President Trump, Ireland, Ebola: Your Thursday Briefing

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/26/briefing/president-trump-ireland-ebola.html

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Good morning.

President Trump’s first visit to American troops abroad, the consequences of his environmental policies and the vexing problem of an Irish border.

Here’s the latest:

The president made his first visit to American troops stationed abroad in a combat zone. His trip, shrouded in secrecy, came less than a week after he announced plans to withdraw troops from Syria, which prompted his defense secretary Jim Mattis to resign, and from Afghanistan.

Mr. Trump told reporters at Joint Base al Asad that he had no plans to retreat from Iraq. Instead, he said, the U.S. may use Iraq as a base to carry out operations in Syria against the Islamic State.

Speaking of Trump and the military: The president received a medical exemption from service during the Vietnam War. But for 50 years, the details have been a mystery. Our reporters pieced together a possible explanation, involving a foot doctor whose landlord was Mr. Trump’s father.

Other U.S. politics news: It’s Day 6 of the government shutdown. Lawmakers will return to Capitol Hill to try to reopen the shuttered agencies, but Democrats and Mr. Trump are still at odds over his demand for a border wall. Here’s a look at what’s already in place along the southern border.

In California, farm workers are being sickened by a dangerous pesticide. In West Virginia, the largest inland waterway is being contaminated with selenium, a pollutant that can wipe out aquatic life.

These are just some of the effects of President Trump’s large-scale rollback of environmental regulations over two years, which have been promoted as creating jobs, liberating businesses and helping the economy grow.

But as our reporters discovered, the policy changes are affecting the health and safety of people across the United States.

Go deeper: Mr. Trump has been working to undermine the environmental legacy of President Barack Obama. Nearly 80 Obama-era regulations have been blocked, delayed or targeted for repeal, according to our analysis. Here are some other takeaways from our investigation.

In 1998, Ireland and Northern Ireland, which is part of Britain, signed the Good Friday Agreement that ended decades of violent conflict known as the Troubles.

Since then, people, livestock and goods have flowed freely between Ireland and Britain, both members of the E.U.

But now, Brexit threatens to bring back the old barrier.

Why it matters: A hard border could reignite hostilities and impede the vibrant trade that has fostered peace. “It would be a real backward step,” said one farmer in Ireland. “Back to the Dark Ages.”

In November of last year, 20 people drowned while trying to get to Europe from Libya. Forty-seven others were captured by the Libyan Coast Guard and bought back to suffer abuse, including rape and torture.

A nearby ship that belonged to a German humanitarian organization, Sea-Watch, wasn’t able to intervene and rescue them. A French vessel in the vicinity refrained from responding.

Our journalists produced a minute-by-minute reconstruction of the incident, working with two research groups and combining videos, radio recordings, vessel tracking data and witness testimony.

Why it matters: This case reflects a new policy in Europe — particularly in Italy — that has effectively outsourced migrant rescue operations to the Libyan Coast Guard, which often violates human rights.

Ebola: In eastern Congo, where a woman recently died from Ebola, near-constant violence between government forces and militia groups have frustrated efforts to combat the second-largest outbreak of the virus, our correspondent found.

U.S.: The federal border agency has been ordered to bolster medical screenings for children after the Christmas Eve death of an 8-year-old boy from Guatemala, the second migrant child to die in custody in less than three weeks.

Stocks: The S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq all climbed by around 5 percent, rebounding from a decline that had pushed the S&P to the brink of a bear market.

Russia: Selling property in Moscow requires an unusual piece of paperwork — a certificate of sanity signed by a doctor.

Iran: Millions of middle-class Iranians have seen their lives shrink almost overnight, dragged down by renewed U.S. sanctions and their government’s mismanagement of the economy.

India: New policies will effectively bar foreign online retailers, like Amazon and Walmart, from selling products supplied by their affiliated companies in the country, a surprise blow to e-commerce businesses.

Japan: The country announced it would resume commercial whaling in July, despite international condemnation.

Thailand: The military government approved a measure that would allow medicinal marijuana starting next year. Thailand would be the first Southeast Asian country to take that step.

Ancient horses: Archaeologists unearthed the remains of three petrified purebreds that were buried in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Pompeii almost 2,000 years ago.

Hollywood: The artists that made Christian Bale look startlingly like Dick Cheney in the movie “Vice” relied on new advances in creating prosthetics.

Artists we lost: Here’s a tribute to stars who died this year, in their own words.

Tips for a more fulfilling life.

Recipe of the day: Polenta with mushrooms, a dinner of comfort and joy.

The four “attachment styles” and how they sabotage your work-life balance.

What we can learn about online privacy from climate change.

The Yellow Vests are not the first rebel group in French history to be named after the outfits of the resistance.

Fashion has played a significant role in the heritage, economic development and identity of France, and dress has often signaled and symbolized change.

In the late 18th century, during the French Revolution, a significant component of the uprising sported working-class pantalons — basically trousers — instead of the fancy knee breeches, or culottes, worn with heels and stockings by the male aristocracy. The insurgents have gone down in history as “without breeches,” or sans-culottes.

In 1968, France’s student rebellions against capitalism and American imperialism (among other isms) redefined associations with berets, turtlenecks, boots and tartan.

In both cases, the visual messaging communicated allegiance as effectively as any slogan or protest poster — and became exports as successful as Brie and Champagne.

Vanessa Friedman, our director of fashion coverage, wrote today’s Back Story.

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