Political news

• U.S. Republicans start framework for Obamacare replacement

  13-01-2017 23:47
  By Susan Cornwell and Caroline Humer WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Urged on by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, Republican lawmakers rushing to scrap Obamacare said this week they hoped to make some changes intended to stabilise the insurance market while they work at repealing and replacing the law. The beginnings of a framework outlining what a post-Obamacare world could look like came in the same week that Congress approved a resolution instructing key committees of both the House of Representativ
  
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• Top Trump aide in frequent contact with Russia's ambassador

  13-01-2017 23:42
  
  President-elect Donald Trump's national security adviser and Russia's ambassador to the U.S. have been in frequent contact in recent weeks, including on the day the Obama administration hit Moscow with ...
  
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• U.S. senator seeks probe of Fiat Chrysler diesel marketing

  13-01-2017 23:20
  By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top U.S. senator on Friday called for wider federal scrutiny into Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV's marketing of diesel-powered SUVs, as British regulators sought answers from the Italian-American automaker in the aftermath of Volkswagen AG's emissions scandal. Shares of Fiat Chryler slid 2.2 percent after Senator Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat, urged the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to probe whether Fiat Chrysler had deceptively marketed its diesel-po
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn to propose nationalising failing care homes

  13-01-2017 23:18
  In a speech to the Fabian Society, he will focus on fairness, accusing the Conservatives of slashing taxes for the richest while cutting pay and public services. Mr Corbyn will also point to figures from the Care Quality Commission which found last year that one in five nursing homes did not have sufficient staff on duty to ensure residents received good care. It comes after former Shadow Education Secretary Tristram Hunt announced he was standing down as an MP to become director of the Victoria
  
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• Former Welsh Lib Dem leader Lord Carlile quits party

  13-01-2017 23:17 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Former Welsh Liberal Democrat leader and high profile QC Lord Carlile quits the party in the House of Lords.
  
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• The Latest: VP Pence to be sworn in by Clarence Thomas

  13-01-2017 23:12
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President-elect Donald Trump (all times local):
  
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• Europe shares up, Nasdaq hits record high; U.S. yields up

  13-01-2017 23:10
  By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - European stocks advanced on Friday, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose in line with gains in U.S. Treasury yields, as investors were encouraged by upbeat bank earnings and positive U.S. economic data. Investors largely shrugged off the biggest fall in Chinese exports since 2009 to focus on U.S. data that suggested stronger growth.
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn Attacks The Tories For Taking NHS Into 'Danger Zone'

  13-01-2017 23:08
  
  The NHS is in the “danger zone” under the Tories and Labour would nationalising failing care homes to protect their elderly patients, Jeremy Corbyn will say.
  Corbyn will deny he speaks about the health service because it is a “comfort zone” for the party, as it wallows in the polls behind the Tories, and say he would “provide a long-term funding solution” to bring the NHS out of crisis.
  He will also pledge that a Labour government would consider taking failing
  
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• The Transnational Trolley and Doughnuts in Juarez: The Week in Global-Affairs Writing

  13-01-2017 22:51
  Is Europe Disintegrating? Timothy Garton Ash | The New York Review of Books “The period of European history after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 might be called, in shorthand, ‘post-wall.’ But then we face a further question: Are we still in that period? Or did the post-wall era end during my imagined cryogenic slumber, sometime between the high point of early 2005 and the low of today? Such bookend dates are always contestable, but it seems plausible to suggest that the f
  
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• After 2016 campaign, more Americans consider Russia a threat - Reuters/Ipsos poll

  13-01-2017 22:36
  By Chris Kahn NEW YORK (Reuters) - Americans are more concerned than they were before the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign began about the potential threat Russia poses to the country, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Friday. The Jan. 9-12 survey found that 82 percent of American adults, including 84 percent of Democrats and 82 percent of Republicans, described Russia as a general "threat" to the United States. The increased concern comes after a brutal election season during
  
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• Democratic Rep. Lewis: Trump not a 'legitimate president'

  13-01-2017 22:33
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic Rep. John Lewis says he's doesn't consider Donald Trump a "legitimate president," blaming the Russians for helping the Republican win the White House.
  
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• In early GOP win on health care repeal, Congress OKs budget

  13-01-2017 22:31
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Ascendant Republicans drove a budget through Congress on Friday that gives them an early but critical victory in their crusade to scrap President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.
  
