| Gohmert Melts Down on House Floor After Nadler Accuses Him of Spouting ‘Russian Propaganda’ Posted: 18 Dec 2019 01:45 PM PST  The U.S. House's impeachment debate took a dramatic turn on Wednesday afternoon when Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) stormed back to the dais to shout at Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) after he accused the Texas lawmaker of peddling "Russian propaganda."During his floor speech, Gohmert—a fervent defender of the president—groused that the impeachment of President Donald Trump was really an effort by Democrats to "stop the investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice and Ukraine into the corruption of Ukraine interference in the U.S. election in 2016.""This is a travesty, We're in big trouble" Gohmert huffed, adding: "Now it's lowered even further, the bar. [Impeachment] will be used for political battles and this country's end is now in sight. I hope I don't live to see it. This is an outrage."After Gohmert wrapped up his speech, Nadler took a moment to chastise the Texas lawmaker before yielding his time to a Democratic congressman."I'm deeply concerned that any member of the house would spout Russian propaganda on the floor of the House," the judiciary chair sternly said, prompting Gohmert to run back to the podium.Pointing his finger at Nadler, the Texas congressman yelled and demanded that the chairman's words be stricken from the record. Nadler, for his part, appeared to not react to or indulge Gohmert's angry outburst.Last month, it was reported that the intelligence community had briefed senators and their aides that Russia has engaged in a lengthy campaign to frame Ukraine for Russia's 2016 election interference and hacking. The briefing basically aligned with Dr. Fiona Hill's impeachment testimony in which she criticized Republicans for pushing a "fictional narrative" about Ukrainian meddling.Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Lindsey Graham Calls on Giuliani to Testify on Corruption before Senate Judiciary Committee Posted: 18 Dec 2019 10:05 AM PST  Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) told reporters on Wednesday that he wants Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani to testify before the panel regarding allegations that Joe Biden leveraged his position as vice president to secure a lucrative position for his son on the board of a Ukrainian gas company."I'm going to be reaching out to Rudy, writing a letter saying you're welcome to come to this committee, if you have something you'd like to share about corruption," Graham told reporters. Giuliani would not be compelled to make an appearance, the Senator added.Giuliani's actions have been scrutinized during the impeachment inquiry into President Trump's conduct regarding Ukraine. Democrats suspect Trump withheld military aid from Ukraine to pressure the country to investigate corruption allegations against political rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter, who sat on the board of the Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma while Joe Biden was handling Ukraine policy as vice president.Giuliani repeatedly travelled to Ukraine in 2019 to meet with contacts and push for an investigation into the Bidens. Those contacts include former head prosecutor Yuriy Lutsenko, who Giuliani considered taking on as a client at the same time he was urging Lutsenko to investigate the Bidens, and a KGB-trained pro-Russian lawmaker Andriy Derkach, whose father was a KGB operative and one-time head of Ukrainian intelligence.Graham would like Giuliani to testify to his committee before the Senate impeachment trial is expected to begin.The House will vote Wednesday on two articles of impeachment against President Trump, one for abuse of power and another for obstruction of Congress. The articles are expected to pass along party lines, with most Democrats in favor and every Republican House member opposed.
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| A Florida man 'sitting in his car' was killed in UPS hijacking shootout. His family is calling for an investigation Posted: 18 Dec 2019 08:28 AM PST  The family of Richard Cutshaw, a bystander who was killed in a shootout following the hijacking of a UPS truck in Florida, wants answers.
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| The 7 Best Electric Cars of 2019 Posted: 18 Dec 2019 12:57 PM PST |
| Search finds possible graves of 1921's Tulsa Race Massacre victims Posted: 17 Dec 2019 04:03 PM PST  Scientists surveying a cemetery and a homeless camp in Tulsa, Oklahoma, found pits holding possible remains of black residents killed nearly 100 years ago in a race massacre, investigators have revealed.
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| Brexit Bulletin: Psychological Edge Posted: 18 Dec 2019 10:43 AM PST  Days to Brexit Deadline: 44(Bloomberg) -- Sign up here to get the Brexit Bulletin in your inbox every weekday.What's Happening? Boris Johnson's Brexit play keeps the European Union on its toes.After three years of confidently dictating Brexit policy to a divided U.K., the EU may be feeling a bit wrong-footed by the U.K. prime minister's vow to prevent the transition period lasting beyond 2020.Forgoing a chance to prolong the transition would revive the threat of an economically disruptive severing of ties with the EU, this time at the start of 2021. That's because after Britain departs by Jan. 31 next year, a free-trade agreement between both sides may well take longer than 11 months to negotiate.Without the luxury of a longer transition to keep the economic status quo in place, the EU may face the prospect of greater internal splits over the strategy for fashioning the future relationship with Britain. This task will involve more than just a free-trade deal, encompassing other matters such as fisheries, aviation and security.European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said last week that, in view of the tight timetable, the EU would need to focus on the top economic issues in the negotiations next year. On Tuesday, Sabine Weyand, the commission's director general for trade, echoed the point by saying "we have to look at those issues where failing to reach an agreement by the end of 2020 would lead to another cliff-edge situation."Yet Weyand also made clear the EU's preference is to negotiate simultaneously on as many of the matters in the future relationship as possible. "All this needs to be coordinated so that we maximize our negotiating leverage, because that is what each side tries to do in a negotiation," she said.Intentionally or not, Johnson seems to have gained a psychological advantage over the EU in the wake of his landslide election victory.Today's Must-ReadsBloomberg's Alex Morales and Kitty Donaldson show us what to expect from Johnson's new government. Brexit may be fast approaching, but it could take a while to notice any changes to life in the U.K., writes Bloomberg's Edward Evans. Tony Blair became the latest Labour party figure to round on Jeremy Corbyn following his landslide defeat in last week's election, report Bloomberg's Robert Hutton and Greg Ritchie.Brexit in BriefTold You So | Emily Thornberry has entered