A.M. Links: Alleged ISIS Capitol Hill Plot 'Aspirational Not Operational,' Catholic Church Condemns 'Marxist' Venezuelan Government, Earth May Not Have Been Formed of Meteors

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  • Meteor on dinosaurs
    Donald Davis via NASA

    Authorities in Ohio say they arrested an alleged ISIS sympathizer who they say was planning an attack on the U.S. Capitol, but the Department of Justice says the alleged plan was "aspirational and not operational" and that no one was in danger. Meanwhile, the Secret Service is removing four assistant directors from their posts while two more have announced their retirement, considered a significant bureaucratic shake up for White House security.

  • President Obama is expected to order federal agencies to extend paid leave for employees after the birth or adoption of a child, and wants private companies to do the same. He also wants Congress to spend $2 billion to get states to mandate more paid sick days.
  • Some Democrats and Republicans in Congress are pushing for the U.S. to be more involved in the campaign against Boko Haram in West Africa.
  • NPR reports from a Muslim-majority suburb north of Paris where some students consider their religion above French law and some residents believe the hostage-taking and shooting at the Kosher supermarket last week was staged.
  • Catholic Church authorities in Venezuela condemned the government for "imposing a socialist Marxist or communist political-economic system" on the people.
  • The Earth may not have been formed by meteors, a simulation by researchers at MIT suggests. 

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