However, one disgruntled worker has been left feeling a little short-changed after giving their boss a thoughtful Secret Santa gift, only to receive arguably the most thoughtless present possible in return. According to a recent Gallup poll, Americans plan to spend more money on Christmas gifts than they did in the past 20 years—with an average outlay of $886. It would appear that things are a little different across the pond though, if a story shared to the popular Mumsnet forum is to be believed....

Ahmed Naser al-Raisi is the inspector general of the UAE’s interior ministry, in charge of detentions and security operations in that country. Al-Raisi could become the new head of Interpol pending elections within the organization’s General Assembly on Thursday. However, many critics and dissidents have opposed al-Raisi’s campaign, and many continue to decry his potential rise to the presidency of the organization based in Lyons, France. Al-Raisi’s campaign comes as the UAE continues to be accused of numerous human rights violations by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch....

NEWSWEEK: There are concerns about the recent meetings you’ve had with Jafar Umar Thalib and Abu Bakar Bashir. What kind of a message does this send? HAZ: The main question here is how to cope with these extremist leaders, so they’ll stay in our corridor in terms of restoring security. The key point is justice. If the government works on creating justice, these so-called extremists will appreciate that and become more accommodating....

Husain makes his comments in his memoir, “The Islamist: Why I Joined Radical Islam in Britain, What I Saw Inside and Why I Left” (Penguin)—a work that has drawn widespread interest and controversy in a country still agonizing over how “homegrown terrorists” could have been behind the 2005 mass-transit bombings and the so-called fertilizer bomb plot that last month saw five British Muslims jailed for life. Husain, 32, spoke to Karla Adam at a coffee shop near the University of London, where he is currently studying for a Ph....

Brooks spoke exclusively to NEWSWEEK Thursday from his Culver City, Calif., office: NEWSWEEK: Why do a new musical? You’ve won every major award. It’s only a matter of time before you get a Kennedy Center honor. What do you have left to prove? Mel Brooks: I don’t know. I love writing songs. I’m a songwriter. And here’s a chance to write 17 or 18 new songs. And I love “Young Frankenstein....

IUGR can cause difficulties with breathing and feeding after birth or other long-term neurological issues. It also increases the risk of stillbirth (death of the infant soon after birth) and is the second leading cause of such deaths. IUGR is about 6 times as common in developing countries compared to countries with greater resources. However, it can affect pregnant people and infants across the world. The article discusses some of the problems caused by IUGR, as well as its underlying causes, diagnosis, treatment, and related issues....

There is no evidence to suggest the app was hacked during Monday’s caucus, but the chaos resulting from a breakdown in reporting results was blamed on “coding issues” and “inconsistencies” in the app. The software was reportedly developed on a rushed timeline of two months with a limited budget. However, the app could have caused far bigger problems than delays in reporting caucus results, according to the report. “This is an extremely serious vulnerability,” computer security expert J....

McCaffery’s team led the game at halftime by 11, but that advantage had dwindled to two points by the time he received the first technical, which he admitted he pursued for a strategic reason. “No question,” he said. “It wasn’t like I was surprised.” Following a five-point Wisconsin possession that resulted from the Ts, the Badgers went on to win, 75-71. “We played near-flawless basketball in the first 20 minutes,” McCaffery said during the Big Ten’s weekly teleconference....

The Hawkeyes had scored with 3:09 remaining Wednesday night to take a 27-20 lead over Boston College in the Pinstripe Bowl. But on their ensuing possession, the Eagles drove near midfield and had a chance to tie. MORE: Sporting News’ college football playoff picks Then, with just over a minute to play, a pass from Boston College quarterback Darius Wade bounced off the hands of Kobay White. Jackson, who was trailing the play, saw the ball, took two short steps and reached out to pick it off, ending the Eagles’ scoring threat....

2 p.m. ET, TBS Line: Iowa State -8 Total: 167 Last 10: Iona 9-1 (8-2 ATS) Iowa State 5-5 (5-5 ATS) MORE: College hoops live odds page Effective FG percentage: Iona 53.8 (30th), Iowa State 56.8 (6th) EFG% against: Iona 48.5 (103rd), Iowa State 49.5 (155th) Analysis: No. 13 seed Iona takes on No. 4 seed Iowa State Thursday afternoon. The Gaels come into the tournaments red hot, winning eight straight and going 7-1 ATS over that span....

