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SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia should introduce a law forcing religious leaders to report child abuse, including Catholic priests who are told of abuse in the confessional, according to a report into institutional child abuse released on Friday.

Former CIA Director Michael Morell sat down with Politico’s Susan Glasser, where he admitted that he and others from the intelligence community didn’t think through the consequences of them becoming political last year. Last year, Morell wrote an op-ed in The New York Times that endorsed Hillary Clinton for president. Within the agency, Morell sharked his way up the halls of the CIA becoming the chief intelligence briefer to President George W. Bush, and then acting director twice. Intelligence analysts serve the country. There is no politics involved in any of their analyses—at least not until Trump was elected....

Has North Korean leader Kim Jong-un executed one of his top aides? By Nicola Smith 14 December 2017 • 3:24am One of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s top aides has disappeared from public life, prompting speculation that he may have been executed. General Hwang Pyong-so was once at the heart of Kim’s inner circle within the Workers’ Party Central Committee. As a Vice-Marshall he also held the most senior military position after the supreme commander. Before he reportedly fell out of favour Mr Hwang was one of only four people pictured standing next to Kim in state propaganda vaunting the...

Former Vice President Joe Biden offered up some praise for the way the Trump administration is handling North Korea’s nuclear proliferation. During an interview with CBS’s Gayle King, who asked if there was anything he believed the Trump administration is doing well, Biden pointed to North Korea. “I do think they are doing a decent job at the U.N. with regard to North Korea. I think there’s a number of things that are on the cusp of doing good things with,” Biden answered. "This is the time to engage and have more diplomacy," he suggested. Nikki Haley, United States Ambassador...

DENVER (AP) — Denver authorities shut down 26 legal marijuana businesses Thursday and arrested 12 people suspected of illegal distribution of pot after a yearlong criminal investigation. Potential charges relate to marijuana sales exceeding limits set in state law, police said. Colorado allows people 21 and older to possess an ounce or less of marijuana under a measure approved by voters in 2012. The city department that regulates marijuana businesses issued the order to close the businesses based on the police investigation, spokesman Dan Rowland said. It marked the first time the city has issued an open-ended suspension to any...

In 1929, the Supreme Moslem Council’s publication: "A Brief Guide to the Haram Al-Sharif," stated on p. 4 that "(The Temple Mount’s) identity with the site of Solomon’s Temple is beyond dispute." What President Trump did on December 6th was to recognize an historical reality by making Jerusalem the capital of the State of Israel - an act especially important given the efforts of the Palestinians to delegitimize the Jewish people's historical connection to the City of David. His announcement simply acknowledges reality, buries the false assumptions of the old “peace process”, and puts forth a new approach. The Palestinians...

New York City Council just barred adults from getting the sex therapy they seek — unless it agrees with the personal views of members of the council. The ‘Politically Correct Express’ Earlier this month, councilmembers passed a law banning professional therapists from counseling focused on changing a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. They added a huge exception to the law, however. The exception allowed the therapy as long as it’s aimed at “exploration and development” of a homosexual identity. It was also allowed for changing from sex-at-birth to a transgender identity. In New York City, this train goes only...

Cori Thomas was in high school when she says Dustin Hoffman exposed himself to her in a hotel room. Melissa Kester was a recent college graduate when Hoffman allegedly sexually assaulted her while recording audio for the film “Ishtar.” A third woman, who asked to remain anonymous, said that Hoffman assaulted her in the back of a station wagon and manipulated her into a subsequent sexual encounter that left her traumatized. Speaking to Variety, the women described predatory incidents involving Hoffman that fit into a pattern of alleged behavior that has emerged in the wake of previous sexual-misconduct claims against...

Two Republican senators indicated Thursday they were holding back support for the final $1.5 trillion GOP tax reform bill unless a larger child tax credit is included...The strongest statement came from the office of Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio...Conn Carroll, a spokesman for Utah GOP Sen. Mike Lee, also said Lee is "undecided" on the bill in its current form. “Sen. Lee continues to work to make the [child tax credit] as beneficial as possible to American working families," Carroll said.

FR CANTEEN MISSION STATEMENT Showing support and boosting the morale of our military and our allied military and the family members of the above.Honoring those who have served before. FReeper Canteen Come on in, we're open Need a place just to hang out? This is it. We serve coffee, tea, hot cocoa, conversation and music.How about some homemade eggnog? Our AWESOME military, our AWESOME allies, and their families are welcomed and honored here.No worries in the FReeper Canteen Just Hangin' Cafe. Pull up a chair. Grab a cup and start a conversation.You never know who you might meet in...