the race to succeed Corbyn as Labour leader, telling the Guardian that she warned the party's top brass that supporting a Brexit election would be an "act of catastrophic political folly." Read Bloomberg's guide to the politicians vying for the party's top job.Legal Eagles | The U.K. will extend the power to overturn rulings by the European Court of Justice, a move that could harm negotiations over any future trade deal with the EU, according to the Times.Brussels Warning | The European Parliament could block a Brexit deal because of the way the U.K. is treating EU citizens, according to Guy Verhofstadt, its Brexit coordinator.Close Call | The viral video starring Johnson delivering a campaign message in a parody of 'Love Actually' almost didn't happen, The Sydney Morning Herald reports. Cuts Coming? | Traders have ramped up bets that the Bank of England will lower interest rates at the end of 2020 after Johnson reignited fears of a hard Brexit.Want to keep up with Brexit?You can follow us @Brexit on Twitter, and listen to Bloomberg Westminster every weekday. It's live at midday on Bloomberg Radio and is available as a podcast too. Share the Brexit Bulletin: Colleagues, friends and family can sign up here. For full EU coverage, try the Brussels Edition.For even more: Subscribe to Bloomberg All Access for our unmatched global news coverage and two in-depth daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close.(354013648)To contact the author of this story: Jonathan Stearns in Brussels at jstearns2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Caitlin Morrison at cmorrison59@bloomberg.net, Chris KayGuy CollinsFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| 16th-century anchors found off Mexican coast offer clues into Spanish conquest Posted: 17 Dec 2019 04:44 PM PST  Archaeologists have discovered two iron ship anchors off Mexico's Gulf Coast that they say date back 500 years and could have belonged to Spaniard Hernan Cortes' fleet, which landed in 1519 before overthrowing the Aztec empire. The anchors, found on the ocean floor near the former Spanish settlement of Villa Rica in southeastern Veracruz state, are well preserved and resemble those made in the 1500s, Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) said on Monday.
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| Thai police make arrest over 'inappropriate' Facebook rally photo Posted: 17 Dec 2019 10:50 PM PST  Thai police arrested a suspect behind an "inappropriate" photo posted on Facebook from an anti-government rally, a minister said Wednesday, as the offending image went viral days after the largest protest since March's elections. Downtown Bangkok saw thousands turn out Saturday for a rally led by ultra-popular opposition frontman Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit and his Future Forward Party (FFP) executives. Carrying posters denouncing "dictatorship" and calling for prime minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha to "get out", the protesters rallied peacefully for an hour.
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| McConnell Rejects Schumer’s Opening Offer on Impeachment Trial, Claims It Would Set ‘Nightmarish Precedent’ Posted: 17 Dec 2019 08:10 AM PST  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell rejected on Tuesday Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's suggestion that the Senate agree to call certain witnesses as part of their resolution detailing the parameters of the impending impeachment trial.Schumer released his suggestion to the press before sending it to McConnell."It is not the Senate's job to leap into the breach and search desperately for ways to get to 'guilty,'" McConnell said. The Majority Leader said Schumer's proposal would set a "nightmarish precedent" for future impeachment trials."The Senate is meant to act as judge and jury, to hear a trial, not to re-run the entire fact-finding investigation because angry partisans rushed sloppily through it," McConnell continued.The House is expected to vote this week on two articles of impeachment against President Trump, for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. With a solid majority of Democrats planning to approve both articles, the impeachment process will most likely continue to the Senate, where McConnell and Schumer must agree on the parameters of an impeachment trial.McConnell faces pressure from both Republicans and Democrats to call certain witnesses the House either did not call or was not able to bring to testify. Republicans want to hear from Hunter Biden and Rudy Giuliani, while Democrats want to call on White House acting chief-of-staff Mick Mulvaney, whose appearance at House hearings the Democrats were unable to compel.For his part, McConnell slammed the incoming articles of impeachment as "the thinnest, least thorough presidential impeachment in our nation's history."
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| Judge throws out New York fraud case against Trump campaign chair Posted: 18 Dec 2019 10:18 AM PST  A mortgage fraud case involving a disgraced former chair on Donald Trump's presidential campaign hsa been dismissed by a New York judge, who argued local charges stacked against Paul Manafort would amount to double jeopardy.Manafort, who recently began a seven and a half year prison sentence following charges stemming from special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into foreign interference in US elections, was already convicted on similar federal charges.
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| Why Both Russia And America Failed In Afghanistan Posted: 18 Dec 2019 05:00 AM PST  It's well past time to let Afghans decide Afghanistan's future without foreign "assistance."
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| Republican mega-donor urged ex-Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin to pardon convicted killer Posted: 17 Dec 2019 04:09 PM PST  Public records show prominent Kentucky banker Terry Forcht lobbied then Gov. Matt Bevin on behalf of Patrick Baker twice.
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| A 95-year-old former soldier was the only WWII veteran at the Battle of the Bulge memorial in Washington, DC Posted: 17 Dec 2019 01:30 PM PST  "Above all, it was bitter cold," George Arnstein said of the Battle of the Bulge. "It was the coldest winter in I don't know how many decades."
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| Saudi Arabia, Pakistan snub Malaysia's Muslim summit Posted: 17 Dec 2019 09:42 PM PST  KUALA LUMPUR/RIYADH (Reuters) - Leaders from many Islamic nations including Turkey and Iran gathered in Malaysia on Wednesday to tackle issues that have agitated Muslims worldwide, but the summit was snubbed by Saudi Arabia and its close ally Pakistan. At a welcome dinner, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said the Kuala Lumpur Summit would aim to "do something" to improve the lives of Muslims and overcome Islamophobia. "We need to find a way to address our shortcomings, our dependency on non-Muslims to protect ourselves against the enemies of Islam," said Mahathir, 94, the world's oldest head of government and one of its most outspoken.
