JANUARY 5, 2019


NEWS AND VIEWS


I HAVE HEARD OF THIS KIND OF THING ONCE OR TWICE BEFORE, BUT I HOPE THIS WILL BE THE LAST TIME. FIRST, CARE FACILITIES OF ALL KINDS INCLUDING PRISONS SHOULD DIG INTO THEIR WORKER’S PAST BACKGROUND AND REFUSE TO HIRE PEOPLE LIKE THIS. SECOND, I’LL BET THIS ISN’T EVEN CALLED RAPE. IT WOULD GET 20 YEARS IN PRISON, IF I HAD MY WAY. IF HE SPENDS A YEAR ACTUALLY BEHIND BARS, THOUGH, I’LL BE SURPRISED.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2019/01/05/woman-vegetative-state-gave-birth-now-police-are-investigating-sexual-assault/
A woman in a vegetative state for years gave birth. Police are investigating.
By Cleve R. Wootson Jr. January 5 at 12:51 PM

Photograph -- (iStock) (sudok1/iStock)

A near-drowning had left the woman in a persistent vegetative state for nearly a decade.

Her universe consisted mostly of a room at a Phoenix Hacienda HealthCare facility where she received round-the-clock care. So when she went into labor a few days after Christmas, her caretakers were flummoxed.

“From what I’ve been told, she was moaning,” an unidentified source told Phoenix CBS affiliate KPHO. “And they didn’t know what was wrong with her. … None of the staff were aware that she was pregnant until she was pretty much giving birth."

On Dec. 29, with help from one of the facility’s nurses, the patient gave birth to a healthy baby boy, KPHO reported.

The birth — and the sexual assault of a vulnerable individual that must have preceded it — has cast a harsh glare on conditions at a nonprofit organization that bills itself as a leading provider of health care for Phoenix’s medically fragile.

A Phoenix police spokesman told The Washington Post that the department is investigating but did not release details about the case. A police report and 911 calls were also not available Saturday. Hacienda HealthCare, which has 40 programs that serve more than 2,500 people a year in Arizona, according to its website, did not immediately respond to calls and messages seeking comment.

But amid the firestorm that has engulfed it in the first week of the new year, the organization has released two statements, vowing to determine what happened.

“As an organization, Hacienda HealthCare stands fully committed to getting to the truth of what, for us, represents an unprecedented matter,” David Leibowitz, spokesman for Hacienda HealthCare, said in a statement released to ABC News.

Another statement said Hacienda is “already conducting a comprehensive internal review of our processes, protocols, and people to ensure that every single Hacienda resident is as safe and well cared for as possible. Anything less than that is unacceptable to our team, our company’s leaders and the communities we serve.”

No one has been arrested in connection with the incident, and it’s unclear whether police have identified any suspects. In Arizona, sexually assaulting a vulnerable adult is a felony.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey’s office released a statement saying the reports are “deeply troubling.”

In addition to working with police, the state is “reevaluating the state’s contract and regulatory authority as it relates to this facility and have been working closely with state agencies to ensure all necessary safety measures are in place,” Patrick Ptak, a spokesman for the governor, said in a statement.

The state’s Department of Economic Security dispatched a team to conduct health and safety checks at the facility, and the Department of Health Services has beefed up safety measures: more staff, increased monitoring and stronger security.

Hacienda HealthCare was founded five decades ago. Then, it was called Hacienda de los Angeles, or “the dwelling of the angels.” Hacienda HealthCare over time became the umbrella for several programs in the Phoenix area that treat chronically ill infants, children and adults.

There have been reports of patient mistreatment. For example, an investigation in 2013 found that a staff member had made “inappropriate, sexual statements” about four clients. The staff member remarked that one client with intellectual disabilities had been placed in a sexual position. The worker had also been observed watching clients touch themselves. The alleged incidents weren’t reported to the facility’s administrators until a month after they occurred.

That staff member was ultimately terminated, but the state found that the facility “failed to ensure clients . . . were treated with dignity.”

Cleve R. Wootson Jr.
Cleve Wootson is a general assignment reporter for The Washington Post. He was previously a reporter for the Charlotte Observer. Follow


OH, POOR BABY!!

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-asked-pelosi-why-everyone-wants-to-impeach-him-source-says/
Trump asked Pelosi why everyone wants to impeach him, source says
BY FIN GOMEZ
UPDATED ON: JANUARY 5, 2019 / 2:12 PM / CBS NEWS

Washington — More descriptions of the heated exchanges between President Trump and congressional Democratic leaders during their two-hour meeting Friday are emerging — and the partial government shutdown wasn't the only topic on Mr. Trump's mind. Though the president later described the meetings over border security as "productive," Democratic leaders told reporters afterward that the discussions had been "contentious."

According to a source familiar with the meeting, Mr. Trump initiated the talks – held for the second time this week in the White House Situation Room – by lambasting the shutdown impasse and again demanding $5.6 billion for border security, which he declared to be the minimum figure he needed to build the southern border wall he has been promising since his presidential campaign.

But Democratic leaders, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, again refused to consider that number. The president then told them he was willing to continue to the shutdown "for months or even years" unless the Democrats agreed to what he says is crucial funding for the southern border.

"I did say that. Absolutely, I said that," Mr, Trump later confirmed at a press conference, when CBS News' Major Garrett asked him if he had in fact told them that he'd keep the government shut for "years."

During the meeting, Mr. Trump also brought up the topic of impeachment, railing against calls by some Democrats to impeach him, according to a source familiar with the exchange.

"Why does everyone want to impeach me, Nancy?" Mr. Trump asked.

