🇺🇸 **Financial Times Names George Soros ‘Person of the Year’**
Breitbart - <http://archive.is/1KsQi>

The Financial Times has named 88-year-old left-wing billionaire George Soros as its “person of the year” for 2018, calling him a “standard bearer of liberal democracy and open society” and praising “the values he represents.”

The paper noted Soros’s work for liberal democracy, but ignored critics who claim that groups he sponsors are actually eroding liberal democracy today by promoting left-wing extremism and undermining national sovereignty.

The paper adds that Soros has been the target of antisemitic conspiracy theories, and that he detests Trump.
Last month, the online Jewish magazine Tablet published a more sober, and accurate, look at Soros’s political involvement — written by James Kirchick, who is vehemently opposed to Trump but also critical of Soros.
---------------

🗺 **Uber loses the latest legal bid to improve drivers rights.**
*BBC News*: <http://archive.fo/jeal4>

Uber has lost an appeal against a ruling that its drivers should be treated as workers rather than self-employed.

In 2016 a tribunal ruled drivers James Farrar and Yaseen Aslam were Uber staff and entitled to holiday pay, paid rest breaks and the minimum wage, a ruling upheld by UK Courts of Appeal.

However Uber won't take the ruling lying down, and has said that it will be attempting to appeal within the Supreme Court.

Mr Farrar, who is chairman of the United Private Hire Drivers branch of the IWGB union, said: "I am delighted today's ruling brings us closer to the ending Uber's abuse of precarious workers made possible by tactics of contract trickery, psychological manipulation and old-fashioned bullying." He later added a statement about his shock that Uber still won't treat staff as workers.

"This is nothing more than a cynical ploy to delay inevitable changes to its business model while it pursues a record breaking $120bn stock market flotation," Mr Farrar said, the GMB Union then realeased it's statement, saying that Uber should simply taking the verdict, after losing in courts thrice. "This is the perfect early Christmas present for GMB's Uber members, but this case is about the wider 'gig economy' too," said the GMB's general secretary Tim Roache.

The latest decision from the courts was not unanimous though, with one judge out of the three presiding ruling in favour of Uber, meaning that the end of the legal battle isn't over, and it's going up into the Supreme Court.
------------

🇺🇸 **Fed Reserve Degenerates Raise Rates Again, Threaten More Increases**
CNBC: <https://archive.is/brTAf>

The Fed raised interest rates by a quarter point, as expected, and lowered its median rate forecast to two hikes from three next year. But the central bank also retained language in its statement that the market saw as more aggressive than expected, in terms of future rate hikes.

"I think the market reaction to all of this is the Fed is going to overdo it," said James Paulsen, chief market strategist at Leuthold Group. "How else can you look at this than it just smells, at a minimum, like a really big slowdown in the economy coming, maybe even something worse."
"Powell said he sees no problem with balance sheet runoff. That's the one that hurts," said Paulsen. "That's another potential path of dovishness that he didn't take."
---------------

🇩🇪 **Der Spiegel says star reporter made up material**
*AP* - <https://archive.fo/BS0Ga>

An award-winning journalist who worked for Der Spiegel, one of Germany's leading news outlets, has left the weekly magazine after evidence emerged that he committed journalistic fraud "on a grand scale" over a number of years, the publication said Wednesday.

Spiegel published a lengthy report on its website after conducting an initial internal probe of the work of Claas Relotius, a 33-year-old staff writer known for vivid investigative stories. The magazine said Relotius resigned Monday after admitting some of his articles included made-up material from interviews that never happened.

The Hamburg-based magazine said Relotius contributed almost to 60 articles published in print or online since 2011, first as a freelance writer before being hired full-time last year. The reporter previously worked for other German and Swiss publications and won numerous awards, including CNN Journalist of the Year in 2014.

Spiegel said Relotius acknowledged fabricating parts of at least 14 stories. Relotius didn't immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

The case, which is still being investigated, "marks a low point in the 70-year history of Der Spiegel," the magazine said.

It said concerns about Relotius' work first were raised in November by a fellow reporter who worked with him on a story about a border militia in Arizona and discovered that supposed interviews had never taken place.

Further fabrications by Relotius included a phone interview with the parents of American football player Colin Kaepernick, who protested police brutality by kneeling during the pre-game singing of the national anthem, Spiegel said. Another was reporting that a sign on the edge of a Minnesota town read "Mexicans Keep Out," Spiegel said.
----------------

🇨🇺 **Cuba Blames Trump for Bread, Egg, Meat, and Rice Shortages Before New Year**
*Breitbart* - <https://archive.fo/tHFM8>

Cuba’s second-in-command, President Miguel Díaz-Canel, issued remarks Sunday blaming “the impact of the embargo, which has strengthened under the Trump administration,” for nationwide shortages of bread, eggs, and other basic goods as Cubans prepare to celebrate the new year and the 60th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution.

The official newspaper of the Communist Party of Cuba, Granma, quoted Miguel Díaz-Canel speaking at the debut of the nation’s 2019 economic plan, which the publication branded “objective and realist.”

“The people expect an economic response that impacts their day-to-day lives, that is why the majority of our time must be directed towards this battle,” Díaz-Canel is quoted as stating, adding that Cubans must “overcome little bits of every problem every day.”

The Cuban president, who is subordinate to Communist Party leader and Commander-in-Chief Raúl Castro, acknowledged that Cuba failed to achieve the objectives of the 2018 economic plan but blamed the “complex economic situation we face.” Among the challenges he reportedly listed were “structural problems and insufficiencies … but we cannot underestimate the impact of the embargo.”