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| Accusing Bernie Sanders of antisemitism? That's a new low Posted: 18 Dec 2019 06:31 AM PST  The allegations should be called for what they are: politiking in service of politicians who will put more Jews in dangerBernie Sanders – son of Dorothy and Elias Ben Yehuda Sanders, who emigrated from Poland in 1921 to escape antisemitism, and whose family that remained in Poland was slaughtered in the Holocaust – is not antisemitic. But some are trying to convince you that he is.The conservative Washington Examiner's Tiana Lowe published a story accusing the Sanders campaign of being the "most antisemitic in decades". Worth noting is that Lowe expressed gratitude several months back for her grandfather's service to the Chetniks, a nationalist armed front which collaborated with the Nazis and delivered thousands of Jews to them in service of building an ethnically homogenous Greater Serbia. She also posed for a picture with Milo Yiannopoulos, who once sent $14.88 on PayPal to a Jewish journalist, a reference to Nazi slogans.For Lowe and others on the right that have jumped on this bandwagon, though, details don't really matter. Sanders, an avowed democratic socialist, simply belongs to an opposing political camp with opposing values. Like the attacks against Corbyn abroad and Ilhan Omar at home, those now being lobbed at Sanders aren't about defeating antisemitism so much as using it as a narrative device to undermine a worldview that offends them. Sanders's solidarity with Palestinians suffering under occupation is not an affront to Jews but to the right's propaganda that looking out for their best interest means a blanket, unquestioning support for whatever the Israeli government happens to be doing, which at the moment includes maintaining a brutal apartheid state.> Trump and his xenophobic allies abroad are undoubtedly bad for the Jews, and so are smear campaigns that play into their handsThis all stands in wild contrasts to Sanders's actual views on antisemitism. As the Vermont Senator himself explained a recent essay for Jewish Currents entitled How to Fight Anti-Semitism, we now live in one of the most dangerous periods Jews have faced in recent memory, from the deadly shootings like the one at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life Synagogue last year to a wave of of far-right energy in Europe that waxes nostalgic for the continent's fascist past."Opposing antisemitism is a core value of progressivism," Sanders writes. "So it's very troubling to me that we are also seeing accusations of antisemitism used as a cynical political weapon against progressives. One of the most dangerous things Donald Trump has done is to divide Americans by using false allegations of antisemitism, mostly regarding the US–Israel relationship. We should be very clear that it is not antisemitic to criticize the policies of the Israeli government." He goes onto lay out how a Sanders administration will confront antisemitism at home and abroad: immediately appointing a special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, rejoining the United Nations Human Rights Council and "helping to shape an international human rights agenda that combats all forms of bigotry and discrimination", among other measures.That the Sanders campaign is somehow abetting antisemitism seems absurd on its face, but more outlandish blows have landed. As I wrote last week, antisemitism itself has been a reliable tool of a right looking to ward off the left, and anti-socialism has often peddled in antisemitic tropes. Accusations coming from rightwing pundits and politicians now follow proudly in this tradition, albeit with feigned concern for Jews now used to defend against policies they disagree with. Just last week, Trump called a room of Jews "brutal killers, not nice people at all" before selling an executive order to criminalize campus protests as a defense of the Jewish people. Trump and his xenophobic allies abroad are undoubtedly bad for the Jews, and so are smear campaigns that play into their hands.Before they snowball into something worse, the right's allegations of antisemitism against the left – and the first Jew within striking distance of the White House, at that – should be called out for what they are: cynical politiking in service of politicians who will put more Jews in danger. * Kate Aronoff is a writer based in New York. * This article was amended on 18 December 2019 to correct the spelling of Milo Yiannopoulos' name.
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| Argentine gang held 'Welcome' signs as cover to target victims in airport Posted: 17 Dec 2019 04:43 AM PST  The Argentine crime gang that killed a British businessman held "Welcome" signs in the airport arrivals hall as cover to spot wealthy tourists, officials say, as four men have been arrested in connection with the shooting.
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| Uber to pay $4.4 million to end federal sex harassment probe Posted: 18 Dec 2019 04:06 PM PST  Uber Technologies Inc. will establish a $4.4 million fund to settle a federal investigation into allegations that the San Francisco company allowed a rampant culture of sexual harassment, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced Wednesday. A claims administrator will send notices to women who worked at Uber between Jan. 1, 2014, and June 30, 2019.
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| Scotland’s Sturgeon to Request Right to Hold Independence Vote Posted: 17 Dec 2019 06:41 AM PST ![Scotland's Sturgeon to Request Right to Hold Independence Vote]( "Scotland's Sturgeon to Request Right to Hold Independence Vote") (Bloomberg) -- Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon reiterated her plan to demand the right to hold another independence referendum.Sturgeon told the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh that she will submit a so-called Section 30 request for the transfer of power with the aim of holding a referendum in 2020. After her Scottish National Party won 48 of the 59 seats in Scotland in last week's election, Sturgeon has said she has the mandate for another vote on breaking away from the rest of the U.K. in the wake of Brexit. "This is a watershed moment for Scotland," Sturgeon told lawmakers in Edinburgh on Tuesday. "So this week I will take the next steps to secure Scotland's right to choose."The election set up a renewed standoff over the future of the U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he won't allow another vote and that Scotland should stand by the result of the last referendum in 2014, when Scots chose 55% to 45% to remain in the U.K. Sturgeon says it's undemocratic to deny permission because of Scotland's rejection of Brexit.Sturgeon's semi-autonomous government sent a Section 30 demand in March 2017 following the U.K.s decision to trigger the process of leaving the European Union.To contact the reporter on this story: Alastair Reed in Edinburgh at areed12@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Rodney Jefferson at r.jefferson@bloomberg.netFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| How Good Is Russia's New Sukhoi S-70 Okhotnik-B "Hunter" Stealth Drone? Posted: 17 Dec 2019 04:21 AM PST  We take a look at this secretive Russian platform.
