Supreme leader will deliver sermon in Tehran as anger continues over downing of passenger plane
Iran’s supreme leader will deliver a Friday sermon in Tehran for the first time since 2012 as the Islamic republic grapples with the fallout from the killing of its top general in a US airstrike and popular anger at its accidental shooting down of a passenger plane.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has held the country’s top office since 1989 and has the final say on all major decisions.
Continue reading...Trump and military initially said no service members were hurt in retaliatory strike over Suleimani killing
The United States treated 11 of its troops for symptoms of concussion after an Iranian missile attack on an Iraqi base where US forces were stationed, the US military said on Thursday, after initially saying no service members were hurt.
The attack was retaliation for a US drone strike in Baghdad on 3 January that killed Qassem Suleimani, the commander of the elite Quds force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
Continue reading...Two cases of upset stomach and diarrhea confirmed as norovirus, as park says it is undertaking ‘extensive cleaning’ efforts
Roughly 170 people who have visited Yosemite national park in recent weeks have suffered upset stomachs and diarrhea, symptoms that park officials say are consistent with norovirus.
Two of those cases have been confirmed as norovirus, park officials say. The park spokesman Scott Gediman issued a written statement that most of those who fell ill had spent time in Yosemite Valley around the first week of January.
Continue reading...Yang describes 2012 attack to CNN as she and 31 other women sue Dr Robert Hadden and Columbia University
The wife of the Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang says she was sexually assaulted by her obstetrician-gynecologist while she was pregnant with the couple’s first child.
Evelyn Yang said in an interview televised on Thursday by CNN that the assault happened in 2012, and she was initially afraid to tell anyone. She and 31 other women are now suing the doctor and hospital system, saying they conspired and enabled the crimes.
Continue reading...Harry Harris has been criticised for his facial hair, which reminds many South Koreans of the days of Japanese colonial rule
Tensions may be running high on the Korean peninsula, but Harry Harris’s facial hair is vying with denuclearisation as the defining theme of his tenure as US ambassador to South Korea.
Harris, a former navy admiral who was born in Japan to a Japanese mother and an American navy officer, has been accused of insulting his hosts by growing a moustache that reminds many South Koreans of the days of Japanese colonial rule.
Continue reading...Move in effect dashes migrants’ plans to travel together in a ‘caravan’ to the United States
Guatemalan police accompanied by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have swept up hundreds of migrants, returning them to the Honduran border and in effect dashing their plans to travel together in a “caravan” to the United States.
Other, smaller groups traveled on in dribs and drabs in a movement involving several thousand people but very different from previous caravans.
Continue reading...A million seabirds died in less than a year as a result of a giant “blob” of hot ocean, according to new research.
A study released by the University of Washington found the birds, called common murres, probably died of starvation between the summer of 2015 and the spring of 2016.
Continue reading...Seven House impeachment managers delivered impeachment articles against the US president, Donald Trump, to the Senate, officially marking the opening of the trial.
Adam Schiff, the lead impeachment manager, read from impeachment resolution 755, impeaching Trump for high crimes and misdemeanours. The trial is scheduled to begin on January 21
Continue reading...Government Accountability Office finds suspension of of military aid at president’s direction violated law
As the Senate opened an impeachment trial in which Donald Trump will stand charged with abusing the power of his office, the president was hit with new allegations of wrongdoing by an agency within Trump’s own administration.
The Government Accountability Office released a finding on Thursday morning that the suspension last year of military aid for Ukraine at Trump’s direction violated laws governing the disbursement of congressionally appropriated funds.
Continue reading...House prosecutors to arrive at Senate to formally open trial as Lev Parnas tells reporters president was fully aware of efforts to pressure Ukraine
An independent government watchdog, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), said the White House budget office violated the law when it froze US military aid to Ukraine.
“Faithful execution of the law does not permit the president to substitute his own policy priorities for those that Congress has enacted into law,” the report said.
Yesterday, the House voted to send articles of impeachment to the Senate, setting in motion the third impeachment Senate trial in US history.
Here’s how that looks today:
Continue reading...Investigation follows publication of messages between two Giuliani associates about Marie Yovanovitch
The Ukrainian government has opened an investigation into the possible illegal surveillance of Marie Yovanovitch when she was US ambassador to Kyiv, following the publication of messages about her between two associates of Donald Trump’s personal lawyer.