Granma claims that, under U.S. President Donald Trump, “financial persecution” of the Cuban regime has increased. The White House has pivoted away from policies under his predecessor Barack Obama that greatly enriched military-owned Cuban corporate entities, money that Havana funneled into the persecution of pro-democracy dissidents.
----------------

🇺🇸 **The Latest: House approves wall funding as shutdown nears**
*AP* - <https://archive.fo/KRtXI>

The Republican-led House has approved funding for President Donald Trump’s border wall in legislation that pushes the government closer to a partial government shutdown.

The House voted 217-185, largely along party lines. The bill now goes to the Senate, where it has almost no chance of passing.

Senators already passed their bill to avert a shutdown by extending funds to Feb. 8. It did not include the wall funding.

Without resolution, government funding for various departments expires at midnight Friday.

Trump had given mixed signals on how hard he would push for $5 billion in border wall funds. But he dug in Thursday, telling House Republican leaders he wouldn’t sign the Senate bill that didn’t have the money.
----------------

🇺🇸 **James Comey Admits He Didn’t Tell Trump that Democrats Financed Dossier**
*Breitbart* - <http://archive.is/NyICX>

In testimony, James Comey admitted that when he infamously briefed then President-elect Donald Trump about the controversial dossier, Comey did not inform the incoming president about who financed the document.

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) asked: “In this meeting, did you tell the President who had financed the dossier?”

“No,” was Comey’s simple reply.

Jordan was referring to Comey’s early January 2017 official briefing to Trump about the dossier. That briefing was subsequently leaked to the news media, with CNN on January 10, 2017 breaking the story that the contents of the dossier were presented during classified briefings one week earlier to Trump and then-President Barack Obama.
---------------

🇬🇧 **Police Search Homes after Gatwick Shutdown Arrests**
*Sky News*: <http://archive.fo/IkbO0>

As flight schedules return to normal after days of chaos, some critics say the government has been too busy with Brexit to act.

Two people - a 47-year-old man and a 54-year-old woman from the town of Crawley - were arrested late on Friday and are being questioned over "criminal use of drones" at the airport, which caused distruption for over two days internationally.

The closure of the airport disrupted around 1,000 flights and ruined the travel plans of more than 140,000 people.

The city in which the arrests were made, Crawley, is five miles away from the Airport, the second busiest in the UK.

A Gatwick spokesman said: "Broadly, things are going in the right direction. By the end of the weekend, things should be back to normal."

Political Commentators are saying that the Government is simply too busy dealing with Brexit to deal with this disruption which halted and diverted planes around the world.
------------

🇺🇸 **Trump Discusses Firing Fed's Powell After Latest Rate Hike, Sources Say**
*Bloomberg* - <https://archive.fo/uWFJx>

President Donald Trump has discussed firing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell as his frustration with the central bank chief intensified following this week’s interest-rate hike and months of stock-market losses, according to four people familiar with the matter.

Advisers close to Trump aren’t convinced he would move against Powell and are hoping that the president’s latest bout of anger will dissipate over the holidays, the people said on condition of anonymity. Some of Trump’s advisers have warned him that firing Powell would be a disastrous move.

Yet the president has talked privately about firing Powell many times in the past few days, said two of the people.

Any attempt by Trump to push out Powell would have potentially devastating ripple effects across financial markets, undermining investors’ confidence in the central bank’s ability to shepherd the economy without political interference. It would come as markets have plummeted in recent weeks, with the major stock indexes already down sharply for the year.

White House spokespeople declined to comment, as did Fed spokeswoman Michelle Smith.

Trump’s public and private complaints about members of his administration have often been a first step toward their departures -- including former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, his first Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and outgoing chief of staff John Kelly.

It’s unclear how much legal authority the president has to fire Powell. The Federal Reserve Act says governors may be “removed for cause by the President.” Since the chairman is also a governor, that presumably extends to him or her, but the rules around firing the leader are legally ambiguous, as Peter Conti-Brown of the University of Pennsylvania notes in his book on Fed independence.
----------------

🇺🇸 **Brett McGurk, top U.S. envoy in ISIS fight, resigns**
*CBS News* - <https://archive.fo/DKNs3>

Brett McGurk, special presidential envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, had been planning to exit his post in February 2019. But sources tell CBS News that he informed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that he will accelerate his departure due to a strong disagreement with President Trump's snap decision to withdraw 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria, effectively abandoning U.S. allies in the region.

McGurk submitted his resignation on Friday, just one day after Defense Secretary James Mattis quit his post citing fundamental disagreements with the commander-in-chief -- including one over the importance of honoring U.S. alliances.

The special envoy was publicly left in the lurch by the president's sudden declaration on Wednesday that he was pulling U.S. forces out of Syria, against the advice of his top national security advisers and without consulting U.S. allies.

As leader of the counter ISIS mission, McGurk had been in the region to meet with coalition partners including Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani last week when Mr. Trump made his sudden decision to pull U.S. support. According to Barzani's office, he had raised concern about the fate of Kurds in Syria including the Kurdish-led group of fighters known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). They have been the ground troops in the fight against ISIS and receive help from U.S. advisers, weapons and air strikes.

It is now unclear what will happen to those fighters after the U.S. troops withdraw, and whether the U.S. will continue to carry out air strikes in support of them.
----------------

🇮🇩 **Tsunami in Indonesia kills at least 222 without warning**
*CNN* - <https://archive.fo/BQcXm>

At least 222 people were killed, with hundreds more injured and missing, including members of a pop band, after a tsunami hit the coastline of west Java and Sumatra, Indonesia on Saturday.

There was no warning before the waves struck the Pandeglang district, said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, head of public relations at Indonesia's National Disaster Mitigation Agency.