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| Service dog has epic reaction seeing his hero, Dug from 'Up,' at Disney's Animal Kingdom Posted: 18 Dec 2019 10:28 AM PST ![Service dog has epic reaction seeing his hero, Dug from 'Up,' at Disney's Animal Kingdom]( "Service dog has epic reaction seeing his hero, Dug from 'Up,' at Disney's Animal Kingdom") People say that you should never meet your heroes. But for Henry the service dog, meeting his hero was everything it should have been.
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| The White House said Trump 'will be working all day.' Instead he's been angrily tweeting about impeachment. Posted: 18 Dec 2019 10:28 AM PST  Working hard or hardly working?White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham on Wednesday said President Trump would mostly be focusing on his job as the nation's commander-in-chief while the House debates impeachment before a planned vote later in the day. His aides would reportedly keep him up to date, and he would try to catch some of the proceedings in between meetings.It certainly seems like he's doing just that — soon after, Trump sent a patented all-caps tweet, accusing the "radical left" of pushing "atrocious lies" in an "assault" on the United States and the GOP.> Tweeted eight minutes apart. pic.twitter.com/JXodxmqW2m> > — Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) December 18, 2019To be fair, Grisham did not say the president wouldn't have time to get on social media in between all those meetings.More stories from theweek.com The Trump impeachment's failure before launch White House reportedly mulling asking Jim Jordan to join Trump's Senate defense team Democrats are sleepwalking into a Biden disaster
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| Mexican children shiver in tents at U.S. border as temperature freezes Posted: 18 Dec 2019 05:01 PM PST ![Mexican children shiver in tents at U.S. border as temperature freezes]( "Mexican children shiver in tents at U.S. border as temperature freezes") Mexican officials concerned about the health of Mexican asylum seekers including around 200 young children sleeping in the open near the U.S. border in Ciudad Juarez tried to move people to shelters on Wednesday, as temperatures dropped below freezing. In recent months, Ciudad Juarez has seen a rapid increase in Mexicans seeking to apply for asylum in the United States, leading to a backlog in the city as U.S. border officials limit the number of asylum cases they receive at the port of entry each day. A waiting list contains about 1,200 people, of which about 550 are staying in camps near the bridge to the United States, the Chihuahua state government said.
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| Dog found 2,000 miles from home made it back before the holidays Posted: 18 Dec 2019 01:13 PM PST  They say there's no place like home for the holidays — and a dog named Zeus had quite the journey back.
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| Mexico probes embezzlement by former top cop Posted: 18 Dec 2019 01:45 PM PST  The head of Mexico's financial crimes unit said Wednesday he is looking into evidence that the country's former top security official embezzled as much as 2 billion pesos (equal to about $170 million at the time) in government funds. Santiago Nieto, who heads the Financial Intelligence Unit, said perhaps $2 million of that money wa s transferred to relatives of Genaro Garcia Luna, who served as public safety secretary from 2006 to 2012. Santiago Nieto said five former officials who worked under Garcia Luna are also under investigation for embezzlement, conflict of interest and money laundering.
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| Pakistan sentences former dictator to death in treason case Posted: 17 Dec 2019 12:49 AM PST  A Pakistani court on Tuesday sentenced the country's former military ruler Gen. Pervez Musharraf to death in a treason case related to the state of emergency he imposed in 2007 while in power, officials said. It's the first time in Pakistan's history that a former army chief and ruler of the country has been sentenced to death. Musharraf, who was sentenced in absentia, has been out of the country since 2016, when he was allowed to leave on bail to seek medical treatment abroad.
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| A nuclear attack would most likely target one of these 6 US cities — but experts say none of them are prepared Posted: 18 Dec 2019 03:58 AM PST  If a nuclear bomb were to strike the US, cities might not have enough emergency services to aid the wounded.
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| Russia's Military Is Powerful, But Its Tanks Can't Stand Up To America's Javelins Posted: 17 Dec 2019 09:30 PM PST  The Javelin has undergone quite a few upgrades since initial deployment in 1996.
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| Supreme Court will hear church-state separation case brought by religious schools that fired teachers Posted: 18 Dec 2019 11:29 AM PST  The question is whether teachers whose primary responsibility is education can be treated as "ministers" and exempted from discrimination laws.