No one wants to impeach you, Pelosi told the president and tried to move the focus of the meeting back to border security. Although one freshman Democrat, Rashida Tlaib, had said of the president to a group of progressives this week, "We're going to impeach the motherf*****."

Mr. Trump also tried unsuccessfully to appeal to Pelosi's Roman Catholic faith in arguing for wall funding.

"The Vatican has walls. The Vatican has walls surrounding the city," Mr. Trump said, according to the source. "You like the Vatican, Nancy?"

"Let's change the subject, sir," Pelosi replied.

It was not the first time the president has brought up the Vatican walls as a comparison in their discussions, administration sources said. The president mentioned the Vatican during their meeting earlier in the week, too.

A source familiar with the exchange said the president respects Pelosi and was just kidding with her to make a point. But she seemed to take the comment "not well."

Pelosi and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen also had a contentious interaction over the border security facts that Nielsen presented during the meeting, an administration official confirmed. As she did during an earlier meeting in the week, Pelosi interrupted Nielsen's presentation and challenged facts she cited about the southwest border.

"These aren't my facts," Nielsen replied." They are just facts."

Staff-level negotiations involving Vice President Mike Pence are expected to continue through the weekend as the partial government shutdown enters its third week.


Rebecca Kaplan and Nancy Cordes contributed to this report.

First published on January 5, 2019

© 2019 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.


https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/01/egypt-israel-close-cooperation-sinai-fighters-sisi-190105112005391.html
NEWS/ABDEL FATTAH EL-SISI
Egypt, Israel in close cooperation against Sinai fighters: Sisi
Egyptian president tells CBS the former enemies are in 'wide-ranging' military coordination against armed groups.
JANUARY 5, 2019 12 hours ago

PHOTOGRAPH -- Sisi told CBS his country and Israel, with whom Egypt fought four wars, are cooperating against armed groups in Sinai [Ronald Zak/AP]

Egypt's president has told a US broadcaster his country and Israel are cooperating against armed groups in the Sinai Peninsula, a potentially damaging acknowledgement that could explain a request that the network not air the interview.

Excerpts from the interview released by CBS over the weekend also showed President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi denying there are political prisoners in Egypt, where he has overseen one of the largest crackdowns on dissent in the country's modern history since the overthrow by the military, then led by him, of a divisive president.

CBS, which will air the full interview Sunday on its show 60 Minutes, said it has rejected a request by the Egyptian government not to show it. It did not say which part of the president's comments Cairo objected to, but the cooperation with Israel, with whom Egypt has a 1979 peace treaty, appears to be the most contentious part.

Egypt's military last year denied press reports that it and Israel were cooperating against insurgents in northern Sinai, a region of rugged mountains and desert bordering Israel and the Gaza Strip where Egyptian security forces have for years battled the fighters, now led by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group.

According to the excerpts, el-Sisi was asked if his country's cooperation with Israel was the closest ever between the two countries. "That is correct... We have a wide range of cooperation with the Israelis," he responded.

Imprisoned in Egypt: Two years since arrest of Mahmoud Hussein (1:34)
Israeli officials have publicly praised security cooperation with el-Sisi's Egypt, which has successfully secured Israel's permission to deploy troops, artillery, and helicopter gunships close to the Israeli border to fight the armed groups in contravention of the peace treaty's limitations on the number of troops and weapons Egypt can have in the region.

El-Sisi has, since taking office in 2014, met at least twice with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Their meetings have received little media attention in Egypt, a country where most people still view their neighbour as their sworn enemy and where trade unions and most political parties are vehemently opposed to the "normalisation" of relations with Israel.

What detentions?
In the interview, Sisi questioned a recent Human Rights Watch report that Egypt was detaining 60,000 political prisoners.

"I don't know where they got that figure. I said there are no political prisoners in Egypt. Whenever there is a minority trying to impose their extremist ideology we have to intervene regardless of their numbers," he told CBS.

El-Sisi has in the past claimed that everyone in detention is facing legal proceedings for a specific crime committed, but rights activists complain of long detentions without charges - as long as two years or more in some cases - trials that don't observe the letter or the spirit of the law and judges more concerned with "protecting the state" than enforcing the law.

Al Jazeera journalist Mahmoud Hussein was arrested in December 2016 as he returned home to visit his family. Hussein has been held in an Egyptian prison without charge for 743 days.

The detentions are part of a large crackdown on dissent that includes tight control of the media, placing draconian restrictions on rights groups and reversing most of the freedoms gained by a 2011 uprising against autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

El-Sisi won a second, four-year term in office last year after running virtually unopposed.

INSIDE STORY -- Egypt: Will the Sinai military operation succeed?

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES


WHO ARE THE POLITICAL PRISONERS?

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/11/egypt-arrests-dozens-human-rights-activists-lawyers-hrw-181119061319361.html
Dozens of human rights activists, lawyers arrested by Egypt: HRW
At least 40 arrested since late October, with 'repression' extending to human rights defenders, Human Rights Watch says.
19 Nov 2018

PHOTOGRAPH -- Since the 2013 military coup, Egypt has jailed thousands who share the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as secular and left-wing activists [Eslam Gomaa/EPA]

Egyptian authorities have arrested at least 40 human rights advocates, lawyers and political activists within the last 30 days and held them in "undisclosed locations", Human Rights Watch has said.

"Many of those arrested were people who provided humanitarian and legal support to families of political detainees," HRW said, calling on the government to reveal their whereabouts.

"The Egyptian security agencies' repression now extends to disappearing those brave men and women who have been trying to protect the disappeared," said Michael Page, HRW deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa region.

"The government apparently wants to quash what remains of Egyptian civil society."

The rights group spoke with a lawyer and three activists who had been "in direct touch" with the families of those arrested.