The tsunami appears to have been triggered by a combination of underwater landslides caused by the eruption of the Krakatoa volcano in the Sunda Strait that lies between the islands of Java and Sumatra.

Eyewitnesses described fleeing for their lives as beachfront hotels and homes were swept away by a towering wall of water on Saturday evening.

The waves caused a stage to collapse in the Tanjung Lesung beach resort while holidaymakers and locals were watching the Indonesian pop band Seventeen.

One member of the band has been confirmed dead as well as the manager, according to the Jakarta Post. The newspaper said all the other band members were still missing.

Even though Indonesia was the worst country affected by the devastating Boxing Day 2004 tsunami that killed hundred of thousands of people, it still lacks the proper equipment to alert that a tsunami threat is coming.

"We need multi-hazard early warning system," Nugroho said. "And we need lots of it."
----------------

🇸🇾🇹🇷 **Turkey bolsters military on Syrian border as U.S. readies pull out: media**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/9NrgQ>

Turkey is sending reinforcements to its border with Syria, Demiroren News Agency (DHA) reported on Sunday, adding that some 100 vehicles including mounted pickup trucks and weaponry had made their way to the area.

The heightened military activity comes days after President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would postpone a planned military operation on Kurdish YPG militia east of the Euphrates river in northern Syria following the United States’ decision to withdraw from Syria.

DHA said the Turkish convoy, headed toward the southern border province of Kilis from another border province, Hatay, included tanks, howitzers, machine guns and buses carrying commandos.

Part of the military equipment and personnel are to be positioned in posts along the border while some had crossed into Syria via the district of Elbeyli, DHA said.

Elbeyli is situated 45 kilometers (27.96 miles) northwest of the northern Syrian town of Manbij, which has been a major flashpoint between Ankara and Washington.

In June, the NATO allies reached an agreement that would see the YPG ousted from Manbij but Turkey has complained the roadmap has been delayed.

Footage from broadcaster TRT World showed parts of the convoy entering Syria via the Turkish border town of Karkamis in the southeastern province of Gaziantep, 35 kilometers north of Manbij.

The convoys are crossing into area controlled by the Free Syrian Army (FSA), a Turkish ally, and are heading to the frontlines of Manbij, TRT World said.

Reuters could not independently verify the reason for the reinforcements and Turkish officials were not immediately available for comment.
----------------

🇯🇵 **Japanesse Emperor Leaves final birthday address**
*BBC News*: <http://archive.fo/LR8eL>

More than 80,000 people have paid their respects to Japan's Emperor Akihito as he gave his final birthday address before his abdication in April.

The emperor, 85, said he took "deep comfort" that his reign had passed without Japan again engaging in war, and then thanked his wife and the Japanesse people for years of support and service to him and the country.

Akihito is the first living monarch to relinquish the Chrysanthemum throne in nearly 200 years, and he is to pass the throne to his Eldest Son, Crown Prince Naruhito in April of next year, which may mean the end of the Heisei Era, or Achiving Peace Era in Japan.

During his brief address, Emperor Akihito also offered condolences and sympathy to Japanese who had lost family members or suffered damage - a reference to the earthquakes, severe storms and heatwaves that have hit the country over the past year, he also expressed regret in Japan's envolvement within war in China, and the Korean War.

In October the head priest at Japan's controversial Yasukuni Shrine - which honours Japan's 2.5 million war dead but also enshrines convicted criminals of World War Two - agreed to resign after criticising Emperor Akihito, saying he was trying to destroy the shrine by not visiting it, with some of the countries top politicians, including the Prime Minister, siding with the Priest.

In the final part of his address, he said he hoped Japan would be able to welcome immigrants to the country under new legislation to let in more foreign, blue-collar workers to ease a labour shortage owing to an ageing population.
------------

🇷🇺🇺🇦 **Putin says Russia ready to respect Azov Sea accord with Ukraine**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/2v1gu>

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that he was willing to respect a Russian-Ukrainian accord governing the joint use of the Azov Sea and that Moscow wanted to normalize the situation around the waters.

Moscow last month seized three Ukrainian navy vessels and their crews off Crimea, accusing them of illegally entering Russian waters.
----------------

🇦🇫 **Attack on government building in Afghan capital leaves 43 dead: official**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/bqgv8>

Afghan authorities on Tuesday collected 43 bodies from a government compound in the capital Kabul that was targeted by a suicide bomber and extremists armed with assault rifles on Monday, officials said.

The attack began when the suicide bomber blew up his explosives-laden car in front of a government building that houses a public welfare department in an eastern neighborhood of Kabul.

Some of the attackers rampaged through the building of the Ministry for Martyrs and Disabled Persons taking workers hostage, and others fought a prolonged gun battle with local security forces.

Health ministry spokesman Wahid Majroh said so far 43 bodies and 10 injured had been transported by ambulances from the attack site. One policeman was killed and three militants were gunned down during seven hours of fighting inside the government compound.

Afghan forces evacuated over 350 civilians from the building before calling off the operation on Monday night. No militant group has claimed responsibility for the complex attack that was identical to previous attacks by Taliban insurgents on government offices, foreign buildings, and military bases.

Abdullah Abdullah, the government’s chief executive, blamed the Taliban for the attack.
----------------

🇹🇷 **Turkey determined to push east of Euphrates "as soon as possible"**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/jT2pj>

Turkey is determined to cross to the east of the Euphrates river in northern Syria as soon as possible, Ankara’s foreign minister was quoted as saying on Tuesday, signaling renewed intent to launch a military campaign delayed by the U.S. withdrawal.

Turkey said this month it would launch a new military operation to sweep the YPG Kurdish militia from northern Syria, but put that on hold after the United States said it would pull its troops out.

