🇺🇸 **ABC scrambles to figure out identity of Amy Robach leaker, who goes by ‘Ignotus’**
*Page Six* - <https://archive.ph/KD9kI>

ABC bigwigs are going potty to find the identity of the leaker behind the Amy Robach tape — after the alleged source posted a letter online slamming the network under the name “Ignotus,” a wizard from the “Harry Potter” franchise.

After junior producer Ashley Bianco denied leaking the tape, on which the anchor complained ABC News killed her interview with Jeffrey Epstein victim Virginia Roberts Giuffre, someone purporting to be the actual leaker and still working at the network posted a letter on Project Veritas blasting ABC’s “mission of seek and destroy” to conjure up the mysterious mole.

Project Veritas editors confirmed the missive was penned by the same ABC News insider who gave them the tape “in light of the actions taken against those wrongfully identified as involved in the leaking.”

An ABC insider said top execs were particularly puzzled by Ignotus. He is possibly best known as a Harry Potter character, a pure-blood wizard who has a cloak of invisibility, passed through generations, finally to Harry Potter. Ignotus also means “unknown” in Latin.

The ABC insider said, “They are freaking out over the Harry Potter reference. Does this mean the leaker is a Potter fan, likely one of the younger staff members who work the overnight shift? Or is the leaker citing Latin, which means he or she could be an older member of staff. I mean, how many young producers speak Latin these days?”

The source added ABC investigators have been rifling through staff emails, news logs and grilling staffers. The company has been isolating certain employees and putting them under pressure to turn on their colleagues in a bid to find the culprit, the source also claimed, adding the investigation reports back up to the very highest levels at HR at ABC’s parent company Disney.
--------------

🇺🇸 **Cenk Uygur of 'The Young Turks' Files to Run for Congresswoman Katie Hill's Seat One Day After Endorsing Sanders**
*Newsweek* - <https://archive.ph/tG5Nk>

Cenk Uygur, host of the The Young Turks, a progressive online news channel, filed for Congress on Wednesday to replace resigned former Congresswoman Katie Hill.

The 49-year-old, alongside his co-host, Ana Kasparian, also endorsed Senator Bernie Sanders for president on their show, praising his approach to "completely and utterly challenge the system," reports The Washington Times.

Uygur also said the Sanders' strategy will be quicker and more effective in passing major, progressive legislation.

"I think the right tack is revolution, not reform. And by revolution, I mean a political revolution, obviously," Uygur explained. "I don't want to negotiate with this current system. I think it will take too long and I don't think it's the right strategy."

He also said that when no one had the courage to go after Hillary Clinton in 2016, Sanders raised his hand and said "I'll do it."
--------------

🇺🇸 **Roger Stone guilty of witness tampering, lying to Congress**
*AP* - <https://archive.ph/kpMRZ>

He was proud of his reputation as a practitioner of political dirty tricks and frequently boasted about the extent of his contacts and the depth of his insider information.

Now Roger Stone, a longtime friend and ally of President Donald Trump, faces a prison sentence for a collection of crimes that essentially amounts to exaggerating how much he knew, then lying and scrambling to keep those boasts from being exposed.

Stone was convicted Friday of all seven counts in a federal indictment that accused him of lying to Congress, tampering with a witness and obstructing the House investigation into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to tip the 2016 election.

He is the sixth Trump aide or adviser to be convicted of charges brought as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.

Stone has denied wrongdoing and consistently criticized the case against him as politically motivated. He did not take the stand during the trial and his lawyers did not call any witnesses in his defense.

Stone, 67, showed no visible reaction as the verdict was read aloud, count by count. He’s scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 6 and could face up to 20 years behind bars. Another former Trump campaign aide, Michael Caputo, was removed from the courtroom by security officers after he turned his back on the jury after the verdict was read.

Stone smirked at reporters as he left the courtroom, holding hands with his wife. As he walked out of the courthouse, Stone was asked if he had any comment on the verdict and replied: “none whatsoever” before he hopped into a waiting SUV with his wife.
--------------

🇨🇳🇭🇰 **Mainland Chinese Soldiers Take to Hong Kong Streets for First Time During Protests**
*WSJ* - <https://archive.ph/NU2fL>

In a highly symbolic action, mainland Chinese soldiers in black shorts and olive drab T-shirts jogged out of a barracks here to clear streets of bricks, metal bars and other debris left by demonstrators after one of the most violent weeks in five months of pro-democracy protests.

China has garrisoned People’s Liberation Army troops in Hong Kong since the 1997 handover of the former British colony. The soldiers here mostly keep to their barracks and are broadly meant to operate in the city only if the local government asks for assistance.

The presence of the soldiers, even dressed in what amounted to jogging attire, undertaking a brief but politically charged act of removing roadblocks left by Hong Kong’s protesters fueled speculation about the extent of their future role in the semiautonomous city.

The possibility that mainland China might use its military to crush Hong Kong’s protest movement has hung over the demonstrations for months. On Thursday, China’s leader personally commented on the unrest for the first time, exhorting Hong Kong to restore order. The Hong Kong government didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday.

The soldiers’ cleanup effort, captured at least in part on local television, took place near a barracks in the Kowloon Tong neighborhood, close to one of the city’s universities, a number of which have been protest hot spots in the past week.

Most people in the city associate China’s army with its deployment at Tiananmen Square in Beijing in 1989.
--------------

🇬🇧 **Prince Andrew QUITS royal duties: Duke 'steps back for foreseeable future' with Queen's permission in wake of Jeffrey Epstein row and pledges to help police inquiries**
*Daily Mail* - <https://archive.ph/tWKOu>

The Queen has given permission for the Duke of York to 'step back from public duties for the foreseeable future' amid criticism over his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, the duke said in a statement.