WATCH: Arrested, banned, exiled - Egypt's dissenting voices (26:00)
One source told HRW that as many as 80 people had been arrested, but the rights group said it could verify only 40 names.

Sources told HRW that some of the detainees were close to the Egyptian Coordination for Rights and Freedoms, an independent human rights group which, it said, has come under fire from pro-government media in recent months.

Also arrested was Hoda Abdel Moneim, a 60-year-old lawyer and former member of the official National Council for Human Rights.

One of her family members said that authorities blindfolded Moneim, put her in a police car, and drove her to an undisclosed location.

Authorities also arrested Aisha Khairat al-Shater, the daughter of a former Muslim Brotherhood leader currently in detention, along with her husband, lawyer Mohammed Abu Horayra.

HRW called on Egyptian authorities to "immediately reveal all the detainees' whereabouts, release all of those arrested solely for exercising their rights, and bring any others swiftly before a judge to review their detention".

Repeated violations
Since 2013, human rights groups have issued numerous reports criticising the government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

Sisi led the 2013 military overthrow of Egypt's first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Thousands of people who share the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood, which has since been declared a "terrorist" organisation, as well as secular and left-wing activists, have been jailed by the Sisi government since 2013.

Sisi's supporters, however, say his tough security policy is needed to ensure stability as Egypt recovers from years of political chaos and economic decline.

Sisi won a second term last March in what critics called a "sham" election. He secured more than 97 percent votes.

The presidential elections featured only one other candidate - Moussa Mustafa Moussa - an ardent Sisi supporter who had once formed a campaign group called: "Supporters of President el-Sisi's nomination for a second term".

All other serious opposition contenders halted their campaigns citing intimidation and arrest.


WATCH: Inside Egypt's prisons (22:09)
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA NEWS


THERE’S NO MENTION OF FREEDOM OF THE PRESS HERE, IS THERE? OF COURSE, IF SISSI BRINGS A LAWSUIT AGAINST CBS, THAT MIGHT HAVE AN EFFECT. 60 MINUTES, CBS, WILL SHOW THIS INTERVIEW SUNDAY THE SIXTH OF JANUARY AT 7:00 PM.

CAN YOU WATCH 60 MINUTES LIVE ONLINE?

THE BEST WAY TO WATCH 60 MINUTES LIVE WITHOUT CABLE. YOU CAN STREAM 60 MINUTES ON CBS WITH A LIVE TV STREAMING SERVICE EVERY SUNDAY AT 7:00 PM. NO CABLE OR SATELLITE SUBSCRIPTION NEEDED. DEC 5, 2018.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/cbs-egypt-interview_us_5c307e81e4b0bcb4c25bf97a
WORLD NEWS 01/05/2019 11:28 am ET
Egypt Attempts To Quash Controversial CBS Interview With President Sissi
CBS revealed that after the interview was filmed, the Egyptian ambassador contacted its “60 Minutes” team and warned that it could not be aired.
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By Amy Russo

Video -- On Sunday, CBS News will air a controversial interview Egypt’s government doesn’t want the world to see.

The “60 Minutes” special features President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who, during his conversation with host Scott Pelley, confirmed that the country’s military is collaborating with Israel in armed operations in the Sinai peninsula, according to a network press release.

Asked by Pelley whether the joint operation was the closest the two once-warring enemies had ever cooperated, Sissi replied, “That is correct…We have a wide range of cooperation with the Israelis.”

During another part of the conversation, Sissi claimed there are no political prisoners in Egypt, despite a Human Rights Watch estimate that there are 60,000 possible political prisoners currently being detained. Sissi also faced an uncomfortable question from Pelley over his ousting of former President Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood in a 2013 coup when nearly 1,000 of the group’s supporters were massacred.

While Sissi’s statements aren’t exactly earth-shattering, CBS revealed that after the interview was filmed, the Egyptian ambassador contacted its “60 Minutes” team and warned that the interview could not be aired. Nonetheless, fulfilling its journalistic mission, the program will air as scheduled Sunday evening.

CBS did not elaborate further in its press release on the specifics of its contact with the ambassador.

The Washington Post’s Baghdad bureau chief, Tamer El-Ghobashy, speculates that Sissi’s remarks on Egypt’s partnership with Israel likely prompted the retraction rather than talk of human rights abuses, given that the government has expressed no remorse for such behavior and has faced almost no consequences from the United Nations or a single foreign government.

Sissi is widely seen by his critics as a figure of oppression, surpassing that of dictator Hosni Mubarak, who ruled for almost 30 years before being pushed out in the 2011 revolt.

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Amy Russo
Trends Reporter


IT’S HARD TO MAINTAIN A STATE OF INNER PEACE AND BEAUTY WHEN YOU’RE CONSTANTLY TRYING TO STAY ALIVE. THIS IS A PROBLEM FOR MANY POOR PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY THE ELDERLY. THERE IS NO PLACE AT ALL, OR VERY FEW, WHERE MEDICAL CARE OR DRUGS CAN BE PROCURED JUST BECAUSE YOU’RE IN NEED. THIS ARTICLE IS DOWNRIGHT DEPRESSING. THE EMERGENCY ROOM IS NOT FREE EVEN FOR THE DESTITUTE. IF YOU’RE UNINSURED, SOME HOSPITALS WILL ACTUALLY CHARGE YOU MORE. NOW SOME STATES ARE CUTTING BACK ON THEIR MEDICAID. TO SEE THE FULL DEPTH OF THE DIRT IN THIS BUSINESS, REAL EVERY WORD OF THIS ARTICLE. MOST OF IT WAS NEW TO ME. DEFINITELY DEPRESSING. WE NEED OUR REVOLUTION NOW!