Ankara regards the YPG as terrorists and has been infuriated by U.S. support for the group in the fight against Islamic State.
----------------

🇱🇾 **Several dead in suicide attack on Libyan foreign ministry**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/S3NIx>

Three suicide bombers attacked Libya’s foreign ministry in Tripoli on Tuesday, killing at least two other people as well as themselves, authorities said.

The three attackers began their assault with a car bomb, damaging vehicles and buildings, and then opened fire on the ministry, a security source said. Two managed to get inside and blow themselves up. The other was killed by ministry guards.

Heavy smoke rose from the building, which was surrounded by security forces, as people were rushed to hospital. The health ministry said that apart from the attackers, three people had been killed and at least 21 injured.

Interior Minister Fathi Ali Bashagha said however that apart from the attackers only two people were killed, adding that investigations were continuing into the identity of the assailants.

“Security chaos in Libya offers propitious conditions for IS (Islamic State) and other terrorist groups,” Bashagha said at a joint news conference in Tripoli with Foreign Minister Mohamed Taher Siala.
----------------

🇨🇳 **5 killed, 21 injured in bus hijacking in China's Fujian province**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/Jll4Q>

At least five people were killed and 21 others injured after a man carrying a knife hijacked a bus in the southeastern Chinese city of Longyan in Fujian province on Tuesday, police said.

Longyan police said in a statement that the bus was hijacked mid-afternoon and hit pedestrians along the way as it careened down the street.

Police have detained the suspect and case is being investigated, the statement said, without giving details.

Pictures on Chinese social media, picked up by some Chinese news outlets, showed a chaotic scene on the street, with crushed motor-bikes and injured people on the ground.

One video showed police apparently wrestling the suspect to the ground.

Reuters was not able to independently verify the footage.
----------------

🇮🇱🇸🇾 **Israel fires at Syrian missile after bombing of arms depots near Damascus**
*The Jerusalem Post* - <https://archive.fo/OyjAs>

According to media reports, the launch was carried out from the northern city of Hadera, with pictures published on social media of a large tail of smoke heading into the sky.

Israel’s air defense system - likely the Arrow - was activated late Tuesday night against a Syrian anti-aircraft missile, following an alleged Israeli air strike over the capital of Damascus. Media reports claimed that Israel struck weapon warehouses near the Syrian capital.

There were no damages or injuries to Israeli troops, the IDF Spokesperson said in a statement.

According to unconfirmed Israeli reports, the launch was carried out from the northern city of Hadera, with pictures published on social media of a large tail of smoke heading into the sky and residents in the Hefer Valley Regional Council also reported hearing the sound of loud explosion.

It is still unclear whether any Syrian missiles were intercepted from the IDF's reported perspective.

Syrian state media reported Tuesday night that regime air defenses intercepted “hostile targets” west of Damascus during an alleged Israeli air strike, which according to local reports involved 22 missiles targeting sites including weapons depots belonging to pro-Iranian militias in Damascus.

Other locations reported by Syrian media to have been struck during the strike are as follows: pro-Iranian military positions located in the suburbs of Damascus, air defense facilities and headquarters of the 68th Brigade and the 137th Brigade of the Syrian Army in the Damascus area, a military headquarters belonging to the 4th Division of the Syrian Army in the Al-Muna area surrounding Damascus and military Unit 10 in the district of Qatana.
----------------

🇺🇸 **AT&T will put a fake 5G logo on its 4G LTE phones**
*The Verge* - <https://archive.fo/oSOiE>

AT&T customers will start to see a 5G logo appear in the corner of their smartphone next year — not because they’re using a 5G phone connected to a 5G network, but because AT&T is going to start pretending its most advanced 4G LTE tech is 5G.

According to FierceWireless, AT&T will display an icon reading “5G E” on newer phones that are connected to LTE in markets where the carrier has deployed a handful of speed boosting — but still definitively 4G — technologies. The “E,” displayed smaller than the rest of the logo, refers to “5G Evolution,” the carrier’s term for networks that aren’t quite 5G but are still faster than traditional LTE.

If this sounds sadly familiar, it’s because AT&T pulled this exact same stunt during the transition to LTE. The company rolled out a speed-boosting 3G tech called HSPA+, then got all of its phone partners — even Apple! — to show a “4G” logo when on that kind of connection.

AT&T told FierceWireless that the “5G E” logo would initially come to “a handful of devices, with more devices showing the indicator in spring 2019.” It wasn’t stated how many devices or which devices would show the icon, beyond it being “the latest Android devices.”

FierceWireless guesses that “potentially millions” of people could see the new logo, with AT&T’s 5G Evolution network available in over 400 markets by the end of 2018. Given that real 5G will be rare and limited for the next year or more, this tiny little branding change could lead to a great deal of misunderstanding around the state of the next-generation wireless technology.
----------------

🇸🇾🇮🇱🇷🇺 **Russia says Israeli strikes on Syria threatened two civilian flights: Ifax**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/jyyHW>

Russia’s Ministry of Defence said on Wednesday that Israeli missile strikes against Syria the previous day had directly threatened two civilian flights, the Interfax news agency reported.

The ministry, which did not specify which flights had been threatened, added that Syrian air defenses had destroyed 14 of 16 Israeli missiles launched against unspecified targets near Damascus on Tuesday.

Three Syrian soldiers were injured in the strikes, Syrian state media reported.
----------------

🇷🇺 **Russia moves towards allowing medicinal narcotic crops**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/jUwEh>

The Russian government on Wednesday approved a draft bill allowing the country to produce crops used in medicinal narcotics, saying this would reduce its dependence on foreign states that have imposed sanctions against it.