Prince Andrew this evening issued a statement saying it had become clear to him that his friendship with the billionaire paedophile had caused 'major disruption' to the Royal Family's work.

He also said that he is willing to help 'any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations' into the sex offender, who killed himself in prison while facing sex trafficking charges.

It comes after the Duke was today seen for the first time since his disastrous BBC Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis on Saturday about Epstein which caused a furious public backlash.
--------------

🇬🇧 **Nato summit: Trump calls Trudeau 'two-faced' over video**
*BBC* - <https://archive.md/oWfzJ>

US President Donald Trump has called Justin Trudeau "two-faced" over a video in which the Canadian leader appears to mock him at a meeting of Nato leaders.
Footage showed Mr Trudeau, UK PM Boris Johnson and French leader Emmanuel Macron discussing an impromptu press conference held by Mr Trump.

*What was in the video?*

The brief video posted on Twitter by Canada's public broadcaster, CBC, showed Mr Trudeau chatting with a group of leaders, including Mr Johnson, Mr Macron,
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, and Queen Elizabeth's daughter Princess Anne at Buckingham Palace.

At the start of the footage, Mr Johnson asked Mr Macron: "Is that why you were late?"

Mr Trudeau then interjects: "He was late because he takes a 40-minute press conference off the top."

Mr Macron then appears to tell an anecdote, but his words are drowned out by background noise. An amused Mr Trudeau then replies: "Oh yeah, yeah, he announced...
[inaudible]. You just watched his team's jaw drop to the floor."

In response, Mr Trump said of Mr Trudeau: "He's two-faced... I find him to be a nice guy, but the truth is I called him out on the fact that he's not paying 2%
[of national GDP towards defence] and I guess he's not very happy about it.

"He's not paying 2% and he should be paying 2%. Canada - they have money. Look, I'm representing the US and he should be paying more than he's paying, he understands
it... I can imagine he's not that happy but that's the way it is."

Asked about the video, Mr Johnson told reporters: "It's complete nonsense. I don't know where that's come from."

Mr Trudeau later told reporters that they hadn't been laughing about Mr Trump's press conference, but about the location of the next G7 summit - Camp David, the US presidential
country retreat.

"I have a very good relationship with Trump," he added.
----------------

🇺🇸 **Muhammad makes list of top 10 baby names in the U.S. for first time**
*SFGate* - <https://archive.ph/5u0Ku>

The parenting website BabyCenter released its annual list of 100 most popular baby names for girls and boys in the United States, and for the 10th year in a row, Sophia is at the top. Liam knocked Jackson out of the No. 1 spot that he had held onto for six years straight.

The online parenting and pregnancy destination compiled the names of babies born to some 600,000 registered U.S. users in 2019 and combined those that sound the same but have different spellings (such as Sophia and Sofia) to create a true measure of popularity. The Social Security Administration also generates a list, pulling from the names of all babies born in the U.S., but the agency treats each unique spelling as a separate name.

Almost all of last year's top-10 darlings are still favorites this year, with a few exceptions. Revealing a rise in Arabic names, Muhammad and Aaliyah made the top 10 for the first time, replacing Mason and Layla.

Muhammad is considered the most popular name in the world, and UK news site Independent says it is "given to an estimated 150 million men and boys."

"Muhammad's been rising on BabyCenter top baby name lists around the world, so we knew it would soon break into the U.S. top 10," Linda Murray, BabyCenter's global editor in chief, said in a press statement. "Muslim families often choose Muhammad for firstborn sons to honor the prophet and bring blessings to the child. The name also has multiple spellings, and that helps a name get into the top 10."

Last year and in 2017, Muhammad ranked No. 14 on BabyCenter's list. This year, it saw a 29 percent jump in popularity to make No. 10. It first entered the top 100 in 2013 and has been climbing ever since.
---------------

🇺🇸 **Uber reports more than 3,000 sexual assaults on 2018 rides**
*AP* - <https://archive.ph/FFMyB>

More than 3,000 sexual assaults were reported during U.S. Uber rides in 2018, the company said in a long-awaited safety report.

That figure includes 229 rapes across the company’s 1.3 billion rides. Uber noted that drivers and riders were both attacked, and that some assaults occurred between riders.

In 2017, the company said 2,936 sexual assaults were reported. Uber bases its numbers on reports from riders and drivers — meaning the actual numbers could be much higher. Sexual assaults commonly go unreported.

“I suspect many people will be surprised at how rare these incidents are; others will understandably think they’re still too common,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi tweeted about the report. “Some people will appreciate how much we’ve done on safety; others will say we have more work to do. They will all be right.”

Uber’s share price dropped more than 1% in after-hours trading.
---------------

🇺🇸 **Report: 6 Saudis Detained After Pensacola Shooting, Including 3 Who Filmed Attack**
*Breitbart/AFP* - <https://archive.ph/F6KP1>

Six Saudi nationals, including three who allegedly filmed Friday’s attack on Naval Air Station Pensacola, were reportedly detained after the shooting.

Breitbart News reported that a gunman opened fire at the air station Friday morning, killing three and wounding numerous others.

The Associated Press reports that the Pensacola gunman was an aviation student from Saudi Arabia, and NBC News reports that the gunman’s name was Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani.

Now the New York Times reports that six other Saudis were detained after the shooting and three of those six allegedly filmed the shooting as it unfolded in Pensacola.

The shooter was reportedly at the Pensacola to train. Former Gov. Rick Scott, currently Sen. Scott (R-FL), expressed concern that the Saudi attacker was in Pensacola training on a U.S. base.

The SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist media, identified the gunman as Mohammed al-Shamrani, saying he had posted a short manifesto on Twitter that read: “I’m against evil, and America as a whole has turned into a nation of evil.”