THAT LAST SENTENCE IS FROM ONE OF THE GREATEST OF OUR VIETNAM ERA SINGERS, JUDY COLLINS’ – HER BEST SONG ON HER BEST ALBUM, IN MY OPINION. THE ALBUM’S CALLED “IN MY LIFE,” 1968. THE SONG IS “MARAT SADE.” LISTEN TO IT AT https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvW2v9dUjI8. WHILE YOU’RE THERE, LISTEN TO PRETTY POLLY, TOO, AS I’M DOING NOW. AT AGE 77, SHE HAS MADE ANOTHER ALBUM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gk2Z2Cd3Ko. Judy Collins still turn, turn, turning with new album at 77

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mother-fights-for-lower-insulin-prices-after-sons-tragic-death/
CBS NEWS January 4, 2019, 7:37 AM
Woman says her son couldn't afford his insulin – now he's dead

Video -- Insulin Sticker Shock 5:38

When Nicole Smith-Holt's 26-year-old son died, he had just moved out of his parents' home and was starting a life of his own.

"The hardest part is every time I tell the story, it's like reality slaps me in my face that my son is no longer here," Smith-Holt told CBS News correspondent Anna Werner.

Her son, Alec, was a Type 1 diabetic – someone who needs to take insulin every day to survive. But turning 26 meant his parents' insurance would no longer cover the cost, shooting his monthly cost for insulin and supplies up to $1,300 per month, according to his mom.

"My son died because he could not afford his insulin," she said.

What she said Alec didn't tell her was that he was struggling with that cost. He'd started trying to ration his insulin to make it last longer. It wasn't enough. He died after falling into a diabetic coma alone in his apartment.

"Nobody to be there with him, to hold his hand or to call for help … and then I think about if he had never moved out, if he had lived at home, somebody would've, you know, seen the signs," Smith-Holt said. "And I'll probably feel guilty every day for the rest of my life."

Even though Alec never told her he was struggling to pay for his insulin, she still feels like she should have known. She said she's dealing with that guilt by advocating for other Type 1 diabetics.

"I deal with my own grief and my guilt by fighting for the lives of others," she said.

The drug industry is starting the New Year by hiking the costs on hundreds of prescription medications despite pressure from President Trump. A group that tracks drug costs said about 60 companies increased the price on almost 300 medications.

The price of insulin, a life-saving drug for diabetics, tripled between 2002 and 2013. Since 2008 three of the top makers raised the list price of insulin at least 10 times. Now, the state of Minnesota is taking action by suing three of the world's largest insulin manufacturers.

Lori Swanson is Minnesota's attorney general. She's now suing the top three insulin manufacturers for what she calls "deceptive, misleading, and misrepresentative list prices."

"I think in America nobody should lose their life because they can't afford the cost of insulin," Swanson said. "They've raised the price of insulin by being in cahoots with the pharmacy benefit managers and having a secret price for them that the public doesn't get."

Drug manufacturers typically must negotiate with pharmacy benefit managers, or "PBMs"*. Those PBMs are middlemen in the pharmaceutical supply chain. Swanson alleges to make money, manufacturers set "phony" list prices that are artificially high so they can offer greater rebates to PBMs and still maintain their profits.

"The drug companies can make the same amount of money. But by doing that, they've created this ever-cascading cycle of higher and higher drug prices," Swanson said.

Because many aspects of the process are secret according to the drug companies, portions of the lawsuit are redacted.

"It's incredibly frustrating and we're gonna be fighting that. Because these companies claim that certain information is trade secret. That it's confidential. And that they and only they can see it," Swanson said.

That means they are not able to put those list prices in their lawsuit.

"Isn't that ridiculous? It's a public lawsuit filed in court, but we can't put the numbers in because they're claiming it's a trade secret and that nobody's entitled to know or see that information," Swanson said.

CBS News reached out to the companies named in the lawsuit. Eli Lilly and Company told us the lawsuit's "claims are without merit." Novo Nordisk said the company is "committed to ethics and compliance" and Sanofi said it "provides significant rebates" but that "unfortunately, it seems these savings are not consistently passed through to patients in the form of lower co-pays or coinsurance."

"PBMs certainly play a problem here in the system. No doubt about it … but we sued the pharmaceutical companies because ultimately it's their product," Swanson said.

So when those companies say it's not their fault, Lori Swanson doesn't buy it. Neither does Nicole Smith-Holt, who has turned her grief into action. Last August, she told her story to senators in Washington and in September protested outside Eli Lilly headquarters.

"You know, my son is not a statistic … he would be here if his life-saving medication was priced at a reasonable rate," Smith-Holt said.

Lori Swanson leaves office on Monday, but said her successor plans to continue the state's lawsuit.

FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb said that the FDA is going to be changing the way that they regulate insulin moving forward.

© 2019 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.


THE AMERICAN MILITARY IS BEING SENT INTO THE CONGO TO DEAL WITH A POSSIBLE VIOLENT REACTION TO THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. LET’S HOPE WE DON’T GET STUCK THERE AS WE ARE IN THE MIDDLE EAST IN NOW THREE COUNTRIES AT LEAST. IT STARTS LIKE THIS – HELPING A SELECTED GOVERNMENT LEADER / STRONGMAN – AND ENDS UP AS “A QUAGMIRE.”

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/u-s-sends-troops-in-response-to-possible-violent-demonstrations-in-congo/
U.S. sends troops in response to possible "violent" demonstrations in Congo
BY GRACE SEGERS
UPDATED ON: JANUARY 5, 2019 / 1:40 PM / CBS NEWS

President Trump announced Friday evening that U.S. troops had been sent to Gabon to protect U.S. assets in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is awaiting the first results of its presidential election.

