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LONDON, March 28 (Reuters) - Britain's MI5 intelligence agency has increased the threat level in Northern Ireland from domestic terrorism to "severe" - meaning an attack is highly likely.

The move to return the level to its second highest category follows recent attacks on police offices and comes weeks before political leaders are due to gather in the province to celebrate the 25th anniversary of a peace deal that largely ended three decades of violence.

U.S. President Joe Biden said this month that he had accepted an invitation to visit Northern Ireland in April, and both Bill and Hillary Clinton are due to attend anniversary-related events.

"The public should remain vigilant, but not be alarmed, and continue to report any concerns they have," Chris Heaton-Harris, the British minister for the province, said in a written statement.

The British government said the level had been increased from "substantial" following the recent targeting of police officers, and it was not thought to be linked to the anniversary.

The threat for Northern Ireland had been held at severe since the system was introduced in 2010. It was lowered, for just over a year, in 2022.

Chief Constable Simon Byrne of the Police Service of Northern Ireland said his officers would not be deterred from "delivering a visible, accessible and responsive community focused policing service to keep people safe".

While a 1998 peace deal largely ended three decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland, police officers are still sporadically targeted by small splinter groups of mostly nationalist militants opposed to Britain's rule over the region.

An off-duty officer was left seriously injured last month following a gun attack that police said was carried out by the new IRA, a much smaller group than the Irish Republican Army, which disarmed following the Good Friday accord.

Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell was shot a number of times by two gunmen while putting footballs in his car after finishing a coaching session with a youth soccer team.

Some 3,600 people died during the fighting between Irish nationalist militants seeking union with the rest of Ireland, and the British army and pro-British unionist militants wanting to stay in the United Kingdom.

Leaders are due to gather in Belfast in April to celebrate the signing of that peace deal, which was struck on April 10, 1998, and partially brokered by the U.S. government of then-President Bill Clinton.

Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar, Muvija M and Padraic Halpin; writing by Kate Holton, editing by William James and Ed Osmond

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Britain raises domestic threat level for Northern Ireland to 'severe' - Reuters UK

Jesse Watters says Donald Trump never indicted his rival and former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton (GETTY )

Fox News host Jesse Watters tried to downplay Donald Trumps calls to imprison his political opponents as he faces a potential indictment from the Manhattan District Attorneys office through a grand jury.

Watters, whom Mr Trump has on occasion broadcast at his rallies, said the former president never indicted former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, despite frequent chants to lock her up.

Lock her up was a joke, he said. Trump never indicted crooked. But theyre going after him hard. They never cared what Trump was arrested for. They just wanted him behind bars.

Watters said Democrats such as District Attorney Alvin Bragg were not prosecuting Mr Trump for a crime but because of who he is.

Democrats arrest the Republican frontrunner and then bait you into reacting and then arrest you if you do, he said. They disenfranchise you and then call you a domestic extremist.

Throughout much of the 2016 campaign, Mr Trump and his Republican acolytes called for Ms Clinton to be imprisoned for using a private email server to conduct official business as US Secretary of State.

I am going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation, he said to Ms Clinton in the second general election debate in 2016. Because there has never been so many lies, so much deception. There has never been anything like it.

Ms Clinton for her part brushed off the remarks.

Its just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country, she said.

Because you would be in jail, he said.

Similarly, in 2020, he called on his then-attorney general William Barr to indict multiple people.

DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS, THE BIGGEST OF ALL POLITICAL SCANDALS (IN HISTORY)!!! BIDEN, OBAMA AND CROOKED HILLARY LED THIS TREASONOUS PLOT!!! BIDEN SHOULDNT BE ALLOWED TO RUN - GOT CAUGHT!!! he had tweeted.

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Fox host tries to downplay Trumps efforts to have his political opponents jailed: Lock her up was a joke! - Yahoo News

Nadia Kahf, a hijab-wearing attorney from Wayne, drew a standing-room crowd at the Passaic County Courthouse last Tuesday, as she was sworn in as Superior Court judge in the state, in an event that sparked international headlines describing her as trailblazer.

That barrier was broken again the very next day when Dalya Youssef, a family law attorney who also wears the Islamic headscarf, was sworn into the Superior Court bench in Somerset County.

For Muslim women, who have long faced harmful stereotypes about their religion and their role in it, having two women who outwardly show their faith in such prominent positions is deeply meaningful.

It brings a lot of pride and a lot of inspiration to my heart knowing they can practice their faith openly without compromise and continue to serve our community in such an honorable way, said Rana Sabagh, a social services manager at a Paterson mosque, calling it a proud and historic moment.