“I’m not against you for just being American, I don’t hate you because your freedoms, I hate you because every day you supporting, funding and committing crimes not only against Muslims but also humanity,” he wrote.
---------------

🇺🇸 **More than 100 miles of ‘new’ border wall expected by year-end**
*Washington Examiner* - <https://archive.ph/EQL7y>

The Trump administration expects to have more than 100 miles of “new” border wall built by Dec. 31, according to a top official.

“It keeps pressing ahead,” said Ken Cuccinelli, the acting deputy secretary of Homeland Security.

In an interview, Cuccinelli said about 90 miles of new and refurbished wall had been built under the administration’s effort.

“I would expect us to be in triple digits before we get into the new year,” added the former acting director of the U.S. Customs and Immigration Services.

The administration has struggled to get funding for President Trump’s top 2016 campaign promise and has tapped Pentagon money, which is starting to pour into the effort.

Once it arrives, Cuccinelli said that “we expect to be building at a much faster pace.”

Cuccinelli said that the actual construction hasn’t caused delays. “The hardest part of building isn’t building. It’s getting to the point where you break ground and can build,” he said.

Still, he said, as replacement of shabby fencing and construction of new wall picks up pace, it should reach a total of 400. “I’m still optimistic to get over another 400 milles. It’s a national example of good fences make good neighbors.”
---------------

🇺🇸 **House Democrats Pass Bill to Fight Voter ID Laws Nationwide**
*PJ Media* - <https://archive.ph/rgpvr>

While the country is being distracted by the Democrats' bogus impeachment, House Democrats passed H.R. 4, the so-called Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2019, on a mostly party-line vote. Democrats claim the legislation is about fighting voter suppression—because when Democrats lose elections it can only be because of voter suppression, obviously. "Action is urgently needed to combat the brazen voter suppression campaign that is spreading across America," Nancy Pelosi claimed at a press event Friday before the bill's passage.

The bill, if signed into law, would require states to obtain "preclearance" from the Justice Department in order to make changes to voter laws—a blatant infringement of states' rights. Why would Democrats want such a law in place? According to House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), the Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2019, "is a good step to right the wrongs that've dismantled the fundamental right to vote through Voter ID laws, purging voter rolls & closing majority-minority polling places."

The number one target of this legislation is clearly Voter ID laws. Many states passed Voter ID laws during the Obama administration and they were subsequently challenged in the courts. If this law had been in place during the Obama years, Eric Holder or Lorretta Lynch would have had the power to stop states from passing those laws.
---------------

🇬🇧 **Johnson election victory propels Britain toward swift Brexit**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.md/8ggYK>

Britain was speeding toward Brexit on Friday after Prime Minister Boris Johnson won a crushing election victory, ending three years of uncertainty since the country decided to leave the bloc.

Exiting the European Union, a goal Johnson has pursued relentlessly since he put himself forward as the face of the victorious “Leave” campaign in a 2016 referendum, is Britain’s biggest leap into the unknown since World War Two.

Johnson is now free to lead his country swiftly out of the vast trading bloc, but faces the daunting task of negotiating trade deals around the world, not least with the EU itself, and of keeping a divided kingdom in one piece.

“We will get Brexit done on time by the 31st of January, no ifs, no buts, no maybes,” a triumphant Johnson told cheering supporters as a grey dawn broke over London.

Later, he went to Buckingham Palace to ask Queen Elizabeth for permission to form a new government - a formal step required under the UK’s constitutional monarchy system.
----------------

🇺🇸 **The Space Force is officially the sixth military branch. Here’s what that means.**
*Air Force Times* - <https://archive.ph/E4nZg>

Air Force officials on Friday told reporters that people are clamoring for information on how to join the military’s latest branch. The short answer is, they’re going to have to wait a while.

President Trump officially signed the Space Force into law Friday, but for now, all that means is everyone at Air Force Space Command will now be assigned to Space Force. Over the next 18 months, officials said, the finer details of manning and training the new branch will be hammered out and set in motion.

“It’s going to be really important that we get this right. A uniform, a patch, a song ― it gets to the culture of a service,” said Air Force Gen. Jay Raymond, the head of Air Force Space Command and U.S. Space Command, who will lead Space Force until a chief of space operations is confirmed by the Senate. “There’s a lot of work going on toward that end. It’s going to take a long time to get to that point, but that’s not something we’re going to roll out on day one.”

For now, the 16,000 active-duty airmen and civilians who work at Air Force Space Command will be assigned to the Space Force, but nothing else will change. Uniforms, a rank structure, training and education are all to be determined, and for the foreseeable future, Space Force will continue to be manned by airmen, wearing, Air Force uniforms, subject to that service’s fitness program, personnel system and so on.

Meanwhile, U.S Space Command, which stood up in August, will continue to exist as a combatant command, similar to Cyber Command, Special Operations Command and others.

“There have been Army and Navy, especially, participants in the planning and the development of the staged roll-out that we have underway,” Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett said.
--------------

🇦🇺 **Australia fires: The thousands of volunteers fighting the flames**
*BBC* - <https://archive.md/mbKMg>

"We're doing it because it's a passion. It's a brotherhood," says Daniel Knox.

"When that photo was taken of me, I had done a 15-hour shift out there."

He is one of thousands of Australians who've dropped their ordinary lives to battle the nation's raging fire crisis.

For weeks, the 22-year-old landscaper has lived around his phone, springing into action when called upon.

He is part of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service (NSW RFS) which calls itself "the world's largest volunteer firefighting organisation".
Its 70,000 members are extensively trained and, except for a few senior staff, mostly unpaid.

Mr Knox joined his local brigade in Sydney's south-west five years ago, when he was 17. He bonded with a senior member - Andrew O'Dwyer - over football and photography.