Mr. Trump wrote in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Friday that around 80 personnel had been deployed to the capital of Gabon, which borders Congo, "to be in position to support the security of United States citizens, personnel, and diplomatic facilities" in Congo's capital.

"This deployment of approximately 80 personnel is in response to the possibility that violent demonstrations may occur in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in reaction to the December 30, 2018, elections there," Mr. Trump wrote, adding that the first of the American forces had arrived on January 2.

"These deployed personnel will remain in the region until the security situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo becomes such that their presence is no longer needed," he added.

The country's Catholic church has warned about a popular "uprising" if false election results are announced, according to The Associated Press.

DRCONGO-POLITICS-VOTE

PHOTOGRAPH -- A polling official counts votes in a school in Kinshasa on December 30, 2018, during Democratic Republic of Congo's general elections.
LUIS TATO/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Election observers in Congo have raised concerns about potential voting irregularities in the race to replace longtime President Joseph Kabila. The U.S. has increased sanctions on people close to Kabila during the Trump administration in an effort to persuade the Congolese president to act more democratically. The U.S. has also threatened sanctions against those who undermine the democratic process in the election, according to The Associated Press.

Mr. Trump's announcement regarding U.S. troops indicates the U.S. is concerned with the safety of American officials and facilities in Congo, not with the electoral situation itself.

"This action was taken consistent with my responsibility to protect United States citizens both at home and abroad, and in furtherance of United States national security and foreign policy interests, pursuant to my constitutional authority to conduct United States foreign relations and as Commander in Chief and Chief Executive," Mr. Trump wrote.

First published on January 5, 2019

© 2019 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Grace Segers
Grace Segers is a politics reporter for CBS News Digital.


https://www.voanews.com/a/us-to-reopen-congo-embassy-after-terrorist-threat/4685142.html
Threat from Islamic State-Affiliated Group Reason DRC US Embassy Closed
Last Updated: December 03, 2018 6:10 PM
Carla Babb

PENTAGON — A threat from a group affiliated with Islamic State was responsible for the closing of the U.S. Embassy in Democratic Republic of Congo for more than a week, a U.S. official tells VOA.

The U.S. official, speaking Monday on the condition of anonymity, was unable to clarify whether the terror group was comprised of Congolese nationals or members from outside of the country.

The State Department declined to comment on the threat. The department has only described the embassy closing in Kinshasa as due to a “terror threat,” without elaborating.

The details come on the eve before the embassy reopens to the public.

“The Embassy in Kinshasa has been working closely with the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo to address a terrorist threat against U.S. government facilities in Kinshasa,” a State Department official said.

“Embassy Kinshasa determined it appropriate to re-open to the public and return to normal staffing,” he added.

The embassy’s website said all consular services Tuesday will be “by appointment only."

The embassy in the capital, Kinshasa, has been closed to the public since November 26. U.S. citizens were warned to "keep a low profile."

DRC is less than one month away from a long-anticipated presidential election.

President Joseph Kabila has held onto power long after his term in office officially expired in 2016.

Carla Babb
Carla is VOA's Pentagon correspondent covering defense and international security issues. Her datelines include Ukraine, Turkey, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq and Korea.



BACKGROUND – CONGO ELECTION

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-security-congo/congo-minister-says-threat-against-u-s-facilities-is-serious-idUSKCN1NZ29G
WORLD NEWS NOVEMBER 30, 2018 / 12:41 PM / A MONTH AGO
Congo minister says threat against U.S. facilities is serious
Giulia Paravicini
3 MIN READ

IMAGE – DIGITAL MAP DATA 2016

KINSHASA (Reuters) - Congo’s foreign minister said on Friday that a purported threat against U.S. government facilities that has kept the U.S. embassy closed all week is real and serious.

The U.S. embassy in the capital, Kinshasa, has been closed since last weekend due to what it says is “credible and specific information of a possible terrorist threat”. It has declined to elaborate.

Earlier in the week, Democratic Republic of Congo’s government spokesman said U.S. officials were keeping the government in the dark and questioned whether the threat was an “imaginary alert”.

But in a news conference on Friday, Foreign Minister Leonard She Okitundu, who met with U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Elizabeth Fitzsimmons on Wednesday, said the threat was real.

“It’s clear these threats are serious. The U.S. and our services have serious information regarding the validity of the threat,” he said. “For the moment, there is coordination between the security services of the U.S., regional countries and Congo.”

He declined to provide any further specifics.

U.S. officials have remained tight-lipped in public about the nature of the threat, but have informed foreign diplomats that the embassy closure is due to the arrest last week of a cell of Tanzanian jihadists from a Ugandan Islamist group called the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), two diplomats told Reuters.

U.S. officials believe the cell members were planning to strike U.S. government facilities in Kinshasa, which lies just across the Congo River from their base in Congo Republic’s capital, Brazzaville, the diplomats said.

However, the diplomats did not know where the arrests took place nor how many cell members were arrested. Congo Republic’s government spokesmen said he had no information on the matter.

Any such plot would mark a dramatic shift for the ADF, a militia that operates primarily in eastern Congo, nearly 2,000 km from Kinshasa, and which has never carried out attacks outside of eastern Congo or Uganda.

A third diplomat, who was also briefed on a purported ADF threat to U.S. facilities, expressed scepticism about the threat, which the diplomat said was flagged to U.S. officials by Congo’s military intelligence service.

13 Canadians detained in China since December

U.N. and independent experts have for years been unable to confirm allegations from the Ugandan and Congolese governments that the ADF has links to Somalia’s al Shabaab or other jihadist groups.

But a report by the Congo Research Group and Bridgeway Foundation earlier this month found the ADF had received money in recent years from a financier linked to Islamic State, suggesting tentative ties with foreign jihadists, including in Tanzania and other east African countries.

