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An attack in New Orleans raises fears about Islamic State

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WHEN MAKING New Year’s resolutions few have violence on their minds. That was evidently not the case for Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old American citizen and military veteran from Texas. He rammed a rented Ford pickup truck into a crowd of revellers on Bourbon Street in New Orleans in the early hours of January 1st, killing 15 and injuring 35. After the crash police killed Mr Jabbar in a shoot-out. The FBI is investigating the attack as an act of terrorism; a black Islamic State (IS) flag flew from the bumper of the truck driven by Mr Jabbar and social media posts suggest he was a man of faith with intent to kill. The fact that he avoided detection suggests a fairly sophisticated conspiracy. “This is not a garden-variety attack,” says Colin Clarke of the Soufan Center, a global-security research group.

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Economics

Trump has faced down Republican dissidents in Congress

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REPUBLICANS ON CAPITOL HILL have a reputation for infighting and not getting much done. January 3rd, the first day of the 119th Congress, featured plenty of infighting. Surprisingly, the House GOP also managed to get something done—the formerly simple process of electing their leader. Yet the uneasy victory of Mike Johnson, the House speaker, looks tame compared with the legislative fights to come.

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Economics

Checks and Balance newsletter: Can the tech elite and MAGA come together? 

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This is the introduction to Checks and Balance, a weekly, subscriber-only newsletter bringing exclusive insight from our correspondents in America.

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Economics

Russ Vought: Donald Trump’s holy warrior

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CLAD IN RED baseball caps, draped in the American flag and cheering for Donald Trump, the MAGA movement can be rather brash. Yet one of the people driving it forward is anything but. It is almost easy at first to overlook Russell Vought (pronounced “vote”), with his tortoiseshell spectacles, neatly trimmed beard and scholarly demeanour. That would be a mistake. Mr Vought’s calm exterior belies an incendiary streak, fuelled by his religious convictions. And he will be a pivotal player in Mr Trump’s administration, aiming at nothing less than a destruction of the status quo in American governance.

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