Qassem Suleimani's death threatens to open grisly new chapter in Middle East
Killing of powerful Iranian general will have far-reaching consequences for Trump
In his long military career, Qassem Suleimani left the Middle East littered with corpses. Now he has finally joined them. His death has closed one gruesome chapter in the region’s endless conflicts, only to open another, which could well prove even worse.
No one can predict how this will turn out, perhaps least of all the two leading protagonists. Nothing about Donald Trump’s actions in the Middle East until now suggests that Suleimani’s assassination by drone outside Baghdad airport was part of a considered plan.
For its part, the leadership in Tehran has clearly been shocked by Trump’s dramatic leap up the escalation ladder.
Australia fires: Navy rescues people from fire-hit Mallacoota
The Australian navy has evacuated around 1,000 tourists and residents who were trapped in the fire-ravaged town of Mallacoota on the Victoria coast.
Throughout Friday, landing vessels took people to two ships - MV Sycamore and the much larger HMAS Choules.
A local MP, Darren Chester, called it an "unprecedented mass relocation of civilians".
Some 4,000 residents and tourists fled to the beach on Monday night, when racing bushfires encircled the town.
The risks and benefits of Turkey's Libya deployment
Turkey's parliament has approved a military deployment to support the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) in Libya which has been under siege by military strongman General Khalifa Haftar since April.
No details on the timing or scale of the deployment have been set, but the move carries a number of benefits -- most notably securing an ally for its claims to the gas-rich eastern Mediterranean.
It also carries major risks for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government.
- Can it succeed? -
Analysts say Turkey initially expected to send around 200 troops, primarily as advisors, but that this may not be enough.
More than 100 Uyghur graveyards demolished by Chinese authorities, satellite images show
Updated 0331 GMT (1131 HKT) January 3, 2020
Uyghur poet Aziz Isa Elkun fled China's far western Xinjiang region more than 20 years ago.
He's not welcome in the country. He can't even phone his mother. She said it was better if he didn't, because every time he did, police would show up at her door.
So, when Elkun's father died in 2017, there was no way he could go back to China for the burial. To be closer to his family, he would view his father's grave on Google Earth.
"I know exactly where his tomb is," Elkun told CNN in his north London home. "When I was a kid we would go there, pray at the mosque, visit our relatives. The entire community was connected to that graveyard."
Republicans call for overturning Roe v. Wade in Supreme Court filing
As the election year starts, over 200 lawmakers are taking an ideological stand against abortion.
Two days into the 2020 election year, Republicans are staking their ground: They’re coming for Roe v. Wade.
In an amicus curie brief released Thursday, 205 Republican lawmakers, including 39 senators, asked the Supreme Court to consider whether Roe, the 1973 landmark Supreme Court case protecting the right to an abortion, “should be reconsidered and, if appropriate, overruled.”
They’re weighing in on June Medical Services v. Gee, a key abortion-related case set to be heard in early March determining whether the state of Louisiana can require abortion providers to have admitting privileges at a local hospital. Advocates predict that, if the Louisiana law is upheld, two of the remaining three abortion clinics in the state will close down.
Ex-Fox News Reporter Courtney Friel Says Donald Trump Asked Her Over 'To Kiss'
Former Fox News reporter Courtney Friel says that Donald Trump propositioned her before he was elected president while both were married, and that the come-on compromised her reporting on his presidential campaign.
Friel wrote in her new memoir “Tonight At 10: Kicking Booze and Breaking News” that Trump called her “the hottest one at Fox News,” according to the New York Daily News, which reported it viewed an excerpt.
Trump, in a phone call, complimented Friel’s work and asked about career goals before getting more personal, she wrote. “Out of nowhere, he said: ‘You should come up to my office sometime, so we can kiss.’”
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