Kahf and Youssef were not the first Muslim women to become state judges. Sharifa Salaam and Kalimah Ahmad serve as Superior Court judges in Essex and Hudson counties, respectively. Three men also are state judges, Sohail Mohammed in Passaic County, Rahat Babar in Mercer County, and Hany Mawla in the Appellate Division.

But the images of Kahf, donning a hijab, swearing her oath on the Quran and getting a standing ovation, struck a chord with the public and were widely shared on social media. She was sworn in front of her children, parents and husband and a crowd of supporters so large some were in overflow rooms. For her oath, she used a vintage Quran that had been handwritten by her great-grandmother in the 1880s.

Headlines captured her accomplishment on news sites in Morocco, India and Turkey. "Nadia Kahf becomes New Jersey's first hijabi judge," wrote Sinar Daily, a news site in Malaysia.

NJ: Hillary Clinton speaks at Montclair State, says women 'have to earn it every day'

Im very proud to represent the Muslim and Arab communities of New Jersey and United States, Kahf said at the swearing-in ceremony. I want the younger generation to see that they can practice their religion without fear. That they can be who they are. Diversity is our strength. It is not our weakness.

Youssef was sworn in the next day at the Somerset County courthouse, while a larger, official swearing-in ceremony is being planned in her honor in several weeks.

Neither responded to requests for comment.

The elevation of these women to the New Jersey Superior Court comes as some women have faced prejudice and measures to restrict use of the hijab in France and India.

Those stereotypes are rooted in falsehoods, said Dalia Fahmy, a professor of political science at Long Island University. In the U.S., Muslim women are the second most highly educated religious minority group, said Fahmy. In the past two elections, nearly 200 Muslim women ran for office, with many winning their elections, Fahmy added. In New Jersey, the first two Muslims to serve in the state Legislature, Shama Haider and Sadaf Jaffer, are female.

Muslim women throughout history have achieved the highest levels of occupation and power, Fahy said. Thats not reflected in what we see in popular culture and popular media.

In New Jersey, the communities that Kahf and Youssef call home have known these two women as leaders, long before they became judges.

Kahf, a family law and immigration attorney in Haledon, has served as chair of the New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights organization. She is also chairwoman of the Islamic Center of Passaic County, one of the largest mosques in the state.

Kahf, who came to the U.S. from Syria at age 2, also served as legal adviser to Wafa House, a nonprofit domestic violence and social services agency based in Clifton.

Youssef was a founding member and past president of the New Jersey Muslim Lawyers Association. As supervising attorney at Central Jersey Legal Services, a non-profit law firm, she provided legal assistance to low-income individuals.

Youssef is also a member of Supreme Court Committee on Women in the Courts and the New Jersey State Bar Associations Diversity and Pro Bono Committees. She is also on the board of the Rutgers Center for Race, Rights and Security.

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Hijabi judges sworn in on NJ Superior Court - NorthJersey.com

Trump plays the greatest hits of airing grievances, attacks during first campaign rally

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Waco Regional Airport Saturday, March 25, 2023, in Waco, Texas. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)

Former President Donald Trump treated a crowd in Waco, Texas to a 90-minute performance of some of his greatest hits from past rallies, speeches and social media posts during his first campaign rally of his 2024 election campaign.

In between rambling, stream-of-consciousness storytelling that could impress William Faulkner, the 45th president continued his verbal attacks on longstanding political targets Rep. Adam Schiff, Hillary Clinton, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., etc. false claims about his lose in the 2020 presidential election and the on-going quintet of investigations into alleged wrongdoing in his business dealings and reported attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Not losing his touch for theater, Trump repeated a tactic used during the closing months of the 2020 campaign: flying in on his personal plane then Air Force One, now his private Trump-branded 757 landing on the airfield and emerging from the sky right onto the speaking platform. On live stream, cameras panned to the jet airliner streaking down to the rally site while Kenny Loggins Danger Zone blasted on speakers to score the moment. His sense of television production upped the whole flash and draw of the production, which included introductory remarks by Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., two of his closest allies in the House of Representatives, and a pledge of allegiance performance by outspoken conservative rocker Ted Nugent.

Former President Donald Trump points to the crowd as he leaves after speaking at a campaign rally at Waco Regional Airport, Saturday, March 25, 2023, in Waco, Texas. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Following his ascent to the podium, and a rendition of the song Justice For All that he made with the J6 Prison Choir which hit number one on Billboards Top Digital Sales chart Tuesday, after being at the top spot for iTunes song sales for days Trump dusted off the old playbook to launch into a rapid-fire takedown of his, and his audiences, favorite enemies.

