| Williamson lays off entire campaign staff, Castro exits race Posted: 02 Jan 2020 02:34 PM PST  Former housing secretary and San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro dropped out of the Democratic race for president Thursday and spiritualist author Marianne Williamson laid off her entire campaign staff amid rumors she was close to ending her campaign.
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| Police: Psychic said girl was possessed, scammed mom of $70K Posted: 03 Jan 2020 06:39 AM PST  Tracy Milanovich, 37, of Somerset, is charged with obtaining property by trick, along with larceny and witness intimidation, Somerset police said in a statement Thursday. Police started investigating Dec. 17 when the alleged victim reported that she was tricked by Milanovich into handing over large sums of cash along with household items, including towels and bedding, to battle the demon. The allegations date to Nov. 15, when the woman first went to Milanovich's business, Tracy's Psychic Palm Reader, for a tarot card reading, police said in their report.
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| More Than Mines: Iran Is Ready To Harass And Destroy The U.S. Navy Posted: 03 Jan 2020 03:25 AM PST  Iran has been preparing for this.
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| 'Depart Iraq Immediately.' U.S. Embassy Advises Americans to Leave After Qasem Soleimani Assassination Posted: 03 Jan 2020 05:57 AM PST  After the drone strike that killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad, the State Department urged Americans to leave Iraq.
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| China seeks to identify cause of mystery pneumonia infecting 44 Posted: 03 Jan 2020 03:04 AM PST ![China seeks to identify cause of mystery pneumonia infecting 44]( "China seeks to identify cause of mystery pneumonia infecting 44") Chinese health authorities are trying to identify what is causing an outbreak of pneumonia in the central city of Wuhan, officials said on Friday, as the tally of cases rose to 44 and Singapore said it would screen arrivals on flights from there. The World Health Organization said it was aware of the reports, is monitoring the situation and is in contact with the Chinese government about it. Chinese municipal health officials in Wuhan said in a statement on their website on Friday that they had ruled out common respiratory diseases, such as influenza, bird flu and adenovirus infection, as the cause.
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| Search for driver after video emerges of car speeding off California cliff Posted: 02 Jan 2020 10:11 AM PST  Dramatic video captured by a motorist appears to show a vehicle plunging off of a cliff in California this week — but authorities have yet to find the SUV or the driver.In the video, a dark SUV can be seen speeding off of the road at a curve.
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| Trump’s Biggest Fox News Boosters Suddenly Stop Railing Against ‘Deep State’ Intelligence Posted: 03 Jan 2020 03:41 PM PST  Suddenly, it appears the U.S. intelligence community is back in good standing over at Fox News.Since Trump's election, an inescapably common refrain of the president and his biggest boosters in conservative media has been to rail against the "deep state." The Russian election interference probe, they've repeatedly said, was nothing more than a coup or disinformation campaign perpetrated by the anti-Trump intelligence community.Over the past 24 hours, however, incessant Fox griping over "deep state" suddenly went quiet, replaced by sober pleas that—when it comes to the info allegedly justifying Trump's ordered airstrike killing Iran's top general Qassem Soleimani—the U.S. intelligence community's findings should be heeded and taken seriously as unimpeachably correct information.Immediately after the Pentagon confirmed U.S. responsibility for the strike, claiming it "was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans," Fox News host Sean Hannity—perhaps the most well-known "deep state" critic in media—heaped praise upon the intelligence community."The ability of the military, our intelligence community, the State Department, and the president making the call, very quickly, you know, understood that the Iranian forces on the ground bore a direct threat to the American people," said Hannity, calling into his own show on Thursday night. "Once the intelligence was confirmed, once the understanding that they were there to sow the discord and discontent, the president acted as quickly as possible, taking out this top general.""But I will say the big headline is, this is a huge victory for American intelligence, a huge victory for our military, a huge victory for the State Department, and a huge victory and total leadership by the president," the primetime host, who has spent more than two years and countless on-air segments railing against shadowy "deep state" intelligence, concluded.By Friday morning, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo went even further than the Pentagon, saying that it was necessary to take out Soleimani as it disrupted an "imminent attack," adding that "the risk doing nothing was enormous" and the "intelligence community made that assessment and President Trump acted decisively last night."Following Pompeo's assertions, Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade—who last month chastised a Daily Beast writer for not asking Lisa Page about a deep-state conspiracy theory—openly defended and applauded the intelligence community.After Fox News star Geraldo Rivera sarcastically noted the "U.S. intelligence has been excellent since 2003 when we invaded Iraq, disrupted the entire region, for no real reason," he told Kilmeade not to "start cheering this on" while claiming his colleague "never met a war you didn't like.""I will cheer it on. I am elated," Kilmeade exclaimed, adding that it's "not true" that he loves war.During a later appearance on Fox News' The Daily Briefing, host Dana Perino—a former Bush White House press secretary—repeatedly claimed an attack was "imminent," asking Kilmeade what the consequences would have been if Trump didn't act."What everyone is missing, it's not our choice," the Fox & Friends host replied. "These things are happening. It's how we react to what is happening."Kilmeade—no longer skeptical of intelligence officials—also insisted that the president didn't need to brief Congress before killing the Iranian leader because he needed to act quickly due to the information obtained."But if you want him to get congressional approval over a strike that is time sensitive when an attack is imminent and he landed at the airport? Are you kidding me?" Kilmeade huffed.During Friday's broadcast of Fox Business Network's Varney and Co., anchor Stuart Varney also seemed a bit amnesiac over his previous missives against the intelligence community. Despite claiming in the past that the "deep state" was trying to undermine Trump's presidency, the pro-Trump host credulously touted Pompeo's "imminent attack" claim throughout his show."That's what Mike Pompeo, Secretary of State, told Fox News earlier this morning, that there was an imminent attack and the president ordered the killing to stop that imminent attack," Varney proclaimed at one point. "Good cause to do it."In a later segment, Fox & Friends Weekend host and unofficial Trump adviser Pete Hegseth—who once noted that the "American people didn't vote for the Deep State"—also found newfound praise for the intel community, adding that Trump likely waited until the "intelligence lined up."A Fox News guest, however, seemed to reveal one of the biggest self-contradictions.Former Trump adviser Christian Whiton lamented Friday on Fox News' Outnumbered Overtime that it is "really sad" that Democrats "aren't willing to give our president and our military the benefit of the doubt in a crisis." A few weeks ago, though, Whiton gave no such benefit of the doubt to a member of both the military and intelligence community. During an interview with Fox Business host Lou Dobbs, Whiton called former National Security Council member and impeachment witness Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman a "deep state crybaby" who "poured himself into an Army outfit to go and frankly speak contemptuous things against the commander-in-chief."Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Pentagon: Anyone who tries to overrun the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad will 'run into a buzz saw' after violent protests Posted: 02 Jan 2020 12:43 PM PST  The Pentagon warned on Thursday morning that anyone who tries to breach the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad would face a "buzz saw."
