2020 Democrats condemn Soleimani before attacking Trump for ordering the airstrike - Fox News

Several Democrats vying for the White House in 2020 condemned Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani before taking aim at President Trump for ordering the deadly airstrike that will escalate tensions in the region and was done so without Congress’ approval.

IRAN VOWS 'HARSH RETALIATION' AFTER US AIRSTRIKE KILLS IRANIAN GEN. QASSEM SOLEIMANI

Former Vice President Joe Biden claimed that by ordering the airstrike Trump “just tossed a stick of dynamite into a tinderbox.”

In a lengthy statement, Biden said Trump “owes the American people an explanation of the strategy and plan to keep our troops and embassy personnel, our people and our interests, both here at home and abroad, and our partners throughout the region and beyond.

“No American will mourn Qassem Soleimani’s passing. He deserved to be brought to justice for his crimes against American troops and thousands of innocents throughout the region. He supported terror and sowed chaos,” the statement read.

“None of that negates the fact that this is a hugely escalatory move in an already dangerous region. The Administration’s statement says that its goal is to deter future attack by Iran, but this action almost certainly will have the opposite effect.”

Biden also questioned whether the Trump administration considered the “second- and third-order consequences” of Soleimani’s death that now puts the U.S. “on the brink of a major conflict across the Middle East.”

“I fear this administration has not demonstrated at any turn the discipline or long-term vision necessary --- and the stakes could not be higher,” he said.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, both echoed Biden’s sentiments – and mentioned the financial consequences of a renewed conflict in the Middle East.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the price of oil surged late Thursday after the Pentagon announced Trump had ordered the airstrike that killed the leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ foreign wing.

“When I voted against the war in Iraq in 2002, I feared it would lead to greater destabilization of the region. That fear unfortunately turned out to be true,” Sanders said. “The U.S. has lost approximately 4,500 brave troops, tens of thousands have been wounded, and we’ve spent trillions.”

“Trump's dangerous escalation brings us closer to another disastrous war in the Middle East that could cost countless lives and trillions more dollars,” he continues in a second tweet. “Trump promised to end endless wars, but this action puts us on the path to another one.

Two combat veterans running for president --- Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, and South Bend, Ind., Mayor Peter Buttigieg – did not immediately issue statements in response to Soleimani’s death as of early Friday morning. Gabbard voluntarily deployed to serve with a field medical unit in Iraq. Buttigieg deployed to Afghanistan for seven months in 2014.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., also weighed in on Twitter, calling on the Trump administration to consult with Congress in regards to its strategy moving forward.

“Qassem Soleimani was responsible for directing Iran’s destabilizing action in Iraq, Syria, and throughout the Middle East, including attacks against U.S. forces. But the timing, manner, and potential consequences of the Administration’s actions raise serious questions and concerns about an escalating conflict,” her statement said.

“Our immediate focus needs to be on ensuring all necessary security measures are taken to protect U.S. military and diplomatic personnel in Iraq and throughout the region. The Administration needs to fully consult with Congress on its decision-making, response plans, and strategy for preventing a wider conflict.”

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Speaking to MSNBC, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., said, “We have a president who had a failure in his Iranian policy, who has no larger strategic plan and who has made that region less stable and less safe.”

Long-shot Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson took aim at federal laws dating back to 1961 which she says fail to cap spending by the U.S. Department of Defense, and thus allow Trump’s “recklessness” in the Middle East. In a series of tweets, the author, activist and faith leader slammed Congress for passing the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

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2020-01-03 08:07:32Z
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Australia Fire Updates: Bracing for an Even Worse Weekend - The New York Times

SYDNEY, Australia — Already besieged by one of the worst wildfire seasons in Australian history, evacuees and those staying put on Friday braced for conditions to grow even more dire.

Across Australia’s southeast, supermarket shelves emptied, gas stations closed and roads became clogged with traffic as skies turned a hellish red or a smoke-choked white. Firefighters were overwhelmed by more than 100 raging blazes and families were forced to make perilous stay-or-go decisions.

The toll so far includes 18 deaths, more than 1,000 homes destroyed and thousands of animals killed. On Friday, experts and government officials offered a grim warning: The upcoming weekend is likely to be the most dangerous yet.

