The special counsel Robert Mueller is reportedly offering to limit his investigators' questions if President Donald Trump's lawyers allow him to sit for an interview in the Russia investigation, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing two unnamed people familiar with the talks.
Negotiations between the two sides have been at a standstill in the months since the president added Rudy Giuliani to his legal team. Giuliani, in a number of interviews with news outlets, has frequently changed his tune about what terms he would accept in order for Trump to talk to Mueller.
The Post reports Mueller sent a letter to Trump's lawyers this week offering to shrink the list of questions he wants to ask Trump about obstruction of justice. That subject is one of the several avenues the special counsel is investigating as part of the Russia probe, which is broadly looking into Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election and whether member of Trump's campaign colluded with the Russians.
Earlier this year, former Trump defense attorney Jay Sekulow compiled dozens of prospective questions Mueller could ask the president, based on details from talks between the two parties. It's not yet clear precisely what questions Mueller's investigators have for the president.
Trump has previously expressed his willingness to talk to Mueller under oath, but has waffled on that issue. He took a more defensive stance when murmurings of a presidential subpoena emerged.
The Most Rev. Ronald Gainer, the Roman Catholic bishop of the diocese of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, discusses child sexual abuse by clergy AP Photo/Mark Scolforo
The Roman Catholic diocese of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, released on Wednesday the names of 71 priests and clergy members accused of sexually abusing children.
Bishop Ron Gainer issued a public apology for the abuse, in which he said bishops had not adequately responded to allegations dating back to the 1940s.
Gainer said he was releasing the names with "great sadness" because "once again we come face-to-face with the horror that innocent children were the victims of egregious acts committed against them."
The bishop said the names of men accused of sexual abuse crimes would be removed from any place of honor in the dioceses, and the names of all bishops and clerics dating back to 1947 would be removed from the church, according to a statement released on the diocese's website .
"The decision to remove names of Bishops and clerics may prove to be controversial, but as a Bishop, I strongly believe that leaders of the Diocese must hold themselves to a higher standard, and must yield honorary symbols in the interest of healing," he said in his statement.
Gainer also announced changes to the church's confidentiality policies and said he would release a list of every allegation made in recent decades that has not been proven false.
The diocese has also provided a new website where people can report child sex abuse and survivors can seek help.
He apologized to the members of his clergy and expressed "profound sorrow" toward survivors of child sex abuse.
The move to name all clergy members accused of sexual abuse comes just days after the Supreme Court announced that a 900-page report on sex abuse in six dioceses would be made public later this month, according to CBS News .
Harrisburg is one of the six dioceses mentioned in the report, and the second to release names of people accused of sexual abuse.
The Erie Diocese identified more than 50 priests and clergy members accused of such crimes in April.
I recently purchased a Kindle Fire, replacing my original Kindle, which had seen increasing use over the last few years. Ironically, the Kindle Fire was purchased at a traditional brick and mortar establishment, as I wanted to check out the size and weight of the device prior to purchase. I use the term ironic, as these types of devices may represent another building block in the future demise of the brick and mortar operations selling them. My decision would be Kindle versus Apple iPad, with size, weight and interface key factors.
My immediate take on the Kindle Fire was very positive. It was larger than my original Kindle, but small enough to be considered a book substitute. I found the screen much easier to read than my original Kindle, and it offered all the advantages of a color display. Two major enhancements included the ability to browse the web and to download apps, including very important and useful apps, such as Angry Birds. The web browser works wherever one can find Wi-Fi access, including HotSpots. The Apple iPad was also very impressive, offering greater functionality albeit at a larger size and weight, at about 21 ounces compared to the 14 ounces of the Kindle.
I purchased the Kindle Fire for, selling for $ 199 as of that time, and was on my way. The Kindle Fire is almost like having your own personal public library in the palm of your hand. Many classics are free, or very inexpensive eliminating the need to drive to a bookstore or local library. The Kindle Fire, and sometimes eReaders in general, offer an expansive personal library, allowing users to specifically (or randomly) choose almost any new book sample or classic. Striving to mix in some of the classics with my recent business selections (Blink and Steve Jobs) I also downloaded: Mountain Interval (Robert Frost), Prufrock and Other Observations (TS Eliot), Walking (Thoreau) and The Wreck of the Hesperus Longfellow). These are not entirely random as the appearance of several characters in Woody Allen's movie, Midnight in Paris, provided the catalyst to review some of these works. And that's one of the great advantages of the Kindle, within seconds of hearing about, or thinking about a book or an author, you can be reading a favorite classic or contemporary work.