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| Trump Campaign Aide Gates Gets Jail Time in Mueller Case Posted: 17 Dec 2019 01:08 PM PST ![Trump Campaign Aide Gates Gets Jail Time in Mueller Case]( "Trump Campaign Aide Gates Gets Jail Time in Mueller Case") (Bloomberg) -- A former top Trump campaign aide who became a star witness for Special Counsel Robert Mueller must serve 45 days behind bars for his crimes despite prosecutors' request that he be spared jail time.Rick Gates's testimony helped convict Trump confidant Roger Stone and send former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort to prison. At Gates's sentencing on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson in Washington praised his work for the government but imposed a brief term for his tax and lobbying crimes with Manafort. Gates must serve his time intermittently during a three-year term of probation."It's hard to overstate the amount of fraud and the amount of money involved," Jackson said. The men "cheated the U.S. treasury out of over $6 million dollars in tax revenue."Gates lived "as if the rules did not apply to him," she added.The sentencing ends one of the most explosive chapters of Mueller's 22-month probe into Russia's interference in the 2016 election and President Donald Trump's possible obstruction of justice. Though Mueller didn't tie Trump to a conspiracy with Russia, Gates helped establish that Manafort, his former boss, concealed millions of dollars paid to him by pro-Russia oligarchs for political consulting in Ukraine.Gates is cited 63 times in Mueller's 448-page report on Russian meddling and obstruction of justice.The hearing included new details about Gates's decision to cooperate at a sensitive time early in Mueller's probe. According to prosecutor Molly Gaston, Manafort told Gates there would be what she called a "defense fund" for him if he chose not to aid the government.Instead, she said, he "decided to do the right thing."Continues CooperationGates, Trump's former deputy campaign chairman, will continue to work with prosecutors as part of his probation, though it's unclear what that will entail. After the election, Gates served as deputy chairman of Trump's inaugural committee, which has been investigated by federal prosecutors in New York.Gates must also perform 300 hours of community service and pay a $20,000 penalty, the judge said."I accept complete responsibility for my actions," Gates told Jackson.Gates, 47, faced as long as five years behind bars. In asking Jackson not to jail Gates, prosecutors had cited his "extraordinary assistance" that included more than 50 meetings with federal and state investigators. Prosecutors and defense lawyers also asked that Gates not be fined, saying he's suffered enough financially.The judge said she believed Gates had accepted responsibility for his actions and performed an important public service. But she said she rejected the notion, raised in one letter submitted on his behalf, that Gates had gotten "caught up" in Washington corruption."Politics don't corrupt people," she said. "People corrupt politics."Party of RegionsManafort and Gates joined the Trump campaign in early 2016, but Manafort was forced to quit that August after media reports that he was improperly paid millions of dollars for his work in Ukraine. Gates continued working for the campaign and went on to serve on the inaugural committee.The two were charged in October 2017 for crimes relating to their work before joining the campaign. Manafort, a longtime Washington lobbyist and Republican Party operative, had spent almost a decade working for the pro-Russian government of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and his Party of Regions. Yanukovych was driven from office and into exile in Russia by a 2014 revolution.Mueller accused them of laundering tens of millions of dollars earned in the Ukraine and of concealing efforts to lobby the U.S. on behalf of foreign clients. The charges were viewed as a form of leverage against the two as Mueller probed Russian interference in the election.Gates later pleaded guilty to helping Manafort avoid millions of dollars in U.S. taxes and lobbying the U.S. illegally on behalf of Ukraine. He also admitted failing to report his own income and confessed to stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from Manafort to pay for an extramarital affair and other expenses.Star WitnessAt a monthlong trial featuring Gates as the star witness, Manafort was convicted in August 2018 of lying to tax authorities about tens of millions of dollars he earned as a political consultant in Ukraine and misleading banks about his financial health to get loans. He later pleaded guilty to conspiring to lobby illegally for Ukraine, to launder money to support a lavish lifestyle, and tamper with witnesses.He's serving a combined term of 7 1/2 years in a Pennsylvania prison and now faces additional charges in New York state. Manafort was hospitalized on Dec. 12 after a spike in his blood pressure that has been resolved, said his attorney Kevin Downing.Gates also testified at the trial of Roger Stone, who was found guilty last month of lying to Congress about his communications regarding WikiLeaks' trove of stolen Democratic Party documents.According to Gates, he was riding in a limousine with Trump during the 2016 campaign when Stone called to tell the candidate that WikiLeaks, which had already released records damaging to rival Hillary Clinton's campaign, would put out more documents. That account was included in Mueller's report about Russian interference. Stone is due to be sentenced on Feb. 6.Gates also appeared as a government witness in the failed prosecution of former Obama White House counsel Greg Craig, who was acquitted at trial on charges of illegal lobbying work for Ukraine.Jackson said the schedule for Gates' intermittent jail term remained to be worked out. The sentence is an unusual one in ordering brief periods behind bars while on probation. In most cases, incarceration precedes probation.The case is U.S. v. Manafort, 17-cr-201, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia (Washington).(Updates with reporting on Manafort hospitalization)\--With assistance from David Voreacos.To contact the reporter on this story: Andrew Harris in Washington at aharris16@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Anthony LinFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Merkel rules out retaliation after U.S. sanctions Russian gas pipeline Posted: 18 Dec 2019 01:44 PM PST  BERLIN/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday Germany would not retaliate against a decision by the United States to impose sanctions on companies building the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. The U.S. Senate on Tuesday passed legislation to impose sanctions on firms constructing the underwater pipeline to bring Russian natural gas to Germany. The Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which is backed by Russia's Gazprom, would allow Russia to bypass Poland and Ukraine to deliver gas under the Baltic Sea to Germany.
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| Former Fox News employees ask 2020 candidates to speak out against nondisclosure agreements Posted: 18 Dec 2019 04:58 AM PST  Gretchen Carlson and other former Fox News employees are seeking help from 2020 candidates in their fight against nondisclosure agreements.Carlson in 2016 filed a retaliation and sexual harassment lawsuit against Roger Ailes, the late CEO and chair of Fox News, but signed a nondisclosure agreement in a settlement. She has formed the group Lift Our Voices along with two other Fox News employees who sued the network and signed nondisclosure agreements, Julie Roginsky and Diana Falzone, to end the practice of silencing workers from speaking out about such workplace issues.The group is now calling on 2020 candidates for president to publicly condemn these nondisclosure agreements, The New York Times reports."It is time for our leaders to demonstrate that they are on the side of the women and men who have been silenced for too long from discussing the hostility they have encountered by speaking out loudly and publicly against NDAs," the letter says.The Times notes that the group is not calling for the end of all nondisclosure agreements in general but specifically ones having to do with workplace environment issues like sexual harassment. Carlson, whose story of alleged sexual harassment at Fox News is depicted in the new movie Bombshell, has spoken out about being "forced into silence" by a nondisclosure agreement she has asked to be release from, as she wrote in a recent Times op-ed."This is the next phase in the MeToo movement, and it is one that needs to gain traction if we truly want to change the culture for better," she wrote.More stories from theweek.com The Trump impeachment's failure before launch White House reportedly mulling asking Jim Jordan to join Trump's Senate defense team The White House said Trump 'will be working all day.' Instead he's been angrily tweeting about impeachment.
