Homeland Security Sees ‘No Specific, Credible Threat’ From Iran, but Warns of Cyberattacks

By BY ZOLAN KANNO-YOUNGS from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2ZNAkLD

A Shocked Iraq Reconsiders Its Relationship With the U.S.

By BY FALIH HASSAN, TIM ARANGO AND ALISSA J. RUBIN from NYT World https://ift.tt/2SOXJLa

Dangerous conditions fuel bushfires across southeast Australia

Australian firefighters were set for a dangerous day on Saturday as fires in New South Wales and Victoria states were expected to burn uncontrollably in temperatures above 40C (104F) and shifting, strong winds that will fan and spread the flames.

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After years of U.S. reluctance, Trump orders killing of Iran general hiding in plain sight

By Jonathan Landay, Steve Holland, Matt Spetalnick and Phil Stewart

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U.S. and allies suspend training of Iraqi forces: Germany

The United States and its allies have suspended training of Iraqi forces due to the increased threat they face after a U.S. air strike in Baghdad on Friday killed a top Iranian general, the German military said in a letter seen by Reuters.

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Bolivia's electoral court sets election rerun for May 3: report

A rerun of Bolivia's election is set for May 3, news website El Deber reported on Friday, citing a member of the electoral court.

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Iraq's PMF says air strike targeted medics, not senior leaders: statement

Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces umbrella grouping of paramilitary groups said on Saturday that an air strike targeting its fighters earlier hit a convoy of medics, not senior leaders as reported in some media.

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U.S. air strike targets Iraqi militia north of Baghdad: state TV

A United States air strike targeted an Iraqi militia late on Friday on Taji road north of Baghdad, state TV said. It did not name the militia or provide further details.

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Fox News Breaking News Alert

Fox News Breaking News Alert

Airstrike north of Baghdad kills 5 members of Iran-backed militia, Iraqi official tells AP

01/03/20 4:23 PM

Pentagon: Anyone who tries to overrun the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad will 'run into a buzz saw' after violent protests

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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More Than Mines: Iran Is Ready To Harass And Destroy The U.S. Navy

Iran has been preparing for this.

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Giuliani associate can give documents sought in Trump impeachment to House panel

A U.S. judge on Friday authorized a Rudy Giuliani associate indicted on campaign finance charges to turn over documents and the contents of his iPhone to a House panel as part of the impeachment process against President Donald Trump. U.S. District Judge Paul Oetken in Manhattan said Lev Parnas, the associate of Trump's personal lawyer Giuliani, may turn over the materials to the House of Representatives' Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Parnas' lawyer, Joseph Bondy, said in a Dec. 30 letter that the materials fell "within the scope" of a congressional subpoena, and that the government did not object to Parnas handing them over.

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El Salvador families demand justice in past crimes by rebels

Relatives of people killed by guerrillas during El Salvador's 1980-1992 civil war demanded Friday that prosecutors investigate some former leftist rebels for crimes against humanity. El Salvador's armed forces committed the majority of the killings and disappearances, and relatives have long demanded trials for former army officers. The demands involved alleged victims of two of the five rebel factions that made up the Farabundo Marti National Liberation front, known as the FMLN.

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States with legal weed and what states could follow in 2020

According to an end of the year CBS News Poll, support for legal pot hit a new high in 2019, with 65% of U.S. adults saying marijuana should be legal.

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Carlos Ghosn's escape plane reportedly also ferried gold for Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro

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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Hundreds arrested in Hong Kong in New Year's Day protests: police

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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US starts sending asylum seekers across Arizona border

The U.S. government on Thursday began sending asylum-seekers back to Nogales, Mexico, to await court hearings that will be scheduled roughly 350 miles (563 kilometers) away in Juarez, Mexico. Authorities are expanding a program known as Remain in Mexico that requires tens of thousands of asylum seekers to wait out their immigration court hearings in Mexico. Until this week, the government was driving some asylum seekers from Nogales, Arizona, to El Paso, Texas, so they could be returned to Juarez.

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Obama Invited Leader of Recent Iraq Embassy Protests to White House

One of the instigators of a multi-day siege of the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad was controversially invited to the Oval Office by Barack Obama in 2011.U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted pictures of those responsible on Tuesday, including one of Hadi al Amiri, who served as Iraq’s transport minister from 2010 through 2014 under then-Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and traveled with the prime minister to meet Obama at the White House in December of 2011.> The attack today was orchestrated by terrorists – Abu Mahdi al Muhandis and Qays al-Khazali – and abetted by Iranian proxies – Hadi al Amari and Faleh al-Fayyad. All are pictured below outside our embassy. pic.twitter.com/2QfGGrfmDd> > -- Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) December 31, 2019Obama went through with the visit despite concerns over al-Amiri from former chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R., Fla.)Ros-Lehtinen told The Washington Times in 2011 that it was “extremely disturbing that the White House would see fit to welcome al-Amiri to a discussion on the future of Iraq.”“If anything, he should be subject to questioning by the FBI and other appropriate U.S. law enforcement and counterterrorism agencies,” she said at the time, referring al-Amiri's suspected links to the deadly 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia. “The victims of Khobar Towers and the families of thousands of U.S. troops who paid the ultimate sacrifice in Iraq deserve no less.”> Yesterday, Hadi al-Amiri, head of the Badr Org & Falih Alfayyadh, chairman of the Pop Mobilization Units (the Iraqi umbrella org that nominally controls the Iranian-backed militias) helped fuel the assault on our embassy. But in 2011, they helped Obama fuel his big Iran fantasy. pic.twitter.com/tLOVicCn6b> > -- Mike (@Doranimated) January 1, 2020 Amiri has a long history of pro-Iranian leanings. After fighting on the Iranian side in the Iran-Iraq war, he served as the former commander of the Badr Corps, which had close ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. While in office, he allegedly allowed Iran to use Iraqi airspace to fly men and munitions to Damascus in support of the Assad regime during the Syrian civil war.“I love Qassem Suleimani! He is my dearest friend," he told The New Yorker in 2013, expressing admiration for the head of the IRGC's Quds Force, which was labelled a terrorist organization by the State Department in April.On Wednesday, Iranian-backed militias ended their assault on the U.S. Embassy after the Defense Department deployed roughly 750 troops to Kuwait as a precautionary measure.

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Delta flight attendants say their chemically treated Lands' End uniforms are giving them migraines, hair loss, and boils — and now they're suing the retailer

In a court case filed on December 31, employees of Delta Air Lines allege their Lands' End uniforms are making them sick.

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Conservative, liberal Methodists to split over gay marriage

The plan, if approved at the church's worldwide conference in Minneapolis in May, would divide the third-largest U.S. Christian denomination into two branches: A traditionalist side opposed to gay marriage and the ordination of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender clergy, and a progressive wing that will allow same-sex marriage and LGBT clergy. The United Methodist Church lists more than 13 million members in the United States and 80 million worldwide. The U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage throughout the nation in 2015, but that decision applies only to civil, not religious, services.

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A Shocked Iraq Reconsiders Its Relationship With the U.S.

By BY FALIH HASSAN, TIM ARANGO AND ALISSA J. RUBIN from NYT World https://ift.tt/37t80Rc

Leader of Right-Wing Border Militia Pleads Guilty to Federal Gun Charge

By BY AIMEE ORTIZ from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/37Dgght