The draft bill, which still needs to be approved by parliament and signed into law by President Vladimir Putin, will allow two factories that already produce opiate-based medications to grow their own crops.

Most of the substances used by Russia in domestically produced pain medication comes from countries that have imposed sanctions against it, health minister Veronika Skvortsova said.

“In order not to leave our population without strong painkillers, we must be self-sufficient,” Skvortsova told reporters. “We need to produce drugs in a full cycle - from substances to their medicinal form.”

The United States, the European Union and other Western states have imposed broad-ranging sanctions against Russian companies, banks and individuals since Moscow annexed the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine in March 2014.
----------------

🇺🇦 **Martial law expires in Ukraine**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/jUwEh>

Martial law, imposed on Nov. 25 in some Ukrainian areas after Russia captured three Ukrainian ships, expired on Wednesday, President Petro Poroshenko told the country’s security council.

Poroshenko said earlier this month he did not plan to extend martial law beyond the one month initially foreseen unless there was a large scale attack from Russia.

The Ukrainian navy ships were captured in the Kerch Strait, between Russian-annexed Crimea and southern Russia, which controls access to the Sea of Azov, where there are both Russian and Ukrainian ports.

Moscow said the ships entered Russian waters while trying to cross the strait without prior notice, ignoring orders to stop. Kiev said its ships needed no Russian permission to cross the strait.

Under the martial law, Ukraine banned Russian men of combat age from entering the country and boosted security at critical sites such as nuclear power stations and Black Sea ports.

Ukraine’s military chief said this month Russia had been ramping up its forces near the border since August and now poses the greatest military threat since 2014, the year it annexed Crimea.
----------------

🇺🇸 **ICE drops off almost 200 more migrants in El Paso**
*CBS News* - <https://archive.fo/hEXma>

One-hundred-eighty-six more migrants were released in downtown El Paso, Texas by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Christmas Day, reports the CBS affiliate there, KDBC-TV. That came after approximately 400 were released in the southwest Texas city in the two days before Christmas.

Democratic Congressman Beto O'Rourke, who represents El Paso, said he'd been told some 500 more would be released there Wednesday.

Local nonprofit groups told the station the key difference Tuesday was that they were notified in advance by ICE of the mass release, something the groups and O'Rourke said didn't happen previously.

As a result, the nonprofits were a bit more prepared for the large influx.

"They're coming from immigration cells so they're coming hungry, they're coming thirsty, most haven't bathed in a long time. The situation is really difficult for them," said Dylan Corbett, executive director of the Hope Border Institute.

ICE said in a statement earlier this week the mass releases were designed to ensure families weren't held longer than it's allowed to detain them, and blamed "decades of inaction by Congress" that resulted in the government being "severely constrained in its ability to detain and promptly remove families with no legal basis to remain in the U.S."
----------------

🇮🇶🇺🇸 **Iraqi lawmakers demand US withdraw troops after surprise Trump visit**
*The Guardian* - <https://archive.fo/yqIjh>

Iraqi lawmakers have demanded US forces leave the country in the wake of a surprise visit by Donald Trump, which politicians denounced as arrogant and a violation of Iraqi sovereignty.

Politicians from both blocs of Iraq’s divided parliament called for a vote to expel US troops and promised to schedule an extraordinary session to debate the matter.

“Parliament must clearly and urgently express its view about the ongoing American violations of Iraqi sovereignty,” said Salam al-Shimiri, a lawmaker loyal to the populist cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

Trump, making his first presidential visit to troops in a troubled region on Wednesday, said he had no plans to withdraw the 5,200 US forces in the country.

Containing foreign influence has become a hot-button issue in a year that saw Sadr supporters win the largest share of votes in May elections. Sadr has called for curbing US and Iranian involvement in Iraqi affairs.
----------------

🇺🇸 **Stephens College Will Admit Some Trans Students**
*Inside Higher Ed* - <https://archive.fo/DZVPr>

Many women's colleges, including some of the most prominent ones, started admitting transgender students several years ago. But others have held off. One in the latter group, Stephens College, in Missouri, has now announced that it will admit some transgender women, but will exclude trans men.

The college's new policy says, "The college’s undergraduate residential women’s program will continue to admit and enroll students who are women and who live as women, just as it always has. It will also admit and enroll students who were not born female, but who identify and live as women; those students will need to provide legal documentation that they are legally women or that they are transitioning to female. Because the college has expanded its definition of womanhood to include both sex and gender, it is logically consistent that it also acknowledges both sex and gender in its definition of manhood. As a result, the college will stop admitting and enrolling students who were born female but who now identify as men or who are transitioning from female to male."

A timeline from the college shows that the policy has been under consideration since 2014.
----------------

🇺🇸 **Defying pundits, GOP share of Latino vote steady under Trump**
*AP* - <https://archive.fo/ZIPdV>

Pedro Gonzalez has faith in Donald Trump and his party.

The 55-year-old Colombian immigrant is a pastor at an evangelical church in suburban Denver. Initially repelled by Trump in 2016, he’s been heartened by the president’s steps to protect religious groups and appoint judges who oppose abortion rights. More important, Gonzalez sees Trump’s presidency as part of a divine plan.

“It doesn’t matter what I think,” Gonzalez said of the president. “He was put there.”

Though Latino voters are a key part of the Democratic coalition, there is a larger bloc of reliable Republican Latinos than many think. And the GOP’s position among Latinos has not weakened during the Trump administration, despite the president’s rhetoric against immigrants and the party’s shift to the right on immigration.

In November’s elections, 32 percent of Latinos voted for Republicans, according to AP VoteCast data. The survey of more than 115,000 midterm voters — including 7,738 Latino voters — was conducted for The Associated Press by NORC at the University of Chicago.

