Biden names Meg Whitman ambassador to Kenya, Evergrande defaults, Blue Origin delays rocket launch

Yahoo Finance Live reports that Biden nominated Meg Whitman to be Ambassador to Kenya, Evergrande declared in default after missing a payment, and Blue Origin delays launch until December 11 with Good Morning America co-anchor Michael Strahan and Laura Shepard Churchley, the daughter of Alan Shepard, the first American in space.

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JULIE HYMAN: President Biden has picked Meg Whitman to serve as the US Ambassador to Kenya-- Whitman the former CEO of both Hewlett-Packard and eBay and has a long political background. She ran in 2010 as a Republican for governor of California, but lost to Democrat Jerry Brown. Despite her long standing ties to the GOP, she did endorse Biden for president back in August 2020, and also had endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2016 over Donald Trump.

China's Evergrande has officially been declared in default, days after speculation of its miss on another interest payment. Credit ratings agency Fitch downgraded the company and its subsidiaries to, quote, unquote, "restricted default." It's the first agency to do so. This announcement marks the most significant moment in the developer's liquidity crisis after months of transfixing international bond markets.

Meanwhile, Yi Gang, the Governor of the People's Bank of China, aimed to reassure investors. He said in a speech to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority that, quote, "the risk caused by a few real estate firms in the short run would not undermine the market for the medium and the long run." Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin has delayed the launch of its New Shepard rocket this Saturday due to forecasted winds. It had been set to launch today-- the rocket launching from its site in West Texas.

It will be a 10-minute flight into space, including passengers like "Good Morning America" anchor Michael Strahan and Laura Shepard Churchley, the daughter of the first American to fly to space. Liftoff scheduled for 6.45 AM on Saturday, and astronauts will continue training until that new launch date. Speaking of delays, late breaking news now from "The Wall Street Journal" that American Airlines is cutting some international flights from its schedule next summer because of delivery delays with the Boeing Dreamliner.

"The Journal" cites people familiar with the situation, as well as an internal memo. The planemaker now aiming to start deliveries as of April 1 of next year, says "The Journal." That would be later than previously expected, and of course, adds onto the delays that the planemaker had been experiencing. Those Boeing shares are down about 1 and 1/2%.