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• Syrian selfie refugee sues Facebook for 'defamatory' posts

  13-01-2017 22:29
  By Luke Mintz LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A Syrian refugee whose selfie with German Chancellor Angela Merkel went viral is suing Facebook for defamation, his lawyer said, after the social networking site failed to take down a series of posts accusing him of being a militant and criminal. Anas Modamani, a 19-year-old refugee from Damascus, was pictured in September 2015 taking a selfie with Merkel during her visit to a refugee shelter in Berlin's Spandau district. The image came to defi
  
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• Ken Livingstone: Tristram Hunt quitting indicates 'new era' for Labour

  13-01-2017 22:20
  Former London mayor Ken Livingstone has told Sky News the resignation of MP Tristram Hunt indicates a new era for the party. Mr Hunt, who was an arch critic of leader Jeremy Corbyn, is to be the new director of the V&A museum in London. Labour had a 5,179 majority in 2015, but it could be put under pressure by UKIP, who came second.
  
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• Congress clears legislation allowing Mattis to run Pentagon

  13-01-2017 22:13
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress approved legislation Friday that allows retired Marine Gen. James Mattis to run the Pentagon in the Trump administration.
  
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• U.S. House votes to begin repealing Obamacare

  13-01-2017 22:06
  By Richard Cowan and Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House Republicans on Friday won passage of a measure starting the process of dismantling Obamacare, despite concerns about not having a ready replacement and the potential financial cost of repealing President Barack Obama's landmark health insurance law. The House voted 227-198 to instruct committees to draft legislation by a target date of Jan. 27 that would repeal the 2010 Affordable Health Care Act, often called Obamacare. The S
  
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• Chelsea drop Costa after row over fitness, reports say

  13-01-2017 22:04
  (Reuters) - Diego Costa has been dropped from the squad of Premier League leaders Chelsea for the match at champions Leicester City after a row over his fitness, according to media reports on Friday. Costa, the Premier League's leading scorer with 14 goals, will miss Saturday's game following a disagreement with Chelsea manager Antonio Conte and a club fitness coach Julio Tous, the reports say. Costa is said to have not trained with the rest of the squad for the past three days after a row with
  
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• Trump's team of rivals: Discordant notes in the amen chorus

  13-01-2017 21:57
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — You can't really call them "yes men." Maybe we're meeting Donald Trump's "yes, but" men.
  
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• Takata to plead guilty, pay $1 billion U.S. penalty over air bag defects

  13-01-2017 21:56
  By Paul Lienert and David Shepardson DETROIT/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Japan's Takata Corp on Friday agreed to plead guilty to criminal wrongdoing and pay $1 billion (£820.7 million) to resolve a U.S. Justice Department investigation into ruptures of its air bag inflators linked to at least 16 deaths worldwide. Takata will pay a $25 million fine, $125 million in a victim compensation fund, including for future incidents, and $850 million to compensate automakers for massive recall costs, the
  
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• U.S. says al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula leader killed in Yemen air strike

  13-01-2017 21:54
  A senior leader of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was killed in a U.S. air strike on Sunday in Yemen, the Pentagon said in a statement on Friday. AQAP leader Abd al-Ghani al-Rasas was killed in the air strike in a remote area of al Bayda Governorate in Yemen, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said in the statement.
  
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• Justices will hear venture capitalist's appeal over SEC fine

  13-01-2017 21:46
  The Supreme Court will decide whether venture capitalist Charles Kokesh has to return millions in investor dollars he used to pay himself and other advisers. The justices said Friday they will review lower ...
  
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• Inaugural concert to feature Toby Keith, Jennifer Holliday

  13-01-2017 21:43
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump's inaugural welcome concert next week will feature country star Toby Keith, singer Jennifer Holliday and actor Jon Voight, organizers announced Friday.
  
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• Trump speaks with entertainer Steve Harvey about helping U.S. cities

  13-01-2017 21:41
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump and Housing Secretary-designate Ben Carson spoke with entertainer and talk show host Steve Harvey on Friday to discuss an effort by the incoming administration to seek positive changes in U.S. inner cities.
  
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• Spain arrests three accused of connections to Islamist militants

  13-01-2017 21:41
  Spanish police have arrested three people accused of connections with Islamist militants, the Interior Ministry said on Friday, two in Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta and a third in the northern town of Figueras. Separately, the ministry said later on Friday that police had detained a Moroccan man with Dutch papers accused of belonging to Islamic State and who may have returned to Spain from a conflict zone within the last couple of days. The man was arrested through cooperation with Dutc
  
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• The Latest: Congress OKs first step to dismantle 'Obamacare'

  13-01-2017 21:35
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on Congress (all times local):
  
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• Corbyn 'looking forward' to by-election as Tristram Hunt quits

  13-01-2017 21:33 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has said he wishes MP Tristram Hunt luck in his new role as director of the V&A Museum.
  
