Ayers Won't Run West Wing | China Warns of 'Consequences' Over Meng Arrest

Vice President Mike Pence’s chief aide has turned down an offer to replace John Kelly, instead tweeting Sunday that he will leave the administration by year’s end. Ayers, reportedly favored for the role by Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, will return to his family in Georgia, leaving President Donald Trump no clear second choice. Names floated include North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows, White House budget director Mick Mulvaney and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. The White House said an appointment won’t be made before the end of the year.

China’s Foreign Ministry summoned Canadian and American ambassadors over the weekend to protest what it described as the “unreasonable” arrest of Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s chief financial officer, in Vancouver. She faces a U.S. extradition request over allegations that the tech giant violated sanctions against Iran. As it tries to forge a trade deal with the U.S., China warns of “serious consequences” if Meng is prosecuted. Her bail hearing continues today. Meanwhile, investors spoke with their money, sending Tokyo and Hong Kong stock indexes down 2 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively.

The European Court of Justice ruled Monday that Britain does not need permission from the EU to rescind its declaration to leave the bloc. The future of Brexit and Prime Minister Theresa May are increasingly uncertain ahead of Tuesday’s parliamentary vote on May’s hard-fought but unpopular withdrawal plan. U.K. citizens are also divided: Yesterday far-right activist Tommy Robinson led thousands of demonstrators on a “Brexit Betrayal” march through central London, rallying nationalist supporters to join the U.K. Independence Party, but counterprotesters reportedly far outnumbered them.

It’s a “legal coup d’etat.” So charges a lawsuit against special counsel Robert Mueller, who on Friday filed documents further linking President Trump’s campaign to Russian 2016 election interference. Conspiracy theorist and former InfoWars contributor Jerome Corsi is seeking $350 million in damages, alleging Mueller blackmailed him — by threatening imprisonment — to lie about being an intermediary between WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone. Media reports indicated that Corsi emailed Stone in 2016 advising that WikiLeaks would release damaging emails from Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman.

Know This: French President Emmanuel Macron will meet labor and business leaders today in an effort to calm “yellow vest” protests that have roiled the country for four weekends. A winter storm has killed one person, knocked out power to 310,000 customers and grounded hundreds of flights in the southeastern United States. And Japanese prosecutors today indicted former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn for allegedly underreporting his compensation.

Last Words: “I can’t breathe.” So said Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi shortly after entering his nation’s Istanbul consulate Oct. 2, according to a transcript of an audio recording described to CNN. After that, the transcript reportedly notes the sounds of screams, a saw and “cutting.”

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Switching allegiances is the winning strategy for staying alive in fictional Westeros, according to a study in Injury Epidemiology. Researchers — who studied all 67 episodes of the first seven seasons — found more than half of the show’s characters have died so far. In fact, a character had a 14 percent chance of dying in their first hour on screen. Those who survived had a greater tolerance for flexible alliances. Sansa Stark and Tyrion Lannister get it. Even the show is mortal: The eighth and final season premieres in April.

Jack Dorsey is getting retweeted for the wrong reasons after recommending an existential retreat in Myanmar, ignoring social media’s role in fueling the country’s recent ethnic massacres. The tech guru participated in a 10-day silent Vipassana meditation for his birthday and praised its ability to “hack the deepest layer of the mind and reprogram it.” Commentators expressed schadenfreude at Dorsey’s trouble with mosquitoes and likened him to Gavin Belson, the evil businessman from Silicon Valley. They also compared the Buddhist practice of embracing pain to dealing with Twitter trolls.

President Xi Jinping’s vision to connect the world — with financing from Beijing — has seen a year of setbacks. Asian countries, concerned about debt and foreign arm-twisting, are canceling, reviewing or scaling back their road, shipping and rail projects under China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative. Malaysia and Sri Lanka have elected initiative skeptics, and Myanmar has downsized a massive Chinese-funded port. Even stalwart ally Pakistan is rethinking aspects of the $62 billion China–Pakistan Economic Corridor. Analysts believe the infrastructure financing will continue — possibly without the BRI brand.

Employees at the FAANG firms — Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google — have overwhelmingly donated to Democratic political causes since 2004, data analysis of campaign filings shows. As individuals and collectively, those who work for the tech titans shelled out $40 million in reported contributions, with only 10 percent going to Republicans or right-leaning issues. It’s a precarious time for Silicon Valley, with President Trump accusing tech companies of bias and threatening antitrust proceedings against Amazon, Facebook and Google.

Following Saturday’s brutal 133-77 loss at home against the Boston Celtics — the worst defeat in franchise history — the Chicago squad reportedly debated via group text not showing up for practice Sunday. Instead the battered players assembled for a team meeting, later inviting coaches to attend. Frustrated head coach Jim Boylen, who replaced Fred Hoiberg less than a week ago, made two five-player substitutions during the drubbing. The Bulls sport a 6-21 record, second worst in the NBA.