Amazon also offers a Kindle Owners' Lending Library program ($ 79 per year) which provides a free library of books (currently about 5,000) and access to a free video streaming service with over 10,000 movies and television episodes. It also provides free shipping on Amazon purchases and is essentially a "no brainer" if you purchase a book or more per month, as the estimated costs would be over $ 100 per year to do so.
The Kindle Fire supports web surfing and downloading and streaming of video. I use the former often, but have not yet used the latter. The Kindle Fire, eReaders and tablet type solutions will change future consumption of content. I've seen friends who I would consider "technology laggards" rapidly adopting eReaders and tablets. The convenience of being able to transport a dozen or more books on any vacation or business trip, sample any book before purchasing, changing font size and brightness to accommodate personal preferences and access to a growing online library are just a few of the catalysts driving behavioral changes. Although not all books are yet available on the Kindle, I've seen estimates of 650,000+ and I'm sure this will grow rapidly to accommodate consumer purchasing habits as more people move to eReaders. Bottom line, as of this writing, I think the Kindle Fire is a great solution for almost anyone who likes to read.
Chancellor Angela Merkel meets members of the Bundeswehr at an army barracks in Leer, Ostfriesland, Germany, December 7, 2015. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer
The German military, the Bundeswehr, had 21,000 unfilled positions in 2017, and the service is now looking beyond its borders to fill its ranks.
A Defense Ministry report in late 2016 proposed recruiting from other EU countries, and the ministry confirmed in late July that it was seriously considering doing so.
"The Bundeswehr is growing," a ministry spokesman told news agency DPA. "For this, we need qualified personnel."
Germany's military has shrunk since the Cold War. In 2011, the country ended mandatory military service. From a high of of 585,000 troops in the mid-1980s, the service's numbers have fallen to just under 179,000 in mid-2018.
German soldiers board an aircraft at a Bundeswehr air base northern Germany, December 10, 2015. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer
About half of current members of the German military are expected to retire by 2030, and with an aging population, finding native-born replacements may get tougher.
German leaders have pushed to add more troops while beefing up defense spending.
At the end of 2016, Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said she would remove the cap of 185,000 total troops to help make the force more flexible. She said the military would look to add 14,300 soldiers over seven years.
"The Bundeswehr is under pressure to modernize in all areas," she said at the time. "We have to get away from the process of permanent shrinking."
Efforts to grow have included more recruitment of minors — a record-high 2,128 people under 18 joined as volunteers in 2017, but signing up young Germans has been criticized.
Soldiers from Germany's Bundeswehr take part in a training exercise in 2015. Reuters
Recruiting foreigners was generally supported by the governing parties, with some qualifiers.
Karl-Heinz Brunner, a defense expert and member of the Social Democrat Party, said foreigners who join up should be promised citizenship.
"If citizens of other countries are accepted, without the promise of getting a German passport, the Bundeswehr risks becoming a mercenary army," he told German newspaper Augsburger Allegemeine.
Florian Hahn, a defense spokesman for the Christian Democratic Union, said such a recruitment model "could be developed," but "a certain level of trust with every soldier must be guaranteed."
'Germany just doesn't feel threatened'
Personnel woes are only part of the Bundeswehr's problem.
German soldiers fire mortars during an exercise at a training area in Bergen, May 20, 2014. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch
Reports have emerged in recent years of shortages of everything from body armor to tanks. German troops overseas have been hamstrung by damaged or malfunctioning equipment. A lack of spare parts has left some weapons systems unusable.
Reports of inoperable fighter jets — and insufficient training for pilots — have raised questions about whether Germany can fulfill its NATO responsibilities. As of late 2017, all of Germany's submarines were out of service, and the navy in general has struggled to build ships and develop a strategy.
Gen. Volker Wieker, the military's inspector general, said in February that the force would be ready to assume command of NATO's Very High Readiness Joint Task Force in Eastern Europe in 2019.
The Bundeswehr had a long-term plan to address " still unsatisfactory " gaps in its capabilities, Wieker said, but it would take at least a decade to recover after years of dwindling defense spending.
A German air force Tornado jet takes off from a Bundeswehr airbase in Jagel, northern Germany, December 10, 2015. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer
Defense spending is a contentious issue in Germany — one supercharged by President Donald Trump's attacks on NATO members for what he sees as failures to meet the 2%-of-GDP defense-spending level they agreed to reach by 2024.
