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· Nation’s Capital Braces for Violence as Extremist Groups Converge to Protest Trump’s Election Loss
· Suspect in Queens Hoax Bomb Already under NYPD Investigation for Far-Right Stunts
· Cuba Warns US Against New Terror Designation
· France’s COVID Vaccine Rollout Is Going So Slowly It’ll Take 3,000 Years
· Britain Failed. Again.
· Redefining Victory in America’s War against the Islamic State in Syria
· The SolarWinds Hack Doesn’t Demand a Violent Response
· New Terrorism Guide Shows FBI Still Classifying Black “Extremists” as Domestic Terrorism Threat
· The Telegram App Gives Voice to the Oppressed in Belarus and Russia. but Hate Groups Are Using It Too.
Nation’s Capital Braces for Violence as Extremist Groups Converge to Protest Trump’s Election Loss (Will Carless, USA Today)
Protests planned for Washington, D.C., this week are likely to attract large numbers of President Donald Trump’s supporters, including conspiracy theorists, militia groups and members of the extremist group the Proud Boys, raising concerns of violent confrontations.
The rallies are planned to coincide with the official congressional vote to certify the Electoral College votes from the November presidential election and declare President-elect Joe Biden the winner. Far-right groups from around the country have vowed to descend on the capital to protest the vote and attempt to pressure lawmakers into voting against certifying the results, an outcome that even the leaders of the effort admit is extraordinarily unlikely to happen.
Trump himself has amplified conspiracy theories about the election and encouraged his supporters to show up at the protests. “Statistically impossible to have lost the 2020 Election. Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!” he tweeted on December 18. On Sunday, the president again promoted the protests, writing on Twitter, “I will be there. Historic day!”
Cuba Warns US Against New Terror Designation (AFP / VOA)
Cuba on Wednesday warned the outgoing U.S. administration against redesignating the island as a state sponsor of terrorism, a move reportedly under discussion that could hinder President-elect Joe Biden’s diplomacy.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is reviewing the possibility before leaving office on January 20 of returning Cuba to the blacklist, which severely impedes foreign investment, a person familiar with the situation said.
Suspect in Queens Hoax Bomb Already under NYPD Investigation for Far-Right Stunts (Tom Winter, Jonathan Dienst and Ben Collins, NBC News)
Louis Shenker is accused of placing a hoax bomb on a stolen Tesla with a husky dog locked inside that was found in a Queens parking garage.
France’s COVID Vaccine Rollout Is Going So Slowly It’ll Take 3,000 Years (Peter Yeung, Daily Beasy)
The latest confirmed number of vaccines administered in France is just 516, where a historic skepticism combined with a delayed roll out means anti-vaxx sentiment is on the rise.
Britain Failed. Again. (Tom McTague, The Atlantic)
The country has gone into lockdown once more. The current set of restrictions has more troubling reasons than the last.