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| Greece's Parthenon temple has had the wrong name for centuries, new research by archeologists claims Posted: 17 Dec 2019 09:17 AM PST  Sitting on top of the Acropolis, the Parthenon is one of the most dazzling buildings from antiquity, but for 2,000 years we have been getting its name wrong, according to new research. Dutch scholars claim that the name "Parthenon" – popularised in the Roman period - originally belonged to an entirely different building, not the vast stone temple that looms over Athens and attracts millions of tourists a year. The real Parthenon was in fact an ancient Greek treasury which contained offerings to the goddess Athena, according to the research by Utrecht University. Today known as the Erechtheion, it is located about 100 yards from the main temple on the Acropolis, the massive rocky escarpment that rises from central Athens. Rather than being known as the Parthenon, the big temple should be known by its original ancient Greek name, the tongue-twisting Hekatompedon. Lightning over the Parthenon Credit: Getty "That means 'the hundred-foot temple' and the main room of the big temple was indeed exactly 100 feet long," Janric van Rookhuijzen, the archeologist behind the research, told The Telegraph. He acknowledges that Hekatompedon, which is mentioned in archives dating back 2,500 years, does not exactly roll off the tongue. A more user-friendly name would be "The Great Temple of Athena." "Hekatompedon is a difficult name to pronounce. That may be part of the reason that Parthenon caught on – it was much more catchy," he said. Dr van Rookhuijzen says his research, based on a study of archeological data and ancient texts, did not go down very well initially with Greek archeologists. "My Greek friends and colleagues were of course very suspicious – who is this Dutch guy saying the name should be changed? But they're now saying there is some merit to the theory I have put forward." Parthenon means "house of virgins" and the smaller temple is indeed decorated with stone caryatids, sculpted female figures which act as pillars, holding up the roof. Devoted to the ancient cult of Athena, it would have housed a treasury containing precious objects associated with the goddess, including musical instruments and swords from Persia. "Where the scientific community is concerned, Van Rookhuijzen's insight will cause a minor seismic shift," said Josine Blok, professor emeritus of ancient cultures at Utrecht University. "Not only will the names need to be adjusted, this changes our image of the cult of the goddess Athena and the Acropolis as a whole." Ineke Sluiter, professor of Greek language and literature at Leiden University, said: "This study demonstrates the permanent importance of never blindly trusting that the commonly-held wisdom is actually true." A detail from the Elgin Marbles in the British Museum Credit: Getty The research has been published in the American Journal of Archaeology and the Dutch edition of National Geographic Magazine. An icon of ancient Greek culture, the Parthenon and its marbles have been a bone of contention between Greece and Britain for 200 years, ever since Lord Elgin brought some of the friezes back to London. They are held by the British Museum, which has resisted Greek demands that they be permanently returned to Athens. Last month Xi Jinping, China's president, pledged his support for the Greek campaign to recover the marbles. "Not only do I agree with the return of the Parthenon sculptures but you will also have our support, as we too have our own [artefacts] of Chinese culture outside the country and are trying to get them home," he said during a two-day visit to Athens.
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| 30 Ceramic Table Lamps to Elevate Your Space Posted: 18 Dec 2019 10:13 AM PST |
| Doctor's report calls 77-year-old Biden 'healthy, vigorous' Posted: 17 Dec 2019 12:44 PM PST  Joe Biden is "healthy, vigorous" and "fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency," according to a doctor's report released Tuesday by the 77-year-old former vice president. Dr. Kevin O'Connor, who has been Biden's primary care physician since 2009, writes in a three-page note that the Democratic presidential candidate is in overall good shape — he's trim, exercises and keeps his cholesterol at healthy levels with the use of a statin medication. Since 2003, Biden has had episodes of atrial fibrillation, a type of irregular heartbeat that's potentially serious but treatable.
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| US promises to consider India in Afghan withdrawal Posted: 18 Dec 2019 02:21 PM PST  The United States promised Wednesday to take into account India's concerns as it looks to pull out of Afghanistan, in high-level talks that agreed on several ways to boost the democracies' emerging alliance. The talks in Washington came against the backdrop of major protests in India over a citizenship law that critics say targets Muslims, but Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was careful not to annoy his guests by speaking forcefully on the issue. Pompeo and Defense Secretary Mark Esper, meeting for a day of talks with their Indian counterparts, said they spoke in depth on the renewed US talks with the Taliban aimed at ending America's longest war.
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| Why Russia Felt Threatened By Estonia's Largest Ever Military Exercise With NATO Posted: 17 Dec 2019 11:00 PM PST  Estonia's large-scale Siil 2018 exercise is not trivial.
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| Thai serial killer wanted in new murder after prison release Posted: 17 Dec 2019 03:56 AM PST  Thai police are hunting a convicted serial killer in connection with another murder months after he was released for good behaviour, authorities said Tuesday.
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| Federal appeals court strikes down key part of Affordable Care Act Posted: 18 Dec 2019 04:53 PM PST  Judges directed a lower court to determine whether the Affordable Care Act can stand without a mandate to buy health insurance or a corresponding tax.
