While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Jan 20

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No deal reached as Schumer, Trump meet to avert government shutdown

Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer met with President Donald Trump at the White House on Friday to search for ways to avert a US government shutdown, but Schumer said afterward that disagreements remained as the clock ticked toward a midnight deadline to pass a funding Bill.

Trump invited Schumer to the White House as a stopgap Bill to fund the federal government through Feb 16 appeared on the verge of collapse in the Senate, where Democratic votes are needed to pass it.

"We had a long and detailed meeting," Schumer told reporters on his return to the US Capitol after the approximately 90-minute meeting."We discussed all of the major outstanding issues. We made some progress, but we still have a good number of disagreements. The discussions will continue."

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives approved the stopgap spending measure late on Thursday, but it has been sidetracked in the Senate by a dispute over immigration.

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Pentagon puts countering China, Russia at centre of new US defence strategy

The US military has put countering China and Russia at the heart of a new national defence strategy unveiled on Friday, the latest sign of shifting American priorities after more than a decade and a half of focusing on the fight against Islamist militants.

The strategy document - the first of its kind since at least 2014 - sets priorities for the US Defence Department that are expected to be reflected in future defence spending requests. The Pentagon released an unclassified, 11-page version of the document on Friday.

The so-called National Defence Strategy represents the latest sign of hardening resolve by President Donald Trump's administration to address challenges from Russia and China, despite Trump's calls for improved ties with Moscow and Beijing.

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Olympic gymnastics star Raisman demands probe of Nassar abuse

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Olympic gymnastics superstar Aly Raisman on Friday faced down disgraced national team doctor Larry Nassar in court, calling him "sick" and demanding an independent probe to find out how he was apparently able to abuse dozens of young girls for years with impunity.

Raisman's statement came on day four of searing testimony from dozens of Nassar's victims at his sentencing hearing, shortly after teammate Jordyn Wieber publicly revealed for the first time that she had been abused by Nassar.

"You are so sick. I can't even comprehend how angry I feel when I think of you," Raisman, now 23, told the court in Michigan, where Nassar has pleaded guilty to 10 counts of criminal sexual conduct. He faces life in prison.

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Second face transplant for Frenchman in world-first

A man whose body rejected a face transplant he received seven years ago has been given a second donor face after living nearly two months without one, French medical agencies said on Friday.

It is the first time in transplant history that doctors have replaced one donor face with another, according to Olivier Bastien of France's biomedicine agency.

More than 12 years since the first-ever face graft was done, in France, it remains a high-risk procedure.

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Michael Douglas accused of sexual harassment by former employee

Writer Susan Braudy has publicly accused Michael Douglas of sexual harassment, just days after the actor pre-emptively spoke in his own defence.

"He thought he was the king of the world, and that he could humiliate me without any repercussions," Braudy told Kate Snow of NBC News in an interview that aired on Friday morning.

Braudy worked for Douglas in the 1980s, a decade in which the actor starred in Fatal Attraction and won an Oscar for his performance in Wall Street.

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