Predictions for Saturday

Early Friday, the New South Wales Rural Fire Service dramatically expanded its estimate of the amount of land at risk from spreading fires, including “ember attacks,” in which burning wood fragments are carried by wind. The weekend is expected to bring high winds and temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, or about 38 Celsius.

New South Wales, the state that includes Sydney, declared a state of emergency in its southeastern region on Thursday. Residents and tourists across a broad swath of the southeast were advised to flee.

Rescue by sea

The Royal Australian Navy began rescuing people trapped in Mallacoota, a seaside town in Victoria, after fires cut off its land-based escape routes. The Department of Defense said on Friday afternoon that 57 people had departed on one of its ships, and about 900 would leave throughout the day.

About 4,000 people, including about 3,000 tourists, were trapped in the town, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Some people would be unable to board the ships because it required using ropes to get on board, ABC reported. Those who made it onto a ship will take a 17-hour voyage to get to Melbourne.

‘It feels like it’s not real’

People staying behind on the south coast were preparing for the worst, after days of dwindling resources.

Clarinda Campbell, 37, said she and her two children had been without power and had barely slept since Tuesday, when fires swept through the area. They fled to a property owned by her parents in Surf Beach, where phone reception was out in all but a few spots. Water and food sources were running low, with no way to store them, and there was no garbage disposal service. Radio was the main source of information, and shops were accepting only cash.

But the community rallied together, she said. On Friday, a neighbor brought fresh bread, which is now a luxury.

“It has been very touching,” Ms. Campbell said. “In the crisis you see the best and the worst.”

On Friday, the family fueled up their cars in case a getaway was necessary.

Without the use of phones, they had to make contingency plans. Ms. Campbell said she was nervously waiting for Saturday, when her husband, who had stayed behind in the town of Broulee to defend their home, was supposed to run to a nearby hilltop with a sliver of cellular reception, to let her know if he was safe.

But with the possibility of fires blocking escape routes, she was trying to reach her husband on Friday to persuade him to leave.

“It feels like it’s not real,” she said. “I’ve gone to sleep every night and woken up every morning hoping that it was just a bad dream.”

Bernard Kreet, a caterer in Catalina, said he was hosting two families who had been evacuated from other towns, thinking that Catalina would probably avoid the worst. While his partner had left for the next town north, Mr. Kreet opted to stay behind.

“It’s so hard to get out of town, it’s chaos down here,” he said.

Catalina has run out of rice and fuel is low, he said. Power was out from Tuesday to Thursday.

When fire swept close to the area on Tuesday, he huddled with about 300 others at a Catalina golf club, waiting to hear if it would come their way.

“The feeling in that room, of 300 people just frightened — it was heavy,” he said. “There will be so many people with PTSD after this. So many people are just so anxious.”

Isabella Kwai reported from Sydney, and Daniel Victor from Hong Kong.

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2020-01-03 06:30:00Z
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Iran's military leaders: We're not afraid of war with the US - New York Post

Top military leaders in Iran blustered Thursday that the Islamic Republic is not cowed by threats from President Trump over the siege of the US Embassy in Baghdad and would “break” American forces if war erupts.

“We are not leading the country to war, but we are not afraid of any war and we tell America to speak correctly with the Iranian nation. We have the power to break them several times over and are not worried,” said Revolutionary Guards Commander Brig. Gen. Hossein Salami, Reuters reported, citing an Iranian news agency.

Iran’s Army chief, Maj. Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi, said his forces are ready to confront the “enemy.”

“Our armed forces … monitor all moves, and if anyone makes the slightest mistake, they will decisively react, and if the situation heats up, we will show our abilities to the enemy,” state media quoted Mousavi.

The displays of bravado are in response to Trump’s remarks on Tuesday blaming Iran for orchestrating the assault on the US diplomatic compound in Baghdad and promising to hold the regime accountable.

“Iran will be held fully responsible for lives lost, or damage incurred, at any of our facilities. They will pay a very BIG PRICE! This is not a Warning, it is a Threat,” the president wrote on Twitter as Iranian-backed militias tried to storm the embassy.

