Transcript

1.20.26 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of the Washington Post for January twentieth,
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twenty twenty six. As a reminder, Radio Y is a
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reading service intended for people who are blind or have
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other disabilities that make it difficult to read printed material.
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Your reader for today is Patrick Lee Lucas. To day's
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front page. Headlines from the Washington Post are Trump stokes
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e U Ayer via Text Entertainment Group circles d C
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area for new mini sphere in Iran, a feeling of
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betrayal by Trump, big tech billionaire's spur exodus from California,
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protest at Miller's house, Land's neighbor under investigation, fashion icon dress,
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the famous with Italian flair and our first article. Trump
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ties Greenland takeover bid to Nobel Prize and text Norway leader.
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Trump's push to take over Greenland and unleash a trade
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war with European nations has sparked the greatest Trannis the
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Atlantic Crisis in generations by Ellen Francis and Stephen Hendricks Brussels.
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In a message to Norway's Prime minister, President Donald Trump
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linked his insistence on taking over Greenland to his grievance
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over not receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, adding a new
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twist to Trump's stoking of a trade war that is
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shaking the Transatlantic alliance. In the weekend text Norwegian Prime
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Minister Jonas gar Store, Trump wrote that he no longer
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needed to quote think purely of peace in quote after
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he didn't win the Peace Prize last year, an award
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that the President has openly commented and is bestowed by
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the Nobel Committee in Norway. Trump then questioned the quote
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unquote ownership of Greenland by Denmark, a NATO ally, and
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repeated his ambition for the United States to take quote
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complete and total control in quote of the autonomous Danus territory.
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In a statement, White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said that
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Trump quote believes Greenland is a strategically important location that
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is critical from the standpoint of national security, and he
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is confident Greenlanders would better served if protected by the
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United States from modern threats in the Arctic region. Storrer
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confirmed Trump's leaked message in a statement Monday. He said
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Trump was responding to a text that's Store had sent
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on behalf of Norway and Finland conveying opposition to US
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tariffs against European nations. Rejecting a takeover of Greenland. Quote,
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we pointed to the need to de escalate and proposed
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a telephone conversation. In quote, Storre said, the attempt tofuse
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tensions seemed not to have worked. Trump's reply came shortly
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after quote, considering your country decided not to give me
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the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped eight wars plus.
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I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of peace,
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although it will always be predominant, but can now think
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about what is good and proper for the United States
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of America, Trump wrote. In the text, which was first
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reported by PBS, storr said he made his support for
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Greenland and Denmark clear, and that he had repeatedly explained
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to Trump that it is up to the Nobel Committee,
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not the Norwegian government, toward the annual Peace Prize. On Monday,
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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessen sought to reframe the narrative. Quote
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it is a complete canard to think the President Trump's
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action on Greenland is due to quote not receiving the
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Nobel Peace Prize, he told reporters on the sidelines of
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the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
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European retaliation, he added, would be quote unquote very unwise.
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Trump seemingly attempted to downplay his remarks about the award
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later Monday, even as he doubled down on his aims
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for Greenland. Quote, I don't care about the Nobel Prize.
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A very fine woman felt that I deserved it, then
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really wanted me to have the Nobel Prize in quote
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he told reporters, a reference to his acceptance of the
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medal last week from Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Makado
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the twenty twenty five Laureate. Quote. If anyone doesn't think
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that Norway doesn't control the Nobel Prize, they have a board,
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but it's controlled by Norway end quote. Trump's bid to
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buy or sees Greenland, effectively demand to grab a NATO
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Allies territory against its will and to unleash a trade
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war with European leaders who disapprove, has sparked the greatest
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Transatlantic crisis in generations. European leaders are headed to the
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World Economic Forum in Davos this week, hoping that face
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to face meetings with Trump will talk him down from
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the intensifying confrontation. Speaking before the trip, Trump said of
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the Bloc's leaders regarding his plan for Greenland, quote, I
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don't think they're going to push back. We have to
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have it. They have to have this done. They can't
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protect it. British Prime Minister Kerr Starmer said Monday it
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would be quote unquote completely wrong for Trump to slap
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tariffs on European nations in his push for Greenland, even
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as Starmer sought to preserve the relationship with the United
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States that is vied vital to European security. The British
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leader's comments added to mounting European pushback. French President Emmanuel
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Macron has likened Trump's declaration to a form of quote
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unquote intimidation, and Swedish Prime Minister uf Christerson described it
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as blackmail. Even Italian Prime Minister of Georgia Maloney a
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Trump ally called it a quote unquote mistake. In remarks
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to reporters on Monday, Starmer denounced economic coercion against allies
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as the wrong approach to resolving disagreements. He described tariff's
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as harmful to British workers and businesses. Quote. A trade
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war over Greenland is in no one's interests in quote,
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Starmer said, calling for discussions between Greenland, Europe and the US. Still,
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he declined to say whether he would support calls within
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the European Union, of which Britain is no longer a member,
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for retaliation against Washington. At NATO Headquarters, Secretary General Mark
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Root on Monday discussed Arctic security with Denmark's Defense Minister
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trolls Lund Poulson and Greenland's foreign Minister Vivian Madsfeld. Quote.
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We discussed how important the Arctic, including Greenland, is to
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our collective security in quote, and now how Denmark is
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stepping up investments in key capabilities. Root set in a
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social media post. Quote. Will continue to work together as
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allies on these important issues, Paulson told reporters after the
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meaning that Denmark and Greenland had proposed the idea of
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a NATO mission to Greenland in their talks with Root.
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Trump has said controlling Greenland is necessary for national security reasons,
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a point disputed by allies and some members of Congress,
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who rebutted the President's claim that the Arctic territory faces
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imminentt security risks from Russia and China. Trump's unwillingness so
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far to back down, risks driving a deeper wedge in
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the Western Alliance, or some fear causing an irreparable break.
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After months of trying to keep Trump on side, European
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policymakers are weighing options to retaliate. The Continent's top leaders
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still stressed that they would much rather avoid an escalation,
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but Trump's threats are fueling a growing course of calls
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from lawmakers and politicians for European leaders to stand up
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for the continent and fireback. Quote. Appeasement has failed, wrote
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Yavi Lopez, a lawmaker from Spain and Vice president of
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the European Parliament. Quote. Europe can only protect its sovereignty
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from Ukraine to Greenland by reducing dependencies, strengthening its deterrence,
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and using without limits its most powerful tool, access to
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the world's largest single market. If diplomatic efforts fail, that
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e use arsenal of trade tools includes imposing tariffs on
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a list of more than one hundred billion dollars worth
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of American goods, which EU officials had prepared last year
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but suspended to sign a trade deal with Trump. Another
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option would be trigger, an instrument often dubbed the block
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trades Bazuka, which would allow for targeting American services in Europe,
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a major profit center for US tech giants. The European
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Union's top diplomat, Kaja Khalis, also met with Poulson and
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motts Felt on Monday. After the meeting at EU headquarters
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in Brussels. Callous set on X that Arctic security is
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a quote shared Transatlantic interest in quote and that quote
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terror threats are not the way to go about this.
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In quote, she added, quote we have no interest to
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pick a fight, but we will hold our ground. Europe
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has a slate of tools to protect its interests in quote.
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EU leaders have warned that Russia stands to benefit from
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the rift at NATO on Monday, the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry
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Peskov appeared to serve the pot by telling reporters that
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by taking action on Greenland, Trump stood to make history
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one way or another. Peskov said there was quote a
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lot of disturbing information in quote recently and that he
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would not comment on about quote our plans regarding Denmark
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and Greenland quote aside from quote whether whether this is
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good or bad, whether it complies with international law or not.