"He took me under his wing, looked after me and helped me out so much. The respect he gave me, a young bloke, even when I made mistakes... he was my brother," he told the BBC.

Last Thursday, Mr O'Dwyer and Geoffrey Keaton, the deputy captain at the Horsley Park Fire Brigade, were sent out late at night to a massive firefront.

Since September, close to 3,000 firefighters have been out every day in NSW battling blazes the size of small European countries.

Close to 90% of those people on the ground are unpaid volunteers, says the NSW RFS, the government-funded organisation leading the fight.
----------------

🇷🇺 **Russia 'successfully tests' its unplugged internet**
*BBC* - <https://archive.md/wip/EuGDF>

Russia has successfully tested a country-wide alternative to the global internet, its government has announced.

Details of what the test involved were vague but, according to the Ministry of Communications, ordinary users did not notice any changes.

The results will now be presented to President Putin.

Experts remain concerned about the trend for some countries to dismantle the internet.

"Sadly, the Russian direction of travel is just another step in the increasing breaking-up of the internet," said Prof Alan Woodward, a computer scientist at the University of Surrey.

"Increasingly, authoritarian countries which want to control what citizens see are looking at what Iran and China have already done.

"It means people will not have access to dialogue about what is going on in their own country, they will be kept within their own bubble."

How would a domestic internet work?
The initiative involves restricting the points at which Russia's version of the net connects to its global counterpart, giving the government more control over what its citizens can access.

"That would effectively get ISPs [internet service providers] and telcos to configure the internet within their borders as a gigantic intranet, just like a large corporation does," explained Prof Woodward.

So how would the government establish what some have dubbed a "sovereign Runet"?

Countries receive foreign web services via undersea cables or "nodes" - connection points at which data is transmitted to and from other countries' communication networks. These would need to be blocked or at least regulated.

This would require the co-operation of domestic ISPs and would be much easier to achieve if there were just a handful of state-owned firms involved. The more networks and connections a country has, the more difficult it is to control access.
----------------

🇺🇸🇷🇺🇹🇷🇸🇾 **President Trump warns of ‘carnage’ in rebel stronghold in Syria**
*Fox 6* - <https://archive.ph/E4nZg>

President Donald Trump is speaking out against the “carnage” involving thousands of civilians in a rebel stronghold in Syria.

In a tweet Thursday, President Trump wrote: “Russia, Syria, and Iran are killing, or on their way to killing, thousands of innocent civilians in Idlib Province. Don’t do it! Turkey is working hard to stop this carnage.”

The tweet refers to an intense air and ground bombardment by government forces in southern and eastern Idlib province, the last rebel-held bastion in the country.

Syrian government forces about a month ago launched a renewed effort to take the province, which is dominated by al-Qaida-linked militants and is also home to 3 million civilians. The United Nations has warned of the growing risk of a humanitarian catastrophe along the Turkish border.

President Trump also addressed the plight of civilians in Idlib in June, accusing Russia, Syria and Iran of “indiscriminately killing many innocent civilians” in a bombing campaign. “The World is watching this butchery,” he tweeted then, imploring them to “STOP!” Several months later he announced he would withdraw U.S. troops from northeastern Syria.
--------------

🇺🇸 **Dershowitz Meets Trump At Christmas Dinner, Fueling Speculation Of Joining Trump’s Legal Team**
*Daily Wire* - <https://archive.ph/sJYJE>

Tuesday night, famed attorney Alan Dershowitz met President Trump at Trump’s annual Christmas Eve dinner in the ballroom at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, fueling more speculation that he may join Trump’s legal team, which is dealing with the impeachment proceedings against the president. As The Daily Mail reported, “Trump got up from his table, where he was seated next to first lady Melania Trump, to walk over and talk to Dershowitz after reports his legal team has discussed bringing Dershowitz on board to help with the president’s impeachment trial in the Senate.

When The Daily Mail queried him about his appearance, Dershowitz responded, “I was a guest of friends of mine. Not part of the Trump Christmas party. The president came over to say hello to me and my wife. We wished each other happy holidays.”

In May, Dershowitz contributed an opinion piece at The Hill, in which he defended Trump’s comments in which he stated that if he were indeed impeached by the House, he might “head to the Supreme Court.”

Dershowitz noted, “No one should criticize President Trump for raising the possibility of Supreme Court review, especially following Bush v. Gore, the case that ended the 2000 election. Many of the same academics ridiculed the notion that the justices would enter the political thicket of vote-counting. But they did and, in the process, weakened the “political question” doctrine.”
--------------

🇨🇳🇷🇺🇮🇷 **China, Russia, Iran to hold joint naval drills**
*Yahoo/AFP* - <https://archive.ph/wip/F1gJy>

China, Russia and Iran will hold joint naval drills starting Friday in the Gulf of Oman, Beijing and Tehran said, at a time of heightened tensions since the US withdrew from a landmark nuclear deal with Tehran.

Set to take place from December 27 to 30, the military exercises aim to "deepen exchange and cooperation between the navies of the three countries", Chinese defence ministry spokesman Wu Qian told reporters Thursday.

Wu said the Chinese navy would deploy its Xining guided missile destroyer -- nicknamed the "carrier killer" for its array of anti-ship and land attack cruise missiles -- in the drills.

But he did not give details on how many personnel or ships would take part overall.

For Iran, the drill's purpose was to bolster "international commerce security in the region" and "fighting terrorism and piracy," said senior armed forces spokesman Brigadier General Aboldazl Shekarchi.

The exercise would "stabilise security" in the region and benefit the world, state news agency IRNA quoted him as saying on Wednesday.

The US reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran in May last year after withdrawing from the international deal aimed at tackling the Islamic Republic's nuclear programme, prompting Tehran to hit back with countermeasures.

Remaining parties to the badly weakened 2015 deal include China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany.