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| Erdogan says world powers have not backed refugee 'safe zone' in Syria: NTV Posted: 18 Dec 2019 02:31 AM PST  Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said world powers had not yet offered any support for his planned "safe zone" in northern Syria, where he intends to resettle a million Syrian refugees, broadcaster NTV reported on Wednesday. Turkey has said the zone will let refugees camped out in its territory return safely to their own country, and help secure its border with Syria. "Not even the countries we regard as the most powerful and respected have come out yet in response to our call on the safe zone and said 'we're in'," Erdogan was quoted as telling reporters in Geneva, where he attended the Global Forum on Refugees on Tuesday.
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| Whistleblower accuses Mormon Church of hoarding $100 billion intended for charitable purposes Posted: 17 Dec 2019 06:55 AM PST  The Mormon Church may be misleading its congregation when it comes to its tax-exempt investment fund, The Washington Post reports.David Nielsen, a former senior portfolio manager at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' investment division, filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service in November alleging the Mormon church's leaders stockpiled $100 billion in surplus donations rather using them for charitable purposes as intended.Nielsen, who did not respond to the Post's queries, reportedly urged the IRS to strip the church's investment arm, Ensign — a non-profit required to operate exclusively for religious, educational, or other charitable purposes — of its tax-exempt status. He also accused church leaders of using donations to bail out a church-run insurance company and a Salt Lake City, Utah, mall that was part of a joint venture between the church and a local real estate company.No documents were provided to support Nielsen's claims, but Philip Hackney, a former IRS official who teaches tax law at the University of Pittsburgh, said the complaint raised a "legitimate concern" about whether Ensign deserved its tax-exempt status."If you have a charity that simply amasses a war chest year after year and does not spread any money for charity purposes, that does not meet the requirements of tax law," he told the Post. Read more at The Washington Post.More stories from theweek.com Democrats are sleepwalking into a Biden disaster GOP senators reportedly unhappy with Trump's impeachment rant The Trump impeachment's failure before launch
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| Macau Chooses China Riches Over Democracy, Unlike Hong Kong Posted: 18 Dec 2019 01:02 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Macau has long provided Chinese leaders with a glimmering showcase for the virtues of obeying Beijing.The former Portuguese colony has marched on to become the world's largest gambling hub over the past few decades, surpassing its more rebellious brother Hong Kong along the way. President Xi Jinping is expected to use a visit marking 20 years of Chinese rule over Macau this week to send a message to the protest-stricken financial hub some 50 kilometers (30 miles) to the east: work with us and get rich."Jobs are chasing after Macau people, instead of the other way around," said Alexandra, a 29-year-old human resources worker in Macau, who asked to be identified only by her first name because she wasn't authorized to speak publicly about her work. "Young people can see a much brighter future here than in Hong Kong. They are indifferent, or even cold toward politics."Xi arrived at Macau International Airport aboard an Air China 747 on Wednesday afternoon and shook hands with local officials on the tarmac. In brief remarks, he praised Macau's "earnest implementation" of the "one country, two systems" framework that governs it, as well as Hong Kong."The achievements and progress Macau has made in the past two decades since its return to the motherland are a source of pride," Xi said. "The beautiful blueprint for Macau's future development needs our joint efforts."During the visit, Xi will attend a banquet and cultural performance before delivering a speech on Friday to commemorate the city's return. He'll likely highlight a raft of recent policies intended to help diversify Macau's tourism industry while -- in a possible signal to Hong Kong -- establishing a yuan-denominated financial market there.While Hong Kong and Macau share the Cantonese language, a common past as European trading outposts and a similar promise of autonomy from Beijing, they couldn't look more different to the Communist Party. Today, the enclave of 670,000 people ranks as the world's second-richest territory in terms of per capita economic output, after Luxembourg, according to data compiled by the World Bank. By that measure, it's almost 80% wealthier than Hong Kong.Macau has suffered little of the unrest that has gripped Hong Kong since the latter attempted to pass legislation earlier this year allowing extraditions to mainland China. Unlike Hong Kong, the government passed a Beijing-mandated national security law a decade ago, and hasn't seen mass protests since the government withdrew legislation fattening the retirement packages for top officials in 2014."While Hong Kong people can be mobilized by fighting for abstract value as democracy and freedom, Macau is 'interest-oriented,'" said Ieong Meng U, an assistant professor at the University of Macau's Department of Government and Public Administration. "Only very few government policies can trigger widespread social grievances."Much of Macau's stability can be traced to its monopoly over casino gambling in China, an industry that accounts for 80% of the government's total revenue and supports a roughly $1,000 annual handouts for residents. How long that will last is unclear, as slowing Chinese growth and increased overseas competition cut into the returns of operators including Las Vegas Sands Corp., MGM Resorts International and Wynn Resorts Ltd.Still, Macau's success would seem to bolster Communist Party arguments that Hong Kong's problems stem from its yawning wealth gap and outdated national security laws. Macau has been effectively under Beijing's control since left-wing protesters -- and a few Chinese warships -- forced its Portuguese governor to sign an apology for his policies under a portrait of Mao Zedong.Macau's charter broadly resembles Hong Kong's, but lacks key provisions such as the goal of selecting the city's leader "by universal suffrage." Incoming Macau Chief Executive Ho Iat-seng, who Xi will swear in Friday, was chosen by 98% of the votes cast by a 400-member election committee.To prevent any of Hong Kong's protests from spilling over, authorities have tightened immigration checks into Macau ahead of the president's visit, with the head of the local American Chamber of Commerce branch among those denied entry.During a similar anniversary visit to Hong Kong two years ago, Xi urged the city to profit from China, not defy it. Growth held "the golden key to resolving various issues in Hong Kong," the president said at the time."The messaging is clear to