Good morning. It’s Sunday. Thank you for reading Morning Brief. Send me a line—Ivan Pentchoukov.
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- President-elect Donald Trump nominated Kash Patel, a veteran of his first administration, to serve as the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
- Brazil, Russia, India, China and other members of the BRICS bloc who promote an alternative to the dollar as the world’s trade currency, face the threat of a 100 percent tariff on their exports to the United States unless they change their tune, President-elect Trump announced on Saturday.
- Charles Kushner, the father of Jared Kushner, who is married to Ivanka Trump, is Trump’s choice for ambassador to France.
- The FBI reminded American shoppers to be alert against scams during the holiday shopping season, noting that thousands of people become victims of fraud this time of year.
- Classical Poetry: the world’s largest traditional poetry competition is accepting entries for this year’s contest. Story after the news.
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Ivan Pentchoukov
National Editor
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Kash Patel, former Department of Defense chief of staff, in southern Florida on Jan. 18, 2023. (Jack Wang/The Epoch Times)
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President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday nominated Kash Patel to serve as the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
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- Patel, who served as chief of staff to the acting secretary of defense during Trump’s first term in office, has been critical of the way the FBI operates.
- In a recent interview, Patel said he would shut down the bureau’s headquarters in Washington, and turn it into a museum, relocating the agency to outside the Beltway.
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Trump said that Patel played a key role in revealing what he described as the Russia collusion hoax.
“This FBI will end the growing crime epidemic in America, dismantle the migrant criminal gangs, and stop the evil scourge of human and drug trafficking across the Border,” Trump wrote on Truth Social when announcing the nomination.
Patel, who is also a contributor to The Epoch Times, reacted to the news in a brief post on social media: “Thank you Everyone #Victory”
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- In his upcoming role, pending Senate confirmation, Patel will work closely with Attorney General Pam Bondi, who Trump nominated to lead the Justice Department.
- Patel is aligned with Trump’s view that the nation’s law enforcement and national security agencies require a thorough overhaul to address perceived bias and to hold them accountable for what Trump and his allies have described as unwarranted investigations and prosecutions.
- In his bestselling memoir titled “Government Gangsters,” Patel describes the current political moment as a “battle between the people and a corrupt ruling class,” identifying key figures and strategies he believes have been used by this permanent government bureaucracy to undermine elected officials and shift power away from voters.
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Trump endorsed the book, describing it as a “brilliant roadmap highlighting every corrupt actor, to ultimately return our agencies and departments to work for the American People.”
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- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President-elect Trump discussed trade, border security, and the drug crisis during their Mar-a-Lago meeting.
- Five key 2025 elections, though not as consequential as this year’s contests, will help both Democrats and Republicans gauge how voters are reacting to the first months of the Trump presidency and Republican control of Congress.
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The FBI reminded American shoppers to be alert against scams during the holiday shopping season, noting that thousands of people become victims of fraud this time of year.
“Don’t let holiday excitement cloud your judgment! Always verify the legitimacy of online retailers and be cautious with unsolicited offers,” the FBI wrote on X.
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- In non-delivery frauds, consumers do not receive products they paid for, while auction frauds are when shipped products are different from what the customers bought.
- Sometimes, online sellers could end up getting scammed as buyers skip payments.
- According to a 2023 report from the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), citizens lost over $309 million to non-payment and non-delivery fraud last year.
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Attorneys general of multiple states have also issued warnings to customers, reminding them to be vigilant against holiday scams. (More)
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- Despite batterings by the angry surf of two major hurricanes and inundations from soaking rains, researchers found that a late-in-season nest of green sea turtle eggs on Ponte Vedra Beach had—against the odds—survived.
- U.S. regulators have approved America’s first nonstop stock exchange to begin operations.
- The price of coffee in the commodities market has reached an almost five-decade high following concerns of adverse conditions impacting crop output and ongoing supply chain issues.
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Our senior editor Jan Jekielek sits down with Michael Fitzgerald, principal of Northern Schoolhouse, an upstate New York private school focused on classical literature and art, immersion in nature, and nurturing strong moral character based on time-tested virtues. Watch ➞
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The Israeli military conducted airstrikes on Nov. 30 targeting suspected Hezbollah weapons smugglers in Syria believed to be flowing weapons across the border into Lebanon.
The strike occurred days after Israel agreed to a cease-fire in Lebanon, meant to halt nearly 14 months of fighting with terrorist organization Hezbollah.
The Israel Defense Forces said Israeli Air Force aircraft “conducted an intelligence-based strike” on sites along the Syria–Lebanon border.
“The strike was conducted after identifying Hezbollah weapon smuggling from Syria into Lebanon after the cease-fire agreement went into effect, and as such posing a threat to the State of Israel in violation of the cease-fire agreement,” the IDF said in a press statement.
The U.S.-brokered cease-fire in Lebanon, which began on Nov. 27, called for an immediate halt to the fighting along the Israel–Lebanon border.
Under the agreement, Hezbollah is to pull its forces north of the Litani River, while Lebanese government forces are to reassert control over the areas south of the Litani River. The deal also states Israeli ground forces are to withdraw from southern Lebanon over a 60-day timeframe.
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A visitor takes a photograph in front of a peacock installation made of vegetables at Cubbon Park in Bengaluru, India, on Nov. 30, 2024. (Idrees Mohammed/AFP via Getty Images)
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A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) found that exposure to high levels of light at night can increase death risk up to 34 percent.
Conversely, exposure to high levels of light during the day can reduce death risk by up to 34 percent.
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- The wrong timing and amount of light exposure disrupts circadian rhythms, which leads to heart disease, diabetes, mental health conditions, and obesity, thus increasing the risk of death.
- “These new insights into the potential adverse impact of light have shown us just how important personal light exposure patterns are for your health,” said senior author and sleep expert professor Sean Cain from Flinders University.
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Given how light affects health, it is beneficial to optimize exposure. For tips on light exposure and more evidence of the phenomenon, see the article by our colleague, Mary West.
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Robert Frost is still one of America’s favorite poets. (Library of Congress)
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Every year, the Society of Classical Poets (SCP) sponsors the International Poetry Competition, giving novices and seasoned poets a chance at a prize and at having their poetry published.
The deadline for this year’s competition, the largest traditional poetry contest in the English-speaking world, is just a month away on Dec. 31.
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- Founded in 2012 by Evan Mantyk and Epoch Times host Joshua Philipp, the SCP has a lofty mission: “to preserve humankind’s artistic traditions” by building on 1,400 years of English poetry and promoting the work of good poets within that tradition by publishing and supporting their work.
- In the short span of a decade, the Society has quickly grown into the largest venue for traditional poetry on the internet. Its website, which functions as an online journal, receives millions of visitors per year and thousands of poetry submissions from all over the world.
- Despite its popularity and the stiff competition one would assume this brings, editor Evan Mantyk welcomes submissions from novice poets. This applies to the annual competition and routine submissions.
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This welcoming attitude toward“ amateurs” (from the French, of being a “lover of” something) is in marked distinction from most other poetry journals. Run by academic gatekeepers, these literary publications are an elite club that often refuse to publish anything written with rhyme and meter.
Yet when people read verse for pleasure, they almost always turn to poets like Robert Frost, rather than obscure modernists like Ezra Pound, or the trendy free verse poets who tend to win the Pulitzer Prize today.
Read the full article by our colleague Andrew Benson Brown here.
Learn more about the International Poetry Competition here.
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Thanks for reading.
Have a wonderful day.
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