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| Kentucky attorney general asks FBI to investigate ex-Gov. Matt Bevin's pardons Posted: 02 Jan 2020 03:04 PM PST  Former Gov. Matt Bevin has received criticism for pardoning or commuting the sentences of more than 650 people following his failed re-election bid.
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| Pressure is mounting on fugitive Carlos Ghosn as authorities make arrests and the probe into his mysterious escape heats up Posted: 03 Jan 2020 11:59 AM PST  The former executive may have broken Lebanese law by visiting Israel, a group of lawyers contend, potentially throwing his safe haven into jeopardy.
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| 'People Do Not Like the Unknown.' Here's What To Know About The Mystery Drones Hovering Over Rural Colorado and Nebraska Posted: 02 Jan 2020 10:50 AM PST  Sightings of mysterious drones have been reported over night skies in rural Colorado and Nebraska. Officials are searching for answers.
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| Hundreds arrested in Hong Kong in New Year's Day protests: police Posted: 01 Jan 2020 08:10 PM PST  Hong Kong police arrested about 400 people in New Year's Day protests after what started as a peaceful pro-democracy march of tens of thousands spiraled into chaotic scenes with police firing tear gas to disperse the crowds. The arrests take the total to about 7,000 since protests in the city escalated in June over a now-withdrawn bill that would have allowed extradition to mainland China, and will highlight the apparent absence of any progress towards ending the unrest. The tension on Wednesday rose after some arrests were made in the Wan Chai bar district near a branch of global banking group HSBC <0005.HK>, which has been the target of protester anger in recent weeks.
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| Terrifying video shows a 'fire tornado' ripping through the Australian countryside as devastating fires ravage the country Posted: 03 Jan 2020 05:44 AM PST  Australia's third-largest island is ravaged by two fires as firefighters battle huge blazes destroying homes, lives, and wildlife across the country.
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| Trump Killed Qassem Soleimani the Man, but Can He Kill the Myth? Posted: 03 Jan 2020 03:47 AM PST  Friday morning before dawn, U.S. forces killed Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Quds Force. Soleimani was a towering figure and in command of Iran's often brutal tactics to retain the country's political and ideological dominance in the region. He was revered and championed by supporters of the Islamic regime in both Iran and in the Middle East. Quds (sometimes spelled Qods) is the Arabic word for Jerusalem. The Quds Force is tasked with all the Guards' military operations in the Middle East and beyond. But the Quds Force is not only a military force, it also determines Iran's diplomacy in the Middle East. Gen. David Petraeus, the former commander of U.S. forces, says he once received a text message saying: "Dear General Petraeus, you should know that I, Ghasem Soleimani, control the policy for Iran with respect to Iraq, Lebanon, Gaza and Afghanistan. And indeed, the ambassador in Baghdad is a Quds Force member. The individual who's going to replace him is a Quds Force member." U.S. Strike Kills Iran's Most Important Military CommanderAs commander of the Quds Force, Soleimani was responsible for organizing Iran's proxies in the region. He masterminded the killing and wounding of hundreds of American soldiers in Iraq by Iran's proxies. He organized and led the Iraqi militias fighting and defeating Daesh (ISIS) Sunni extremists in Iraq. Soleimani was also responsible for the murder of hundreds of thousands of Syrians by boosting Bashar al-Assad's brutal genocidal regime in Syria. In 2019, IranWire published an extensive series on the Islamic Republic's Revolutionary Guards organization and its generals and commanders. We republish the Soleimani profile here. By Ehsan MehrabiOn the eve of the 1982 Operation Fath-al-Mobin, Commander Mohsen Rezaei tasked a young subordinate with raising a unit of Sar-Allah soldiers in Kerman for an upcoming major offensive aimed at ejecting the Iraqi army from Khuzestan province. The subordinate chosen for the assignment was a 19-year-old former construction worker named Ghasem (Qassem) Soleimani. Commander Hassan Bagheri, who was the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps' (IRGC) first ground force commander and who spearheaded the Guards' intelligence department, was skeptical of the decision, believing that new forces led by an inexperienced new commander would not have the capacity to meet the demands of such a key operation. Rezaei remained firm, however, arguing that Soleimani was more than up to the task. The unit would later grow into a battalion before eventually becoming the the Guards' 41st Corps of Sar-Allah. Lead exclusively by Ghasem Soleimani after its initial inception, its soldiers hailed from the provinces of Kerman, Sistan, Baluchistan, and Hormuzgan. In Soleimani's own telling, his first mission was ordered by Hossein Kharazi, then commander of the 14th Corps of Imam Hossein, to guard the 14th Corps' flanks. Biographers favorable to Soleimani have stated that this first engagement was a resounding success, but some of his contemporaries have not been as flattering toward his leadership during the campaign. In fact the current commander in chief of the IRGC, Mohammad-Ali Jafari, wrote about the matter in his memoir: "In February 1982 during the Fath-al-Mobin operation, Hossein Kharazi's corps was under pressure from two different sides because the Sar-Allah unit could not secure either flank, which Soleimani's forces were tasked with protecting." This uncomfortable divergence between myth and reality did not prevent Soleimani from hailing Operation Fath-al-Mobin as his most important success during the Iran-Iraq War. Although Soleimani had participated in previous operations, including Karbala 1 and 5, Valfajr 8, Tariq-al-Quds, and Kheibar, it was Operation Fath al-Mobin that saw him in the role of a commander for the first time. Ghasem Soleimani was born in 1958 in the Qanat-e-Melk village suburb of Kerman. Before the revolution, he had worked in Kerman's water-treatment plant and subsequently as a construction worker. He was an athletic youth and a frequent patron of the city's famous traditional gyms. After the start of the Iran-Iraq War, Soleimani enlisted in the IRGC in 1980, and his first assignment was to guard Kerman's airport and fleet from Iraqi air bombardments. Months later, he was deployed to combat further west, where he took charge of his unit, which consisted of many fellow Kerman natives. "I had a huge passion for military tactics and planning," wrote Soleimani years later in his memoir. "I really wanted to go to combat and contribute to the war. That's why after I was deployed on my first 15-day mission, I never went back home until the end of the war."A Building MythologySoleimani was not a yet a public figure during the Iran-Iraq War, but afterward, Commander-in-Chief of the IRGC Yahya Rahim-Safavi appointed him as commander of the Quds Corps. At the same time, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Ahmed Kazemi were appointed as commanders of the air force and ground forces, respectively. The three commanders were close friends, and Soleimani would later show his support to Ghalibaf by backing him during the 2013 presidential election. Soleimani's fame grew exponentially during the civil wars in Syria and Yemen, where he quickly became something of a mythical figure. The roots of this myth, both fact and fiction, trace back to those early days in the Sar-Allah Corps. Anecdotes and legends of his travels run the gamut, particularly in Iraq, with stories of him pretending to be an Iraqi soldier so as to partake in a unit's meal time or even start fights. Yet other more fantastic stories revolve around him stealing vehicles and earning the moniker "Toyota thief" from Radio Baghdad. But whatever the veracity of the claims, Soleimani has always been well known for his charismatic personality among IRGC officers, who take great interest in his speeches. One of his favorite commanders was his own deputy in the Sar-Allah 41st Corps, Mir-Hosseini, whom Soleimani described: "When he appeared at the frontline, his presence was calming and everyone felt assured. Mir-Hosseini was not only a man, but he was truly the Corps himself." Although Soleimani was very loyal to Ayatollah Khamenei, as an IRGC commander he did not often delve into domestic politics. Unlike many other IRGC commanders, Soleimani was careful not to criticize Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the former president and one of the architects of the Islamic Republic—but who also clashed with Khamenei toward the end of his life. Among Sar-Allah soldiers, there was a rumor that Soleimani voted for Mohammad Khatami in the 1997 presidential election. Nevertheless, Soleimani has in the past argued for the Basij to