Other surveys also found roughly one-third of Latinos supporting the GOP. Data from the Pew Research Center and from exit polls suggests that a comparable share of about 3 in 10 Latino voters supported Trump in 2016. That tracks the share of Latinos supporting Republicans for the last decade.

The stability of Republicans’ share of the Latino vote frustrates Democrats, who say actions like Trump’s family separation policy and his demonization of an immigrant caravan should drive Latinos out of the GOP.

“The question is not are Democrats winning the Hispanic vote — it’s why aren’t Democrats winning the Hispanic vote 80-20 or 90-10 the way black voters are?” said Fernand Amandi, a Miami-based Democratic pollster. He argues Democrats must invest more in winning Latino voters.
----------------

🇺🇲 **Police manhunt underway after illegal immigrant murders California officer**
*InfoWars* - <http://archive.is/TUuM4>

The man who allegedly killed a California police officer during a DUI traffic stop Wednesday is still at large and in the country illegally, police say.

The man suspected of killing Newman Police Officer Ronil Singh may currently be in an area southeast of San Francisco, according to the Stanislaus County sheriff’s department.

“This suspect … is in our country illegally,” Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson said at a press conference Thursday. “He doesn’t belong here. He is a criminal.”

Newman Police Department Corporal Ronil Singh, 33, was making a traffic stop early in the morning when he called ‘shots fired’ over his radio, according to the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department.

Singh had pulled over a gray pickup truck in Newman, a small town 100 miles south of San Francisco, after noticing it had no licence plate, Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson said on Thursday.

Officer Singh was found with multiple bullet wounds, and was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The suspect’s vehicle was found 13 hours later at the River Road mobile home park in Newman.

A search warrant was served at the mobile home park where the suspect’s vehicle was found, where police say they recovered “lots of potential evidence.”

While police have not yet identified the suspect’s country of origin, President Trump in a tweet Thursday tied the manhunt to his demands to congress to strengthen border security and build a wall at the southern US border with Mexico.

“There is right now a full scale manhunt going on in California for an illegal immigrant accused of shooting and killing a police officer during a traffic stop. Time to get tough on Border Security. Build the Wall!” the president tweeted.
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🇩🇪 **Islamic State Flag Found Near Suspected Sabotage on Railway**
*InfoWars* - <http://archive.is/VX3lm>

An Islamic State (IS) flag was discovered near a damaged overhead power cable on a Berlin railway track, according to German police.

Leaflets in Arabic were also found and authorities are investigating if the propaganda is related to the apparent sabotage.

“Since the beginning of the investigation, several pieces of evidence have been secured,” said police

Additionally, a torn steel cable was found at the scene of Sunday’s suspected attack on the tracks.

Given the possibility of this being a terrorist attack, federal police have taken over the investigation to officially deduce any "political motivations" linked to the findings.  

Correspondingly, in October, German authorities discovered a threatening letter written in Arabic alongside mangled steel cables that were stretched across the tracks of a high-speed railway line between Nuremberg and Munich.

As of this writing, it is unclear if the two incidents are connected.
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🇺🇸 <:comfy:286526459596636160> **SWAT Negotiator Sings Christmas Carol to End Standoff With Armed Man**
*InfoWars* - <http://archive.is/1jQcs>

A SWAT team member ended a long night of negotiating with a man in Pennsylvania who had barricaded himself in his home on Christmas by singing him a Christmas carol.

Chester County District Attorney Thomas Hogan said SWAT operators left their families on Christmas night after being called to a man’s home around 9 p.m. local time to respond to an armed barricade.

The team was forced to negotiate with the man for roughly nine hours while he shot at police and around the neighborhood, according to a post on Hogan’s Facebookpage.

But at around 6 a.m. Wednesday, the standoff concluded after a SWAT negotiator convinced the man, later identified as Nathaniel Lewis, a member of the National Guard, to surrender by singing him “White Christmas.”

“You can’t make this stuff up,” Hogan wrote.

Lewis’ family went to his home to check on him after they were unable to contact him, authorities said according to local news. When his wife’s sister arrived at the home, Lewis had barricaded the front door and fired multiple shots from his rifle.

Lewis threatened to kill police and shot at them from the second floor of his home, hitting nearby cars and houses. He was later charged with aggravated assault, multiple counts of attempted homicide and other related counts.
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🇺🇸 **'F--- Nazis You Are Not Welcome Here' sign hanging in window of UMass Amherst dorm sparks controversy**
*Yahoo* - <https://archive.fo/AKRa9>

Emotions are heightened at the University of Massachusetts Amherst just days after one of the university’s residence directors emailed a student to request the removal of a ‘F--- Nazis’ sign that had been hung in a dormitory window. After students accused resident hall staff of being “Nazi sympathizers,” the university released a statement granting permission to reinstate the sign.

The incident came to light on Dec. 19 when a student at UMass Amherst tweeted an email sent to an on-campus classmate by residence director Eddie Papazoni. Papazoni claimed he was reacting to a phone call from someone concerned about the handwritten anti-Nazi sign that could be seen from the ground below.

“From this conversation it appears to be that the sign in mention can be paraphrase as; ‘Nazis are not welcome here,'” Papazoni paraphrased. “Though this sign is permitted under Freedom of Speech, I would also like to discuss the impact on the community that this sign has had.” He continued that the sign has created for students and faculty “mixed emotions on how to proceed, issues of inclusion, and the ability to be active members of their community.”