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• U.S. senator wants FTC probe of Fiat Chrysler diesel marketing

  13-01-2017 21:30
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top U.S. senator asked the U.S. Federal Trade Commission on Friday to investigate whether Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV deceptively marketed its diesel-powered SUVs and trucks. Senator Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat, asked for the probe after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday accused Fiat Chrysler of illegally using hidden software to allow excess diesel emissions to go undetected in about 104,000 vehicles, the result of a probe that stemmed from regul
  
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• Paris meeting marks end to Obama's failed Mideast diplomacy

  13-01-2017 21:30
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration's eight years of unsuccessful Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy will come to a crashing end this weekend, with chances for a Mideast peace deal at perhaps their lowest ebb in a generation. A Paris peace conference attended by Secretary of State John Kerry isn't expected to produce any tangible progress.
  
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• Prosecutors open probe over Banco BPM merger - document

  13-01-2017 21:29
  Milan prosecutors are investigating charges of market manipulation in relation to a merger deal between Banca Popolare di Milano and Banco Popolare to create Italy's third-largest bank Banco BPM , a court document showed on Friday. Sources with direct knowledge of the matter said Italy's tax police seized documents on Friday as magistrates look into allegations the banks failed to tell shareholders and investors ahead of the closing of the merger that the European Central Bank had raised objecti
  
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• Ben Jennings on Tristram Hunt's career change – cartoon

  13-01-2017 21:28 via theguardian.com
  
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• French leftwinger Melenchon says to stick to presidential bid

  13-01-2017 21:09
  By Ingrid Melander PARIS (Reuters) - Far-left firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon on Friday rejected calls to drop out of France's presidential election in favour of a mainstream Socialist candidate, saying those urging him to do so could get lost. Well they can get lost, this won't happen," Melenchon said in the colourful language he is known for. Melenchon's stance matters because he is forecast, in the latest polls, to get 11.5 to 13 percent of the vote in the first round on April 23.
  
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• Turkish court arrests two Uighurs in relation to Istanbul nightclub attack

  13-01-2017 21:08
  Two Chinese nationals of Uighur origin were arrested on Friday for suspected links to the mass shooting in an Istanbul night club on New Year's Eve, state-run Anadolu agency said. Two suspects, Omar Asim and Abuliezi Abuduhamiti, who are Chinese citizens, were remanded in custody on charges of being members of an armed terrorist organisation, and aiding in 39 counts of murder. Turkish authorities last week said the man who killed 39 people in an attack on an Istanbul nightclub was probably an et
  
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• DBRS cuts Italy's credit rating, posing problems for its banks

  13-01-2017 21:07
  By Gavin Jones ROME (Reuters) - Canadian rating agency DBRS on Friday cut Italy's sovereign credit rating to BBB (high) from A (low), a move that could raise borrowing costs for struggling Italian banks. DBRS, previously the only major agency with a rating in the A band for Italy, said its decision reflected uncertainty over the country's ability to pass reforms, continuing weakness in the banking system, and fragile growth. It attached a stable trend to its new BBB (high) rating.
  
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• The Latest: Trump unconcerned if Cabinet picks disagree

  13-01-2017 21:06
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President-elect Donald Trump (all times local):
  
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• U.N. chief prepared to meet U.S. lawmakers amid push to cut funds

  13-01-2017 21:01
  By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is prepared to meet with U.S. lawmakers, a U.N. spokeswoman said on Friday, as some U.S. senators push to cut funding to the world body over a Security Council resolution that condemned Israeli settlements. The United States abstained from the Dec. 23 vote, allowing the 15-member Security Council to adopt the resolution with 14 votes in favour. Israel and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump had called
  
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• Justices will weigh limits on worker rights to sue employers

  13-01-2017 20:58
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court said Friday it will decide whether employers can require workers to sign arbitration agreements that prevent them from pursuing group claims in court.
  
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• Oil falls on China concerns, down 3 percent for the week on OPEC doubts

  13-01-2017 20:57
  By Devika Krishna Kumar NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Friday and ended the week 3 percent lower on lingering doubts over the extent of OPEC cuts, with sentiment worsened by concerns over the economic health of the world's second-largest oil consumer, China, after it reported the steepest falls in overall exports since 2009. "China right now seems more interested in keeping capital in the country than focusing on growth overall," Phil Flynn, analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago sai
  
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• Personalized IRS letters nudge uninsured to get coverage

  13-01-2017 20:44
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — If you haven't signed up for health insurance, you may soon be getting a not-too-subtle nudge from the taxman.
  