play a prominent role in Iranian politics and criticized any ideas to the contrary.Hezbollah TiesSoleimani and his subordinates have in the past colluded closely on the financial and construction projects of Hossein Marashi, the spokesperson for the Executives of Construction Party and former governor of Kerman. Financial involvement also extended to entities like Mahan Airline, which was later blacklisted by the U.S. because of its cooperation with the Quds Corps.Soleimani's commentary on politics has been more often found at the local level, where he has previously come out in support of Kerman's governor, Ali Reza Razm Hosseini. But after the governor's scandalous resignation over the revelation of his Canadian dual-citizenship, IRGC media outlets have done their best to eliminate any trace of Soleimani's prior support. As the Quds Corps commander, Soleimani had strong involvement with Hezbollah in Lebanon and other militant groups. Iranian state media has shown multiple photographs of him alongside Jihad Mughniyah, the son of the infamous Emad Mughniyah of Hezbollah. His daughter, Zeinab Soleimani, has also been spotted alongside Fatima Mughniyah, Emad Mughniyah's daughter. In recent years, Iran's foreign policy in the region has fallen deeper and deeper under the influence and control of the Quds Corps. Even many of Iran's foreign-policy elite such as the ambassador to Iraq, Iraj Masjedi, are former IRGC commanders. The IRGC has tried to reshape the organization's negative image by focusing on a propaganda campaign around Soleimani's character and myth, even going so far as to float his name as a potential presidential candidate. But considering his personality and history, the presidency is not something that he aspired to—unless it had been ordered by the Supreme Leader or other prominent clerical figuresThis article was first published in IranWire, a partner publication of The Daily Beast.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| A F-22 Raptor Snuck Right Underneath an Iranian Fighter Jet Posted: 03 Jan 2020 10:00 AM PST  In a war, Iran won't know what hit them.
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| Trump Rallies Evangelicals After Christian Journal’s Scorn Posted: 03 Jan 2020 03:30 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump's first campaign event of the year was aimed at keeping evangelicals on his side after a prominent Christian magazine called the president immoral and supported his impeachment.The president spoke at a Miami megachurch on Friday at an event his campaign says is intended to establish an "Evangelicals for Trump" coalition. The effort comes after the magazine Christianity Today, founded by the evangelist Billy Graham, published an editorial on Dec. 19 calling for Trump's removal from office by either impeachment or defeat at the polls.Trump began the event by thanking the military for carrying out an airstrike in Iraq on Thursday that killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, before pivoting to describe himself as the "greatest champion" of Christians in the White House."Our opponents want to shut out God from the public square," Trump told the audience. "We're going to defeat the radical Washington Democrats."The timing of the event so soon after the editorial is coincidental, said a campaign official who asked not to be identified discussing an internal scheduling matter. Yet polls have shown indications that Trump's support is softening among white evangelical Christians, 81% of whom voted for the president in 2016."He needs those votes," said Matthew Continetti, resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative research group in Washington. "Remember, President Trump pulled an inside straight in 2016. He won his Electoral College victory through narrow margins in just three states, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, so every vote counts if he is to win re-election."The president's campaign took out a full-page advertisement touting the effort in Friday's Miami Herald. The ad includes a picture of Trump and Vice President Mike Pence praying among religious leaders.Trump on Friday urged churchgoers to register to vote and turn out at the polls to "protect" their rights and beliefs. "Talk to your families, talk to your neighbors," he said in Miami.Creating CoalitionsThe Trump campaign has created similar "coalition" events to appeal to other groups, including black voters. It's not clear how many people are part of the evangelical coalition or other groups created by the campaign.Polls, including one of Florida voters released this week, show Trump trailing Democratic presidential front-runner Joe Biden, who has made overtures to religious voters.Surveys also suggest Trump's support among white evangelicals may have slipped slightly since the 2016 election. A December Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll showed 79% of white evangelicals approve of how Trump handles his job. A December NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist Poll found 75% of white evangelical Christians approve of the president.Trump and his campaign repeatedly sought to marginalize Christianity Today after the editorial was published. On Twitter, the president called the magazine "far left" and said it would prefer a "Radical Left nonbeliever" who would take away religion and guns. His campaign issued a statement from a granddaughter of Graham, Cissie Graham Lynch, who said she was "outraged" over the editorial.But another granddaughter, Jerushah Duford, called the editorial "courageous" and a "first step" in an interview on CNN.Maintaining support from white evangelicals is crucial for Trump as he responds to last month's impeachment vote in the U.S. House and fends off attacks from Democrats running against him.Identifying as EvangelicalAbout 26% of voters in the 2018 mid-term elections identified as white evangelical or born-again Christian, according to an analysis of exit poll data by the Pew Research Center."Evangelicals are going to be critical to Trump and to Republicans in general," said Chris Wilson, a Republican pollster and chief executive officer of WPA Intelligence in Washington. "They're one of the key components of the modern Republican base."Trump is the first impeached U.S. president to seek re-election in more than 150 years. His approval ratings since 2016 have mostly been below 50%, but he's enjoyed overwhelming support among Republicans and white evangelicals.The campaign event is a move to shore up his base at a "vulnerable" point of his presidency, said Robert Jones, chief executive officer and founder of the Public Religion Research Institute in Washington. "He needs a display of strength."Christians have long favored Republicans because of the party's conservative stance on social issues, such as opposition to abortion.Tensions ExposedThe Christianity Today editorial, however, exposed tensions.The editorial said Trump's "Twitter feed alone -- with its habitual string of mischaracterizations, lies, and slanders -- is a near perfect example of a human being who is morally lost and confused."While some religious conservatives consider things the president has said and done to be coarse and inappropriate, he has championed issues many of them hold dear.Trump and his campaign cannot afford an erosion in support from that bastion of voters, said Bryan McGraw, a politics professor at Wheaton College in Illinois."The Trump folks have to be worried," he added. "They don't have to lose too much," he said, "to lose places like Wisconsin and Ohio."Trump has said he has delivered for socially conservative voters with the confirmation of judicial nominees who share their values, a ban on transgender solders in the military and faith-based initiatives.Seeking RestraintThe president's evangelical supporters have praised those efforts but have also urged Trump to show restraint in his language.Chad Connelly, a former chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party who ran the national party's evangelical outreach in the 2016 election, said that he regularly speaks with pastors that visit the White House and that they've told him that they've suggested the president tone down his tweets.John Green, author of "The Faith Factor" which analyzed the influence of religion on the 2004 election, said pastors he's spoken with are increasingly uneasy."Privately, they express a lot of dismay about the president's behavior," Green said.(Michael Bloomberg is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. He is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.)(Updates with Trump comments in eighth paragraph.)\--With assistance from Josh Wingrove.To contact the reporter on this story: Mario Parker in Washington at mparker22@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Justin Blum, Laurie AsséoFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| 'I had nowhere to go': Mississippi hunter battles rattlesnake in deer stand Posted: 02 Jan 2020 07:38 AM PST  Hunting in December, a Mississippi man found a rattlesnake only inches away in a hunting blind. He was in a real predicament.