Speaking later Tuesday before a New Year’s Eve celebration at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, Trump said he preferred peace instead of war when asked if Washington and Tehran were barreling toward a conflict.

“I don’t think that would be a good idea for Iran. It wouldn’t last very long. Do I want to? No. I want to have peace. I like peace. And Iran should want peace more than anybody. So I don’t see that happening,” he said.

The attack on the embassy was in response to the US military carrying out airstrikes against five bases of the Iranian-support militia Kataib Hezbollah in Syria and Iraq over the weekend that killed 25 fighters.

The US blamed the group of killing an American contractor and wounding four service members in a rocket attack on a military base in Iraq last Friday.

The siege ended Wednesday after the Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella group of mainly Shiite-aligned militias, called on the protesters to disperse, saying the Iraqi government had “heard their message.”

The Defense Department immediately deployed a detachment of US Marines and two helicopter gunships to bolster forces at the embassy and put thousands more troops on ready to respond to the violence in Baghdad.

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2020-01-02 14:05:00Z
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State of emergency declared in Australia as fires rage on - CBS This Morning

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2020-01-02 12:35:41Z
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New images of destruction inside US embassy in Baghdad - CNN

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2020-01-02 12:28:47Z
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Australia fires: Thousands flee coastal towns as country burns - The Washington Post

Robert Oerlemans AP Boats are pulled ashore as smoke and wildfires rage behind Lake Conjola, Australia, on Thursday.

SANCTUARY POINT, Australia — An Australian navy troop carrier was preparing to evacuate up to 4,000 people trapped in a remote region of Victoria state by advancing wildfires that have consumed an area almost the size of West Virginia.

The situation in Mallacoota — a beach town popular with families over the holiday season — is so dire that officials spent Thursday afternoon assessing who would be capable of climbing ladders from small boats to a navy ship anchored offshore, designed to carry 300 soldiers and 23 tanks.

Those unable to climb the ladders and wishing to leave will be flown out by helicopter, although heavy smoke that has reached as far as New Zealand is making flying hazardous.

While Sydney held its fireworks display on New Year’s Eve on Dec. 31, thousands of beachgoers were stuck on the coast of the country due to raging wildfires.

Some 17 people, including eight this week, have been killed since the fires started in October, with at least another 17 missing and more than 1,000 homes and buildings destroyed.

More than 200 fires are burning in the continent’s southeast, and firefighters fear the worst may be yet to come. Temperatures exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit and high winds are forecast for Saturday, which could whip up existing blazes and trigger new fires up to seven miles from the main front.

Peter Parks

AFP/Getty Images

A burned-out car destroyed by wildfires is seen outside Batemans Bay in New South Wales on Thursday.

In Mallacoota, families cried and hugged on Thursday as they discussed whether to take up the evacuation offer or wait with their cars and belongings for the fires to burn out, which could take weeks. The pall of smoke contributed to the sense of desperation.

“You can feel it in your eyes. You can feel it in your lungs and that’s made people even more desperate to get out,” Elias Clure, a journalist in the town, said on the Australian Broadcasting Corp. network.

“It is hell on Earth,” the owner of the Croajingolong Cafe, Michelle Roberts, told Reuters.

Farther north, in New South Wales state, the main coastal highway was cut off when a fire that had been under control flared up between the regional centers of Nowra and Ulladulla.

On a cloudless day, smoke reduced visibility on the road to six feet in some places, making driving for the firefighters highly dangerous. Three have died in road accidents in the past few weeks.

The fire department of New South Wales posted dramatic video Dec. 31 showing one of their trucks enveloped by a raging fire, amid huge blazes which have destroyed more than four million hectares (10 million acres) in Australia.

The New South Wales Rural Fire Service asked tourists vacationing in a 150-mile coastal strip along the state’s south coast to leave Thursday morning. Lines of cars up to a mile long could be seen at gas stations as drivers waited to refuel and get out.

https://twitter.com/NSWRFS/status/1212336600853733376">

Prime Minister Scott Morrison asked people to be patient as they navigated congested roads. Criticized last week for vacationing in Hawaii while the country burned, Morrison was heckled Thursday when he visited Cobargo, a town in southern New South Wales where most of the main street was wiped out on Monday.