Additional reporting by Stanis Bujakera and Benoit Nyemba in Kinshasa and Aaron Ross in Dakar; Editing by Peter Graff

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.


GENTLY SNIPPING AWAY AT CULTURAL BONDS LIKE THIS OFFICIAL DIFFERENTIATION BETWEEN THE UKRAINIAN AND THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCHES IS PART OF WHAT THE UKRAINIAN PEOPLE HAVE TO DO, TO PUT THEM INTO A POSITION THAT IS CLOSER TO WESTERN EUROPE AND MORE FULLY THEMSELVES. IT’S LIKE GOING TO AN APARTMENT OF YOUR OWN EVEN IF YOU DO HAVE TO SHARE IT WITH A FRIEND IN ORDER TO AFFORD THE RENT. IT MAY BE A SMALL CHANGE, BUT THE SYMBOLISM IS CLEAR.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-church/ecumenical-patriarch-signs-decree-granting-ukraine-church-independence-idUSKCN1OZ0AO?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FtopNews+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Top+News%29
WORLD NEWS JANUARY 5, 2019 / 6:06 AM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO
Ecumenical Patriarch signs decree granting Ukraine church independence
Daren Butler, Bulent Usta
4 MIN READ

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - The spiritual head of Orthodox Christians worldwide formally granted independence to the Ukrainian church on Saturday, marking an historic split from Russia which Ukrainian leaders see as vital to the country’s security.

The decree, granting “autocephaly”, was signed by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew at a service with the head of the Ukrainian church Metropolitan Epifaniy and President Petro Poroshenko in St George’s Cathedral in Istanbul.

“I want to thank the millions of Ukrainians around the world who responded to my appeal to pray for the church to be established,” Poroshenko said at a ceremony accompanied by solemn liturgical singing.

“I want to thank the generations of Ukrainians who dreamed...and finally God sent us the Orthodox Church of Ukraine,” he told the congregation in the crowded church.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Metropolitan Epifaniy, head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, attend a signing ceremony marking the new Ukrainian Orthodox church's independence, at St. George's Cathedral, the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, in Istanbul, Turkey January 5, 2019. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

The patriarchate, the seat of the spiritual leader of some 300 million Orthodox Christians worldwide, endorsed Ukraine’s request for the new church in October. The decree, or Tomos, will be handed to Epifaniy at a ceremony on Sunday, completing the process of recognition by the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

Ukraine last month chose 39-year-old Epifaniy to head the new church, in a move which Poroshenko compared to Ukraine’s referendum for independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

The move incensed Moscow, and prompted President Vladimir Putin to warn of possible bloodshed in his annual news conference. Relations between Ukraine and Russia collapsed after Moscow’s seizure of Crimea in 2014.

Ukraine imposed martial law in November, citing the threat of a full-scale invasion after Russia captured three of its vessels in the Kerch Strait.

BITTER RUSSIAN OPPOSITION

The Ukrainian Orthodox church has been beholden to Moscow for hundreds of years, and Ukraine’s leaders see church independence as vital to tackling Russian meddling.

Slideshow (15 Images)

Kiev says Moscow-backed churches on its soil are a Kremlin tool to spread propaganda and support fighters in the eastern Donbass region in a conflict that has killed more than 10,000 people. The churches strongly deny this.

“Tomos - is just a paper, the result of restless political and personal ambitions. It was signed in breach of canonicity and this is why it has no power”, Vladimir Legoida, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church Synodal Department for Church-Society and Media Relations, posted in Telegram messenger.

Epifaniy was chosen by a council at the St Sophia Cathedral in Kiev, built by the son of Prince Volodymyr whose baptism in 988 led to the spread of Christianity in the region.

RELATED: 'Yellow vests' gather for first protest of 2019

The new church may boost pro-Western leader Poroshenko, who lobbied hard for its creation and faces a tight election race in March.

Russia bitterly opposes the split, comparing it to the Great Schism of 1054 that divided western and eastern Christianity. Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill made a last ditch appeal against the process last month.

“Huge win for Ukraine, defeat for the Kremlin,” economist Timothy Ash wrote on Twitter. “(It) will make Moscow’s hope of some future pull of Ukraine back into its ‘orbit’ nigh on impossible without the use of overwhelming (catastrophic) military force.”

Religious divisions deepened in Ukraine after 2014 and two Orthodox factions vie for dominance.

The church known as the Moscow Patriarchate, aligned with the Russian Orthodox Church, sees itself as the only legitimate church in Ukraine. On Dec. 20, Ukrainian MPs passed a law that could force the church to add “Russian” to its name.

The rival Kiev Patriarchate was born after the collapse of the Soviet Union and its popularity has grown since 2014. It favors European integration and championed the independent church but the Moscow Patriarchate denounces it as schismatic.

Additional reporting by Natalia Zinets in Kiev and Maxim Rodionov in Moscow; Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Angus MacSwan

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.


PARIS -- YELLOW VESTS PROTEST FOR ANOTHER DAY TODAY.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-protests/clashes-erupt-in-paris-as-yellow-vests-protest-at-unrepentant-macron-idUSKCN1OZ0EO?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FtopNews+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Top+News%29
WORLD NEWS JANUARY 5, 2019 / 9:25 AM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO
Clashes erupt in Paris as 'yellow vests' protest at unrepentant Macron
Richard Lough, Elizabeth Pineau
4 MIN READ
By Richard Lough and Elizabeth Pineau

(Note: Expletive in seventh paragraph quote)

PARIS (Reuters) - Rioters in Paris torched motorbikes and set barricades ablaze on the upmarket Boulevard Saint Germain on Saturday, as protests against high living costs and the perceived indifference of President Emmanuel Macron turned violent on the fringes.

