Qasem Soleimani: Mourners gather in Baghdad for funeral procession
A huge crowd in Iraq's capital Baghdad is taking part in a funeral procession for the Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in a US airstrike on Thursday.
Soleimani was the architect of Iran's Middle East operations and Iran vowed to take "severe revenge" for his death.
The gathering in Baghdad on Saturday marked the beginning of days of mourning for Soleimani.
His body is to be returned to Iran for a funeral and burial in his home town.
The crowds in Baghdad were also there to mourn the death of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, an Iraqi who commanded the Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah group and effectively led the Popular Mobilisation units - an umbrella of militias in Iraq dominated by groups aligned with Iran.v
Australia fires: death toll rises and six people missing as PM calls in military
More than 200 fires burning and temperature records smashed as government criticised over inaction
Two more bushfire deaths on Kangaroo Island, in remote South Australia, have brought to 23 the number of people killed in fires across Australia this fire season, with six people still missing in fire-affected regions across New South Wales and Victoria.
On Saturday, the Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, announced his government would send Australia’s largest warship, HMAS Adelaide, to help evacuation efforts from towns on the Victorian coast cut-off by fires, compulsorily call up 3,000 army reservists to assist in fire recovery, and put $20m towards leasing four more water-bombing aircraft.
Morrison has faced acute criticism over his government’s inaction over the bushfires, some of which have been burning since September, and over his government’s climate change policies, criticised as unambitious and ineffective in reducing emissions.
Turkey’s operation in Libya: Targeting gas reserves
The Turkish parliament has decided to deploy troops to fight in Libya's civil war. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is not only helping an ally in need — he is also helping himself.
How is Turkey justifying its military deployment in Libya?
Turkey has been in an economic crisis since the summer of 2018, so why would the government want to take on another expensive military deployment abroad? The country already has troops in northern Syria, and speculation is rife at home as to the motivation for this latest move.
According to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's own words, the primary reason for Turkey's involvement is the need to defend Libya's legitimately elected government from the "warlord" Khalifa Haftar. Ankara says it is acting on the invitation for military co-operation put forth in November by Fayez al-Sarraj, who leads the Government of National Accord (GNA). Yet, it is clear that there is much more on the table for Erdogan.
China replaces top envoy to crisis-hit Hong Kong
China has replaced its top envoy to Hong Kong, state media reported on Saturday, the most significant personnel change by Beijing since pro-democracy protests erupted in the city nearly seven months ago.
The removal of the head of the Liaison Office, which represents the central government in semi-autonomous Hong Kong, comes as the city grapples with its biggest political crisis in decades.
"Wang Zhimin has been dismissed from his position as head of the Liaison Office" and replaced by Luo Huining, state broadcaster CCTV said, without giving details about the shuffle.
WITH SULEIMANI ASSASSINATION, TRUMP IS DOING THE BIDDING OF WASHINGTON’S MOST VILE CABAL
WHILE THE MEDIA focus for three years of the Trump presidency has centered around “Russia collusion” and impeachment, the most dangerous collusion of all was happening right out in the open — the Trump/Saudi/Israel/UAE drive to war with Iran.
On August 3, 2016 — just three months before Donald Trump would win the Electoral College vote and ascend to power — Blackwater founder Erik Prince arranged a meeting at Trump Tower. For decades, Prince had been agitating for a war with Iran and, as early as 2010, had developed a fantastical proposal for using mercenaries to wage it.
The Iraq War Cheerleaders Are Back on TV Cheering Another U.S. Intervention in the Middle East
Imagine surveying the last two decades in the Middle East and confidently declaring that yet another unilateral American intervention will end well. This requires the kind of delusional confidence you can only call on when you staked out the same position on another U.S. intervention and faced absolutely no consequences when you were catastrophically wrong. Luckily, there are no such consequences within the city limits of Washington, District of Columbia. So it was little surprise to see a cadre of Iraq War cheerleaders invited onto cable news programs to declare that Thursday's assassination of Qasem Soleimani, Iran's second most powerful figure, will prove to be a big win all around.
Where could we begin except with Ari Fleischer, who served as the Bush administration press secretary in the days before the invasion of Iraq. That role involved ginning up support for a disastrous war that led to hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths, destabilized the entire region, led to the rise of ISIS, and empowered the same Iranian regime that we just attacked. Recently, Fleischer was caught trying to rewrite the record about whether the Bush administration lied in the run-up to the war. They lied, and Fleischer lied about whether they lied. If that doesn't say "shameless" to you, then this will.
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