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Peterborough has been rated the worst place to live in the UK after it tipped a list of some of the most rundown areas in the country with residents describing the area as ‘draining’. The annual survey listed Peterborough the worst for the second year running, while other places including Doncaster and Rochdale were also listed. It is often said that home is where the heart is but inhabitants of the ten towns and cities on the list feel far from proud about the areas they call home. Over 80,000 people voted for the worst places in the country through...

Iranian missile attacks on two joint U.S.-Iraqi military bases Wednesday morning didn’t kill or injure any Americans, according to initial reports – and that appears to have been a deliberate move by Iran to avoid a retaliatory strike by U.S. forces. Iran had to strike back at the U.S. in some way after an American drone attack ordered by President Trump killed Iranian terrorist Gen. Qassem Soleimani and other terrorists Friday morning in Iraq. But the leaders of the Iranian regime are smart enough to know that if they had killed Americans in their retaliatory attack, Trump would have responded...

The escalation of hostility between the United States and Iran after the U.S. assassination of a top Iranian military commander is the top news story so far this year. The potential repercussions of an open conflict would be numerous, and now analysts are warning they will not be limited to the oil market, but would spill into other energy products too, such as LNG. Iran’s neighbor Qatar was until recently the world’s largest supplier of liquefied natural gas. Last year, according to S&P Global Platts figures, Qatar supplied 22 percent of the global LNG. In the event of a war,...

The NSW Police Force has taken legal action against more than 180 people for bushfire-related offences since late last year. Numerous bush and grass fires have impacted the state, claiming the lives of 18 people and destroying hundreds of millions of animals and livestock, thousands of homes, and more than 4.9 million hectares of land, so far this bushfire season. Since Friday 8 November 2019, legal action – which ranges from cautions through to criminal charges – has been taken against 183 people – including 40 juveniles – for 205 bushfire-related offences. Of note: 24 people have been charged over...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has ordered a criminal investigation into the crash of a Ukraine International Airlines plane near the Iranian capital on Wednesday morning, as the country's embassy in Tehran hastened to retract its initial response to the tragedy. The plane was carrying at least 176 people to Kiev when it crashed shortly after takeoff from Imam Khomeini international. The aircraft left the airport just after 6.10 a.m. Tehran time and crashed some five minutes later, according to Iranian officials. Ukraine's embassy in Iran initially issued a statement saying the aircraft was brought down engine failure, not because of...

Hunter Biden is the legal father of a 17-month-old, according to an Arkansas judge ruling on Tuesday. Circuit Court Judge Holly Meyer said that DNA testing determined that Biden is the father of Lunden Roberts' child with 'near scientific certainty.' A new birth certificate will be issued naming Biden as the father of NJR and the case will remain open while the rest of the issues are resolved between the two. Judge Holly Meyer, who took over the case after Judge Don McSpadden recused himself on New Years Eve, asked Biden's lawyers on Friday to send over papers that redacted...

Increasingly alarmed that Bernie Sanders could become their party’s presidential nominee, establishment-minded Democrats are warning primary voters that the self-described democratic socialist would struggle to defeat President Donald Trump and hurt the party’s chances in premier House, Senate and governors’ races. The urgent warnings come as Sanders shows new signs of strength on the ground in the first two states on the presidential primary calendar, Iowa and New Hampshire, backed by a dominant fundraising operation. The Vermont senator has largely escaped close scrutiny over the last year as his rivals doubted the quirky 78-year-old’s ability to win the nomination. But...

Cardi B said she's filing for Nigerian citizenship amid ongoing tensions between the U.S. and Iran. The Grammy-winning artist, 26, took to Twitter to react to the stream of memes that have made it onto the social media site speculating on the possibility of World War III when she made the revelation. 'Naaaaa these memes are f***in but s**t ain't no joke! ... Specially being from New York,' the singer, whose full name is Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar, said Friday.

Measles has killed nearly three times as many people as Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo, figures show. Around 6,000 patients have died from measles since the start of 2019, with cases reported in every corner of the African country. More than a quarter of a million people have been infected in that time, with the World Health Organisation describing it as the 'world's worst outbreak'. Despite the growing death-toll, the DRC's simultaneous Ebola outbreak has gained far more international attention. The outbreak of the virus has killed at least 2,231 people since the first case was reported in...

The muted reaction of leading Democratic politicians to the elimination of Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani reinforces my sense of what divides our country and differentiates the two parties. One part of America still believes that there is good and evil, and one part doesn't. The American left, whose political home is the Democratic Party, lives in a world where good and evil don't exist. Everything is about politics including redemption itself. Only someone who does not believe there is good and evil experiences no joy when evil is defeated. The destruction of Soleimani, whose life's work was carrying out...