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He added, quote there are international experts who believe that
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by resolving the issue of Greenland's accession, Trump will go
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down in history, not only in US history, but also
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in world history. It is difficult to disagree with these experts. Russia,
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preoccupied with its war in Ukraine, has largely stood by
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while Trump ordered military strikes in Venezuela and seized President
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Nicolas Maduro, Moscow's long time ally. That has left Russian
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President Vladimir Putin's credibility on the world stage diminished. As
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Trump flexes his muscles among friends and foes alike, the
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president has declared that new tariffs on eight European countries
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would start February first unless they acquiesced to his plan
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to acquire Greenland. These European nations, Britain, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany,
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the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden recently sent troops to Greenland
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in small numbers for joint exercises with Danish military. European
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leaders cast the deployment as a sign of NATO's commitment
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to protecting the Arctic, in response to Trump warning that
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Arctic security was at risk. Meanwhile, on Monday, the North
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American Aerospace Defense Command nor AD said US military aircraft
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would be arriving soon at Pitifut Geek Space Base in
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Greenland to support quote various long planned nor AD activities,
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including building on the enduring defense cooperation between the United
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States and Canada, as well as the Kingdom of Denmark Greenland.
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The Command noted was informed of the planned activities. Because
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the EU operates as a single trading block, the imposition
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of tariffs on some of its twenty seven nations could
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affect all of them, European officials said. Leaders of Denmark
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and Greenland have said repeatedly that they welcomed deeper US
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economic and security involvement, but that the vast island territory,
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which Trump covets for its strategic Arctic location and natural resources,
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is not for sale. Quote blackmail between friends is obviously
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unacceptable in quote, French Finance Minister Roland Lescure said in
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Berlin on Monday. If the u S tariff threats come
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to fruition, Lescure added, quote, we Europeans must remain united,
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in coordinated in our response and above all be prepared
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to make full use of the European Union's instruments. France
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has pushed for Europe to take a harder line against Trump,
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while many of its EU neighbors preferred restraint. On Monday, however,
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German Finance Minister Lars Klingbile echoed the sentiment, saying the
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EU should consider using the quote tool box for responding
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to economic blackmail. End quote our next article. A six
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thousand seat immersive mini sphere venue is planned for d
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C region. The smaller cousin of the Fames Sphere in
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Las Vegas is expected by Maryland officials to generate one
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billion dollars in annual economic activity after it's built at
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National Harbor by Aaron Cox, Travis m Andrews, and Ethan Beck.
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Sphere Entertainment COS built the largest spherical building on Earth
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in Las Vegas, now wants to build a smaller one
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outside DC. The company of Behind Spear unveiled planned Sunday
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night for what it says will be the world's first
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quote unquote mini sphere venue off the Potomac River in
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Maryland to six thousand seats immersive experience that would open
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in twenty thirty. The smaller cousin of the Famed Vegas
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attraction would offer the same features as the original. It
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would be roughly a third of the size but would
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cost half as much to build. More than one billion dollars.
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Situated near an existing casino at National Harbor, with its
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forty experience, the venue is expected to generate one billion
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dollars in economic activity annually by hosting large scale immersive
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concerts within residents, artists, sporting events, other shows, and corporate functions.
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Quote the sphere in National Harbor, it will have all
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the elements that we have in Las Vegas. In quote
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David Digger, Granville Smith, Sphere Entertainment Companies executive vice president
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said in an Internet as he described it, the mini
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sphere would have site lines to the Washington Monument, making
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it visible on flight path to Reagan National Airport. Its domed,
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led paneled exterior sparkling with ads and art installations on
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its exosphere. That is, if all goes as planned. The
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deal roughly includes two hundred million dollars in incentives from
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Maryland governments, and a private company offered most public subsidies
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and tax incentives to defray the cost. Granville Smith said
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the company signed a quote unquote letter of intent with
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the Peterson Companies, the developers of the National Harbor development.
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That is anchored by an MGM casino and has restaurants
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shopping at an one hundred and eighty foot ferris wheel.
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Peterson Companies offered to negotiate a discount on the eight
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acres needed to build it, a roughly fifteen million dollar
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contributionist State officials said, quote, we looked around the globe
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quite frankly for partners. We were looking for forward thinking
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cities and states. In quote, Granville Smith said, Maryland Governor
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Wes Moore, Democrat and Prince George's county executive Aisha In
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brave Boy, Democrat, each toured the original sphere. He saw
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Kenny Chesney rehearse, she saw Zach Brown show and have
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developed a package of tax breaks, government back loans, and
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incentive programs that add up to almost one hundred and
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eighty five million dollars according to the state. Many incentives
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require a public vote, however, including ten million dollars in
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financing from the state at a time when Maryland faces
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a one point four billion dollar budget deficit. It also
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calls for foregoing as much as one hundred threety million
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dollars in future local tax money building a forty million
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dollar public parking garage and tweaking existing incentives for national
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harbor offered by Prince George's County, which is reeling for
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multiple economic punches in the past year. More called the
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Mini Sphere project quote a massive, massive deal in quote
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and the type of economic diversification needed in the state
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battered by federal job losses. Quote. We're just absolutely thrilled
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in quote, he said in a joint interview with Brave
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Boy and Granville Smith. Quote. It's just an absolute perfect marriage, quote,
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Brave Boy said. Sphere quote really merges technology with entertainment
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to create an experience like no other. I've been there myself,
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and I can tell you that it's not just a
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place to go. It is an experience. You leave their
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feeling like you've been somewhere in quote. To those unfamiliar,
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know this. It's Sphere, not the Sphere, despitely how bad
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you want it to be, and despite how many people
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you'll here call it that. The original Sphere, a more
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than two billion dollar venue filled with roughly eighteen thousand
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seats dressed in more than five hundred and eighty thousand
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square feet of program ammable led panels, opened in Las
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Vegas in twenty twenty three. With a run of shows
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by the band that seems to support every technology innovation
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you two. Since then, Sphere has slowly begun attempting global domination,
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meeting some resistance along the way. A second full size
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one is being built in Nabu Dabby, while plans to
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build others in London and South Korea have stalled. Maryland's
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mini Sphere would be the first of its kind. It
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is nearly impossible to describe the experience of being inspired
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Sphere with more mere sentences. That isn't to say that
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it's good or that it's bad. It's just like anything,
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unlike anything you've ever seen. The best phrase to describe
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it is insanely overwhelming. Quote. If people haven't seen it,
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you'll see that something at Sphere is not a show.
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It is actually an experience. In quote, Moore said, It's
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often referred to as imax on steroids, but that only
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gets at the size, which is impressive the thing, at
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least the Vegas version is three hundred and sixty six
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foot tall five hundred and sixteen foot wide dome, but
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those numbers don't quite convey the immersiveness of it. Most
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seats are equipped with haptic technology. There are means to
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create winds and scents, and even without these extras, the
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mere visuals, to say nothing of the surround sound from
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almost one hundred and sixty seven thousand speakers are enough
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to transport audiences wherever the artists choose to PLoP them.
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There is a more than zero chance you will feel ill.
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You will at some point almost definitely feel dizzy and
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wonder if you're going to tumble off the stands to
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the ground below. And in Vegas, you've pooned up several
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hundred dollars for the experience. The dome is made of
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what is founder's claim is the highest resolution LED screens
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on earth. When while dazzling, dizzying graphics and videos and
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animations begins swirling and dancing across it, there's really nowhere
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else to look. The only way to escape is to leave,
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well kind of, because even when you leave, you're merely
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greeted with more light emitting diodes those on the outside.
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The entire expire of the dome is also a screen.
