Qassem Suleimani: chants of ‘death to America’ at Baghdad funeral

Thousands of mourners attend funeral procession for Iranian general killed in US airstrike

Thousands of mourners have marched in a funeral procession through Baghdad for Iran’s top general and Iraqi militant leaders, who were killed in a US airstrike, chanting: “Death to America.”

The bodies of Iranian general Qassem Suleimani and others killed in a US drone strike were taken on a funeral procession starting in Baghdad on Saturday before a public farewell for the slain military leader in Tehran on Sunday, according to officials in Iran.

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Klobuchar gains momentum in Iowa – but will her gruelling tour be enough?

The Minnesota senator is reaching out to Iowa’s smallest towns and rural settlements ahead of the vital February caucus and seeing increasing numbers

Craig Hiller, an Iowa farmer, had just enjoyed a hot chocolate on Amy Klobuchar’s campaign bus as it made a stop in the small town of Rockwell City, population just 2,100.

Hiller, whose state is the vital first one to cast ballots in the party’s nomination race to pick an opponent to Donald Trump, was impressed by the Minnesota senator, a fellow midwesterner who desperately needs a strong showing in Iowa to boost her 2020 presidential campaign.

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‘He was sent to us’: at church rally, evangelicals worship God and Trump

Friday’s rally recognized Trump’s need to retain the loyalty of the evangelical voting bloc that propelled him to victory in 2016

They came to pray with their president, though in truth many came just to worship him. Donald Trump’s Friday launch of his so-called “coalition of evangelicals”, an attempt to shore up the support of the religious right ahead of November’s election, had the feel of any other campaign rally, except this time with gospel music.

An estimated 7,000 “supporters of faith” packed the King Jesus international ministry megachurch in Miami to hear the word of the president, and decided that it was good. The Maga hat-wearing faithful cheered Trump’s comments on issues calculated to resonate with his churchgoing audience, including abortion, freedoms of speech and religion, and what he claimed was a “crusade” from Democrats against religious tolerance.

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Singular ‘they’ voted word of the decade by US linguists

American Dialect Society’s choice recognises word’s rising use to refer to person whose gender identity is non-binary

US linguists have chosen “they” as their word of the decade, recognising the growing use of third-person plural pronouns as a singular form to refer to people who identify their gender as neither entirely male nor entirely female.

The American Dialect Society also bestowed its word of the year honours on the increasingly common practice of introducing oneself in correspondence or socially by the set of pronouns one prefers to be called by – declaring in an email, for example, “pronouns: she/her”.

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Donald Trump says US will take ‘whatever action is necessary’ against Iran – video

Donald Trump said the USA was prepared to take 'whatever action is necessary' if Iran targeted US citizens in response to the killing of its top general, Qassam Suleimani. Speaking at his Mar-a-Lago resort, Trump said Suleimani was responsible for 'acts of terror' that had destabilised the Middle East, but said that he was not seeking regime change in Iran

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Former Fox News reporter says Trump invited her to his office ‘so we can kiss’

Courtney Friel claims in her upcoming book that the proposition was made during a phone call before he became president

A former Fox News reporter has added her name to the list of nearly two dozen women who have accused Donald Trump of making unwanted sexual advances towards them. In a book published next week, the Fox & Friends fill-in host Courtney Friel claims Trump propositioned her before he became US president.

“You should come up to my office sometime, so we can kiss,” Friel says Trump told her, adding that he considered her “the hottest one at Fox News”.

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Iran crisis: Republicans hail death of ‘master terrorist’ as Democrats question Trump strategy – live

World reacts to news of US drone strike ordered by Donald Trump on Iranian general Qassem Suleimani in Baghdad

Defense officials told the AP that nearly 3,000 more troops from the 82nd Airborne Division would be deployed to the Middle East amid fears of reprisals against the US for the killing of Iranian general Qassem Suleimani.

The AP reports:

The United States is sending nearly 3,000 more Army troops to the Mideast as reinforcements in the volatile aftermath of the killing of an Iranian general in a strike ordered by President Donald Trump, defense officials said Friday.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a decision not yet announced by the Pentagon, said the troops are from the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. They are in addition to about 700 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne who deployed to Kuwait earlier this week after the storming of the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad by Iran-backed militiamen and their supporters.

The commander of the Quds force, which was previously run by the late general Qassem Suleimani, advised Iranians to “be patient” following the US drone strike and witness the deaths of Americans across the Middle East.

Breaking News: @AJABreaking News alert: Al Quds Force Commander Ismail Qaani: we say be patient, soon you will witness the bodies of Americans in all of the Middle East https://t.co/88y3cgW5XV

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Trump’s order to kill Iran’s top general is his biggest gamble yet

The president delivered a truck load of red meat to his base – but has he considered what follows the immediate sugar rush?

The only predictable thing about Donald Trump is his unpredictability. Two days into the month of an impeachment trial and an election year, he gave the kaleidoscope a mighty shake with arguably the most consequential decision of his presidency.