The Ukrainian interior ministry issued a statement on Thursday saying that its position was not to interfere in US domestic affairs but that press reports of messages contain “a possible violation of the law of Ukraine and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which protects the rights of a diplomat on the territory of the foreign country”.
Continue reading...Avaaz says firms are unaware commercials being played alongside misleading videos
Some of the biggest companies in the world are funding climate misinformation by advertising on YouTube, according to a study from activist group Avaaz.
The group found that more than 100 brands had adverts running on YouTube videos on the site that were actively promoting climate misinformation. The brands, including Samsung, L’Oreal and Decathlon, were unaware that their adverts were being played before and during the videos.
Continue reading...Donald Trump faces a trial after the House of Representatives voted to send articles of impeachment against him to the Senate. Here’s how a frantic day on Capitol Hill unfolded
Continue reading...Candidates and longtime friends trade angry remarks before Tom Steyer offers an awkward hello
CNN has released the audio of the testy exchange between Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders that took place following Tuesday’s Democratic debate.
After the debate wrapped, Bernie Sanders outstretched his hand to Elizabeth Warren. Warren did not take it, and the two progressive candidates, who until recently have avoided criticizing each other publicly, exchanged words – which until now were inaudible.
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More anecdotes from the highly-anticipated, A Very Stable Genius, written by the Washington Post journalists Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig, have emerged today.
One section of the book claims the president doesn’t know about Pearl Harbor:
“Hey, John, what’s this all about? What’s this a tour of?” Trump asks his then-Chief of Staff John F. Kelly, as the men prepare to take a private tour of the USS Arizona Memorial, which commemorates the December 1941 Japanese surprise attack in the Pacific that pulled the United States into World War II.
“Trump had heard the phrase ‘Pearl Harbor’ and appeared to understand that he was visiting the scene of a historic battle, but he did not seem to know much else,” write the authors, later quoting a former senior White House adviser who concludes: “He was at times dangerously uninformed.”
Related: Trump 'abused' and 'harassed' Kirstjen Nielsen over border, new book reveals
It’s been (another) historic day on Capitol Hill - and the day is yet young. Stay tuned for an afternoon and evening of continuing drama in US politics.
Main events so far:
Continue reading...Trump bemoaned better energy efficiency standards at Milwaukee rally, saying women must wash dishes ‘10 times’
Donald Trump unveiled unusual, new campaign promises to a crowd of thousands of his fervent supporters at a Milwaukee campaign rally on Tuesday: better household appliances.
While Democratic presidential candidates spared over climate change at their debate in Iowa, Trump offered a contrasting message in the vital swing state of Wisconsin by calling out the US Department of Energy for tightening energy efficiency standards for dishwashers, refrigerators, lightbulbs and more.
Continue reading...Nancy Pelosi, the speaker for the US House of Representatives, has vowed that Donald Trump will be ‘held to account’ as she named the Democrats who will prosecute the impeachment case against him in the Senate. The team includes women – two African Americans and one Latina – as well as the House intelligence chair, Adam Schiff, and the judiciary chair, Jerry Nadler
Continue reading...Actor and family given honour for ‘exceptional services’ after helping wildfire victims
Of all the roles Tom Hanks has ever played, being himself and being Greek may be the easiest yet. Or at least that is how it would seem from the Hollywood star’s jubilant reaction to his becoming an honorary citizen of the country.
“Starting 2020 as an honorary citizen of all of Greece!” the actor, a convert to Greek Orthodoxy, said on social media. “Kronia pola! (more or less, ‘happy year!’). Hanx”
Continue reading...President signs first phase of new agreement with China, hours after Democrats named team that will prosecute him in Senate
Donald Trump has signed the first phase of a new trade agreement with China after two years of tension between the two superpowers that have rattled economies around the world.
Related: Trump vaunts his China trade pact – but some say it’s too little, too late
Continue reading...Hassan Rouhani’s threat to western allies comes amid fears of reimposition of sanctions
Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani has warned that European soldiers in the Middle East could be in danger after the UK, France and Germany triggered a dispute mechanism in the nuclear agreement that could lead to the reimposition of international sanctions on the country.
Rouhani’s remarks on Wednesday were the first direct threat he has made against European powers as tensions have grown between Tehran and Washington since Donald Trump unilaterally abandoned the nuclear deal more than 18 months ago.
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