The US Report

President-elect Donald Trump called Tuesday for the end of all detainee releases from the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, saying in a tweet that those who remain are “extremely dangerous people” who “should not be allowed back onto the battlefield.” The statement comes as the Obama administration prepares to release another 19 detainees from the facility before the president leaves office.   Trump expected to reform the intelligence apparatus The Wall Street Journal reported that the US President elect wants to restructure the CIA and reduce the number of people working at the central headquarters. The presidential transition team on emphatically denied that US President-elect Donald Trump intends to restructure the country’s intelligence services, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.   A high school in Kentucky drops the mascot name "Stallions" A Kentucky school district is reversing course on its planned stallion mascot for a new high school after community members complained it was sexist against female students. Fayette County school officials received backlash this week after announcing the students at the new Frederick Douglass High School in Lexington would be nicknamed the “Stallions.” More than 200 people also signed a Change.org petition saying a stallion, defined by Merriam-Webster as an uncastrated male horse kept for breeding, is an inappropriate and sexist mascot for the school’s female students. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A New York City train derailed at a downtown Brooklyn terminal during Wednesday's morning rush hour, injuring more than 100 commuters in the metropolitan area's second major rail accident since late September. Emergency crews swarmed Atlantic Terminal after the Long Island Rail Road train went off the tracks inside the busy transportation hub at 8:20 a.m. local time (1320 GMT), the New York City Fire Department said.     See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A British Victim In Syria: A young man's died while fighting with Kurdish forces A British chef who flew to Syria to fight ISIS was killed during a gun battle just before Christmas, Kurdish activists claim. Ryan Lock, from Chichester, died during an offensive by anti-Islamic State forces near Raqqa in northern Syria on December 21. The 20-year-old, who had no military background, flew to Rojava to join the Kurdish People’s Defence Units (YPG) last August.   Brexit Turmoil: Britain's top man in the EU has quit just before formal talks begin Britain's ambassador to Brussels took a swipe at ministers' 'muddled thinking' as he quit his post without warning today. Sir Ivan Rogers shocked staff this afternoon by announcing his decision to step down from his post early - only three months before Britain's talks on leaving the EU are due to begin.   Racist & Unhappy: A depressing snapshot of the UK in January 2017 Sky News unveiled a data poll suggesting that Britain is “more racist and less happy” than a year ago, with the supposedly worsening mood framed as a direct consequence of the country voting to leave the European Union (EU) last June.  The findings were reported by Sky News by the broadcaster’s Head of Data, Harry Carr, who previously managed the political polling for Ipsos MORI, a polling organisation which suffered a severe blow to its credibility after putting the probability of Britain voting to Remain in the EU at 74 per cent. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hundreds of quakes near the California - Mexico Border The California Institute of Technology is reporting approximately 100 earthquakes were detected near the California-Mexico border on New Year’s Eve. The quakes were centered about Brawley, CA, “which is about 125 miles east of San Diego and 20 miles north of the border.” According to ABC 7, the largest of the quakes was about 3.9 magnitude. They report that scientists say larger quakes in the region are possible and “the shaking may continue for several days.”   Pres. Obama could try to force his nominee onto the supreme court President Obama could use his recess appointment power to put Judge Merrick Garland on the Supreme Court tomorrow. In the five-minute break tomorrow when the Senate gavels out of the 114th Congress and then into the 115th Congress the outgoing president could use his recess appointment powers to place Garland onto the bench.  The move would be highly controversial and Garland's tenure would have an expiration date, as recess appointments only last until the conclusion of the congressional session, in this case December 2017.   SpaceX plans to fly again next week Elon Musk’s SpaceX said Monday that it has discovered the cause of a September rocket explosion and plans to return to flight as soon as Sunday. The conclusions of the company’s investigation have yet to be approved by the Federal Aviation Administration, and the agency has yet to provide it a license to launch. But SpaceX’s statement means that it has confidence that federal agencies will approve its remedies for the problem and that it will soon receive the green light. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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The Obama administration is under intense pressure to release evidence confirming Russian interference in the presidential election before leaving office. The administration up until now has provided little documentation to back up its official October assessment that the Russian government was attempting to interfere in the U.S. election.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Congress is already setting the stage to cut off U.S. funding to the United Nations in the wake of a contested vote last week in which the Obama administration permitted an anti-Israel resolution to win overwhelming approval, according to congressional leaders, who told the Washington Free Beacon that the current administration is already plotting to take further action against the Jewish state before vacating office. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

According to the New York post, President Obama’s ‘reign of error’ has left his party smaller, weaker and ricketier than it has been since at least the 1940s. It states that Obama has supervised the net loss of 959 such Democratic positions, down 23.5 percent, according to Ballotpedia, which generated most of the data cited here. This far outpaces the 843 net seats that Republicans yielded under President Dwight Eisenhower. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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A police officer has been shot and a suspect is dead following a shooting in Saraland, Alabama. It happened just before 11 a.m. on Wednesday. The female officer, identified as Jackie Tucker, is a member of the Saraland Police Department. She shot while responding to a domestic call and is in critical condition, but stable.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Donald Trump today won the Electoral College vote to secure his election as the US’ 45th president, easily staving off a long-shot bid by opponents to turn Republican electors against him. The Electoral College affirmed Trump as the president about six weeks after his stunning victory over Hillary Clinton, pushing him past the 270-vote threshold for election, with scant evidence of the anti-Trump revolt among electors that some of his critics had hoped would occur.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Electoral College formalized Donald Trump's election victory on Monday despite protests around the country to encourage GOP electors to abandon the Republican. The president-elect easily racked up the 270 electoral votes needed to send him to the White House.     See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Another round of unspeakably cold air, courtesy of the Polar Vortex, is ready for an assault on much of the central and eastern U.S. by midweek. It will bring "dangerously" cold temperatures and howling winds to millions of Americans. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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President-elect Donald Trump has chosen ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson to serve as secretary of state, the transition team announced Tuesday, setting up a heated Senate confirmation battle and signaling a desire to ease Washington's estrangement with Russia. Like Trump, Tillerson, 64, has no formal foreign policy experience, but has built close relationships with many world leaders by closing massive deals across Eurasia and the Middle East on behalf of the world's largest energy company. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

National Action movement is to become the first extreme right-wing group banned as a terrorist organisation. An order laid in Parliament on Monday to proscribe National Action under the Terrorism Act 2000 is due to come into effect on Friday morning. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Extreme winter weather this weekend has spread from Minnesota to New York, causing treacherous driving conditions and the cancellation of over 1,500 flights. Authorities are calling for drivers to stay home instead of battling the slick roads. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  The life expectancy of Americans decreased in 2015, compared to 2014 – the first drop in over two decades. The newly-released report also shows mortality rates were up for most of the 10 leading causes of death. The data released by the National Centre for Health Statistics on Thursday shows that life expectancy in the United States dropped last year for the first time since 1993.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former Utah governor Jon Huntsman, Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson and former Nato commander James Stavridis added to Trump Tower invitation list. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.