Earlier, he emphasized the primary responsibility for fighting fires belongs to state governments, while taking credit for making military resources available.

“It’s important as we work through those evacuations that people continue to remain patient and remain calm and to follow instructions,” Morrison said at a news conference Thursday. “What we cannot have, in these situations, is governments stepping over the top of each other in a national disaster like this.”

The premier of New South Wales, Gladys Berejiklian, visited towns on Wednesday that were virtually wiped out, and she passed on messages to family members from residents who could not reach the outside world because phone networks had failed. “They wanted their relatives to know that they were okay,” Berejiklian’s spokesman said.

Peter Parks

AFP/Getty Images

Cars line up to leave Batemans Bay in New South Wales on Thursday. The New South Wales Rural Fire Service asked tourists vacationing in a 150-mile coastal strip along the state’s south coast to leave Thursday morning

One problem facing those who have lost homes, or fled with few possessions, is Australia’s almost-ubiquitous use of contactless payments. With even landlines down, banks shut and ATMs empty, the cashless economy in some areas seized up, according to fire brigade officials.

In the town of Sanctuary Point, about three hours south of Sydney and a few miles from a major blaze, about 400 anxious residents attended a briefing on Thursday by the regional fire commander at the local country club, which is also a designated evacuation center.

With conditions deteriorating, Superintendent Mark Williams said residents should leave soon if they aren’t physically capable of defending their homes from the encroaching smoke and flames.

[Thousands forced to take refuge on Australian beach as deadly wildfires close in]

“What we have got is a massive event in front of us,” he said, while watched by representatives of the Australian Red Cross and state police. “If you’re not prepared at the moment, you are running out of time.”

For residents planning to stay and who need medical assistance, a local doctor said she would open her clinic to the community all weekend and provide free advice over the phone.

“That’s what makes Australia great,” Williams responded, triggering applause from the room.

Heather McNab/AAP

Reuters

Smoke hangs over burned-out bushland along the Princes Highway near Ulladulla, New South Wales, on Thursday.

As a dry continent, Australia has a history of wildfires. But the current crisis and the earlier-than-usual start to the summer fire season have triggered angst over what many perceive to be a lukewarm response by the Australian government to the threat of climate change. In particular, the government has faced criticism for appearing reluctant to move away from coal, one of the country’s top export earners.

December was among the top two hottest months on record in Australia, while 2019 was the hottest and driest year to date. Climate scientists have tied the severity of the wildfire season overall, along with the extraordinary heat waves this fall and winter, to climate change.

Morrison, however, say no individual fire can be attributed to climate change.

[On land, Australia’s rising heat is ‘apocalyptic.’ In the ocean, it’s worse.]

But as Australia’s population grows, the loss of life and property from fires will increase, said Andrew Sullivan, who leads a fire research team at a government scientific research agency, the CSIRO.

“It’s a natural part of the Australian environment,” he said in a telephone interview. “When conditions are bad, there is not a lot anyone can do about it.”

While Australia burns, neighboring Indonesia is facing extreme weather of a different sort.

Severe flooding and landslides caused by torrential rain have killed 26 people, submerged dozens of neighborhoods and displaced tens of thousands in the capital, Jakarta.

Peter Parks

AFP/Getty Images

A helicopter drops water on a fire near Batemans Bay in New South Wales on Thursday. Thousands of tourists were evacuating the region ahead of a predicted worsening of conditions on Saturday.

Read more

Thousands forced to take refuge on Australian beach as deadly wildfires close in

Australia has its hottest day for a second straight day as areas face ‘catastrophic’ fire conditions

Some flee, others restock before Australia’s wildfires grow

Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news

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2020-01-02 10:56:58Z
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5 things to know for January 2: Iraq, new laws, ICE, Australia, homeless killings - CNN

Here's what you need to know to Get Up to Speed and Out the Door.

(You can also get "5 Things You Need to Know Today" delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here.)