Hong Kong and the rest of the world, but primarily to Hong Kong -- there is a way out, there is an easy and good way out, and it's called Macau," said Steve Tsang, director of the University of London's SOAS China Institute and author of "A Modern History of Hong Kong.". "But what they completely and utterly fail to see, is that if Macau is the future, most people in Hong Kong will say, thank you very much, you can keep it for yourself."The message still carries well in Macau, where rent, restaurants and groceries are all cheaper, according to cost-of-living data from Numbeo. In Hong Kong, an influx of mainland Chinese have gobbled up university slots, driven an expansion of luxury shopping and helped make it the world's least-affordable housing market for nine straight years.Although Macau is much smaller -- roughly half the size of Manhattan -- its residents have been largely insulated from such pressures by policies that make jobs and passports harder to come by for mainlanders or foreigners."Hong Kong has long been a metropolitan center, but Macau was just a little city prior to opening up the gaming licenses," said Simon Sio, chairman of the real estate-and-investment firm Lek Hang Group. "Macanese don't have enough confidence in ourselves, as we have fewer opportunities in the world compared to Hong Kong. Macau benefits from the motherland a lot. We residents know this well."Still, not everyone is satisfied with the local government, as the 2014 protests against retirement perks suggest. Gambling's dominant role in the economy has also prompted criticism, due in part to the criminal activity it has fostered, from loan-sharking and money-laundering to triad fights and prostitution.Enough conversations with participants in Hong Kong's protests will turn up demonstrators from neighboring Macau. That points to a possible source of long-term concern for the Communist Party as casino growth slows."In my opinion, the economy of Macau is actually not so stable because the income from the gambling industry has gradually declined since the protests in Hong Kong started," said Christine, a 21-year-old Macau resident who has participated in Hong Kong protests and wanted to be identified only by first name to reduce the risk of reprisal. "The Communist Party wants to grab out all the money in Macau to maintain their regime."(Updates with Xi Jinping's comments in fourth paragraph.)\--With assistance from Dandan Li.To contact the reporters on this story: Jinshan Hong in Hong Kong at jhong214@bloomberg.net;Iain Marlow in Hong Kong at imarlow1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, ;Rachel Chang at wchang98@bloomberg.net, Karen LeighFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Police investigating incident at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club Posted: 18 Dec 2019 02:14 PM PST  Police say they are investigating an incident Wednesday at President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club, but have not released any specifics. Palm Beach police spokesman Michael Ogrodnick said in an afternoon email, "There is an open investigation," but he did not indicate when specific information would be released. There have been two trespassing incidents at Mar-a-Lago in the last 13 months.
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| 50 Years Ago, the Air Force Tried to Make UFOs Go Away. It Didn't Work. Posted: 17 Dec 2019 09:24 AM PST  Since the end of Project Blue Book in December 1969, our interest in the unexplained has only grown stronger. So has the research.
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| Dozens of former French soldiers joined jihadist groups in Middle East, new report reveals Posted: 18 Dec 2019 06:00 AM PST  Islamist groups have recruited dozens of former French soldiers, a troubling new report has revealed less than three months after a terrorist attack by a staff member at police headquarters in Paris shocked the nation. More than a third of the ex-servicemen are converts to Islam and nearly half served in elite Foreign Legion, parachute, commando or marine units where they acquired expertise in combat and handling weapons and explosives. The conservative newspaper Le Figaro published excerpts on Wednesday from the forthcoming report by the Centre for the Analysis of Terrorism, a Paris-based think tank. The report says the French army "constitutes a strategic recruitment target for terrorist groups… and former soldiers represent tremendous assets for these groups." The report, "Soldiers and Jihad", profiles 23 ex-servicemen "identified within terrorist organisations [mainly Isil] or implicated in plotting terrorist attacks". An earlier parliamentary report noted that about 30 former servicemen have joined jihadist groups since 2012. Several former Legionnaires have been arrested over terrorist plots in France, and ex-paratroopers or commandos have become leaders of Isil combat units in Syria or Iraq. French troops are fighting Islamists in the Middle East and the Sahel region of Africa Credit: MICHELE CATTANI/AFP via Getty Images Others who stayed in France have been involved in planning attacks against soldiers or military sites. Some of the ex-servicemen "became radicalised after they joined the French army, while others started becoming radicalised after they left the army," the report said. "However, some were planning to go and join jihadist groups before being recruited by the French armed forces." One such fighter is named as Boris V., from Charente, in south-western France, who became an air commando specifically to learn skills that would be useful to a terrorist group. He took the nom de guerre of "Younous the Deserter" and was killed near Aleppo, Syria, in 2016. Frédéric R., a former legionnaire in his sixties who converted to Islam, was arrested last month and confessed to helping a group of radicalised youths plan attacks. French military intelligence said efforts to detect and prevent radicalisation were stepped up earlier this year and "several cases showing low-level signs" were currently being monitored. It said none of the cases posed an immediate danger and "the threat level from Sunni jihadist Islam within the armed forces is now considered low". In October, a radicalised police employee stabbed four people to death at police headquarters in Paris, supposedly one of France's most secure buildings. Thibault de Montbrial, a former paratrooper and head of the Centre for Internal Security Studies, another think tank, told the Telegraph: "The issue of detecting people likely to become radicalised while serving [in the armed forces] is capital. Even if the army is a formidable institution for integration and cohesion, the risk is real".
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| Trade, Not Aid, Is the Way to Persuade Pakistan to Buck China's Influence Posted: 18 Dec 2019 07:27 AM PST  This would provide a foundation for a long-term U.S. relationship with constituencies in Pakistan's urban centers who have been negatively impacted by China's unfair trade practices but may be courted by Beijing through the next stage of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
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