The latest “yellow vest” marches began peacefully but degenerated in the afternoon as protesters threw missiles at riot police blocking bridges over the Seine.

Officers fired tear gas to prevent protesters crossing the river and reaching the National Assembly. One riverboat restaurant was set ablaze and a policeman was wounded when he was hit by a bicycle hurled from a street above the river bank.

Two months after they started blocking roads, occupying highway tollbooths and staging sometimes-violent street protests in Paris, the yellow vests wanted to inject new momentum into a movement that weakened over the holidays.

Macron’s government, shaken by the unrest, had this week hardened its stance, branding the protesters agitators seeking to overthrow the government.

PHOTOGRAPH -- Riot policemen run near a fire during a demonstration by the "yellow vests" movement at Boulevard Saint Germain in Paris, France, January 5, 2019. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

Driving the unrest is anger, particularly among low-paid workers, over a squeeze on household incomes, and a belief that Macron is deaf to citizens’ needs as he enacts reforms seen as favoring the wealthy.

“They have no right to leave us in the shit like this,” said protester Francois Cordier. “We’re fed up with having to pay out the whole time, we’ve had enough of this slavery, we should be able to live on our salaries.”

Government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux escaped from his office through a back door after a small number of protesters broke into the compound and smashed up vehicles.

Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said about 50,000 people had protested in cities nationwide, including Bordeaux, Toulouse, Rouen and Marseille.

The turnout was higher than last week but a small fraction of the numbers seen in the first weeks of the protests.

Slideshow (23 Images)
“POWER TO THE PEOPLE”

As darkness fell, officers dispersed scores of yellow vests gathered on Paris’s Avenue des Champs-Elysees. Television images showed hooded youths setting a car alight on a side street, but there was no repeat of the scenes in November when shops were looted, banks vandalized and the Arc de Triomphe was defaced.

Authorities have blamed the worst of the violence in recent weeks on anarchists, anti-capitalists and extreme groups on the fringes of the yellow vest movement.

The protests come 18 months into Macron’s tenure and his drive to reshape the economy, and have already forced him into concessions.

RELATED: Ukrainian church gains independence from Russia

Last month, Macron promised tax cuts for pensioners, wage rises for the poorest workers and the scrapping of planned fuel tax increases, at a cost to the Treasury of 10 billion euros ($11 billion).

It was the first big U-turn for a president elected 18 months earlier on a platform to break with traditional French politics and liberalize the heavily regulated economy.

In a New Year’s Eve address, Macron vowed to press on with his reform agenda, saying: “We can’t work less, earn more, cut taxes and increase spending.”

Faced with record low popularity ratings, Macron is expected soon to set out his plans for the coming months. These include a nationwide debate on ecological, fiscal and institutional questions, the results of which he says will feed into policy.

($1 = 0.8777 euros)

Reporting by Richard Lough, Elizabeth Pineau and Johnny Cotton; Writing by Richard Lough; Editing by David Evans and David Holmes

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.


THERE IS SO MUCH TURMOIL IN SO MANY PLACES LATELY THAT I’M BOTH SOMEWHAT FEARFUL AND A LITTLE DISORIENTED. THIS IN EUROPE, WHILE DONALD TRUMP IN THE USA BEHAVES MORE CHAOTICALLY THAN EVER BEFORE, JUST IN THE LAST MONTH OR SO. IT FEELS TO ME AS THOUGH A SOCIAL EARTHQUAKE IS OCCURRING, WHICH WILL TOUCH US IN THE USA THIS TIME, RATHER THAN MAINLY EUROPE AS IN WWI AND WWII. OUR ARMIES FOUGHT IN THOSE WARS, BUT THE BATTLES DIDN’T OCCUR ON US SOIL. I THINK THAT MAY NOT BE THE CASE THIS TIME. I’M ONLY GLAD THAT ELECTION 2020 IS COMING UP SOON NOW.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-protests/clashes-erupt-in-paris-as-yellow-vests-protest-at-unrepentant-macron-idUSKCN1OZ0EO?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FtopNews+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Top+News%29
JANUARY 5, 2019 / 2:12 PM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO
"Where are the police?" tweets Sweden's envoy to France as protests rage

PARIS (Reuters) - With no police in sight, Sweden’s ambassador to France called on neighbors to help put out a small fire lit outside her Embassy during “yellow vest” protests against high living costs and the policies of President Emmanuel Macron.

“And where are the police??? Thanks to friendly neighbors we were able to put out the fires,” ambassador Veronika Wand-Danielsson tweeted on Saturday, attaching photographs to her post.

While some social media users apologized for the protesters’ behavior, others were more tongue-in-cheek. One responded to her tweet: “Thank you Madame Ambassador for coming out with a bucket of water to douse the burning box. A true Viking!”

Reporting by Michel Rose; Editing by Richard Lough and David Holmes

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.


EVERY NOW AND THEN THE THOUGHT CROSSES MY MIND THAT THE MOST DANGEROUS ENEMY WE HAVE IN THE USA TODAY IS THE BALLOONING INFLUENCE OF FUNDAMENTALIST RELIGION. IT’S UNDER EVERYTHING, ENTWINED WITH EVERYTHING, AND RESPECTED ABOVE THE ADVICE OF THE RATIONAL. WE ARE GIVING UP OUR RESPECT FOR LEARNING AND JESUS’ COMMAND OF GENEROSITY TO THE NEEDY. WE ARE SEGREGATING THE RICH OUT AND PLACING THEM ABOVE EVERY OTHER GROUP; BY MAKING TOO LITTLE COMPLAINT AGAINST IT, WE ARE EVEN ALLOWING OUR LEGAL SYSTEMS TO STRIP PEOPLE OF COLOR FROM THEIR MEAGER INCOMES AND CIVIC RIGHTS.