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This is probably not the best use news for anyone
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living near the structure, though Granville Smith promises that the
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version they plan to build at National Harbor and then
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in cities around the world will only have different seating capacities,
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the experience will in no other way be diminished, and
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he claims acts that play content at one sphere can,
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and they hope will, easily transport the same experience to
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another sphere. Immersive shows such as The Wizard of Oz
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can be played at any sphere. The project is supposed
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to create twenty five hundred construction jobs and forty seven
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one hundred and fifty long term jobs once operational, according
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to the company and officials announcing the project. Prince George's,
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long known as the enclave of Black Wealth, has been
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hit hard by the Trump administration's cuts the federal workforce
16:32
in canceling of a multi billion dollar project to build
16:34
a new campus for the FBI. Before that, the Washington
16:37
Commanders announced they would build a gleaning new football stadium
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in DC, abandoning their home of nearly three decades at
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Northwest Stadium in the county. The Six Flags in Bowie, Maryland,
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another major tax revenue generator, closed in November. Quote, the
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total economic impact of this sphere will really draw for
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what we are seeing currently from Six Flags in the
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Commander's Stadium combined and Brave Boy said. Though Granville Smith
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could did not share specifics on the Mini spheres, average
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ticket price point, or soft after bookings, he said that
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most artists will likely still follow the residency model, playing
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several shows in a row. The venue, he added, will
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also be used for corporate and branding events and even
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sports such as UFC and boxing. The exterior will display
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commercial advertisements half the time and artwork during the other half.
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Any Maryland residents with light sensitivity rest assured it will
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not be illuminated twenty four hours a day. The dome
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has to sleep and the next article, Trump promised Iranians
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the US would rescue them some field betrayed in the
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midst of the mass uprising in Iran, President Trump avowed
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the US would intervene if the Iranian government killed protesters.
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Thousands are dead by Jagana Torbadi and Suad McKennitt is Tunbul,
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Reeling from a crackdown on protesters in Iran that left
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thousands dead, Iranians are now grappling with feelings of betrayal, confusion,
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and uncertainty after President Donald Trump repeatedly promised to intervene
17:57
on their behalf and then declined to do so, so.
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Some Iranians said in interviews that Trump's word of support
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had added to their determination to resist the Iranian government
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after protests erupt initially over dire economic conditions and then
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took on widespread demands for ousting the entire ruling system.
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Hadis thirty six, a Tehran resident, said in an interview
18:17
that Iranians turned out to protest despite widespread killings in
18:21
bisecurity forces, with expectations that Trump would order a military
18:24
strike on Iranian targets. Quote. Our eyes were fixed on
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the sky, like something will happen, He'll hit now in quote,
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Hadi said. Quote. We came out to protest with fear,
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but we had hoped that Trump will strike now, will
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kill these guys. Quote. After Trump refrained from launching an attack,
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she concluded that he did not have Iranian's interest in mind.
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Quote Trump isn't thinking of humanity. You could easily do
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something for us in quote. Like others interviewed, she spoke
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on the condition that her full name not be used
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for feo of reprisal by the Iranian government. Anahita forty five,
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an Iranian woman in Istanbul, described staying awake all through
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a recent night of mid wide speculation that the United
19:01
States was about to strike Iran, while Iranian government shut
19:05
down of the internet has made it possible to communicate
19:07
with people outside the country. Other Iranians in Turkey, Armania,
19:12
and Dubai described a similar sense of anticipation. Quote. I
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kept thinking about how helpless we are that we have
19:17
to pray for another country to attack us for our
19:19
salvation and freedom in quote, Anahita said. But quote but today,
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more than anything, anger is surging through me. I feel
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like Trump has backtracked again and traded the lives of
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of Iran's youth in quote. A week after protests got
19:32
underwig in Iran in late December, Trump promised on True
19:35
Social that if Iran were to kill peaceful protesters, the
19:37
US would quote come to their rescue in quote. He
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followed that a few days later with a vow that
19:42
quote if they start killing people like they have in
19:44
the past, we will get involved. Will be hitting them
19:46
very hard where it hurts in quote. In another post,
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Trump promised that quote help is on its way in quote,
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encouraging Iranians to quote takeover in quote. Regime institutions, human
19:57
rights groups that monitor Iran believed recent government killings far
20:01
exceed those during previous rounds of protests. Amnesty International said
20:05
quote mass unlawful killings committed on an unprecedented scale in
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quote have taken place, according to information it has received,
20:12
while the human rights activist News Agency reports that as
20:15
such Sunday, more than thirty five hundred protesters have been killed.
20:19
Videos verified by The Washington Post social security forces firing
20:22
directly into crowds of protesters in at least six cities
20:25
across Iran. The White House did not respond to a
20:27
request for comment for this article. Trump said late last
20:30
week that Iranian authorities had canceled plans to execute eight
20:33
hundred protesters. The Post has reported that Trump had received
20:37
word through a senior US envoy that Iran had canceled
20:40
the executions, in that this development, along with pressure from
20:43
regional allies, limits on US military resources, and concerns over
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unpredictable fallout, had led him to refrain from ordering strikes
20:51
last week. In response to Trump's comments about the executions,
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Tehran prosecutor Ali Salahi told Iranian state television on SAT
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that quote Trump always talks a lot of nonsense in quote,
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and that a large number of indictments had been issued. Quote.
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Our response is firm, deterrent, and swift in quote, Salahi said.
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Exiled Iranian Crown Prince Raza Paalolavi, who has emerged as
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the most prominent opposition leader amid this round of unrest,
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has called on Trump quote to intervene to help the
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people of Iran in quote. In a statement Saturday provided
21:23
by his office, Pelavi said that it is quote it
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is not for me to tell President Trump what to do.
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What I can say is that the Iranian people would
21:29
welcome targeted action against security forces killing them. In the end,
21:33
the change will come from the Iranian people. They are
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the boots on the ground and they do not now
21:38
need some targeted help to stop the massacres in quote.
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Jas Doan shohade a, spokesman for the Iran Transition Council
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and opposition coalition, said it had been irresponsible for Trump
21:49
to promise action and then not to intervene. Quote. The
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people of Iran thought to themselves that this time the
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war would be with us, and we saw that it
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wasn't in quote, he said. Shohade based In had signed
22:01
an open letter to Trump this month calling on him
22:03
to quote act against the machinery of repression and prevent
22:06
the continued killing of a people who seek dignity, justice
22:09
and freedom in quote. But nazanin azensary, editor of a
22:13
Persian language newspaper in London and another signatory of the
22:16
open letter, said she doesn't view Trump's inaction thus far
22:19
as a betrayal, and she left open the possibility that
22:22
was a bluff. Quote. We haven't reached the end of
22:24
this Iran story. In quote, she said, some Iranians hold
22:28
out hope that Trump could yet decide to intervene. They
22:30
suggest his comments could be misdirection, noting that Israel, later
22:34
joined by the US, carried out a military assault in June,
22:37
at a time when US officials have been talking about
22:39
engaging in a new round of negotiations with a Ran
22:42
over its nuclear program. Two officials told The Post that
22:46
Trump and his advisors are now keeping their options open
22:49
and possibly buying time while the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft
22:52
carrier is then transit from Asia to the Middle East.
22:55
White House Press Secretary Caroline Levett has said in a
22:58
statement that quote, nobody knows what President Trump will do
23:01
with respect to Iran, besides the president himself. In Some
23:04
foreign officials said Trump owes support to Ranian protesters quote
23:09
by encouraging the population and explicitly offering to help. By
23:13
announcing that help is on the way, the American president
23:15
has assumed a responsibility that can not later be denied,
23:19
said Norbot Ratkin, deputy member of the German Parliament's Foreign
23:23
Affairs Committee. Quote. I have greatly applauded the President for
23:26
his words and his engagement, but I also believe it
23:28
must be said clearly that he has now assumed a
23:31
responsibility to stand by his words and to follow through
23:33
on what he has promised to deliver on those promises.
23:37
A second European official, speaking on the condition of anonymity
23:40
to talk candidly about the U S President, said that
23:43
many Iranians quote trusted and still trust that he will
23:46
not abandon them and would help bring about an overthrow.
23:49
If he now makes a complete reversal, then Trump will
23:52
have to live with the fact that he will go
23:53
down in history as the one who encouraged Iranian citizens
23:56
to demonstrate and promised help, only to abandon them afterward.