1. Iraq protests

As expected, the US airstrikes against Iranian-backed militia targets in Iraq have caused serious strife in the country and stoked fears of a new proxy war in the Middle East. Over the last two days, hundreds of protesters stormed the US embassy in Baghdad, setting fires and trying to climb the compound's walls. Iraqi security forces regained control of the areas yesterday, but by the time it was over, protesters seemed confident the world had gotten the message. Defense Secretary Mark Esper says the US will now send about 750 extra soldiers to the Middle East to protect the embassy. The whole situation has frayed relations between the US and Iraq and the US and Iran. President Trump blamed Iran for the upheaval in Baghdad and promised retaliation for any damage, but Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei responded by saying US actions in Iraq and Afghanistan "have made nations hate you."

2. New laws 

New year, new laws. The first day of 2020 marked a bevy of new legislation, including the statewide legalization of recreational weed in Illinois. And wouldn't you know it, the state's lieutenant governor was one of the first in line. The day before the law went into effect, Illinois Gov. J. B. Pritzker granted more than 11,000 pardons for low-level marijuana convictions. Elsewhere in the country, 21 states and 26 cities and counties raised their minimum wage, and several more jurisdictions will follow later in the year. Colorado's "red flag" gun law is now in effect, which allows family and other authorized parties to petition to temporarily remove firearms from someone deemed a danger to themselves or others. Tennessee is moving in the opposite direction, with regulations making it easier for residents to get a concealed carry handgun permit. Texting and driving is now officially illegal in Florida, and plastic bag bans have started in Oregon and Albuquerque, New Mexico.

US Customs and Border Protection has released a long-awaited plan to improve medical screening for migrants in federal custody, but doctors say it lacks details and criticized the fact that it only applies to children. The plan has three phases, most of which rely on undefined interviews and assessments to identify health problems in the first stages of apprehension and custody. Over the last year, several people died while in ICE custody, including four children. And yesterday, ICE announced that a 40-year-old native of Angola died in its custody in New Mexico. Details of the person's condition and actions taken by the agency before his or her death haven't been released. 

4. Australia fires

The wildfires in Australia aren't letting up. In fact, they're just getting more deadly. Seven people died in New South Wales in the span of 24 hours, officials announced yesterday. Fires have blown though every state in the country, but New South Wales has been hit the hardest, with at least 17 deaths in all since the blazes began. A "Tourist Leave Zone" has been established through swaths of the state in anticipation of extreme weekend temperatures that could make conditions even worse. The Rural Fire Service is urging all visitors to flee before Saturday, when temperatures could top 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).

5. Homeless killings

Police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, are urging homeless residents to avoid sleeping outside while they search for whoever's responsible for the murder of three homeless people in the city. Two homeless people were shot and killed on December 13, and a third was killed Friday just two blocks away from the other murders. Police say they have enough evidence to suggest the events are related but won't say why yet. Local homeless shelters are responding by adding more beds and reiterating the severity of the situation.

BREAKFAST BROWSE

Mysterious drones are flying in Colorado and Nebraska, and they're freaking residents out

If someone's getting overzealous with their new Christmas presents, it's really not funny anymore.

The Pope slapped a woman's hand away on New Year's Eve and then apologized for it

He said love is patient -- but that even Popes forget sometimes.

Mariah Carey is the first artist to score a No. 1 Billboard hit in 4 different decades

The POWER.

Post Malone got a new face tattoo to ring in the new year

Well, who among us didn't?

A transgender character is coming to the Marvel Universe

Representation is a force for good.

TODAY'S QUOTE

"In our age, when social media can instantly spread rumor and false information on a grand scale, the public's need to understand our government, and the protections it provides, is ever more vital."

Chief Justice John Roberts, in his annual New Year's Eve report on the state of the judiciary

TODAY'S NUMBER

The amount a Texas judge has ordered conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his Infowars site to pay in legal fees in a defamation suit brought against him by the father of a Sandy Hook victim

TODAY'S WEATHER

AND FINALLY

The angel in the, er, marbles

Yes, watching this marble getting made is a stunning affair, but I was just stressed out that the guy wasn't wearing protective gloves. (Click here to view.) 

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2020-01-02 11:01:00Z
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