China's foreign minister said the exercises were part of "normal military cooperation" between the three countries.
--------------

🇺🇸 **President Trump approves raising legal smoking age to 21**
*New York Post* - <https://archive.ph/EDxIY>

By signing the $738 billion Defense Spending Bill, on Friday, President Donald Trump has raised the legal age for smoking to 21 nationwide — news that went largely unnoticed.

The new rules include cigarettes and e-cigarettes.

The smoking age hike had bipartisan support in the Senate, and was co-authored by Democrats Brian Schatz and Dick Durbin, and Republicans Mitt Romney and Todd Young, CNN reported.

Now that Trump’s signature is on the bill, the Food and Drug Administration has 180 days to update its regulations — and the new age requirement will go into effect 90 days later, ABC News reported.

Nineteen states, including New York, have already raised the smoking age to 21, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
--------------

Yeah that will stop all those young kids who are somehow already smoking and vaping from smoking and vaping

Let's ban guns too that way all those criminals who already have them will stop useing them

🇦🇫 **Taliban Has Agreed to Cease-Fire in Afghanistan, With Possibility of Peace Deal: Report**
*Newsweek* - <https://archive.ph/1yvZU>

The Taliban announced on Sunday that they have agreed to a temporary cease-fire in Afghanistan, providing hope that a potential peace agreement could move forward with the U.S. and the Afghan government.

The Associated Press first reported, citing anonymous Taliban officials, that the temporary agreement had been announced, although the promised duration is unclear. The news services said that some have suggested it would last at least 10 days, and it is expected that the Taliban's leader will sign the pending peace agreement.

The U.S. hopes to ink a peace deal that would allow President Donald Trump to end the longest war in the nation's history, which was launched 18 years ago in 2001 after the U.S. was attacked by Al Qaeda on September 11 of that year. Prior attempts by the Trump administration to secure an agreement had stalled, as the Taliban appeared unwilling to make commitments required by the U.S.

According to The Associated Press report, a "key pillar" of the potential deal will be direct negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government to shape the future of the south Asian nation. Those negotiations would reportedly cover topics ranging from a path forward on free speech, women's rights, the fate of Taliban fighters, and what will happen to Afghan warlords.
--------------

🇺🇸🇷🇺 **Putin thanks Trump for tip Russia says foiled attacks**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.md/wip/XcVAH>

Russia said on Sunday it had thwarted terrorism attacks reportedly planned in St. Petersburg thanks to a tip from Washington, bringing personal thanks again from President Vladimir Putin to his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump.

Russian news agencies cited the Federal Security Service (FSB) as saying that thanks to the information, two Russians were detained on Dec. 27 on suspicion of plotting attacks during New Year festivities in St. Petersburg.

The Kremlin said Putin passed on his gratitude to Trump during a phone call on Sunday for the tip from U.S. special services. It gave no more details.

Diplomatic ties between Washington and Moscow are fraught over disagreements from Ukraine to Syria and allegations of Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential election, but Trump and Putin have managed to keep personal lines open.

Two years ago, the Russian leader also phoned Trump to thank him for a tip that Russia said helped prevent a bomb attack on a cathedral in St Petersburg. Russia has repeatedly been the target of attacks by militant groups including Islamic State.

Sunday’s Kremlin statement said Putin and Trump agreed to continue bilateral cooperation to tackle terrorism.
----------------

🇮🇶 **U.S. strikes in Iraq, Syria target Iranian-backed Shi'ite Muslim militia group**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.md/wip/Pkgin>

The U.S. military carried out air strikes in Iraq and Syria against the Kataib Hezbollah militia group in response to the killing of a U.S. civilian contractor in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base, U.S. officials said on Sunday.

Iraqi security and militia sources said at least 18 militia fighters were killed and more than 50 wounded following three U.S. air strikes in Iraq on Sunday.

At least four local Kataib Hezbollah commanders were among the dead, the sources said, adding that one of the strikes had targeted the militia group’s headquarters near the western Qaim district on the border with Syria.

The Pentagon said it had targeted three locations of the Iranian-backed Shi’ite Muslim militia group in Iraq and two in Syria. The locations included weapons storage facilities and command and control locations the group had
used to plan and execute attacks on coalition forces, it said.

A U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the strikes were carried out by F-15 fighter jets.

The United States had accused Kataib Hezbollah of carrying out a strike involving more than 30 rockets on Friday which killed the U.S. civilian contractor and injured four U.S. service members and two members of the
Iraqi Security Forces near the oil-rich city of Kirkuk.

“In response to repeated Kata’ib Hizbollah attacks on Iraqi bases that host Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) coalition forces, U.S. forces have conducted precision defensive strikes ... that will degrade KH’s ability to
conduct future attacks against OIR coalition forces” chief Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said in a statement.
----------------

🇮🇶🇮🇷 **Trump Orders US Drone Strike, Killing Iraq Militia Officials and Iran's Quds Force Head**
*Newsweek* - <https://archive.ph/KX1A7>

President Donald Trump ordered a U.S. drone strike that killed two senior Iraqi militia officials and the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Quds Force. The operation, which Trump approved Thursday morning, escalated tensions that had been simmering in Iraq during a week of unrest and bloodshed, and it put the U.S. in an aggressive posture in the region.

Hours after Newsweek reported the drone attack, Trump tweeted the image of the American flag.

Mohammed Redha al-Jabri, head of protocol of Iraq's state-sponsored Popular Mobilization Forces, was killed Thursday "along with three guests accompanying him," Al-Hashed Al-Shaabi, also known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, told Newsweek. The group initially denied rumors that Popular Mobilization Forces deputy commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis was also killed or injured, saying he was "well and currently in his residence in Baghdad."