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| Iraqi troops secure U.S. Embassy following attack Posted: 02 Jan 2020 10:15 AM PST  Elite Iraqi troops were deployed to secure the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad on Thursday, after a pro-Iran mob laid siege to it on Tuesday in dramatic scenes that overshadowed months of antigovernment grassroots protests.
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| Carlos Ghosn's escape plane reportedly also ferried gold for Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro Posted: 03 Jan 2020 08:02 AM PST  Bloomberg reported that two planes operated by MNG Holding, which aided in Ghosn's escape, also assisted a Venezuelan gold trade.
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| Argentine president expresses doubt over mysterious prosecutor death Posted: 02 Jan 2020 02:28 PM PST  Argentine President Alberto Fernandez said on Thursday he doubts that a prosecutor who died two days after accusing former president Cristina Kirchner of a cover up in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center committed suicide. Nisman was appointed special prosecutor into the 1994 bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) headquarters, which left 85 dead and 300 wounded. The timing and circumstances of his death were suspicious: it came just days after he directly accused then-president Kirchner and some of her top aides of covering up Iran's alleged involvement in the bombing.
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| Cyprus rape case: Teenager begs Boris Johnson to bring her home and end 'waking nightmare' Posted: 02 Jan 2020 04:50 PM PST  A British teenager found guilty of lying about being gang-raped in Cyprus has pleaded with Boris Johnson to "bring me home". The 19-year-old alleged she was raped by up to 12 Israeli tourists in a hotel room in the Ayia Napa on July 17, but she has said Cypriot police forced her to sign a retraction statement which led to her being convicted of public mischief at Famagusta District Court, in Paralimni. "Every second of this ordeal has been a waking nightmare," the woman said. "I'm 19 and all I want to do is clear my name and come home to my family," she added in quotes reported by The Sun. "I would say to both the Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister, both of whom are fathers, please support me with your actions, not just with your words." The paper also reported that the Foreign Office had on Thursday contacted the teenager's family for the first time since she was convicted. Protesters claim the woman is a victim of Cyprus's "rape culture" Credit: IAKOVOS HATZISTAVROU/AFP via Getty Images A Foreign Office spokeswoman told PA that the UK was "seriously concerned" about the "fair trial guarantees in this deeply distressing case and we will be raising the issue with Cypriot authorities". Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, said on Monday that he would raise the case with the Cypriot authorities. The woman's legal team said that regardless of the sentence passed by the court, they would appeal against the conviction, even if she was given a suspended sentence - which would still mean a criminal record. "Appealing against the conviction is the most important thing for a young person," Michael Polak, director of the campaigning group Justice Abroad, said. An online crowdfunding appeal to raise money for legal support for the woman's daughter has passed £120,000, exceeding its £105,000 goal. The "help teen victim get justice in Cyprus" GoFundMe page was set up by British lawyer John Hobbs in August to raise cash for the 19-year-old's legal representation. The woman has been on bail since the end of August, after spending a month in prison, and could face up to a year in jail and a 1,700 euro (£1,500) fine when she is sentenced on January 7. A number of prominent legal figures in Cyprus have also written to Costas Clerides, the attorney-general, urging him to intervene in the case. The group includes former justice minister Kypros Chrysostomides, who told the BBC the woman involved had "already suffered a lot" and he expected her sentence would be "very lenient". "She has already been in detention for four-and-a-half weeks and she has been prevented from travelling for about five months already," he said. But the government of Cyprus has said it has "full confidence in the justice system and the courts". Meanwhile, the teenager's mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has backed calls for a tourism boycott of the country. "The place isn't safe - it is absolutely not safe. And if you go and report something that's happened to you, you're either laughed at, as far as I can tell, or, in the worst case, something like what's happened to my daughter may happen," she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. The woman said her daughter was experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), hallucinations, and is sleeping for up to 20 hours a day because of a condition called hypersomnia. "She needs to get back to the UK to get that treated - that's my absolute primary focus. She can't be treated here because hearing foreign men speaking loudly will trigger an episode," she said. "It needs resolving otherwise she's going to carry on having this for the rest of her life."