23:59
In quote. While Trump's remarks may have fueled the protest.
24:03
Ali Fatala Nejad, director of the Center for Middle East
24:07
and Global Order in Berlin, said it is difficult to
24:09
tell how they influenced the regime or affected its violent
24:12
response one way or the other. Quote I don't think
24:15
that this was the primary factor behind the scale of
24:17
state sponsored violence in quote, he said. Inside the country,
24:21
some Iranians say they now feel defeated. In some accounts
24:24
shared online, Ranians described being traumatized and in deep mourning.
24:28
One woman in Tehran, speaking in a voice message provided
24:31
to the Post by an intermediate area, said last week
24:33
that life had been drained from her usually vibrant city.
24:37
Only stores that sell essential goods were open, and virtually
24:39
no one ventures outside of the evenings. She said, quote,
24:42
people are extremely sad and tired. In quote, she said,
24:45
quote there is no life in quote. Our next article,
24:50
how tech billionaires spurred an exodus of rich people from California.
24:55
The campaign against a proposed billionaire tax was sparked by
24:57
industry leaders that have long bashed saintfredcis it has consumed
25:01
the tech world in its driving some of the state's
25:03
Richard's residents to relocate. By Elizabeth Dweuskin and Caroline O'Donovan.
25:09
In late December, White House official and tech investor David
25:12
Sachs made a cryptic post on x quote message received
25:16
in quote, he wrote above a photo of anti billionaire
25:18
demonstrators gathered in front of a San Francisco mansion. The
25:22
post made public what Sacks and other billionaires had been
25:25
privately planning. They were plotting to leave California in protest
25:28
of a proposed wealth tax that would affect the state's
25:31
richest residence. Anger at the proposal, which would levy a
25:34
one time five percent tax on the asset's California residents
25:37
worth more than a billion dollars at simmered in group
25:40
chats and at holiday parties since the provision was announced
25:43
in November. Quote it was all anyone was talking about.
25:46
In quote, said Mike Solana, chief marketing officer of billionaire
25:50
Peter Thield's Founder's fund, who has written about the tax
25:53
on his right winging news platform pirate Wires. Quote. There
25:57
is not a founder who comes to San Francisco or
25:59
California to work in the technology industry who does not
26:02
think that they are going to be creating a billion
26:03
plus dollar company. He said in quote. This has spooked
26:07
a lot of people. Now, a slow of founders and
26:10
other ultra wealthy industry leaders are reducing their ties with
26:14
a state, including investors sax and Theel Deal's family office.
26:18
Theeld Capital sent out a news release about its relocation
26:21
to Miami in late December. Sachs recently said that he
26:24
had relocated to Austin and was opening a branch of
26:26
venture capital firm Craft Ventures there. Google co founders Larry
26:31
Page and Sergey Brinn both made moves to reduce their
26:34
footprints in California by transferring entities they controlled to other states,
26:37
according to two people familiar with the matter, who spoke
26:40
on the condition of anonymity to describe private deliberations. The
26:44
effort was first reported in New York Times. Brennan Page
26:47
did not respond to comment requests. Saxon Field declined to comment.
26:51
The wealth tax proposal is sponsored by the healthcare union
26:54
Service Employees International Union United Healthcare Workers West and is
26:59
intended to offset federal budget cuts to social services. It
27:02
requires eight hundred and seventy five thousand signatures to get
27:05
on the state ballot in November, and must then win approval.
27:08
Tax lawyers and advisors to California. Tech elites say clients
27:11
began making hasty preparations in December, in part because of
27:15
the language and the proposal that would apply the tax
27:17
retroactively to anyone who is a California resident. On January first,
27:20
twenty twenty six, that language, tax lawyer said is almost
27:24
certain to be litigated. David les Barance, a tax attorney,
27:28
said that four of his clients, worth six hundred billion
27:30
dollars collectively, have set relocation plans into motion, three to
27:33
Florida and one to Texas. Quote. Every one of my
27:36
clients who ran the numbers after Thanksgiving came back immediately
27:39
and said, get me the hell out of here, he said.
27:42
Quote this is now a no brainer in quote. While
27:45
tech elites have long threatened to leave the politically progressive,
27:48
high tax state, championing efforts to build new tech capitals
27:51
in places such as Austin and Miami, few have permanently resettled,
27:55
according to academics who specialize in the very rich. But
27:58
the current proposition has given new ammunition to those who
28:01
have long urged relocation, reigniting a campaign to vacata state
28:04
that some have argued don't value the industry's contributions. Though
28:08
ayre at the proposal has united many in the tech world,
28:11
Relocation is a complex process for the ultra wealthy. Researchers
28:15
say that while those elites appear to be stateless, jet
28:18
setting around the world to multiple homes and yachts on
28:20
private aircraft, they tend to cluster together. Most stay where
28:23
they built their business empires and where their social stock
28:26
is high, officially changing their state of residence far less
28:29
often than the average American, said Christobal Young, a sociology
28:32
professor at Cornell University who has written a book on
28:35
how different tax structures affect the migration patterns of wealthy people. Quote.
28:40
They are powerful insiders, and they are really well connected,
28:43
and for them moving away to a place where they
28:45
are really less connected and their personal, professional, and business
28:47
networks aren't there with them anymore in quote, said Young,
28:50
quote that's not a good deal. The proposal has already
28:54
divided Democrats. California Governor Gavin Newsom opposes it, while represented Rocana,
29:00
a local congressman who was formerly a tech industry darling,
29:02
has backed the measure and has been attacked online by
29:05
tech leaders across the political spectrum. Igniting a conversation that
29:08
has consumed the industry. Some have argued the proposal is
29:12
unusually punitive for founders whose sky high net worth is
29:15
often tied up in privately held startups. To pay the tax,
29:18
critics say some elites would have to sell large amounts
29:20
of stock, potentially destabilizing the company's value and causing them
29:24
to lose control. The provision's co author, University of Missouri
29:28
law professor David Gammage, said these interpretations are exaggerated, and
29:31
the intention of the law as attacks are roughly two
29:34
hundred identified billionaires in the state, not those whose wealth
29:37
is tied up in stock, who some call billionaires on
29:39
paper only. Yet efforts to so concern about the proposal
29:43
have been effective, he added, pointing to a letter he
29:45
and his co authors posted to an academic journal platform
29:48
on Thursday pushing back against assertions made online. He described
29:52
the online discourse about the proposal as a quote mix
29:54
a bad faith behavior on some and good faith confusion
29:57
on others. Young said previous efforts to tax the income
30:01
of the wealthy, including in California in twenty sixteen, garnered
30:04
virtually no opposition, but this proposed taxi said appeared to
30:08
trigger a different reaction because it was so sweeping and
30:10
targeted private company shares. Quote. In general, this story that
30:13
the rich are mobile is just not true and is
30:16
the basis of a weak argument against taxing the rich
30:18
in quote, he said, quote but everyone has a tipping
30:21
point in quote. Billionaire venture capitalist Ben Horowitz, who resides
30:25
in Las Vegas, recently echoed the point on a tech podcast.