A senior Pentagon official then confirmed to Newsweek that Muhandis was indeed killed, along with Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, pending DNA results that had a "high probability" of identifying the two men as the targets.

Shortly after, the Popular Mobilization Forces confirmed to Newsweek "the martyrdom of deputy head of Al-Hashed, Haj Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani in an American strike that targeted their vehicles on the road of Baghdad International Airport."

Earlier Thursday, the Iraqi military's Security Media Cell reported that "three Katyusha rockets fell on Baghdad International Airport, near the air cargo terminal, destroying two vehicles and wounding a number of civilians."
--------------

🇹🇼 **Taiwan president wins by landslide in stinging rebuke to China**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.md/u2Wmz>

Taiwanese re-elected President Tsai Ing-wen by a landslide on Saturday, a stern rebuke to China which has tried both military threats and economic inducements to get the island to accept its rule, and potentially ushering in further tension with Beijing.

China and the months of anti-government unrest in Chinese-ruled Hong Kong took center stage in the campaign. Tsai held out Taiwan as a beacon of hope for protesters in the former British colony, and firmly rejected
Beijing’s offer to Taiwan of the “one country, two systems” model.

China claims Taiwan as its sacred territory, to be taken by force if needed, a threat Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated year ago, though said he preferred a peaceful solution.

“One country, two systems,” which provides for a high degree of autonomy, much as Beijing uses in Hong Kong, has never been popular in Taiwan, and is even less so now after the months of protests in Hong Kong.

China made itself even more unpopular in Taiwan in the run-up to the election by twice sailing its newest aircraft carrier through the sensitive Taiwan Strait, denounced by Taipei as an effort at military intimidation.

“We hope that the Beijing authorities can understand that a democratic Taiwan with a government chosen by the people will not give in to threats and intimidation,” Tsai told reporters after her victory.

Beijing needs to understand the will of Taiwan’s people, and that only Taiwan’s people can decide its future, she added.

Tsai beat her main opponent Han Kuo-yu of the Kuomintang party, which favors close ties with China, by more than 2.6 million votes.
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🇮🇷 **Iran says its military shot down Ukrainian plane in 'disastrous mistake'**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.md/EJCxa>

Iran said on Saturday its military had mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian plane killing all 176 aboard, saying air defences were fired in error while on alert in the tense aftermath of Iranian missile strikes on U.S. targets in Iraq.

Iran had denied for days after Wednesday’s crash that it brought down the plane, although a top Revolutionary Guards commander said on Saturday that he had informed the authorities about the unintentional
missile strike the same day it happened.

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who until Saturday had kept silent about the crash, said information should be made public, while top officials and the military issued apologies.

But state television suggested revealing the truth about what happened might be used by “enemies of Iran”, usually a reference to the United States and Israel.

The crash heightened international pressure on Iran after months of friction with the United States and tit-for-tat attacks. A U.S. drone strike had killed a top Iranian military commander in Iraq on Jan. 3, prompting Tehran to
fire at U.S. targets on Wednesday.

Canada, which had 57 citizens on board, and the United States had both said they believed an Iranian missile brought down the aircraft, although they said it was probably an error.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran deeply regrets this disastrous mistake,” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani wrote on Twitter, promising that those behind the incident would be prosecuted. “My thoughts and prayers go to all the mourning families.”

Experts said mounting international scrutiny would have made it all but impossible to hide signs of a missile strike in any investigation and Iran may have felt a U-turn was better than battling rising criticism abroad and growing grief and
anger at home, as many victims were Iranians with dual nationality.
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🇺🇸 **Texas governor to reject new refugees under Trump order**
*BBC* - <https://archive.md/x0F7V>

The Republican governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, has said the state will not accept new refugees under the US government's resettlement programme.
The decision means Texas will become the first state known to do so.

Last year US President Donald Trump signed an executive order allowing states to opt out of the programme.
On Friday, Mr Abbott said Texas had done "more than its share in assisting the refugee resettlement process".

Refugee agencies have criticised the move, with one calling it "deeply disappointing".
Texas has large refugee populations in several of its major cities. In the 2018 fiscal year, Texas took in 1,697 refugees - more than any other state, but a large drop from 4,768 in the previous fiscal year.

Justifying his decision in a letter to the US State Department, Mr Abbott argued that the state should be focused on "those who are already here, including refugees, migrants, and the homeless - indeed, all Texans".
On that basis, Mr Abbott said he "cannot consent to initial refugee resettlement" in 2020, but added that the decision "does not deny any refugee access" to the US.

Refugees who are already settled in other states, Mr Abbott said, will be allowed to move to Texas if they choose. However, resettlement agencies say they would not have access to federal resettlement benefits, such as housing.

In September last year, President Trump announced that states must actively consent to any resettlement of refugees after June 2020.
So far, the governors of more than 40 other states have said they will opt in to the government programme.
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🇧🇪 **Police detain 185 climate protesters at Brussels car show**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.md/x7zhf>

Police detained 185 protesters in central Brussels on Saturday after the environmental protest group Extinction Rebellion staged demonstrations at a car show in protest at the auto industry’s role in CO2
emissions that cause climate change.

The protest came only days after the European Commission unveiled ideas on how to finance its flagship Green Deal project that aims to make the European Union a CO2 emissions-neutral area by 2050,
in part through the transformation of the car industry.

A member and former spokesman for the group, Christophe Meierhans, said Extinction Rebellion targeted the car industry because it told “a lot of lies in order to sell more cars”.

One protester, his face covered with black paint, chanted “Shell kills” referring to the oil company Royal Dutch Shell before lying down in front of the company’s stall, while other protesters gathered around
wearing face masks with the company’s logo.

The protesters were quickly taken away by police and the show’s security personnel briefly blocked access to the area.