Reporter Stef Meerberger said on Belgian national TV that mosques in the city of Antwerp receive drug money on a monthly basis. Meerberger was on television to give clarification regarding his documentary on the cocaine trade in Antwerp. He said: “The reality is hard to control but also much worse than we can image. Several cash flows are clearly traceable and I ask myself the question: Why aren’t the police and the district attorney acting on this?” The reporter added that he heard from a very reliable source that mosques, particularly in the Netherlands and in the Belgian city of...

As many may know, New Year’s Eve 2015 was a disaster for the German city of Cologne. Hundreds of women were sexually assaulted, robbed or raped by large groups of migrant men. But officials of the city and the police think they have now found a solution. The mayor of Cologne, Henriette Reker, launched a new campaign, focused on respect yesterday. Wristbands with the text will be distributed throughout the city to prevent new sexual assaults and rapes. It didn’t take long for people to attack the initiative. A social media user asked the city’s mayor: “What are you doing? Is this...

Stephen K. Bannon and his alt-right movement have helped accomplish something no one in a quarter-century has been able to do: get a Democrat elected in the state of Alabama. Alabama is one of the most reliably Republican states in the country. The last time a Democrat was elected was in 1992, and no Democrat has won more than 40 percent of the vote in a Senate race there since 1996. The closest election in recent memory was in 2002, when Jeff Sessions won reelection by a razor-thin margin of 19 points. Sen. Richard Shelby has won his last three...

"Love to stay and tweet but I need to get moving. Tomorrow is Mueller Time and something is definitely brewing. Something that has to do with text messages and emails from people other than Strzok and Page. People at the DOJ. People working with/for Yates. More in AM."

Wyoming Secretary of State Ed Murray is denying claims he sexual assaulted a former co-worker. In a Facebook post, Tatiana Maxwell alleges the incident happened 35 years ago when she and Murray worked together at a Cheyenne law firm. She says she “told close friends about the incident at the time and my then husband some years later.” Maxwell goes on to say “As this issue of sexual harassment and assault has grown, my daughters have asked about my experience. As I described it, they asked what I did about it and the answer is, nothing. I did not know...

Nazareth cancels Christmas celebrations over Trump's Israel decision. by Lucia I. Suarez Sang Fox News Just like during the original Christmas, Jesus' birth will not be celebrated in Nazareth this year -- though this time, it's being blamed on President Trump. Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel has caused a backlash in the region, particularly among Muslims, and the reaction's reverberated to Nazareth, where the town's mayor, Ali Salam, announced Thursday that all planned Christmas events would be canceled. “Our identity and faith cannot be bargained,” Salam, a Muslim, said, according to 10 News. “[Trump’s] decision...

Hennepin County’s attorney said he does not have enough evidence yet to file charges against the Minneapolis police officer who shot and killed an Australian woman last summer. Mike Freeman was attending the Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation holiday party Wednesday night when he was confronted by members of the group Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar. In a video recorded by one of the members, Freeman expresses frustration with the lack of cooperation from Minneapolis police in the investigation of Justine Damond’s killing on the night of July 15. “Let me just say it’s not my fault. So, if...

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Gov. Jim Justice says he’s going to use the West Virginia National Guard to help Huntington respond to the current rash of violence that has resulted in a number of murders including three this week. Gov. Jim Justice talks with WSAZ-TV Anchor Amanda Barren. “I’m going to call upon our National Guard,” Justice said during a Thursday town hall meeting on WSAZ-TV in Huntington. “Our National Guard has resources that can absolutely combat this thing.” Justice said he couldn’t be specific but said the Guard would be working with other police agencies. “That doesn’t mean setting a...

‘Eleven of California’s 58 counties have registration rates exceeding 100% of the age-eligible citizenry.’ ‘California has the highest rate of inactive registrations of any state in the country. Los Angeles County has the highest number of inactive registrations of any single county in the country’ (Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that it filed a federal lawsuit against Los Angeles County and the State of California over their failure to clean their voter rolls and to produce election-related records as required by the federal National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) (Judicial Watch, Inc.et al. v. Dean C. Logan, et al....

Americans Spend More Than Expected as Holiday Season Heats Up November retail sales up 0.8% from prior month; economists saw 0.3% increase By Sharon Nunn Updated Dec. 14, 2017 1:40 p.m. ET 27 COMMENTS WASHINGTON—Americans are spending more this holiday season than analysts expected, fueled by income gains, confidence in the economic outlook, buoyant financial markets and modest inflation. That includes spending at brick-and-mortar stores such as Walmart Inc. and Nordstrom Inc., which clocked the largest year-over-year November sales increase in seven years. Home-furnishing stores, electronics and appliance stores also posted strong spending numbers, despite competition from online shopping websites,...