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| Climate deniers are cooking themselves — and everyone else Posted: 03 Jan 2020 02:50 AM PST  The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world that climate change is something only hippies should care about. By this view, commonly expressed by conservative politicians, fixing climate change is only for bleeding-hearts who care more about hugging trees than making money.But this is completely wrong. Climate change will wreck the environment, and in the process it will wreck human society as well — causing many deaths and billions of dollars in damage, as we're seeing now as Australia is battered by the worst wildfires in its history. People who deny or downplay climate change are broiling themselves and everyone else alive.Some extreme weather events have a complex array of causes, and it is hard to tie them definitively to climate change. Hurricane formation, for instance, involves winds, ocean temperatures and the difference between atmospheric temperatures, the spin of the earth, and many other factors, so it is a tricky business to pin worse storms on global warming. (Nevertheless, a growing body of research does indeed point to climate change as a key cause of increasing hurricane severity.)But that is not true at all of the Australian bushfires. Fires get worse when things are hot, dry, and windy, and climate change has provided all of those conditions in abundance. The continent has warmed by about 2 degrees Fahrenheit (a bit over 1 degree Celsius) since the 1970s, and in keeping with the predictions of climate models, Australia has experienced steadily worse droughts and heat waves over the last 30 years. The current drought may end up being the worst in history — this spring was the driest ever recorded on the continent, and back on December 18 it set a new record for the hottest day ever measured with an average temperature across the entire country of 105.6 degrees.So far this Australian fire season, almost 15 million acres have been burned, at least 18 people have died, a further 17 are missing, and over 1,200 homes have burned down. Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated, and thousands more are still trapped in hazardous locations. Australia's largest cities have repeatedly suffocated under smoke plumes — on December 11, Sydney recorded particulate pollution 11 times worse than the "hazardous" level, and at time of writing capital city Canberra had the second-worst air in the world. Meanwhile, the ongoing drought has devastated Australian farmers.Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison (from the Liberal Party, which is politically conservative) has been wrong-footed by the crisis — residents of fire-stricken towns yelled at him during a tour of the damage, and his record of boosting fossil fuels has become a major focus of news coverage of the events.Morrison insists that he has taken a measured approach to climate, but this is nonsense — on the contrary, Australia is one of the major climate villains in the world. Morrison has long been in the pocket of Big Carbon, and has consistently boosted fossil fuel development as prime minister. Indeed, before he was head of the Liberals he brought a chunk of coal onto the floor of parliament and accused the opposition party of "coalphobia." As recently as November, his deputy prime minister was calling climate activists "inner-city raving lunatics."As a result, Australia's domestic emissions have increased steadily since 2013, when the Liberals took power and immediately repealed the carbon tax passed under the previous Labor Party government. More importantly, Australia is the second-largest coal exporter in the world (only recently passed up by Indonesia, despite increased Australian production), and thanks to the Liberal government, it has recently soared to become the second-largest exporter of liquid natural gas as well, and may take first place next year. Most of that fuel goes to Japan, China, India, and Korea. All this makes Australia the third-largest exporter of carbon dioxide emissions, just behind Russia and Saudi Arabia.To be fair, the opposition party isn't much better, despite the modest carbon tax mentioned above. Labor Party leader Anthony Albanese backs coal exports despite criticizing Morrison's abysmal climate record.Of course, Australia's natural environment is getting pummeled as well by the drought and fires. As Nerilie Abram writes at Scientific American, "early estimates suggest that around 500 million animals have died so far, including 30 percent of the koala population in their main habitat."But it is worth emphasizing that the koalas aren't the only ones suffering. If adorable animals being slaughtered by the millions doesn't tug one's heartstrings, then perhaps consider self-interest, as Australians hide in lakes to keep from being burned alive. A few more years of fat coal profits aren't worth making Mad Max into a documentary.In short, Australia, like many countries (very much including the United States) is pathologically addicted to fossil fuels, and is roasting itself and the world in the process. Without strong international climate policy, there will be future droughts, fires, and other disasters that make the current crisis seem like a friendly daydream.More stories from theweek.com Mike Pence crams 3 inaccuracies about 9/11 into 1 tweet while trying to justify Soleimani strike America is guilty of everything we accuse Iran of doing 4 reasons to beware Trump's decision to kill Soleimani
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| U.S. Strike Kills Iran’s Most Important Military Commander Posted: 02 Jan 2020 06:51 PM PST  In a drastic escalation of the U.S.' generation-long wars in the Middle East, a U.S. strike on Thursday in Baghdad killed Qassem Soleimani, the leader of Iran's powerful Quds Force and an architect of American agony in Iraq. The Pentagon confirmed late Thursday that it killed Soleimani "at the direction of the president" and claimed in a statement that "General Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region." It continued: "This strike was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans. The United States will continue to take all necessary action to protect our people and our interests wherever they are around the world."President Trump tweeted about the situation on Friday morning: "Iran never won a war, but never lost a negotiation!"Reports from Iraq said Soleimani was killed in a strike that occurred near Baghdad International Airport. The airport, which houses U.S. and allied Iraqi forces, had also come under rocket fire from unknown militants on Thursday. Killing Soleimani, a senior official of a nation with which the U.S. is not officially at war, is highly likely to prompt reprisal attacks against Americans in Iraq and perhaps elsewhere. In addition to the 5,000 troops in Iraq, there are nearly 10,000 more deployed across the Middle East, including in Saudi Arabia, which is fighting a U.S.-backed proxy war with Iran in Yemen. The strike on Soleimani came days after supporters of an Iran-backed Iraqi militia, Kataib Hezbollah, besieged the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, itself a reprisal for U.S. strikes on the militia in Iraq and Syria. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said before the Thursday strike that he anticipated additional attacks by Iranian-backed militias. "And they will likely regret it," he told reporters. "And we are prepared to exercise self-defense, and we are prepared to deter further bad behavior from these groups, all of which are sponsored and directed and resourced by Iran."Soleimani has been a top U.S. adversary for 15 years, when the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq became a battlefield for Iranian proxy conflict against an Iran that saw itself encircled by the U.S. on both its western and eastern borders. The U.S. blamed Iran both for a wave of powerful bombs that killed and maimed U.S. servicemembers and for frustrating U.S. plans to turn Iraq into a U.S.-aligned Mideast outpost. Famously, Soleimani in 2008 texted David Petraeus, then the U.S. military commander in Iraq, to brag that he controlled Iran's policy in Iraq and was outfoxing the Americans. But the U.S. had long feared that taking direct military action against Iran would result in an entirely new, devastating war. The Obama administration, seeking to avert escalation, signed a deal with Iran to forestall its development of a nuclear weapon. In Iraq, U.S. and Iranian forces reached an uneasy, unacknowledged alignment of interests when both fought against the so-called Islamic State terror group.The Trump administration, however, has taken a bellicose posture toward Iran, despite pledging to end U.S.-Mideast entanglements. It canceled the nuclear deal with Iran and, in April, designated the Quds Force a terrorist group. "I'm more convinced than ever that we have basically lost Iraq," said one former senior Obama administration official. "I cannot think of any factions that would declare their support for us. That's new and a part of bad trend."The strike in Iraq on Thursday comes after the Trump administration's years-long "maximum pressure" campaign—a policy to decimate Iran's economy with sanctions so severe that it forced the country back in line with the nuclear deal. While those sanctions have hit Tehran's most important financial sectors with force, Iran's leaders have resisted adhering to America's demands. The Iranian presence in Iraq had become the focus of major protests in recent months, which may have emboldened the Trump administration. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has made that point repeatedly. But the escalating U.S. and also Israeli confrontation with Iran-backed militias may serve to focus Iraqi public outrage on the United States. The U.S. actions are flagrant violations of Iraqi sovereignty, and put in danger the lives of American troops in Iraq who have been there at the invitation of the Iraqi government since 2014 to help in the war against ISIS.Tensions between the U.S. and Iranian proxies operating in Iraq were boiling hot even before Soleimani was killed on Thursday. Following protests at the U.S. embassy last week, fighters with Kataib Hezbollah and other Iranian-backed groups vowed to continue to encircle American outposts in the country."The main problem is we have got enough from America. We don't want them to be here. They are the source of all the problems—terrorists, internal fights. We don't want to argue anything with anyone. The only solution is Americans should leave Iraq," Saad Ali, a 27-year-old fighter from Kataib Hezbollah, said Wednesday. "They killed our brothers who fought ISIS, we won't let our brothers' blood be wasted that easy. We won't leave till the Americans leave our country. We will kick them out from our country."Hassam Abbas, a 31-year-old member of Asaib Ahl al-Haq, a Shiite militia in Iraq, said the American troops in Iraq "make a disaster" wherever they go. "We don't want them here. They should get out of Iraq as soon as possible, otherwise we have forces and we will fight them all over Iraq," he said on Wednesday. "We will surround all their bases with protests in the next few days."The Iranian-American author and commentator Hooman Majd expected violent retaliation, as he said Soleimani is perceived within Iran as a nationalist figure who has fought in Iran's wars since the 1980s. "It's an incredibly dangerous escalation, not thought through, and certainly the chances of retaliation in places where Iran has the ability to retaliate, such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, the Persian Gulf states, would lead one to believe American government officials or soldiers are potentially in danger," Majd said. If the president's supporters share such concerns, they're keeping them quiet, for now. Even before the Trump administration officially confirmed the death of Soleimani, various officials from the president's re-election campaign were doing victory laps on social media."Alexa, play 'Another One Bites the Dust,'" tweeted Trump 2020 rapid-response staffer Abigail Marone. The post was retweeted by Team Trump's principal deputy comms director Erin Perrine. "THIS is what strong foreign policy looks like."—with additional reporting by Christopher Dickey and Asawin SuebsaengRead more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| One Of NATO's Greatest Fears: A Russian Invasion Of Iceland Posted: 02 Jan 2020 04:00 PM PST  Iceland has not had a military since 1869.