Later, demonstrators carried out a “die-in” outside the show’s entrance and were also removed by police without resisting arrest.

The show’s organizers said in a statement they expected 500,000 visitors to visit the 10-day car show, the largest of its kind in the country.
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🇬🇧 **UK's Harry and Meghan to drop titles and retire as working royals**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.md/n792i>

Prince Harry and his wife Meghan will no longer be working members of Britain’s monarchy and they will pay their own way in life as they embark on an independent future, Buckingham Palace said on Saturday.

They will also no longer use their “Royal Highness” titles, the palace said in an announcement that sought to end turmoil in the monarchy sparked earlier this month when the couple announced they wanted to
reduce their official duties and spend more time in North America.

The queen and senior family members met last week to discuss the situation and have been in “constructive and friendly” discussions with officials on how this stepping back would work in practice for Harry, 35,
and his American wife, former actress Meghan, 38.

“Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved members of my family,” Queen Elizabeth said in a statement issued by the palace, referring to the couple’s baby son.

“I recognize the challenges they have experienced as a result of intense scrutiny over the last two years and support their wish for a more independent life.”

The queen said she was “particularly proud” of how quickly Meghan had become one of the family. The couple married in May 2018 in a lavish ceremony at her home in Windsor Castle, west of London in front of a global TV audience of millions.

Harry will remain a prince and the couple will keep their titles of Duke and Duchess of Sussex as they begin a new life split between North America and Britain, but they will not take part in any future ceremonial events or royal tours.

A palace spokeswoman said the couple would no longer receive public money and that they would repay the cost of refurbishing their cottage in Windsor, which official figures show amounted to 2.4 million pounds ($3.1 million).
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🇺🇸 **Thousands of heavily armed protesters in bullet proof vests chant 'we will not comply' in gun rights rally against Virginia's Democrat governor's proposed clampdown on firearms**
*Daily Mail* - <https://archive.ph/I5TJX>

More than 20,000 people converged in the streets of Richmond, Virginia, on Monday to protest their right to bear arms in the face of swingeing state gun control laws set to be enacted later this year.

They started arriving before dawn – army veterans, stay-at-home-moms, attorneys, welders, democrats, republicans – united under banners defending the second amendment and, they believe, a constitution under attack.

And many of them came with their guns: AR-15s, long-guns and handguns. Governor Ralph Northam had issued a ban on a list of weapons including guns on Capitol Grounds but though the official rally was confined to a steel pen in the grounds sloping up to Virginia State Capitol, there were more people outside that perimeter and outside the scope of the ban.

Security was tight and visible – hundreds of cops on the streets and in the grounds, screening lanes at the only entrance to the park, the rest of which had been fenced off.

Officials say 7,000 actually entered the rally site and another 15,000 remained in the streets.
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🇸🇪 **75,000 People “Became Swedish” Last Year**
*The Local* - <http://archive.md/s9Z4y>

Thousands of people became Swedish citizens in 2019, so here's a look at who they are, and how the figure has changed over time.

Sweden welcomed a total of 74,924 new citizens over the course of the year. That's an increase from the previous year, when 63,818 people became Swedish.

As the new year began, 98,107 people were awaiting a decision on their citizenship application.
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🇰🇵 **North Korea abandons nuclear freeze pledge, blames 'brutal' U.S. sanctions**
*Reuters* - <http://archive.md/nGxsP>

North Korea said on Tuesday it was no longer bound by commitments to halt nuclear and missile testing, blaming the United States’ failure to meet a year-end deadline for nuclear talks and “brutal and inhumane” U.S. sanctions.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un set an end-December deadline for denuclearization talks with the United States and White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien said at the time the United States had opened channels of communication.

O’Brien said then he hoped Kim would follow through on denuclearization commitments he made at summits with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Ju Yong Chol, a counselor at North Korea’s mission to the U.N. in Geneva, said that over the past two years, his country had halted nuclear tests and test firing of inter-continental ballistic missiles “in order to build confidence with the United States”.

But the United States had responded by conducting dozens of joint military exercises with South Korea on the divided peninsula and by imposing sanctions, he said.

“As it became clear now that the U.S. remains unchanged in its ambition to block the development of the DPRK and stifle its political system, we found no reason to be unilaterally bound any longer by the commitment that the other party fails to honor,” Ju told the U.N.-backed Conference on Disarmament.

Speaking as the envoy from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), North Korea’s official name, Ju accused the United States of applying “the most brutal and inhumane sanctions”.

“If the U.S. persists in such hostile policy toward the DPRK there will never be the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula,” he said.

“If the United States tries to enforce unilateral demands and persists in imposing sanctions, North Korea may be compelled to seek a new path.”
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🇱🇧 **Lebanon forms new government**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.ph/u7Elj>

Lebanon formed a new government on Tuesday, the presidency announced after Shi’ite Hezbollah and its allies clinched a deal on a cabinet that must tackle the country’s worst economic crisis in decades.

Heavily indebted Lebanon has been without effective government since Saad al-Hariri resigned as premier in October under pressure from protests against state corruption and waste - root causes of the crisis.
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🇷🇺 **Russia gets new government in what Putin calls "major renewal"**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.ph/CyLdN>

Russian President Vladimir Putin approved a new government on Tuesday which he described as a break with the past, bringing in some fresh faces but retaining many senior ministers.

The new government included a new economy minister and a new first deputy prime minister, but the finance, foreign, defense, energy and agriculture ministers all kept their jobs.

The new team was formed less than a week after Putin unveiled a sweeping shake-up of the political system, which led to the resignation of his ally Dmitry Medvedev as prime minister along with the entire government.

Putin went on to pick 53-year-old former tax chief Mikhail Mishustin, who has almost no political profile, as his new prime minister.