He called out warmongers, neo-cons, globalists, communists, Marxists noting after these last two We dont even talk about the socialists anymore, that train left the station long ago as well as the fake news media, which conjured a round of boo-ing from those attended.

2024 is the final battle, he said, striking a Biblical tone. Put me back in the White House and America will be a free nation once again. Because if we dont win this next election, 2024, I truly believe our country is doomed.

Former President Donald Trump holds his first 2024 campaign rally in Waco, Texas. (POOL)

In speaking about the coming election, but more so the previous one, Trump repeatedly claimed that 5 million instances of voter fraud were captured on camera. This appeared to be an echo of an assertion he made after the 2016 election, claiming he would have won the popular vote if it was not for the 3-5 million immigrants living in the country illegally that supposedly voted illegally. It is unknown where he got the latest claim of 5 million instances of voter fraud which he called ballot box stuffing.

Flanked from the back by a bleachers-section filled with supporters holding Trump campaign-branded signs that read Witch Hunt, he continued to allege mistreatment in the six investigations against his political and financial dealings. Trumps ultimate chalk-up as to why he was going through these judicial processes was the Biden administrations weaponization of the Department of Justice, a claim repeated by other close congressional allies like Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, and Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chair of the House Oversight Committee.

Biden regimes weaponization of law enforcement against their political opponent is something right out of the Stalinist Russia horror show, he told the crowd. Between our borders, our elections and the weaponization of law enforcement banana republic thats what weve become.

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Waco Regional Airport Saturday, March 25, 2023, in Waco, Texas. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)

Of the (at least) five investigations into Trump, only two are being conducted by the Justice Department under President Joe Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland. Furthermore, those investigations into his possible mishandling and illegal retention of classified documents as well as his possible culpability in the events of Jan. 6, 2021 are being handled by an outside, special and independent counsel: Jack Smith, a former U.S. attorney with no party affiliation.

Two are state-level investigations. New York Attorney General Letitia James is pursuing a civil case against Trump as well as his children Don Jr., Ivanka and Eric over whether he knowingly and fraudulently overinflated assets to potential lenders and insurers. Georgia just wrapped up a grand jury investigation into any potential criminal conduct by the former president during his efforts to overturn the results of the states results in the 2020 election.

Lastly, there is the local, municipal investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg into whether Trump violated campaign finance laws by making hush money payments to porn actor Stormy Daniels and playboy model Karen McDougal in the months immediately leading up to the 2016 presidential election.

Trump has not only denied any wrongdoing in all cases but, in response to a potential coming indictment in the hush money case, called for his supporters to protest in what many see as an echo to the language he used in the lead up to Jan. 6.

Trump also told what are likely a few totally fictional, yet plausible-sounding, stories throughout the rally. Ive been running for office, sir, for 28 years. I ran for president a couple times, Trump told the crowd. Im greatly experienced, I think you should listen to me. I ran for office one time, and I became president, Trump said in mock-retort. So, I want to listen to you [gestures to crowd], I dont want to listen to them.

He continued to further needle his potential rival for the 2024 GOP nomination, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, at points throughout the speech. At one point, Trump segued rapidly from talking about his support for farmers to how DeSantis could not do well with farmers and then criticized the governors response to COVID and rising crime rates. Later, he appeared to mock DeSantis for alleging that the then-future governor begged for Trumps help on the campaign trail in his 2018 race against Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum.

This also, perhaps, spurred a rare moment of bipartisan agreement between Trump and Biden at one point, about a third of a way through the speech. In his continued jabs at DeSantis, Trump said, Its never good to try and destroy social security. Its never good to raise the minimum age to a very high level, which was not good; and to go against Medicare and try to obliterate it. President Biden famously managed to get Congressional Republicans to verbally agree to not touch social security during one of his oratorical sparing sessions with the caucus during his recent State of the Union address.

DeSantis called for deep cuts to social safety nets like Medicare while he was a member of the House of Representatives; he also voted for a nonbinding budget resolution that called for raising the age to collect those benefits to 70. He has since been attempting in recent weeks to walk back his previous positions as he rebrands himself for the national political stage.

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Trump plays the greatest hits of airing grievances, attacks during first campaign rally - KATV

Ron DeSantis honeymoon is over.

After his re-election in November, Floridas Republican governor cemented himself as the Republican establishments great non-Trump hope. But even before he formally enters the presidential race, DeSantis momentum has disappeared. Monmouth Universitys Republican primary poll shows a 15 point gain for former President Donald Trump since December, while DeSantis has dropped 12 points. Other surveys tell a similar story.NBC News reports that "a numberof the Florida governors donors and allies are worried his recent stumbles suggest he may not be ready."