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| Kurz Seals Historic Pact With Austria’s Greens for Second Term Posted: 02 Jan 2020 12:50 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Sebastian Kurz clinched a historic alliance with Austria's Green party to claim a second term as chancellor and position his country at the forefront of Europe's battle to limit climate change.Kurz, a 33-year-old conservative, announced the deal late on New Year's Day. Pending approval by a Green party conference on Saturday, the new administration could be sworn in by President Alexander Van der Bellen (himself a former Green leader) on Jan. 7.Two years after he leaped to prominence by embracing the backlash against immigration, Kurz may be about to set a very different precedent for Europe's conservatives by teaming up with the Greens. His new coalition brings the Austrian Greens into the federal government for the first time and offers a template for politicians across the continent searching for a formula to repel the threat of populism.German conservative Ursula von der Leyen took charge of the European Commission last month after forging a parliamentary majority around her plan to decarbonize the European economy. The next government in Berlin could see a similar alliance as the Greens supplant the ailing Social Democrats as the natural partner for Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats."Kurz is now trying to address the two main issues of the next decade: immigration and climate change," said Carsten Brzeski, chief economist at ING Germany. "This can become an interesting test case for Germany, and indeed for Europe: the first conservative-Green coalition."It's a risky project though.From 2015, Kurz used the European refugee crisis to take over his party. He dressed the conservatives in the clothes of populism and steered them out of an awkward coalition with the Social Democrats to join forces with a xenophobic party founded by former Nazis. After winning two straight elections, a third of his voters are now former supporters of the Freedom Party and other rightist groups.By teaming up with the Greens, Kurz finds himself on the opposite side of the debate from the populists and vulnerable to their attacks for the first time. Concessions to his partner could also estrange his new voters as well as People's Party mainstays like farmers, industry, commuters and traditionalists panicking about meat prices or fuel taxes."It's going to be hard to swallow for many groups in the People's Party," said Thomas Hofer, a political analyst and consultant in Vienna. "It's also a fine line to tread because of the voters he won from the Freedom Party."Yet Kurz had few other options after the tumultuous months that started when the "Ibiza" bombshell exploded on Austria's political scene in May. German media published excerpts of a video shot on the Spanish island that appeared to show nationalist leader Heinz-Christian Strache offering state contracts in return for campaign funds. That toppled Strache and Kurz's government, and triggered a snap elections on Sept. 29.The Freedom Party descended ever further into scandal. Secret gold stashes in the Alps, eye-watering expense accounts, and photos of cash-filled bags from eastern European donors emerged. The Social Democrats failed to benefit from the affair under their hapless and gaffe-prone new leader Pamela Rendi-Wagner. Kurz and the Greens were the only clear winners."There is no alternative, and he knows it," Hofer said.Litte is known yet about the government program Kurz and Green leader Werner Kogler, 58, have agreed on and they declined to take questions when they announced their agreement on New Year's Day. The programme will be presented Thursday afternoon. Both have flagged to their followers that their very different policies may make for some difficult compromises.Kurz will have to show to his supporters that his tough line on migration and integration remains intact, that there are neither more taxes nor more debt and that legislation will remain business-friendly. Kogler will need some wins on climate policy, including tangible investments in infrastructure and some form of carbon taxes, at least a toning down of the anti-immigration rhetoric of Kurz's former government, and measures on transparency and anti-corruption."It is possible to cut taxes and make the tax system more ecological," Kurz said. "It's possible to protect the climate, and the borders."Kurz will appoint his close ally Gernot Bluemel as the next finance minister. The Greens will get an enlarged transport ministry that will be headed by environmental activist Leonore Gewessler, and name as justice minister Alma Zadic, a 35 year-old lawyer who fled the Bosnian civil war to Austria in the 1990s."I think this can hold," Brzeski said. "Kurz has shown he's very flexible and adaptable."(Updates with statements on deal by Kurz and Kogler.)To contact the reporter on this story: Boris Groendahl in Vienna at bgroendahl@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.net;Chad Thomas at cthomas16@bloomberg.netFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Wisconsin teacher admits to defecating in park for 2 years Posted: 02 Jan 2020 11:28 AM PST ![Wisconsin teacher admits to defecating in park for 2 years]( "Wisconsin teacher admits to defecating in park for 2 years") A retiring Wisconsin English teacher cited for defecating in a public park for two years told authorities he was "being an idiot" and that he did it for convenience and to be disrespectful. Jeffrey S. Churchwell, who is retiring from Milton School District later this month, will have to pay $365 in fines plus $5,705 in restitution to the Public Works Department, which cleaned up after him. The Janesville Gazette reported Tuesday it found out about the case through an open records request of sheriff's office reports.
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| Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher has launched a lifestyle brand after Trump reversed a military court's sentence Posted: 02 Jan 2020 04:37 AM PST  Edward Gallagher, who was charged with murder and acquitted, now has a lifestyle brand with T-shirts, hoodies, and drinking accessories.
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| Fleet commander directs US Navy’s surface force to develop concepts for unmanned ships Posted: 03 Jan 2020 07:31 AM PST  The U.S. Navy is making moves to develop concepts for the integration of unmanned surface vessels into its surface fleet.
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| Stunning images from space reveal the shocking extent of Australia's bushfire crisis Posted: 02 Jan 2020 02:18 PM PST  Australia's fires have lasted for months, burned millions of acres, and belched out a smoke plume that could cover half of Europe.
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| US killing of Soleimani: what we know Posted: 03 Jan 2020 04:38 PM PST  The American raid that killed top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad on Friday opens a period of uncertainty for both the Middle East and the US. A US defense official told AFP that the strike targeting Soleimani, the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps' foreign operations arm, was carried out by a drone. The mission was conducted "at the direction of" President Donald Trump, the Pentagon said.
