, the EU executive launched a legal case against the U.K. on Thursday for failing to name a new representative at the European Commission, while data Thursday revealed that British consumer spending slowed in October, furthering suspicions that the economy is losing momentum ahead of December's general election.

Euro area balance of trade and inflation data is due at 10:00 a.m. London time.

U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Climb To Highest Level Since June

A report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits increased by much more than expected in the week ended November 9th.

The report said initial jobless claims climbed to 225,000, an increase of 14,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 211,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 215,000.

With the much bigger than expected increase, initial jobless claims reached their highest level since hitting 229,000 in the week ended June 22nd.

The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average also crept up to 217,000, an increase of 1,750 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 215,250.

Meanwhile, the report said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, fell by 10,000 to 1.683 million in the week ended November 2nd.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims was unchanged from the previous week’s revised average of 1,687,750.

US-China trade deal near, but Trump not signing yet

Kudlow: All topics on the table during China trade talks

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow on China trade negotiations.

Wall Street investors and business owners are waiting and watching for the latest on a trade deal between the U.S. and China.

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A deal is near, but President Trump isn’t ready to sign off, according to the Wall Street Journal.

White House economic adviser Lawrence Kudlow spoke Thursday at an event held at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Negotiators have been working to come up with the details and language that both sides can agree to in a phase one deal.

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Details include Beijing agreeing to buy American farm products and the U.S. would agree to roll back tariffs.

The initial hopes were for Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to sign the agreement this month at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Chile, but the summit was canceled because of rioting there.

Mr. Trump has said that China has agreed to buy up to $50 billion in U.S. farm goods annually, but The Wall Street Journal has reported that China was balking at a specific dollar commitment.

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The Chinese Commerce Ministry said on Thursday that a roll back of the tariffs are important to getting the phase one deal done.