How has DeSantis tripped up so spectacularly? As usual when it comes to Republican politics, the answer involves Trump. And DeSantis and the GOP establishment have once again played themselves.

Like many other Trump foes, he cant even settle on how to respond to Trumps attacks.

When DeSantis poll numbers started rising, Trump wasted no time hurling attacks at his rival. He road-tested numerous nicknames, settling on Ron DeSanctimonious. He claimed without proof, of course that DeSantis had groomed high school students. And he even made, by Trump standards, an almost substantive case against DeSantis actual record:

Its poorly written and has Trumps usual weird capitalization issues, as MSNBC columnist Michael A. Cohen tweeted, but it is also a pretty compelling argument against a DeSantis presidential bid. It also has Trumps typical spin of course a president running for re-election got more votes in Florida than a governor running in a nonpresidential election year. But the inaccuracies and distortions only slightly weaken the attacks, because their thrust that DeSantis views and actions are a mirage is accurate.

Like Derek Zoolander, DeSantis has only one look. If he has a Democrat or media straw man to light on fire, then he plays the angry fighter. But take that away, and he twists in the wind, waiting for Republican voters to tell him what they want. DeSantis looks like a Bush Republican as much as or more than he does a Trump one, writes The New York Times Jamelle Bouie a diagnosis that reveals less about DeSantis establishment lean than it does his ideological rootlessness. His recent twisting on the war in Ukraine echoes similar shifts on pandemic restrictions, entitlements and vaccines, to name just a few.

Such vacillating is largely a problem for the general election Mitt Romney in 2012 and John Kerry in 2004 are just two recent nominees who struggled to overcome past flip-flops. But for the GOP primary, DeSantis indecision creates a different problem: Like many other Trump foes, he cant even settle on how to respond to Trumps attacks. For months, he tried to ignore Trump. Then he briefly tried to needle the president over his hush money case. Only in the last couple of days has DeSantis returned to citing his re-election, as he did late last year when his poll numbers were at their best.

The only way to beat Trump is to choose attacks early, dial them up to 11 and stick with them. In 2020, Joe Biden didnt hold back on the former presidents racism, incompetence and corruption. The no-holds-barred approach doesnt always work ask Hillary Clinton but it fares far better than the approach his Republican foes used in 2016. But because DeSantis depends so heavily on the GOP base telling him what it wants, hes put himself at a disadvantage in trying to take on a candidate whom they still like.

An all-out attack on a primary rival is easier when you believe the candidates nomination will be a grave mistake for the party.

This isnt only DeSantis fault, though. Its the fault of the whole Republican establishment, and it goes back to the 2020 election. Trump may have insisted that he won the 2020 election primarily to assuage his own ego. But he also recognized that if Republican voters accepted that he was a loser, his brand was done.

Remember, DeSantis post-midterm polling bump stemmed precisely from his re-election, in contrast to the serial losses of Trumps favorites defeats that went by and large unchallenged. Had Republican leaders rejected the conspiracy theories two years earlier and admitted (even tacitly) that Trump was a political loser, it could have permanently damaged his standing. Instead, they pre-emptively neutered their future champions most compelling argument to the base: DeSantis won, and Trump didnt.

Why throw away this golden opportunity? Why flinch every time Trump swipes? Why refuse to win the only way you can against Trump by throwing the kitchen sink back at him? Its certainly not as if presidential primaries are conducted with a lighter touch ask anyone who witnessed the vicious contest between George W. Bush and John McCain.

An all-out attack on a primary rival is easier, though, when you believe the candidates nomination will be a grave mistake for the party. And neither DeSantis nor the rest of the Republican establishment believes the man who instigated the attack on the Capitol is a threat to their party, let alone democracy. Some Republican politicians will privately bewail Trump anonymously to reporters. Some even tut-tutted him publicly once or twice after voting for most or all of his legislative agenda. Some will assure us in their future memoirs that they never liked him. But publicly, theyll sit on their hands and condemn their party to stay in Trumps hands.

Maybe DeSantis recovers between now and next February, when Iowa Republicans make their choices. But for now, he and the Republican establishment would rather doom their own chances than truly take on Trump. One can hope their strategy doesnt doom the country too.

James Downie is a writer and editor for MSNBC Daily. He was an editor and columnist for The Washington Post and has also written for The New Republic and Foreign Policy. He holds a degree in history from Columbia University.

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Why DeSantis is struggling against Trump in the 2024 election - MSNBC