Speaking to the Des Moines Register on Friday, Jean Hessburg, a spokesperson from the Iowa State Education Association (ISEA), called the absence of a statewide mask mandate for schools “obscene” given threats of spreading the novel coronavirus. “It is a gamble and obscene that the governor and the Department of Education are gambling on the health and safety of our students, our staff and school employees,” Hessburg told the publication....

Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe held a press conference Wednesday in which he accused Russia and Iran of obtaining voter registration data to try and undermine the November election. Ratcliffe said Tehran had sent threatening emails to registered Democrats posing as the white supremacist Proud Boys group, which have regularly engaged in street violence against leftist, progressive and anti-fascist protesters. President Donald Trump refused to condemn the Proud Boys and other white supremacist groups during the first presidential election debate....

Iranian supreme military attaché to Iraq Brigadier-General Mostafa Moradian and newly appointed Iraqi military Joint Headquarters Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Abdul Amir Rasheed Yarallah met Tuesday in Baghdad to discuss boosting military ties between the two nations, Iran’s official Islamic Republic News Agency reported. Moradian pledged support to Iraq’s armed forces and called for the further development of the Quadripartite Information Exchange Center consisting of Iran, Iraq, Russia and Syria....

The spontaneous action was widely seen as the athletes and fans showing solidarity with the widespread protests erupting across the country back home. The team was about to play England at the Khalifa International Stadium during the contest taking place in Qatar. German journalist Natalie Amiri, who has covered Iran for the TV channel Das Erste, shared the footage on Twitter. A translation of her words read: “And not a single one of the Iranian national team just sang....

Francois-Philipe Champagne made the comments during a press conference for the International Coordination and Response Group in London on Thursday. Also present were representatives from six non-Iranian nations—Canada, Sweden, the Netherlands, the U.K., Ukraine and Afghanistan—whose citizens were among the 176 killed when Iranian troops destroyed a passenger plane near Tehran last week. Champagne told reporters that Dutch input on the incident had been particularly helpful, given the nation’s central role in investigating the MH17 flight shot down by Russian-backed Ukrainian separatists in 2014....

Rear-Admiral Amir Rastegari, the head of the Defense Ministry’s marine industries organization arm, told the state-run IRNA on Monday that the navy is planning to provide “light and semi-heavy domestically-developed submarines” to the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The IRGC maritime area of responsibility is the Persian Gulf stretching to the Strait of Hormuz, Rastegari said. Iran’s navy oversees the eastern portion of the Strait of Hormuz into the Indian Ocean....

Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency cited who they said was a well-informed official Tuesday who denied outgoing Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennet’s claim a day earlier that Iran “has begun the withdrawal process from Syria.” His remarks followed reports earlier this month by other Israeli officials who argued Iran was gradually pulling out of the country, although Tehran disputed this. “There has been no change in the quantity and quality of Iran’s advisory presence in Syria,” the unnamed official told Fars News Agency....

The U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence said Tehran “carried out a multi-pronged covert influence campaign intended to undercut former President Trump’s re-election prospects—though without directly promoting his rival.” Other nations accused of meddling to try and influence the result—whether for or against Trump—and divide American society were Russia, Venezuela, Cuba, as well as non-state actors like Lebanese Hezbollah; a close ally of the regime in Tehran....

The USMNT, not usually thought of as a major contender in any given World Cup tournament, pulled off unlikely stalemates against Wales and the highly ranked England to start, capping things off with a 1-0 win over Iran on Tuesday to advance to the knockout stage. The team will next face off against the Netherlands, which is heavily favored to win. The unlikely early success of the USMNT has led many fans and general viewers to celebrate with the usual round of jokes and memes on social media....

The article was printed in the Tehran Times, one of three major English-language newspapers published by the Iranian government. The Times, like most papers in Iran, is “funded by and ideologically connected to political parties or politicians,” according to the Council on Foreign Relations. The piece appears to have been written in response to an Israeli newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, referring to a prior Israeli airstrike on Syrian territory as “a direct message” to Iran....