He wrote in the email that some are calling for removal of the sign, and ultimately concluded, “While Residence Education cannot force you or your roommate to take the sign down, I am asking you or your roommate take the sign down so that all students can be part of an inclusive residential experience, as well as having a respectful environment to be part of here on our campus.”
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🇷🇺 **Putin successfully tests Russia's new 'invulnerable' hypersonic missile that is 'impossible to intercept' and boasts it is 'an excellent gift to the nation'**
*Daily Mail* - <https://archive.fo/8nvJI>

Russian President Vladimir Putin has today overseen a test of a new hypersonic glide vehicle, declaring that the weapon is impossible to intercept and will ensure the country's security for decades to come.

Speaking to his top military brass after watching the live feed of the launch of the Avangard vehicle from the Defence Ministry's control room, Putin said the successful test was a 'great success' and an 'excellent New Year's gift to the nation'.

Meanwhile Russia has launched underwater trials for the Poseidon nuclear-capable strategic drone, the state-run Tass news agency reported Tuesday.

The development of the drone was announced by Putin in his state-of-the-nation speech in March, in which he boasted of an array of new nuclear weapons 'invulnerable to enemy interception'.

The Poseidon drone could potentially carry a nuclear warhead with a yield of up to 2 megatonnes that would be used to destroy enemy naval bases, Tass reported, citing a source in the defense industry.

The test comes amid bitter tensions in Russia-US relations, which have sunk to their lowest level since Cold War times over the conflict in Ukraine, the war in Syria and the allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential election.
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🇷🇺🇻🇪 ** Russia to set up military base on Venezuelan island in Caribbean to host NUCLEAR BOMBERS**
*Daily Star* - <https://archive.fo/VK1HN>

Vladimir Putin has decided to send the supersonic bombers, known as “White Swans”, to one of Venezuela’s islands in the Caribbean Sea, Russian newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta has reported.

Venezuela’s socialist president Nicolas Maduro did not object to the proposals put forward by Russian authorities, according to the daily paper.

Russia wants the strategic aircraft, which caused alarm in the United States by visiting Venezuela earlier this month, to be based by an island with a naval facility and military airfield.

Ten years ago, Russian military experts and commanders reportedly visited the island of La Orchila, located 200 km northeast of Caracas.

Under Venezuelan law, military bases cannot be established by foreign nations in the country, but a temporary deployment of warplanes is possible, Russian media reports.

Moscow angered Washington by flying two Tu-160 bombers to Venezuela, where they landed at Maiquetia airport near capital Caracas on December 10.
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🇺🇸 **Trump’s promise of a wall may not be fulfilled as advertised**
*AP* - <https://archive.fo/IjR6H>

Three confidantes of President Donald Trump, including his departing chief of staff, are indicating that the president’s signature campaign pledge to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border would not be fulfilled as advertised.

Trump sparked fervent chants of “Build that wall!” at rallies before and after his election and more recently cited a lack of funding for a border wall as the reason for partially shutting down the government. At times the president has also waved off the idea that the wall could be any kind of barrier.

However, White House chief of staff John Kelly told the Los Angeles Times in an interview published Sunday that Trump abandoned the notion of “a solid concrete wall early on in the administration.”

“To be honest, it’s not a wall,” Kelly said, adding that the mix of technological enhancements and “steel slat” barriers the president now wants along the border resulted from conversations with law enforcement professionals.

Along the same lines, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway called discussion of the apparent contradiction “a silly semantic argument.”

“There may be a wall in some places, there may be steel slats, there may be technological enhancements,” Conway told “Fox News Sunday.” ″But only saying ‘wall or no wall’ is being very disingenuous and turning a complete blind eye to what is a crisis at the border.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican who is close to the president, emerged from a Sunday lunch at the White House to tell reporters that “the wall has become a metaphor for border security” and referred to “a physical barrier along the border.”
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🇺🇸 **Elizabeth Warren takes big move toward 2020 presidential run**
*AP* - <https://archive.fo/QaIsh>

Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Monday took the first major step toward launching a widely anticipated campaign for the presidency, hoping her reputation as a populist fighter can help her navigate a Democratic field that could include nearly two dozen candidates.

“No matter what our differences, most of us want the same thing,” the 69-year-old Massachusetts Democrat said in a video that highlights her family’s history in Oklahoma. “To be able to work hard, play by the same set of rules and take care of the people we love. That’s what I’m fighting for and that’s why today I’m launching an exploratory committee for president.”

Warren burst onto the national scene a decade ago during the financial crisis with calls for greater consumer protections. She quickly became one of the party’s more prominent liberals even as she sometimes fought with Obama administration officials over their response to the market turmoil.

Now, as a likely presidential contender, she is making an appeal to the party’s base. Her video notes the economic challenges facing people of color along with images of a women’s march and Warren’s participation at an LGBT event.

In an email to supporters, Warren said she’d more formally announce a campaign plan early in 2019.

Warren is the most prominent Democrat yet to make a move toward a presidential bid and has long been a favorite target of President Donald Trump.
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🇮🇱 **Netanyahu: I won’t resign if attorney general announces intention to indict**
*Times Of Israel* - <https://archive.fo/P7FK3>

In his most specific comments to date on the prospect of corruption cases forcing his ouster, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said he would not resign if the attorney general decides on pressing charges against him before elections.

Asked during a press conference in Brazil, where he is on a visit, how he would proceed if summoned by the attorney general for a hearing, which is final step before charges are filed, Netanyahu said: “If that happens, I won’t resign.”

He said he was not required to do so under the law, and that he remains convinced that the three corruption cases against him will yield “nothing.”

“Israel is a country of law, and the law does not require that a prime minister resign during the process of a hearing,” he said.

Should Attorney General Avichai Mandeblit decide to press charges against Netanyahu, he would announce the indictment pending a hearing, after which charges could be filed with a court.