Putin’s wider shake-up, which envisages changing the constitution, is widely seen as preparing the ground for 2024, when Putin, now 67, is obliged to leave the presidency after occupying the Kremlin or the prime minister’s job continuously since 1999.

Critics have long said Putin, a former KGB officer, wants to stay on in some capacity after his term ends so that he can wield power over the world’s largest nation and one of its two biggest nuclear powers.
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🇮🇷 **Iranian lawmaker announces a $3 million cash reward for 'whoever kills Trump'**
*Fox News* - <https://archive.md/FdLUN>

An Iranian lawmaker apparently has placed a $3 million bounty on President Trump’s head.

Ahmad Hamzeh made the declaration Tuesday during a speech to parliament in Tehran, although it’s unclear whether it has any backing from Iran’s top leaders, Reuters reported, citing the ISNA news agency.

“On behalf of the people of Kerman province, we will pay a $3 million reward in cash to whoever kills Trump,” Hamzeh was quoted as saying.

During his speech, Hamzeh also addressed Iran’s nuclear program, vowing that “if we had nuclear weapons today, we would be protected from threats.”

“We should put the production of long-range missiles capable of carrying unconventional warheads on our agenda,” ISNA quoted him as saying. “This is our natural right.”
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🇨🇳**China virus spreads to U.S., curbing travel plans and spooking markets**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.md/05x8p>

The toll from the Wuhan coronavirus in China rose to six deaths on Tuesday and the first case was reported in the United States, sending markets tumbling on fears of economic damage as tourists canceled
travel plans and airports stepped up screening.

The virus struck as millions of Chinese prepared to travel for the Lunar New Year, heightening contagion risks. Many in China scrambled to buy face masks to protect themselves from the previously unknown, flu-like infection.

The outbreak, which began in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, also worried financial markets as investors recalled China’s Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic in 2002-2003, a coronavirus outbreak that killed nearly 800 people.

“We’ll stay at home during the holiday. I’m scared as I remember SARS very well,” said Zhang Xinyuan, who had been bound from Beijing for the Thai resort of Phuket before she and her husband decided to cancel their air tickets.

A traveler from China was diagnosed in Seattle with the Wuhan coronavirus, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said, the first case identified in the United States. The patient was in good condition, the CDC said.

The agency said it expected to see more cases in the United States, had developed a new test to identify the virus and was in talks with the National Institutes of Health about developing a vaccine.

Authorities have confirmed more than 300 cases of the virus in China, mostly in Wuhan. Wuhan Mayor Zhou Xianwang told Chinese state television on Tuesday that six people had died in his city.

The disease is spreading around other parts of China, including five cases in capital Beijing.
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🇺🇸🇬🇧 **Prince Andrew has provided 'zero cooperation' in Epstein probe**
*NBC News* - <https://archive.ph/Otzpi>

Prince Andrew has provided "zero cooperation" in the investigation of Jeffrey Epstein's network of enablers, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York said Monday.

Andrew, who has been accused of having sex with a teenage girl trafficked by Epstein, has publicly indicated that he would be willing to assist in any investigation related to the case.

But U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman, speaking outside the late financier's mansion in New York City, said the FBI and New York prosecutors have reached out to the prince and his attorneys but have yet to receive any assistance from him.

"To date, Prince Andrew has provided zero cooperation," Berman said.

Buckingham Palace did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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🇺🇸 **Trump leaps into Middle East fray with plan that favors Israel, upsets Palestinians**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/tLhuc>

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday proposed creating a Palestinian state as part of a Middle East peace solution, drawing Palestinian condemnation for imposing strict conditions
and for agreeing to let Israel maintain control of long-contested West Bank settlements.

Trump announced his plan for Israeli-Palestinian peace at a White House event with embattled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu standing at his side. It includes what Trump called a four-year
freeze by Israel on new settlement activity.

Although Trump’s stated aim was to end decades of conflict, the plan he advanced favored Israel, underscored by the absence of Palestinians from Trump’s announcement.

It seemed unlikely to immediately advance Israeli-Palestinian talks that broke down in 2014, but the plan was called “an important starting point for a return to negotiations” by the United Arab Emirates.
Egypt also offered an encouraging statement.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, however, mocked what Trump has called the “deal of the century,” describing it as the “slap of the century.”

Palestinians have refused to deal with the Trump administration in protest at pro-Israel policies such as moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the eastern part of which is sought by the Palestinians.

Trump set in motion a four-year timeline for Palestinians to agree to a security arrangement with Israel, halt attacks by the Islamist militant group Hamas and set up governing institutions in order to establish a
Palestinian state with its capital in Abu Dis, a part of east Jerusalem.

This too poses a potential problem for Palestinians.
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🇵🇸 **Palestinians cut ties with Israel, U.S. after rejecting peace plan**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/Z4eBc>

The Palestinian Authority has cut all ties with the United States and Israel, including those relating to security, after rejecting a Middle East peace plan presented by U.S. President Donald Trump,
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Saturday.

Abbas was in Cairo to address the Arab League, which backed the Palestinians in their opposition to Trump’s plan.

The blueprint, endorsed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calls for the creation of a demilitarised Palestinian state that excludes Jewish settlements built in occupied territory and is under near-total Israeli security control.

“We’ve informed the Israeli side ... that there will be no relations at all with them and the United States including security ties,” Abbas told the one-day emergency meeting, called to discuss Trump’s plan.

Israeli officials had no immediate comment on his remarks.

Israel and the Palestinian Authority’s security forces have long cooperated in policing areas of the occupied West Bank that are under Palestinian control. The PA also has intelligence cooperation agreements with the CIA, which continued even after the Palestinians began boycotting the Trump administration’s peace efforts in 2017.

Abbas also said he had refused to discuss the plan by with Trump by phone, or to receive even a copy of it to study it.
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