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| Why It Seems Like Nothing Can Stop the A-10 Warthog Posted: 02 Jan 2020 08:00 PM PST  Is it still viable?
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| Johannesburg Drive-by Killings Highlight Pervasive Crime Problem Posted: 02 Jan 2020 04:57 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Shootings in Johannesburg early Wednesday left two people dead and 16 injured, marring the city's New Year celebrations and highlighting a crime problem that's one of the government's biggest challenges.Two people died and six were injured when the occupants of a car fired on Poppy's restaurant in the relatively affluent northern Johannesburg suburb of Melville."A terrible tragedy happened in my neighborhood in the early hours of this morning," said a blog posted from Melville. "A drive-by shooting. Two young women, dead. A car guard, shot in the head and critical."Two hours later, at 3 a.m. local time, 11 people were injured by gunshots that police believe were fired from a highway overpass into a crowd at a public celebration at Mary Fitzgerald Square in the city center.While the first attack may have been sparked by an earlier fight, according to eye witnesses, the motive for the second is unclear. No arrests have been made.While gun violence in South Africa's biggest city is common, with five people killed in a single attack at a tavern in Soweto township in December, the location of the latest shootings has illustrated just how prevalent the problem is, with coverage dominating local news services.South Africa has the continent's highest murder rate, with an average of more than 50 people killed each day.According to Gun Free South Africa, a non-governmental organization, there are 4.5 million licensed firearms in the country, almost 10,000 are reported lost or stolen every year and 23 people are murdered daily with guns.(Adds gun prevalence in last paragraph)To contact the reporters on this story: Antony Sguazzin in Johannesburg at asguazzin@bloomberg.net;Pauline Bax in Johannesburg at pbax@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: John McCorry at jmccorry@bloomberg.net, Mike Cohen, John ViljoenFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Taiwan defense officials meet after crash kills top officer Posted: 02 Jan 2020 07:33 PM PST  Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen convened a meeting of top defense officials and urged them Friday to be on a lookout for military developments concerning China following a helicopter crash that killed the island's top military officer and other prominent personnel. The meeting followed the grounding for inspection of Taiwan's 52 UH-60M Black Hawk choppers belonging to the air force, the army and the National Airborne Service Corps., the agency responsible for search and rescue operations.
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| Mexico president says "El Chapo" had same power as then president Posted: 02 Jan 2020 12:31 PM PST  Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador closed out 2019 with a parting shot at his predecessors, saying imprisoned drug kingpin Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán had had the same power as the country's president.
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| Former Fox News reporter says she rejected Trump's sexual advance Posted: 03 Jan 2020 03:16 PM PST  Former Fox News reporter and occasional Fox & Friends host Courtney Friel writes in a new memoir that before he was president, Donald Trump told her she was "the hottest one at Fox News" and during one call, "out of nowhere, he said: 'You should come up to my office sometime, so we can kiss,'" according to an excerpt of the book shared with the New York Daily News. Friel writes she was "shocked" by the come-on and said no: "'Donald,' I responded, 'I believe we're both married.' I quickly ended the call."Friel, now an anchor at KTLA-TV in Los Angeles, said Trump's "proposition made it difficult for me to report with a straight face on Trump running for president," the Daily News reports. "It infuriated me that he would call all the women who shared stories of his bold advances liars. I totally believe them. ... At least now I can joke that I could have banged the president — but I passed." You can read more about Friel's upcoming book, Tonight At 10: Kicking Booze and Breaking News, at the Daily News.More stories from theweek.com 4 reasons to beware Trump's decision to kill Soleimani America is guilty of everything we accuse Iran of doing Senate won't hold impeachment trial until Pelosi hands over articles, McConnell says
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| What's behind the recent rash of anti-Semitic attacks? Posted: 03 Jan 2020 01:36 AM PST  There were more than 1,300 anti-Semitic incidents in 2019, according to the Anti-Defamation League, including a stabbing at a rabbi's home Saturday. Rabbi Angela Warnick Buchdahl and professor Ibram Kendi joined "CBS This Morning" to discuss the rash of hate.
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| Carnival Elation spills 'gray water' at Florida port due to valve problem Posted: 03 Jan 2020 07:43 AM PST  The Carnival Elation spilled "gray water" from its plumbing and shower systems while docked at Port Canaveral in Florida on Thursday.
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| Last year the British Army wanted 'snowflakes' — now it wants binge-drinkers and nervous Nellies Posted: 02 Jan 2020 08:30 AM PST  The British Army is pushing forward with its unconventional recruitment approach in hopes of encouraging more millennials into the ranks.
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| Why Obama, Bush, and Bibi All Passed on Killing Soleimani Posted: 03 Jan 2020 01:59 PM PST  Until the Trump administration blew him away in Baghdad in the pre-dawn dark of Friday morning, Qassem Soleimani had made the very fact of his survival part of his considerable mystique. The powerful Iranian general commanded forces that had become the scourge of Iran's adversaries abroad, especially the United States and Israel. Yet he came and went to the war fronts of the Middle East unscathed.In fact, conscious decisions were taken under the George W. Bush administration, even when Soleimani was in the crosshairs, not to pull the trigger. Gen. Stanley McChrystal wrote last year, he had a shot in 2007 but let Soleimani go: "The decision not to act is often the hardest one to make—and it isn't always right."Ali Khedery, a former U.S. adviser in Iraq, told The Daily Beast that not striking Soleimani when they had the chance was an "enormous frustration to me and many of my colleagues.""I remember during the [2007 Iraq troop] surge sitting with Ambassador Ryan Crocker and [Gen.] David Petraeus and saying, 'Wouldn't it be a shame if Soleimani ran into one of his own EFPs," Khedery added, using the acronym for Explosively-Formed Projectiles, the Iranian-made bombs that killed dozens and dozens of American troops in Iraq. "But obviously, this was a decision that had to be taken by the president personally because of its implications."Under the Barack Obama administration, the assassination of the most famous general in the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps appears not to have been considered seriously.There was never any manhunt, according to Derek Chollet, assistant secretary of defense from 2012 to 2015. "To my knowledge there was never a decision of 'We've gotta go find this guy and get him.'" Nobody could begin to be sure what would come next if Soleimani were killed, and no scenario looked good. And in those days the priority was stopping Iran from developing a nuclear weapon without having to go to war. The murder of Soleimani could have scuttled the negotiations.The calculus was a fairly simple one, says Chollet: "Do the potential risks of taking an action like this outweigh the gain of taking him off the battlefield?" The answer was yes.U.S. Braces for Iran's 'Counterpunch' After Slaying of SoleimaniAccording to Patricia Ravalgi, who served as a civilian analyst at U.S. Central Command from 2008 to 2019, concerns at the operational level went beyond declined opportunities to terminate Soleimani. There was often the worry among military planners and Washington policymakers that with Iranian-backed militias and American troops operating in close proximity in Iraq, especially during the campaigns against the so-called Islamic State, Soleimani would be in the wrong place at the wrong time, get killed by accident, "and