Related: Iran crisis: McConnell lauds death of 'master terrorist' as Democrats question Trump strategy – live

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Reprisals against US to come at time and place of Iran’s choosing

The threat to America and its allies is greatest in the Middle East, but Tehran has ample options when it comes to taking revenge

Iran has spent decades preparing for a moment like this, developing methods and networks around the world that give Tehran the widest possible choice when it comes to taking revenge.

Related: Iran crisis: Trump says Suleimani 'should have been taken out years ago' – live updates

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Protests and prayers after the killing of Qassem Suleimani – in pictures

Iran has vowed revenge for a US airstrike at Baghdad international airport that killed Gen Qassem Suleimani, the head of the elite Quds force and architect of Iran’s spreading military influence in the Middle East

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Porn site to pay $12.7m to women who didn’t know videos would be posted

GirlsDoPorn was sued by women who claimed they were coerced into making videos without knowing footage would be online

A US judge has awarded $13m in damages to 22 women who were defrauded by the owners of GirlsDoPorn, a website specialising in “amateur”-style pornography.

Related: Group of US women sue 'amateur' porn producer over 'coercion and lies'

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‘Down with USA’: protests sweep Iran after assassination of Qassem Suleimani – video

Thousands of Iranians have taken to the streets after a US airstrike killed Qassem Suleimani, the country's most powerful military chief. Protesters burned American flags and chanted 'Down with the USA'. Iran has declared three days of national mourning and vowed 'severe revenge' for Suleimani's death 

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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.

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Footage shows aftermath of US airstrike that killed top Iranian general Qassem Suleimani – video

The White House said Donald Trump ordered an airstrike that killed the powerful Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. The attack came amid Iranian tensions with the US after thousands of Iraqis stormed the US embassy compound in Baghdad this week. The killing of Suleimani presents a dramatic escalation of an already bloody struggle between Washington and Tehran for influence across the region

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Black people in California are stopped far more often by police, major study proves

Statistics, which come from largest-ever dataset compiled about US police stops, lend support to minority groups who have long complained about biased policing

Black people in California were stopped by police officers much more frequently than other racial groups in 2018, and police were more likely to use force against them, new statistics from eight large law enforcement agencies in the state reveal.

Twenty eight per cent of all persons stopped by Los Angeles police officers during the last six months of 2018 were black, while black people account for just 9% of the city’s population, the data shows. In San Francisco, the black population has shrunk over several decades to just 5% of the city’s total population, but 26% of all stops carried out by the SFPD from July through December of 2018 were of black people marking the widest racial disparity in police stops of the eight reporting agencies.

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Impeachment: newly unredacted emails a ‘devastating blow’ to Trump allies, says Schumer – live

Senate minority leader made remark on emails about the freeze on Ukraine’s military aid

Warren released a sweeping plan that, among other things, would raise the hourly minimum wage to $15 and ending a program that allows employers to pay disabled workers much less.

“Building economic security for people with disabilities means rewriting the rules of the economy to foster inclusivity, value their labor, and end labor market discrimination and exploitation,” the 2020 presidential candidate said in a statement.

Hillary Clinton has taken on a new role as a chancellor of Queen’s University Belfast.

For the former US secretary of state, senator and first lady, the role will be mostly ceremonial.

As Chancellor @HillaryClinton will have three main roles:

1.Presiding at degree congregations.
2.Ambassador.
3.Advisor, available to the @QUBVChancellor and senior management as a sounding board and to provide counsel and guidance.

More: https://t.co/6NlonwYmXK #LoveQUB pic.twitter.com/iJKuJl4bic

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US sends asylum seekers to Mexico to await hearings held 350 miles away

Authorities are expanding the Remain in Mexico program, which critics say puts migrants into dangerous border towns

The US government has started sending asylum seekers back to Nogales, Mexico, to await court hearings that will be scheduled roughly 350 miles (563 kilometers) away in Ciudad Juárez.

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 Juárez.

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More than 200 members of Congress urge US supreme court to reconsider Roe v Wade

Appeal in an amicus brief in a Louisiana case was signed by 205 Republicans and two Democrats

More than two hundred members of Congress have urged the US supreme court to reconsider the landmark 1973 Roe v Wade ruling which legalized abortion nationwide.

The appeal came in an amicus brief in a Louisiana case, and was signed by 205 Republicans and two Democrats, and calls on the high court to revisit the ruling, which affirmed that access to safe abortion is a constitutional right.

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Amazon threatened to fire employees for speaking out on climate, workers say

Revealed: emails show group of employees who called for stronger climate action by the company were told they risked dismissal

Amazon has threatened to fire employees for speaking publicly about the company’s role in the climate crisis, tech workers at the retail giant have revealed.

Related: Trump campaign credits impeachment for helping to fundraise $46m – live

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Cyber attacks and electronic voting errors threaten 2020 outcome, experts warn

Key Democrats and election analysts say more needs to be done to ensure safe elections free from ‘foreign malicious actors’

Potential electronic voting equipment failures and cyber attacks from Russia and other countries pose persistent threats to the 2020 elections, election security analysts and key Democrats warn.

Related: Embassy protesters in Iraq deal symbolic blow to US prestige

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