Former National Security Adviser John Bolton likely wouldn’t be helpful as a Senate impeachment witness because he “know[s] nothing” on the matter, President Trump said this week. “[Bolton] would know nothing about what we’re talking about,” President Trump said Tuesday when asked if he would be comfortable with his former national security adviser testifying on events relating to the Ukraine probe. “As you know, the Ukrainian government came out with a very strong statement, no pressure, no anything, and this from the boss,” Trump went on to say, adding, “That’s from the president of Ukraine. The foreign minister came out...

Police have charged at least 24 people for intentionally starting bushfires in the state of New South Wales, according to a statement the New South Wales Police released Monday. NSW Police have taken legal action against 183 people, 40 of whom are juveniles, for fire-related offenses since November 8, the statement said. The legal actions range from cautions to criminal charges. Out of those 183 people, 53 have received cautions or criminal charges for failing to comply with a total fire ban and 47 are accused of discarding a lit cigarette or match on land, according to the police statement......

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is limiting U.S. diplomats' contact with Iranian opposition groups, according to a cable sent to all U.S. diplomatic outposts Tuesday. Pompeo’s order says diplomats should not meet with Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK) or five other groups because it could damage the United States' chances to negotiate with Iran,... “Direct U.S. government engagement with these groups could prove counterproductive to our policy goal of seeking a comprehensive deal with the Iranian regime that addresses its destabilizing behavior,” the cable said, according to Bloomberg. It also added that these groups “try to engage U.S. officials regularly to gain at...

Meet Patsy the border collie. Patsy saved a flock of sheep from fire. In this photo, you can see the Australian bushfires near the doggo’s owner’s farm. With bushfires still raging in Australia, over 500 million animals have died there since September. However, communities are coming together, people are volunteering to fight the blazes, and complete strangers all over the world are donating what they can to support Australia. What’s more, some animals are turning out to be real heroes and they’re saving their fellow animals.

Russell Kirk isn’t known as a policy wonk. The Great Books, not the mathematical or statistical models of economic technicians, were his organon of choice. He devoted essays to broad, perennial themes like “the moral imagination,” “liberal learning,” and “the permanent things.” Read his numerous columns about higher education, however, and you might come away with a different impression, one of Kirk as a political strategist with a strong grasp of educational policy. Kirk wrote on a wide variety of issues involving higher education: accreditation, academic freedom, tenure, curriculum, vocational training, community colleges, adult education, college presidents, textbooks, fraternities and...

Here is Can I? by George & Earl (1955). You can read about the duo here: https://www.allmusic.com/artist/georg...

Former national security adviser John Bolton shook up the Trump impeachment standoff recently with his announcement that, if subpoenaed, he is "prepared to testify" before a Senate trial. It's still not clear, of course, when or even if a trial might occur, since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is withholding the articles of impeachment. But if there is a trial, and if the Senate subpoenas Bolton, he won't fight it. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer has demanded the trial include witnesses. Schumer specifically wants the Senate to hear testimony from Bolton, current White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, and two...

Private payroll growth ended 2019 on a strong note, with companies adding 202,000 positions in December in another sign of a healthy labor market, according to a report Wednesday from ADP and Moody’s Analytics. The total was well above the 150,000 consensus estimate from economists surveyed by Dow Jones and sets the stage for the government’s official count that will be released Friday. Economists expect the Labor Department’s tally to show a gain of 160,000. In addition to the solid December growth, ADP revised the initial November count of 67,000 up to 124,000.

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem (Music in The Bible) Psalm 80 Psalm 80[a] For the director of music. To the tune of “The Lilies of the Covenant.” Of Asaph. A psalm. 1 Hear us, Shepherd of Israel,     you who lead Joseph like a flock. You who sit enthroned between the cherubim,     shine forth 2 before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh. Awaken your might;     come and save us. 3 Restore us, O God;     make your face shine on us,     that we may be saved. 4 How long, Lord God Almighty,     will your anger smolder     against the prayers of your people? 5 You have fed them...

By all accounts, the low-tax, light-touch regulatory environment produced by Congress and the Trump administration has done wonders for America as we enter election year 2020. In the latest jobs report, 321,000 new jobs were added to the economy. The unemployment rate currently sits at a healthy 3.5 percent; down two full points from when President Obama left office just three years ago. The American economy is without a doubt going strong. Still, some say that America’s best times may soon be in the rear-view mirror. While it would be understandable if in 2020 the U.S. is not able to...