WHY IS IT THAT ISSUES LIKE THE ONGOING ABUSES BY POLICE AGAINST THE POOR, ESPECIALLY THE BLACK POPULATION, DON’T RECEIVE A HUGE OUTCRY FROM OUR PRIVILEGED GROUPS AGAINST EGREGIOUS VIOLENCE AND ABUSE. HAVE WE BECOME SO SELF-CENTERED THAT WE DON’T CARE ABOUT THEM? WHAT BOTHERS ME MOST ABOUT THE HOMELESS AND OUR POOREST PEOPLE IS THE LACK OF EARTHLY COMFORTS FOR THEM AND THE RESPECT THAT ALL PEOPLE SHOULD RECEIVE SIMPLY BECAUSE WE ARE ALIVE. SOME PEOPLE WILL SAY, “I CAN’T RESPECT THEM.” THEY ARE REFERRING TO SOMETHING WHICH TO ME IS MORE AKIN TO ADMIRATION THAN RESPECT. I TRY TO RESPECT ALL LIFE. I ALSO TRY TO KEEP AN OPEN MIND ABOUT INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVEN’T PLEASED ME PERSONALLY YET.

BESIDES, OUR EMPATHY IS NEEDED TO MAKE UP THE LACK IN THAT “RESPECT” CATEGORY OF FEELINGS. EMPATHY IS THE FEELING WE HAVE WHEN WE PERCEIVE HURT ON THE FACE OF ANOTHER AND IT CALLS FORTH AN ANSWER IN OURSELVES. WE UNDERSTAND IT IF WE HAVE A NORMAL LEVEL OF EMPATHY FOR OTHERS. WITHOUT THAT, WE WON’T STEP IN TO HELP; WITHOUT EMPATHY WE MAY ACTUALLY ADD OUR OWN HURTFULNESS WITHOUT ANY SENSE OF COMPUNCTION. WE NEED TO “WALK IN HIS SHOES” FOR A SPAN OF TIME UNTIL UNDERSTANDING COMES. THAT MAY TAKE A CONSCIOUS EFFORT ON A DAILY BASIS. IN THE MEANTIME I WILL USUALLY KEEP A NODDING RELATIONSHIP WITH SOME.

SEE WRITER STEVE BENEN’S COMMENTS ON TRUMP AND THE EVANGELICALS.

http://www.msnbc.com/maddowblog
This Week in God, 1.5.19
By Steve Benen 01/05/19 08:00AM

First up from the God Machine this week is a look at one of Donald Trump's most steadfast evangelical allies, whose perspective on the president has to be seen to be believed.

Jerry Falwell Jr., who leads Liberty University and whom Trump reportedly considered to lead the Department of Education, is as loyal a Trump ally as the most sycophantic Republican members of Congress. But when Falwell sat down with the Washington Post recently, he went into detail on the scope of his support for the Republican president.

POST: Is there anything President Trump could do that would endanger that support from you or other evangelical leaders?

FALWELL: No.

POST: That's the shortest answer we've had so far.

FALWELL: Only because I know that he only wants what's best for this country, and I know anything he does, it may not be ideologically "conservative," but it's going to be what's best for this country, and I can't imagine him doing anything that's not good for the country.

In other words, in a rather literal sense, Falwell believes Trump can do no wrong. His support for the president is complete and unshakable.

The prominent leader in the religious right movement added that it "may be immoral" for Trump's evangelical critics "not to support him."

Falwell did not appear to be kidding.

There's a fair amount of evidence that suggests Trump's single most loyal constituency are politically conservative evangelical Christians, who are unconcerned with the president's rampant dishonesty, sex scandals and adultery, casinos, and secularism.

It's a difficult perspective to understand, which makes Falwell's unflinching support for the president that much more notable: it's a peek behind a confusing curtain, offering insights into those who believe Trump wants what's best for the country, so everything he attempts necessarily should be seen as good for the country.

In the same interview, Falwell added, "Think about it. Why have Americans been able to do more to help people in need around the world than any other country in history? It's because of free enterprise, freedom, ingenuity, entrepreneurism and wealth. A poor person never gave anyone a job. A poor person never gave anybody charity, not of any real volume. It's just common sense to me."

I guess some people approach Christian principles in very different ways.


JUST FOR PERSPECTIVE, READ THIS LOVELY LITTLE WIKIPEDIA COMMENT ON THE WIDOW’S MITE. IT’S VALUE IS EQUIVALENT TO ABOUT “SIX MINUTES OF AN AVERAGE DAILY WAGE.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesson_of_the_widow%27s_mite
Lesson of the widow's mite
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Lesson of the widow's mite is presented in the Synoptic Gospels (Mark 12:41-44, Luke 21:1-4), in which Jesus is teaching at the Temple in Jerusalem. The Gospel of Mark specifies that two mites (Greek lepta) are together worth a quadrans, the smallest Roman coin. A lepton was the smallest and least valuable coin in circulation in Judea, worth about six minutes of an average daily wage.[2]

Biblical narrative

PAINTING -- The Widow's Mite (Le denier de la veuve) - James Tissot

"He sat down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents. Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them, 'Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.'[3]

The King James Bible translation

In Jesus' times in Judea, the small copper coin was called a lepton; there was no coin called by the English term "mite" at that time. However, there was a mite in the time of the creation of the King James Bible, as indeed there had been at the time of earliest modern English translation of the New Testament by William Tyndale in 1525. The denomination was well known in the Southern Netherlands.