Governing-coalition members have feuded over how to raise defense expenditures. Those in favor of a quick increase say it's needed to fix the military. Others want the money directed elsewhere and have said Chancellor Angela Merkel is doing Trump's militarist bidding.
"What we've seen in the last few years — really the sort of tragic and kind of embarrassing stories about the state of the Bundeswehr — that is certainly sinking in, and Germans are now supporting more defense spending than they have in the past," Sophia Besch, a research fellow at the Center for European Reform, said on a recent edition of the Center for a New American Security's Brussels Sprouts podcast .
"There is just this huge debate ... around the 2% [of GDP defense-spending level] being the right way of going about it," Besch added.
Merkel parliament members vote in the lower house of Parliament, the Bundestag, in Berlin, February 1, 2018. Thomson Reuters
Some Germans also remain chastened by World War II and the Cold War, which devastated and then divided the country. The Bundeswehr still struggles with its Nazi history.
"There's a definitely a generational aspect to this," Besch said. "The sort of traditional pacifist approach ... I think is mostly permanent in the older generations."
Others just aren't that worried.
"I think the issue today is that Germany just doesn't feel threatened. Germans just don't see a threat to themselves," Besch added. "They see perhaps a threat in the East, but their relationship with Russia is complex. They just don't see the need to invest that much in defense spending."
While sugar is tempting to eat, it can wreak havoc on your teeth. Sydney Kramer
Cutting out added sugar from your diet is never a bad thing. Aside from the positive physical effects it will have on your body — weight loss , better skin , mental clarity — your teeth will thank you, too. Of course, this is not news. Ever since childhood, we are told that too much candy will rot your teeth. But, less tooth decay is not the only benefit for your mouth.
INSIDER spoke with Dr. Jared Shulman, D.M.D, a South Florida based dentist at the Coral Springs Dental Center , who shared some interesting facts about how beneficial cutting added sugars truly is for your mouth.
Here are five ways cutting sugar will improve your oral health.
Until someone recently asked me if there was a proper way to put a greeting card into an envelope, it had not occurred to me it was not common knowledge. With the exception of the times when I receive a greeting card that is not properly inserted. It is then just a fleeting thought before reading the message and admiring the pretty artwork of the card.
Have you ever thought about it? Did you know there was a proper way to place a card in an envelope? If not, you will be happy to know it requires little thought to present your greeting card in the best possible manner. Once you know the proper way, because it makes so much sense, it will quickly become very natural to you.
First of all, your card needs to be face up when it is opened. I know many think the front (face) should be facing the front of the envelope, like they would wrap a gift. Just the opposite is true. The card should be pretty, front, side up to the envelope opening so the receiver can enjoy the card before even removing it.
Second, the card should be placed into the envelope so that is not only face up but ready to opened and read. If the card has a side fold, opens from the side, the fold of the card should go into the envelope first. The recipient of the card will turn the envelope over so the envelope flap is right side up, open the flap, slide the greeting card out and be able to look at the front of the card without needing to turn it over first.
If the greeting card you are sending opens from the bottom, the fold is to go to the top of the envelope. Slide your greeting card into the envelope with the opening going in first, or to the bottom of the envelope. Of course, the card front is still to be face up to the envelope opening. Because we tend to open an envelope with the flap vertical to us, the recipient will need to turn the card a quarter turn to read it.
While placing your greeting card into an envelope properly may go unnoticed by the card recipient, an improperly placed card probably will be noticed. Because it is so simple to do and remember how, why not present your card so it is delightful before it even leaves the envelope?
As a hand-made card maker, this is just the last step in putting a smile on someone's face letting them know they were thought of that day.
Apple reported the strongest third quarter in its history Tuesday. And despite the smartphone market at a relative standstill, the company is poised to have its biggest year in iPhone revenue yet.
As this chart from Statista shows, Apple's revenue will reach a whopping $129.5 billion by the end of its third quarter, surpassing the previous nine-month record of $122.8 billion in 2015. Last year's release of the iPhone X, its first iPhone to retail at a starting price of $999, could be a contributing factor to the company's success this fiscal year.
Worth noting: Despite Apple's successful year, Chinese smartphone maker Huawei has caught up: It recently passed Apple as the second largest manufacturer of smartphones in the world.