30:28
Quote it's been so hard to break the Silicon Valley
30:30
network effect. He said. The tax, however, was quote the
30:34
best strategy I've seen in quote. Horowitz didn't respond to
30:37
requests for comment. Not everyone in the slite set agrees
30:40
with the proposals. Detractors Navidia CEO Jensen Hwang on Bloomberg
30:45
TV earlier this month said he had no plans to
30:47
lead the state over the tax, and Brian Chesky, the
30:50
Airbnb founder who spent months in twenty twenty two living
30:53
in airbnbs around the world, still plans to keep his
30:55
company and life headquartered in San Francisco, A spokesperson for
30:58
the company told The Washington Post. Leading the online crusade
31:01
to flee the state are Sachs, who serves in the
31:04
Trump administration as cryptocurrency and Aizar and his fellow co
31:07
hosts of the All In podcast online the men have
31:10
dubbed the wealth tax, officially called the California Billionaire Tax Act,
31:14
the quote asset seizure in quote. Gary Tan, the CEO
31:19
of the prominent startup incubator y Combinator, has said that
31:23
the provision would quote kill and eat the golden goose
31:25
of technology startups in California in quote. In one of
31:28
his numerous ex posts attacking the wealth tax, Tan told
31:31
the post that he is not a billionaire, but that
31:33
he cares about the issue because he helps quote unquote
31:36
create billionaires at y Combinator. Andy Fang, the co founder
31:39
of the food delivery company door Dash, which is public,
31:42
posted that the provision quote could wipe me out in quote,
31:45
and that it would be quote irresponsible for me not
31:48
to plan on leaving the state in quote. Many other
31:51
non billionaire entrepreneurs have jumped into the conversation, posting the
31:54
results of informal polls taken among billionaire friends, infographics mapping
31:58
potential effects, and screen ship of text messages from people
32:01
deciding whether to leave. As the country faced the pandemic
32:04
and the industry has become polarized. Tech leaders have made
32:07
a show of trashing the San Francisco Bay Area, with
32:09
some moving to Miami or Austin. Theo famously bought a
32:13
home and opened an office of his venture capital firm
32:16
in Miami in twenty twenty and twenty twenty one, respectively,
32:19
arguing to friends that the Bay Area had become an
32:21
enclave of woke intolerance. Sachs called his hometown of San
32:25
Francisco quote a cesspool in quote of homelessness and crime
32:28
and a speech at the twenty twenty four Republican National Convention.
32:31
But now there's a feeling that quote San Francisco is
32:34
back or on its way back, and that was very exciting.
32:36
In quote, Salana said, quote, people seemed excited to live
32:39
together again in one place and build. And then this happened.
32:43
According to the Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy, a
32:46
non partisan left of center think tech, the top one
32:49
percent contribute thirty eight percent of California's annual tax collections,
32:53
but overall, tax experts say that wealthier people play lower
32:56
tax rates than the working middle class on average, because
32:58
more of their income come from investments, which are taxed
33:01
at a lower rate for the very affluent who owned
33:04
multiple homes, companies, yachts and aircraft, and employee staff. Officially,
33:08
locating is not as simple as buying a house in
33:10
a different state. Tax lawyers frequently cite the case of
33:13
Gilbert Hyatt, an inventor who patented chip technology and moved
33:17
to Nevada in the early nineteen nineties. The state of
33:20
California was so skeptical of Hyatt's claims to have relocated
33:24
just before multimillion dollar payday it sent tax inspectors to
33:28
his house to dig through his trash and peer through
33:29
his windows. Two tax attorneys recalled. Hyatt ultimately sued the state,
33:34
but his case serves as a reminder of how meticulous
33:36
wealthy residents looking to leave must be the primary factor
33:41
in determining where a person lives is where they spend
33:43
most of their time. Tax lawyer Tim Noonan, who has
33:46
been advising tech clientele on the proposed law, said people
33:49
accustomed to a jet set lifestyle regularly spending nights on
33:52
yachts and hotels around the world, must, for a period
33:55
of at least a year, try to settle down. Quote.
33:57
You have to stick the landing in quote, he said,
34:00
quote that means spending a lot of time in one place,
34:02
even though that might not be your normal rhythm. Another
34:05
method tax auditors used to determine a person's official domicile
34:08
is called the quote unquote near endear tests, which looks
34:11
at the physical location of the individual's most prized possessions. Quote.
34:15
I have a dog, and she's my baby. I'm probably
34:17
living wherever my dog is in quote, said Marty Decation,
34:21
a tax lawyer in southern California. If you're an athlete,
34:24
quote unquote, where is your trophy case? If you're a
34:26
wine collector, where is your wine cellar? In quote. Gambadge,
34:30
a co author of California's proposed billionaire tax, said threats
34:34
of an exodus typically peque when as wealth tax is adopted,
34:37
as they did around Massachusetts so called Millionaire's tax in
34:39
twenty twenty two. In the end, he said wealthy residents
34:43
did not lead the state in unusually large numbers. Cambridge
34:46
has worked on many wealth tax proposals over his career
34:49
and said he believes that most billionaires quote have earned
34:51
their billions in a way that is laudable, but we
34:54
also need tax revenue. To fund healthcare education in the
34:56
general operating of society, A balancing act needs to be
34:59
made and our next articles. She protested at Stephen Miller's home.
35:05
Now police are investigating. Retired peace professor Barbara Wynn says
35:10
she was confronted a threat to her community. Some say
35:13
she's the threat. By Olivia George. She was kneeling in
35:17
her front yard pulling weeds from around a peach tree
35:19
when the police and federal agents arrived, four men. She
35:22
remembers with a question, quote are you Barbara Wynn? In quote?
35:26
By that balmy afternoon in early October, she sins that
35:29
her protest campaign against one of Donald President Donald Trump's
35:32
most powerful aids might stir trouble. A few weeks prior,
35:35
she'd seen two strangers lingering outside her Arlington home law enforcement.
35:39
She had surmised. Shaken, she spent a couple of nights
35:42
in a neighbor's basement. Now members of the FBI Secret
35:46
Service in Virginia State Police approached. They demanded her phone,
35:49
saying it could contain evidence of criminal conduct. When a
35:53
sixty six year old retired peace studies professor took off
35:56
her gardening gloves and read the search warrant signed by
35:58
a judge after police accused her of a quote coordinated
36:01
plan to intimidate and harassed Stephen Miller, Trump's Deputy chief
36:05
of Staff for policy and architect of the immigration agenda
36:08
that angered we In so much investigators had seen a
36:11
message in a group chat where we vowed to make
36:13
quote his life hell. There on her lawn, she learned
36:17
that she was an under criminal investigation for what she
36:20
saw as taking a stand against the administration's policies, that
36:23
her lifelong commitment to political activism had put her in
36:26
a precarious spot in a nation beset by rising political violence,
36:30
the nation where it seemed the line between free speech
36:32
and public safety, between legitimate protests and personal harassment, was
36:36
becoming increasingly difficult to decipher. She believed she was confronting
36:40
a threat to her community, but now she realized some
36:43
thought the threat came from her. Worry washed over her,
36:47
but it ebbed as she focused on the reasons she'd
36:49
begun protesting in the first place. The deportation dragnet sweeping
36:52
the country, in snaring mother's father's American citizens, her neighbors
36:56
fired from their government jobs, her father, who is a
36:59
young man fled the Nazis. She'd come to believe the
37:02
country was sliding toward despotism, afore she'd spent her career
37:05
working to dismantle around the world. Here was the latest
37:08
sign we in thought, a crackdown on descent. The men
37:11
drove away with the phone. She walked inside the walls
37:14
of her home, decorated with photographs of her two grown
37:16
children and a framed quote Peace Educator Award end quote
37:19
she punched into her land line the number four. A lawyer.
37:22
Three weeks early, on September eleventh, Weenn and her husband,
37:26
Robert Hermann, rode in their preut north through Arlington, toward
37:29
where they'd heard Miller lived decades ago. On their first date,
37:32
the couple had attended a civil rights rally at the
37:34
Lincoln Memorial, and in the years since they had stood
37:36
in front of tanks, marched for nuclear disarmament, and slept
37:39
outside the US capital demanding an assault's weapon van. Now,
37:43
for the first time, they were taking a protest to
37:44
someone's neighborhood. They dropped manila envelope stuff with pronouns on porches.