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• Gunfire erupts in Ivory Coast amid talks to settle army revolt

  13-01-2017 20:44
  By Ange Aboa BOUAKE, Ivory Coast (Reuters) - Heavy gunfire broke out briefly in Ivory Coast's second city on Friday during talks between the leaders of an army mutiny last week and government ministers seeking to resolve a dispute over bonuses, witnesses and negotiators for the soldiers said. The unrest raised concerns of a renewal of the two-day revolt, which began in Bouake a week ago before spreading to cities and towns across the West African country, forcing the government to yield to many
  
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• European stocks, S&P 500, Nasdaq gain; U.S. yields up

  13-01-2017 20:38
  By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - European stocks advanced on Friday, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose in line with gains in U.S. Treasury yields, as investors were encouraged by upbeat bank earnings and positive U.S. economic data. Investors largely shrugged off the biggest fall in Chinese exports since 2009 to focus on U.S. data that overall suggested stronger growth. U.S. economic data have also boosted the market, as retail sales rose in December given strong demand for a
  
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• Obama to hold final news conference on Wednesday - White House

  13-01-2017 20:28
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Outgoing President Barack Obama will hold his final news conference as U.S. leader on the afternoon of Wednesday, Jan. 18 in the briefing room at the White House, spokesman Josh Earnest said on Friday. He offered no specific time for the event. (Reporting by Ayesha Rascoe; Writing by David Alexander; Editing by Eric Walsh)
  
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• U.S. moves to lift 20-year trade embargo against Sudan

  13-01-2017 20:27
  By Lesley Wroughton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration took steps on Friday to lift a 20-year-old trade embargo against Sudan, unfreeze assets and remove financial sanctions in what the White House said was a response to the African nation's cooperation in fighting Islamic State and other groups, angering human rights organizations. The move in the last days of the Obama administration will however will be delayed by 180 days to see whether Sudan acts further to improve its human ri
  
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• Memo to May: the NHS must have more money

  13-01-2017 20:25 via ft.com
  She is wrong on the health service and only extra funding will solve short-term ills
  
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• Big security risks in Trump feud with spy agencies, officials say

  13-01-2017 20:24
  By Warren Strobel and John Walcott WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An unprecedented pre-presidential inauguration feud between Donald Trump and intelligence agencies that soon will be under his command could harm U.S. security if not quickly defused, current and former government officials said. In the last few months, Trump has expressed his willingness to deal with Putin and denigrated the work of the intelligence agencies.
  
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• EU negotiator wants 'special' deal over access to City post-Brexit

  13-01-2017 20:15 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: minutes of Michel Barnier’s meeting with senior MEPs reveal he wants 27 member states to have easy access to London’s financial institutionsThe EU’s chief Brexit negotiator has shown the first signs of backing away from his hardline, no compromise approach after admitting he wants a deal with Britain that will guarantee the other 27 member states will continue to have easy access to the City.Michel Barnier wants a “special” relationship with the City of L
  
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• Iran nuclear deal working, wise for Trump to uphold - U.S. envoy to U.N.

  13-01-2017 20:14
  By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A deal between Iran and key world powers to curb Tehran's nuclear programme is working and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump would be wise to preserve it, outgoing U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power said on Friday. Trump, who will take office in a week, has threatened to either scrap the nuclear agreement or seek a better deal. "We who see the threat that Iran poses, through its destabilising actions in the region and through its s
  
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• Obama ends US economic embargo of long-estranged Sudan

  13-01-2017 20:09
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration announced Friday the end of a U.S. economic embargo on Sudan, lifting trade and financial sanctions in an eleventh-hour push to expand ties with the long-estranged African government and build on positive signs of counterterrorism cooperation.
  
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• Report: FAA not prepared for major air traffic outages

  13-01-2017 19:58
  
  The Federal Aviation Administration still isn't prepared to handle major air traffic control outages despite promises to update plans, a government watchdog said Friday. The FAA has been working on new ...
  
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• Iraqi forces make rapid gains against Islamic State in Mosul

  13-01-2017 19:56
  By Isabel Coles and John Davison MOSUL, Iraq/BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi special forces stormed a sprawling university complex in northeast Mosul on Friday and pushed Islamic State back in nearby areas to reach two more bridges across the Tigris River, the military said. The militants were fighting back at Mosul University, which they seized when they took over the city in 2014. Iraqi forces have now recaptured most districts in eastern Mosul, nearly three months into a U.S.-backed offensive, whic
  
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• Let’s be honest about socialism’s paradoxes | Letters

  13-01-2017 19:55 via theguardian.com
  
  The question arising from Owen Jones’s article (How the Tories are victimising young people, 12 January) has to be: is socialism choking itself to death on its own inherent contradictions? Has the past 50 years been a good period in history, or has it not? If it could be repeated, should it be repeated? If the parental generation has spent its children’s future, how does the next generation suppose it can avoid doing the same to its children?Jones reports that rates of depression and
  
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