The requirement for the attorney general to provide a hearing for a suspect before a final decision to press charges against him, Netanyahu said, exists precisely so that the suspect’s side of the story is heard. “The hearing doesn’t end until my side is heard,” he said.

“And therefore it is not logical to open a hearing process before elections if you can’t finish it before elections.”

“Imagine what happens if you oust a prime minister before the end of the hearing process, and at the end of the hearing it is decided to close the case,” he said. “That would be absurd, and a terrible blow to democracy.”
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🇺🇸🇨🇳 **China says it is 'ready to work with US'**
*BBC* - <https://archive.fo/l3Mle>

China has said it is "ready to work" with the US, suggesting progress in trade talks between the two countries.

It said it would be willing to work with the US to "implement the important consensus" reached at December's G20.

At the Buenos Aires summit the two countries agreed to suspend new trade tariffs for 90 days to allow for talks.

China's statement comes after President Donald Trump tweeted "big progress" was being made in relations after a call with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

In Saturday's tweet, the US president said "talks were moving along very well".

Sunday's statement from Lu Kang, the spokesperson for the country's foreign ministry, appeared to confirm President Trump's optimism.

"China stands ready to work with the US to implement the important consensus reached by President Xi Jinping and President Trump in Argentina, expand co-operation on the basis of mutual benefit, manage differences on the basis of mutual respect," Mr Lu said.

Prior to the G20 meeting in Argentina, the US had warned it was considering 25% tariffs on $200bn (£152bn) of Chinese goods - more than double the 10% initially planned.
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🇺🇸 🇨🇳 **China Cracks: Manufacturing Sector Contracts for First Time Since Trade War Began**
*Breitbart* - <http://archive.vn/AtLEu>

The trade war appears to be hurting China more than expected.

China’s private manufacturing sector contracted in December, according to a survey released Wednesday.

The Caixin manufacturing purchasing managers’ index, which mainly tracks private factories, fell to 49.7 in December from 50.2 in November. Any reading below 50 indicates a contraction. The private PMI has been above 50 since May of 2017.
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🇺🇸 **Liberal revolt threatens to derail House Democrats on their first day in charge**
*SF Gate* - <https://archive.fo/B2FB4>

House Democratic leaders are set to advance sweeping internal rules changes Thursday that would attempt to bring more sunshine to congressional governance and defuse a pair of political powder kegs that wreaked havoc on GOP leaders over the past eight years.

But in their first day of power in the new Congress, Democrats must stave off a liberal rebellion after prominent Democrats said they would oppose the entire rules package that has been carefully assembled by Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and a top lieutenant.

Rep. Ro Khanna of California and Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York said they would vote against the rules changes - in the second vote Democrats will take in the majority after ostensibly electing Pelosi as the new speaker - because of the inclusion of a fiscal measure known as "pay as you go," or PAYGO. That rule, echoing a provision in federal law and in the Senate's rules, would require the House to offset any spending so as not to increase the budget deficit.

So far, Democrats have given no signs of needing to revise the measure to win votes - and assuming its passage Thursday afternoon, Pelosi plans to move quickly to vote on legislation that would reopen portions the government that have been closed for nearly two weeks amid a standoff over money demanded by President Trump for a border wall.
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🇺🇸 **The 'Green New Deal': A Radical Mandate for Government Control of American Society**
*Grabienews* - <https://archive.fo/1c1Gl>

Incoming New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez brings with her a massive online following, influence she says she’ll deploy only in support of candidates who support her plan for a “Green New Deal.”

“The Green New Deal” is something Ocasio-Cortez invokes frequently in media appearances and rallies.

So what’s actually in it?

Her office recently released the text of a proposed House rules change outlining the plan.

It’s scope and mandate for legislation authority amounts to a radical grant of power to Washington over Americans’ lives, homes, businesses, travel, banking, and more.

Early on, under “Jurisdiction,” the document makes clear its grandiose philosophical vision: “The select committee shall have authority to develop a detailed national, industrial, economic mobilization plan for the transition of the United States economy to become greenhouse gas emissions neutral and to significantly draw down greenhouse gases from the atmosphere and oceans and to promote economic and environmental justice and equality.”

In addition to achieving its goal of “meeting 100% of national power demand through renewable sources,” the document also repeatedly states the Green New Deal will advance non-environmental projects, such as, “social, economic, racial, regional and gender-based justice.”

Ocasio-Cortez’s plan also says it will (virtually) eliminate poverty: “The Plan for a Green New Deal (and the draft legislation) shall recognize that a national, industrial, economic mobilization of this scope and scale is a historic opportunity to virtually eliminate poverty in the United States and to make prosperity, wealth and economic security available to everyone participating in the transformation.”
**READ ARTICLE FOR MORE DETAILS**
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🇨🇳🇹🇼 **Xi Jinping says Taiwan 'must and will be' reunited with China**
*BBC* - <https://archive.fo/i4AeP>

Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged the people of Taiwan to accept it "must and will be" reunited with China.

In a speech marking 40 years since the start of improving ties, he reiterated Beijing's call for peaceful unification on a one-country-two-systems basis.

However, he also warned that China reserved the right to use force.

While Taiwan is self-governed and de facto independent, it has never formally declared independence from the mainland.

Beijing considers the island to be a breakaway province and Mr Xi's comments are in line with China's long-standing policy towards reunification.

But on Wednesday, Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen said the island would never accept reunification with China under the terms offered by Beijing.

"I want to reiterate that Taiwan will never accept 'one country, two systems'. The vast majority of Taiwanese public opinion also resolutely opposes 'one country, two systems', and this is also the 'Taiwan consensus'."

Under the "one country, two systems" formula, Taiwan would have the right to run its own affairs; a similar arrangement is used in Hong Kong.
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