37:49
Among the pile of papers was a cartoon depicting Miller
37:51
as a vampire sucking the life from Ladied Liberty instructions
37:55
for donating food to families of immigration detainees. A flyer
37:58
with a photo of Miller's face circle in read with
38:00
a line through it quote wanted for crimes against humanity
38:04
in quote, the flyer stated, listing his home address, quote
38:07
no Nazis in Nova in quote meaning northern Virginia. Ween
38:11
said she did not know who made the flyer and
38:13
didn't realize it included his address. Wen was on a
38:16
quiet cul de sac that day when she noticed a
38:17
black suv idling in front of a large white house.
38:20
She recalls asking the driver to kill the engine as
38:22
she rattled off information about rising asthma rates. Then she
38:26
looked up and saw someone on the porch. She recognized
38:28
Miller's wife, Katie Miller, standing there in her sun dress.
38:31
We steeled herself and pointed her fingers in her own eyes,
38:34
and then Miller as to say, quote unquote, I'm watching
38:37
you in quote to Katie Miller, it appeared to be
38:40
a threat, part of a campaign of doxing and quote
38:43
unquote terroristic threats leveled against her family that pushed well
38:46
beyond the boundaries of free speech, as she described on
38:49
Fox News, leaving her concern for the safety of her children.
38:52
The day before she saw we In, conservative activist Charlie
38:55
Kirk was shot dead on a college campus in Utah,
38:58
plunging millions in a morning. Was the risk of violence
39:00
now outside her own door. To Wien, it was a
39:03
non violent gesture drawn from a lifetime of political activism,
39:06
a nudge her mother would have used to encourage better behavior.
39:10
She and her husband climbed back in the previous and
39:12
wrote home, passed yards with signs proclaiming support for fire
39:16
federal workers, and passed the elementary school where the couple
39:19
volunteered during drop offs to escort children with whose parents
39:21
were worried about US immigration and customs enforcement. Everywhere they looked,
39:25
Wehen and Harmon saw evidence of the havoc and heartache
39:28
depended on the Trump administration. It was why the couple
39:31
helped co found Arlington Neighbors United for Humanity last spring
39:34
to publicize ways they believe the Miller's work chafed against
39:37
the values of their community, a county Trump lost in
39:40
twenty twenty four by four to one margin. The group
39:43
had sent the Miller's a letter drafted and redrafted over Potlucks. Quote,
39:46
your efforts to dismantle our democracy and destroy our safety
39:49
net will not be tolerated here In quote, they wrote
39:52
they'd spent evenings outside metro station's calling on commuters to
39:56
sign a petition asking Congress to investigate Stephen Miller's White
39:59
House activity. Quote. I will devote my life to stopping
40:02
him at other fascists like him in quote Weihan had
40:05
posted on Instagram four days before she and her husband
40:07
went to his street. In the DC region, where politics
40:10
and public service are woven into the civic fabric, members
40:13
of Congress, Cabinet secretaries, and Supreme Court justices have had
40:17
to contend with protests outside their homes. During the first
40:20
Trump administration, a dozen people rallied outside Stephen Miller's downtown
40:23
d C condo building, playing audio of sobbing migrant children
40:27
being separated from their parents. They distributed flyers label heinging
40:30
a white nationalist, enlisting the condo's address. In the years since,
40:34
divisions have deepened, and public life can bring with it
40:36
an undercurrent violence and physical threat that follows you home.
40:40
In April, a man firebombed the residence of Pennsylvania Governor
40:43
Josh Shapiro, Democrat, while he and his family slept inside.
40:46
That same month, a twenty nine year old pleaded guilty
40:49
to approaching Supreme Court Justice Bred in Kavanaugh's home in
40:52
the d C. Suburbs with a gun and a plan
40:54
to kill him. In June, a gunman killed a Democratic
40:56
state representative and her husband in their Minnesota home. Trump
41:00
has survived two assassination attempts at a Pennsylvania rally and
41:03
one of his Florida golf cult courses. White House spokesman
41:07
Abigail Jackson said the Millers are under attack. Quote There's
41:10
been constant death threats against Stephen and his family, as
41:13
well as a highly sophisticated and organized doxing campaign tied
41:16
with extremely violent and threatening rhetoric that is now the
41:19
subject of ongoing state and federal inquiries in quote, she
41:22
said in a statement to The Washington Post. Katie and
41:24
Stephen Miller did not respond a request for comment. When's attorney,
41:28
Bradley our Heywood said her conduct was predicted under the constitution. Quote. Sometimes,
41:33
the ability to speak truth to powers all you have
41:35
left quote he said. Quote that's all my client was doing.
41:39
Katie Miller, who previously served as communications director for Vice
41:42
President Mike Pence, stopped letting her children play in their yards,
41:45
she said on a podcast last year. In August, she
41:48
called local police to a nearby park, having found yet
41:50
another poster denigrating her husband and publicizing their home address.
41:54
One day during the fall, members of Arlington Neighbors United
41:57
for Humanity scrawled messages on sidewalks near the Miller's home.
42:00
Katy Miller washed them away with a hose. Quote to
42:03
the tolerant left who has spent their day trying to
42:05
attimidate us in the house where we have three young children,
42:08
we will not back down. We will not cower in
42:10
fear in quote she wrote on social media. We Aenne
42:13
and Hermann said they didn't participate in the chalking or
42:15
post flyers in parks. Records show Arlington police concluded that
42:19
the chalk messages weren't threatening, but Katy Miller argued in
42:22
a Fox News interview that protesters coming to her home
42:24
were inciting the kind of violence that killed Kirk. Quote.
42:27
If we don't step up and start putting people in
42:29
cuffs for these actions, what comes next? In September, as
42:33
the Secret Service gathered potential evidence after Vihan's visit, including
42:36
manilla envelope she had distributed. In security footage from the neighborhood,
42:40
Stephen Miller warned of a left wing quote domestic terror
42:43
movement in quote, bringing a national megaphone to the tensions
42:46
at his doorstep quote to our enemies in quote, Miller
42:49
said at Kirk's Memorial service. Quote you cannot frighten us.
42:52
You cannot threaten us because we are on the side
42:54
of goodness in quote. By early October, the Miller's home
42:58
was listed for sale. Neighbors noticed the family's Halloween decorations
43:01
were gone and big black SUVs no longer idled up front.
43:04
The family moved into military housing at Fort mcneer in
43:07
d C, joining a growing number of Trump officials sequestering
43:09
themselves in the country. Deeply divided, Katie Miller recounted on
43:13
a podcast telling one of her children she needed to
43:15
return to the Arlington house to retrieve some clothes. The
43:18
four year old replied, quote, Mommy, you can't go back there,
43:21
it's not safe in quote. When her phone was seized,
43:24
Ween learned she was under state investigation for possibly violating
43:27
a Virginia law that makes it a misdemeanor to publish
43:29
a person's name or photograph along with identifying information quote
43:33
with the intent to coerce, intimidate, or harass in quote.
43:36
Prosecutors in Arlington County are still investigating Ween has not
43:40
been charged. In November, Representative Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio,
43:45
chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, opened an inquiry into
43:48
the Arlington Commonwealth Attorneys Parisa Dngani Topties, a second term
43:53
Democrat who had raised concerns about federal involvement. Jordan accused
43:57
her of ignoring the miller's safety out of quote unquote
44:00
political violent bias and requested a trove of documents. Then,
44:04
Ghani Tafti declined, citing the ongoing investigation and saying Congress
44:07
lack the ability to intervene as state law enforcement matter. Quote.