all hell would break loose.""There was even wishful thinking that Soleimani would stay out of Iraq more, to keep such an accident from occurring," says Ravalgi.But why didn't the Israelis target Soleimani?According to Soleimani, in an interview given just three months ago, they did. Speaking to Iranian television last year, the head of the élite Quds Force of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed that Israeli aircraft targeted him and Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in 2006, while Soleimani commanded forces in Beirut during the Second Lebanon War."Israeli spy planes were constantly flying overhead," he said as he began his war story. Hezbollah, an Iranian backed militia, had its situation room in the heart of Dahiyeh, a Beirut neighborhood, and the Israelis were "watching every movement," Soleimani said. Then late one night, he and Imad Mughniyeh, Hezbollah's most notorious terrorist operative, decided to remove Nasrallah to safety in a separate building. Shortly after their arrival, two Israeli bombardments struck nearby, he said. "We felt that these two bombings were about to be followed by a third one… so we decided to get out of that building. We didn't have a car, and there was complete silence, just the Israeli régime planes overflying Dahiyeh," he recalled. Soleimani said he hid under a tree with Nasrallah from what appeared to be heat-seeking drones while Mughniyeh went in search of a car. Afraid the car was also being tracked, they eventually switched cars in an underground garage, supposedly confounding the Israelis.Mughniyeh's luck did not last long. He was blown up in Damascus in 2008 in an operation later attributed jointly to the CIA and Israel's Mossad. An Israeli military officer with knowledge of Israel's Iran preparedness told The Daily Beast that when the Americans took out Soleimani this week, "It wasn't a surprise, not really."The officer, who spoke without attribution because he was not authorized to speak with the media, said there had been previous Israeli and American efforts to eliminate Soleimani, though it wasn't clear to what extent the plans had advanced.The Obama administration "asked us not to proceed," he said. "It was clear the implications could be much greater than a localized war, the repercussions could affect the whole world."This time around, "We're not involved in the American operation," said the Israeli officer. "But the Iranians always put us together, the big Satan and the little Satan. You see people on the streets screaming death to America and death to Israel. Could we potentially get hit? Of course. We are secondary, seen as a proxy for the United States."Iran's Qasem Soleimani is the Mastermind Preparing Proxy Armies for War With AmericaIn Trump's remarks from his Mar-a-Lago resort on Friday, he claimed, "We took action last night to stop a war. We did not take action to start a war." But as his predecessors understood well, the decision to assassinate Soleimani has opened the door into the unknown and the unknowable."We need de-escalation," one anxious Iraqi official told The Daily Beast, "and this is the mother of all escalations." —with additional reporting by Spencer AckermanRead more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Revealed: Iran Secretly Built A New Corvette Loaded With Missiles Posted: 03 Jan 2020 03:07 AM PST  The two-year effort underscores Iran's effort to build up its ship-construction capabilities -- and could weigh on Tehran's ambitious plan to develop a new class of destroyer.
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| Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day Posted: 01 Jan 2020 10:21 PM PST ![Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day]( "Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day") (Bloomberg) -- Want the lowdown on what's moving European markets in your inbox every morning? Sign up here.Good morning. China is taking action to shore up its economy, the U.K. is hoping to move on and Carlos Ghosn already moved. Here's what's moving markets.Chinese ActionThe first phase of a U.S-China trade deal is due to be signed on Jan. 15 and while more phases will have to follow, the focus will now turn to the health and outlook for the Chinese economy. Authorities there have pledged to remain flexible on monetary policy and they continue to make moves to ease funding conditions for local companies in order to spur investment. Keep in mind Hong Kong too, where pro-democracy protests continued apace over the New Year celebrations, as any further escalation here could continue to hit companies exposed to the market.Ghosn Until the corporate and macroeconomic newsflow starts to heat up again, Carlos Ghosn is likely to remain on the tips of tongues everywhere. Having enlivened New Year's Eve for business reporters the world over, now the fallout of his escape from Japan to Lebanon will begin in earnest. Japan is seeking a meeting with Lebanon to discuss the issue and the questions on exactly how he managed to abscond from Japanese authorities and whether he did so in a musical instrument case will continue.Next PhaseWith a Conservative government holding a strong-enough majority to at least add some degree of near-term certainty on Brexit, U.K. politics will now be in a process of retooling itself for its next phase, most pertinently who will lead an opposition Labour Party that was battered in the polls. Still true in 2020, however, is that Britain doesn't have a monopoly on political turmoil. France's Emmanuel Macron plans to push ahead with his full pension reform program despite the protests crippling the country, while Spain's Pedro Sanchez is making another attempt at forming a government, but is awaiting the sign off from his prospective Catalan partners, and Austria will get a new coalition government between the conservatives and greens.Embassy AttackThe year begins with another geopolitical battle for U.S. President Donald Trump to contend with after the U.S. Embassy in Iraqi capital Baghdad was attacked by an Iran-backed militia. The group broke up its encampment outside the embassy on New Year's Day but it creates an early headache for the president to tackle as the U.S. continues to be the focus of ire for its tactics designed to reduce the influence Iran has over the region. And none of this takes into account North Korea, which has pledged to debut a "new strategic weapon." And all in an election year to boot.Coming Up…The moves by China's central bank to shore up the local economy gave stocks a lift in Asia and European and U.S. futures are also pointing to a positive open. The demand outlook for copper has also brightened, which may give miners the world over a boost given the importance of China to that industry. Other assets that closed out strong performances for 2019 may also be in focus. Crude oil had its best year since 2016 and gold ultimately ended with its biggest advance since 2010, though there are doubts as to whether that can be repeated.What We've Been ReadingThis is what's caught our eye over the past few days. Will 2047 be the end of Hong Kong as we know it? What $10,000 would have returned in 2019. Bitcoin believers think a rally is coming in 2020. Netflix really wants an Oscar. Behavioral scientist, data analyst will be top jobs in the next decade. Private equity is starting the new decade flush with cash. The rise of emerging-market assets and China's ascension.Like Bloomberg's Five Things? Subscribe for unlimited access to trusted, data-based journalism in 120 countries around the world and gain expert analysis from exclusive daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close.Before it's here, it's on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can't find anywhere else. Learn more.To contact the author of this story: Sam Unsted in London at sunsted@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Celeste Perri at cperri@bloomberg.netFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Giant new rallies slam Indian government's citizenship law Posted: 03 Jan 2020 06:00 AM PST  Tens of thousands of people protested across India on Friday against a citizenship law passed by the Hindu nationalist government that critics say discriminates against Muslims. Some 30,000 marched in the southern city of Bangalore, more than 20,000 in Siliguri and thousands in Chennai, while big rallies were also held in New Delhi, Guwahati and other cities. Demonstrators shouted slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.
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