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Merkel said Germany is committed to spending more, but will do so at its own pace. Berlin is set to increase expenditures by 8 percent this year and aims to reach the NATO benchmark of 2 percent of gross domestic product in about eight years. “We will do everything we can in order to fulfill this commitment,” Merkel said, adding that a strong Europe is also in America’s interest.

...Most important, in our complex federal system, where the policies of the national government depend on cooperation by state and local authorities, these local movements have the potential to block initiatives by the incoming Trump regime.... ... Now the protests will have to aim not at winning, but at halting or foiling initiatives that threaten harm—either by redistributing wealth to the very top (the Trump tax and energy plans), or by eliminating existing political rights (the cancellation of DACA, the Obama executive order that protected undocumented-immigrant children, known as Dreamers), or by jeopardizing established protections and benefits (the looming prospect...

Sean Spicer Verified account ‏@PressSec .@POTUS has named Dana Boente, US Attorney for the Eastern District of VA as Acting Attorney General. Sally Yates has been relieved.

He also called it "complete nonsense" that Russian security services would "chase after every American billionaire." "[Trump is] a grown man, and secondly he’s someone who has been involved with beauty contests for many years and has met the most beautiful women in the world,” Putin said, per Bloomberg. “I find it hard to believe that he rushed to some hotel to meet girls of loose morals, although ours are undoubtedly the best in the world.”

(CNN) A truck plowed into a group of soldiers in Jerusalem, killing four people and injuring at least 13, Israel's emergency services said Sunday. Three of the four killed were female soldiers, Israeli Education Minister Neftali Bennett said. The fourth person killed was a young man, but it was not immediately clear whether he was a soldier. All of the slain victims were in their 20s. "A group had gotten off the bus and were getting organized with their bags when the terrorist took the opportunity, ramming his truck into the group," Israel Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. "Then he...

The U.S. Navy and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency successfully launched a salvo of two Raytheon Standard SM-6 Dual I missiles against a medium-range ballistic missile target earlier this week. USS John Paul Jones (DDG-53)—an Arleigh Burke-class Aegis destroyer—conducted the test shortly after midnight on Dec. 14 to demonstrate a Sea Based Terminal endo-atmospheric defensive capability. "This test demonstrated the capabilities MDA and the Navy are delivering to our fleet commanders," Vice Adm. Jim Syring, director of the MDA said in a statement. "The SM-6 missile and the Aegis Weapon System continue to prove that they are critical components of...

Despite the substantial documentation assembled by Peters, demonstrating massive Arab immigration into Palestine, anti-Israel propagandists continue to deny it. Based on what we know today, and the simple truths of basic math, the issue has become clear and unambiguous. All historic records indicate that only insignificant number of long-term settled Muslims were present in Palestine before 1882, when the large Jewish immigration began. Muslim Arab numbers increased dramatically as Jewish settlements developed infrastructure and provided work opportunities to Arabs from the neighboring countries. Also worth noting is that the “indigenous” 4.3% comprised many non-Arab nationalities. All of them were swamped...

Donald Trump is tapping Gen. John Kelly to run the Department of Homeland Security, CBS News confirms. The final request and acceptance, sources told CBS’ Major Garrett, occurred while Kelly was traveling in Europe. His pick for DHS secretary will be announced by the transition staff in the coming days. Kelly is the third general tapped by the president-elect, joining Gen. James Mattis, Mr. Trump’s pick to become the next secretary of Defense, and Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, Mr. Trump’s incoming national security advisor. Like Mattis, Kelly is a Marine with a reputation for bluntness.

When John D. Anderson reached his battle station in the USS Arizona's No. 4 turret that morning, he realized the gigantic guns could do nothing against the swarms of attacking Japanese airplanes. But his twin brother, Delbert "Jake" Anderson, was manning an antiaircraft gun out on deck, and was in the thick of the action. "He needs help," John told his turret commander, and asked if could join his brother. Both men were 24. The sons of a judge, they were born in Verona, N.D., in 1917. Both had joined the Navy in 1936. John was a boatswain's mate second...