44:11
I can assure you that this investigation has been and
44:13
continues to be handled consistently with the Commonwealth Attorney's oath
44:17
in quote, she wrote to the lawmaker. Quote we are
44:19
doing our due diligence to uphold the rule of law
44:22
in quote dei Gani Tofti told a post, adding that
44:25
she had taken additional security measures because of a backlash
44:28
surrounding the case. A few days before Christmas, we had
44:31
heard that FBI agents had visited the homes of two
44:33
of her friends and a former student to ask questions
44:35
about her. Meanwhile, we had noticed corners of the Internet
44:39
were ablaze with outrage. She has dedicated her life to
44:42
working to stop violence. Now, some vieweder is part of
44:44
the problem, inflaming the country's divide. Quote The left are
44:48
the enemy in quote one social media comet read quote
44:51
Democrats are domestic terrorists in quote quote progressives are trying
44:55
to murder Stephen Miller quote. Ween, who retired from American
44:59
Union Niversity in twenty twenty four, spent her career promoting
45:02
peace throughout the world. She broke her conversations between military
45:06
officials and humanitarian workers, protected civilians from death squads and
45:09
conflict zones, and helped establish hundreds of conflict resolution degree
45:13
programs on campuses worldwide. Stephen Miller described immigrants as invading
45:17
the country, but Ween was an immigrant's daughter. Her father
45:20
escaped the Holocaust with the help of a US diplomat
45:23
and never wavered in his gratitude for America. After his
45:26
arrival by ship. Katie Miller had worked for Elon Musk
45:29
as he slashed the ranks of the federal bureaucracy. But
45:32
many of Ween's neighbors were fired civil servants, and now
45:34
she spent her free time trying to find them work.
45:37
Katie Miller set an oppost on X of the US
45:39
Agency for International Development, a decades's old organization responsible for
45:43
running foreign aid programs around the world, was quote the
45:46
training ground for terrorism, and called it dismantling it heroic
45:50
in quote unquote, but we in sixty eight year old
45:53
husband worked for years at the agency, helping countries make
45:55
the transition from communist rule. Quote. Of course, we're going
45:58
to stand up for the rights of others, quote Ween said,
46:01
quote can't imagine doing anything else. In quote. Herman added,
46:05
While the Miller's moved to the protection of a military base,
46:07
Wean felt herself becoming more exposed. Unlike the Miller's, she
46:11
didn't have security out front. She's an early riser and
46:14
her husband is an eye. Nowl a mismatch schedule that
46:16
they now joked might be helpful, always someone to keep
46:19
watch over their home. Neighbors had offered keys to their
46:22
spare rooms. A judge ordered the return of Willen's phone,
46:25
but she was afraid to use it, thinking she might
46:27
be spied on. She knew some thought she'd crossed the line.
46:30
Outside the Miller's house, she said she wanted him to
46:33
change his mind, not his address. Quote. We never intended
46:36
to threaten his children, threaten his family, or have him
46:38
flee Arlington. In quote, she said one afternoon in her
46:40
living room. Quote, but it's nothing compared to what the
46:43
immigrants are going through. In quote, she wondered whether the
46:46
Millers had read her group's letters. After it was returned
46:48
as undeliverable to the Miller's house, the group sent it
46:51
to the White House and posted it online. Quote just
46:54
come down off your doorstep and talk to us. In quote,
46:56
Ween said, recalling her brief interaction with Katie Miller that
46:59
stepteing quote what did she really fear? In quote quote, well,
47:03
there are crazy people who do crazy things. In quote,
47:06
her husband replied, quote, and we might get to know
47:08
some of them. Dear. In quote, she nodded, still trying
47:11
to make sense of what it all meant for her
47:13
family in the future of American democracy, they saw where
47:16
a stranger shared their address on Facebook and encouraging others
47:19
to show up Their landline answering machine had begun to
47:21
record messages from voices they didn't recognize. Quote We're going
47:24
to do to you what Barbara did to the Miller family.
47:27
We're going to make your life as miserable because that's
47:29
what happens to Nazis like you. In quote one man warned.
47:32
Quote so saddled up in quote and our next article.
47:37
Governor Shapiro in book says Harris's team asked him if
47:40
he was ever an Israeli agent. Shapiro was told the
47:43
question was part of the vetting process, but said he
47:45
still found it defensive. He wrote an upcoming memoir by
47:49
Yasmin Abu Taleb and Kolby It'sgowitz. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Sapiro,
47:56
widely predicted to be a top Democratic contender in the
47:58
twenty twenty eight presidential was asked by a member of
48:01
Vice President Kamala Harris's twenty twenty four vetting team if
48:05
he had ever been an agent of the Israeli government.
48:07
According to his upcoming memoir, a copy of which was
48:09
obtained by The Washington Post, Shapiro one of three finalists
48:13
considered as Harris sought a running mate in twenty twenty
48:16
four presidential race. Details for the first time the extensive
48:19
questioning and betting he underwent in the condensed process, and
48:22
the doubts that he had through it. As he was
48:24
preparing for a face to face meeting with Harris in Washington,
48:27
he writes, a member of Harris's team called him with
48:29
a question, quote have you ever been an agent of
48:31
the Israeli government? In quote? Shapiro said he found the
48:34
question highly offensive. Quote well, we have to ask in quote,
48:38
the questioner responded, According to Shapiro, he said she then added, quote,
48:41
have you ever communicated with an undercover agent of Israel? Quote?
48:46
If they were under cover? I responded, how the hell
48:48
would I know? In quote? Shapiro wrote, President Joe Biden's
48:52
largely and conditional support of Israel during the first year
48:54
of its onslaught in Gaza, which came after October seven,
48:57
twenty twenty three Hamas attack in Israel, deeply divided Democrats.
49:01
Ahead of the twenty twenty four election, Harris's team, reluctant
49:04
to break with Biden while she still served as as
49:06
number two, struggled to articulate how its approach to Israel
49:09
would differ from Biden's, even if it tried to quote
49:12
Arab American voters in Michigan and liberal younger voters while
49:15
assuring Jewish Democrats of its commitment to Israel's security. Quote.
49:19
Governor Shapiro wrote a very personal book about his faith,
49:22
his family, and the people of Pennsylvania. He has learned
49:24
from and fought for throughout his life in public service.
49:27
In quote Shapiro spokesman Manual Bonder set in a statement,
49:31
quote the twenty twenty four election is one small part
49:33
of his broader story, and the Governor looks forward to
49:36
sharing much more about his book and the stories within
49:38
it very soon. A spokesperson for Harris did not immediately
49:42
respond to a request for comment. Shapiro said he underwent
49:45
extensive questioning about his views on Israel, including his handling
49:48
of campus protests. He was one of the most outspoken
49:51
Democratic critics of what he considered anti Semitism on college
49:54
campuses as pro Palestinian protesters set up encampments and called
49:58
for their institutions to divest from Israel. Quote. I wondered
50:01
whether these questions were being posed to just me the
50:03
only Jewish guy in the running, or if everyone who
50:06
had not held a federal office was being grilled about
50:08
Israel in the same way. In quote, Shapiro wrote. Harris
50:11
and Shapiro have each written about the experience in their
50:14
memoirs in unusually blunt terms. In her memoirs One hundred
50:18
and Seven Days, Harris wrote that she did not think
50:20
Shapiro would be comfortable as number two, and suggested that
50:23
he seemed overly confident about his ability to clinch the job.
50:26
Harris wrote that Shapiro asked the manager of the Vice
50:29
Presidential residents about how many bedrooms were in the house
50:31
and wondered aloud whether the Smithsonian might work with him
50:35
to loan Pennsylvania art for the residents. Harris wrote that
50:38
during their interview, Shapiro was trying to understand what his
50:40
role would be as vice president and quote mused that
50:43
he would want to be in the room for every decision.
50:44
In quote, she wrote that she told him bluntly that
50:47
was an unrealistic expectation, in part because quote, a vice
50:50
president is not a co president. In an interview with
50:53
the Atlantic published in December, Shapiro said Harris told blaytant
50:56
lies about him and her book, and the next article
51:00
Old Fashioned Giant. Valentino Garavani, who dressed Hollywood and Royalty,
51:04
dies at ninety three. The designer helped Italian brands connect
51:08
with Paris, setting the stage for others including Versaci and Armani.
51:11
By Ethan Beck. Valentino Garavani, the monominously known Italian courtier
51:18
who dressed people of status from Hollywood and Royalty, died
51:21
Monday at his house in Rome. He was ninety three.