A teenage Afghan asylum seeker has been arrested in Germany for the rape and murder of the 19-year-old daughter of a senior EU official. Medical student Maria Ladenburger, who volunteered at a refugee home in her spare time, was found dead in the university city of Freiburg, near the border with Switzerland in mid October. Her father is Dr. Clemens Ladenburger, a lawyer who works as the right hand man to the legal director of the European Commission. It is unclear whether she ever met her murderer before he took her life.

Charlotte, North Carolina (CNN)The officer who fatally shot Keith Lamont Scott won't face charges, a prosecutor said Wednesday, closing a two-month investigation into the killing that led to heated protests and divided the city of Charlotte. Mecklenburg County District Attorney Andrew Murray said he didn't reach the decision alone; a total of 15 prosecutors unanimously agreed that Charlotte-Mecklenburg police Officer Brentley Vinson was justified in shooting Scott on September 20 in an apartment complex parking lot.

Scientists at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee have discovered a chemical reaction to turn CO2 into ethanol, potentially creating a new technology to help avert climate change. Their findings were published in the journal ChemistrySelect. The researchers were attempting to find a series of chemical reactions that could turn CO2 into a useful fuel, when they realized the first step in their process managed to do it all by itself. The reaction turns CO2 into ethanol, which could in turn be used to power generators and vehicles.

discuss Obama comments on live news conference will he attack Trump or be conciliatory?

Two NYPD sergeants were shot in the Bronx in broad daylight Friday — and a heavily-armed gunman was killed, sources said. A robbery suspect carrying multiple guns opened fire on the officers at Noble Ave. near Bronx River Ave. about 3 p.m.

Wednesday that the Affordable Care Act is “no longer affordable” for many, a stinging critique from a state leader who strongly embraced the law and proudly proclaimed health reform was working in Minnesota just a few years ago.... ....The state scrambled to stop all seven companies that sell insurance directly to consumers or through the state exchange, MNsure, from fleeing for 2017, but the state’s largest insurer, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, is still exiting. Health care insurance shoppers will see premium increases that range from 50 percent to 67 percent on their plans for next year.

ARLINGTON, Va. — When the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz emerged from an extended period in a shipyard last week, it featured a new installation of an anti-torpedo system. Nimitz is the Navy’s fifth carrier to have the Anti-Torpedo-Defense System installed. The system includes the Torpedo Warning System, an acoustic sensor that detects an incoming torpedo; a tactical control station; and the Countermeasure Anti-Torpedo (CAT). The CAT, a small torpedo designed to intercept an incoming torpedo, was developed by Pennsylvania State University’s Applied Research Lab. Compared with air- or ship-launched cruise missiles, anti-ship torpedoes are much more difficult for a...

video of announcement at link

Bill Clinton understands the public is fed up with the skyrocketing costs, stratospheric deductibles, and vanishing insurance providers of Obamacare, and he wants to save Hillary from going down with the ship. So President Obama’s signature legislative accomplishment gets thrown under the bus.... "Former President Bill Clinton attacked President Barack Obama’s signature health care legislation Monday, calling it a “crazy system” that “doesn’t make any sense” during a Michigan campaign event for Hillary...."

BILL CLINTON ON OBAMACARE: “IT’S THE CRAZIEST THING IN THE WORLD” Bill Clinton ripped Obamacare during a campaign rally for his wife in Michigan today. Calling Obamacare, “a crazy system” and “the craziest thing in the world,” the former president said “it doesn’t many any sense; the insurance model doesn’t work here.” Clinton went on to say that Obamacare “works fine” for people with “modest” incomes or who are eligible for government subsidies, but “the people that are getting killed in this deal are small business people and individuals who make just a little too much to get any of...

The Fabulous Philadelphians are on strike. Friday night, a crowd of about 1,000 sat in Verizon Hall waiting for the orchestra to appear for the scheduled start of the Opening Night Gala. But no Philadelphia Orchestra appeared on stage. Unbeknownst to most in the audience, the 96 musicians and two librarians belonging to American Federation of Musicians Local 77 had decided to go out on strike about an hour before curtain time. Finally, about 20 minutes after the scheduled start, orchestra president Allison B. Vulgamore came out on stage to say that no labor agreement was in place for "one...