51:24
His death was confirmed in a statement by Fondanzione Valentino Garavani,
51:29
a Giancarlo Giametti. Mister Garavani opened Valentino in Rome in
51:33
nineteen sixty with the backing of his father. From then
51:36
until two thousand and eight, he was its creative director,
51:38
defining Italian style with its signature color red and details
51:42
such as bos and embroidery. While avoiding trends and self
51:44
important artistry. He remained in the public eye by crafting
51:48
pieces for celebrities such as Jacquel and Kennedy, Elizabeth Taylor,
51:51
Cate Blanchette, Princess Diana, and Julia Roberts, while maintaining friendships
51:56
with an endless number of them. Quote. As a creator,
51:59
beauty is the most in quote, mister Garavani said in
52:02
a twenty eleven interview with The Talks. Quote, Since I
52:05
was a child, I love the way a dress looks.
52:07
I admired a great face, a lovely body. I enjoyed
52:10
the beauty in a woman and a man in a child,
52:12
in a painting in quote. Along with his business partner
52:15
Giancarlo Giametti, mister Garavani helped Italian fashion connect with Paris,
52:19
setting the stage for other brands like Versaci and Armani.
52:23
His relentless search for beauty intertwined with his stature in culture,
52:26
and he became known to even the most unstylish. In
52:29
a two thousand and eight documentary of the same name,
52:31
he was christened quote unquote, the last Emperor. Quote. I
52:35
still am like I was many years ago, the same person.
52:38
I love to create clothes. I love beautiful things, I
52:40
love beautiful houses. I love entertaining in quote, mister Garavani
52:43
said in the Talks interview. Quote if they want to
52:45
call me an icon, okay, then I am an icon. Quote.
52:49
Valentino Clementi Ludovicio Gravani was born on May eleventh, nineteen
52:53
thirty two, in Voghera, about an hour's drive south of Milan.
52:57
His father ran an electric supply firm. He was close
53:00
was his sister Wanda, who worked in the company and
53:02
died in nineteen ninety seven. After seeing the bright dresses
53:05
and starry headgear of the nineteen forty one musical movie
53:08
Zigfield Girl, mister Garavani decided that he was going to
53:11
be a designer. As a teenager, he was particular about
53:14
his apparel, eventually telling his parents of his clothing aspirations.
53:17
With their support, he moved to Milan to learn fashion,
53:20
before attending the Ecule de la Chambre sindant cales A
53:24
de la Coteur Perizian in France to study under a
53:27
former seamstress. Degree in hand, he began working for designer
53:31
John des Ses. He was fired in nineteen fifty seven
53:35
for spending too much time at the San Tropez beach.
53:37
Mister Gardavani moved on quickly, working for Gui la Roche,
53:40
who was known for his fancy but practical designs. After
53:44
establishing his shop in Rome, mister Gardavani was seated with Giametti,
53:47
then an architecture student at a table in a packed restaurant.
53:50
The two were fast friends than lovers for a period
53:53
before settling a lifelong business associates. Giametti operated the business side,
53:57
while mister Garavani continued establishing his style. Like any longtime
54:01
best friends, they quarreled sometimes over mister Garovani's controlling approach
54:05
to the work, but remained extremely close. Quote Valentino is
54:09
very protective of himself in quote Giametti once said, quote
54:12
he doesn't like to confide in anyone ever. Quote. Mister
54:15
Garnovani's design saw a breakthrough in nineteen sixty two when
54:18
he was invited to Florence for a show. After his
54:20
clothing became standard for Italian socialites. He met Kennedy, who
54:24
had become his muse. Kennedy wore mister Cadavani's dresses while
54:27
grieving after her husband's assassination, and when she remarried, she
54:30
wore a lace top and pleated skirt from the Valentino
54:32
Spring nineteen sixty eight collection. Mister Garovani's red gowns the
54:36
cherry at the end of his collections were initially inspired
54:39
by the opera Carman, which he saw in Barcelona. To him,
54:42
the color was indisputable. No matter who wore it, eyes
54:45
flocked to them. Quote from the beginning, I decided red
54:48
was my lucky color. In quote Valentino told the Los
54:50
Angeles Times in nineteen eighty six, quote, I think it
54:53
works in every kind of decor. It's a happy color
54:56
that gives out lots of vibrations and is flattering to
54:58
the face. A woman gives light to the house when
55:00
she lives and read. Valentino became an empire in the
55:04
nineteen seventies when mister Garavani launched for his first perfume
55:08
and licensed his name for luggage, umbrellas and bags. At
55:11
the same time, he struggled to understand the democratization of fashion,
55:14
preferring the glamorous exclusivity of his earlier years. In nineteen
55:18
ninety eight, mister Garavani and Giametti Soldier Company for a
55:21
reported three hundred million dollars, setting off a series of
55:23
acquisitions before were spun off as Valentino Fashion Group in
55:26
two thousand and five. Mister Garravani remained as creative director
55:30
until two thousand and eight. Despite producing eight collections and
55:33
hundreds of drawings every year, mister Garravanni understood when to quit.
55:36
He continued with e extrapagant shows, including an anniversary gala
55:39
in two thousand and seven that involved at dinner at
55:41
the Temple of Venus and Rome, a runway show at
55:43
dinner at the Galleria borghese for more than a thousand
55:47
and several other exhibitions up until his retirement. Quote. Success
55:50
is something that can be very dangerous in quote he
55:52
said in the Los Angeles Times. Quote It's like a
55:55
suit that you get to wear that gets too tight sometimes.
55:59
He dedicated his years to his five homes around the world,
56:02
operated by dozens of staff, and his five pugs who
56:04
traveled with him. Occasionally he'd work on costumes for operas,
56:07
including Sophia Coppola's Rome production of La Traviata in twenty sixteen,
56:12
or special outfits for the actresses. Cultural figures are dignitaries
56:16
with whom he kept up with, including Sarah, Jessica Parker
56:18
and Anne Hathaway. When reflecting upon more than forty years
56:21
of red dresses, he compared them to his children and
56:24
noted that there remained timeless quote. I always believed so
56:27
much in elegance and femininity in quote he told The
56:29
New York Times in two thousand and seven. Quote, they
56:32
could all be worn today, and that makes me very proud.
56:35
In quote. The next articles a partial read due to
56:38
the time and constraints. Pediatricians are disregarding the new vaccination's
56:41
schedule by David Ovall Utah pediatrician Elie Bramstein is used
56:49
to encountering parents hesitant to get their child vaccinated, but
56:52
after the Trump administration in early January paired back the
56:54
list of vaccines routinely recommended for babies and children, She's
56:58
seeing something else. Parents worried that they won't be able
57:00
to vaccinate their children. At Brownstein's Salt Lake City office,
57:04
one mother press for the measles mump and rebel a
57:07
shot for her two week old infant. Brownstein desclined because
57:11
the first doctint is intended for children between twelve and
57:13
fifteen months old. Quote. The pro vaccine crowd has become
57:16
outspoken in quote, Brownstein said, quote they want all the
57:20
vaccines since this announcement. In quote, pediatricians and national leaders
57:23
with the American Academy of Pediatrics interviewed by The Washington
57:27
Post say that they are fielding more questions from families,
57:30
illiterating the confusion and an anxiety shown by the overhaul
57:33
of the childhood immunization schedule, despite the administration's assurances that
57:37
anyone who wants a vaccine can still get them free.
57:41
And this concludes the reading of the Washington Post for today,
57:44
January twentieth, twenty twenty six. Your reader for today has
57:47
been Patrick Lee Lucas. If you have any questions, comments,
57:50
or suggestions concerning this program, please feel free to call
57:53
us at eight five nine four two two six three
57:55
nine zero. Thank you for listening, and now please stay
57:58
tuned for continued programming on the RADIOI