🇦🇺 **Australia fires: The thousands of volunteers fighting the flames**
*BBC* - <https://archive.md/mbKMg>

"We're doing it because it's a passion. It's a brotherhood," says Daniel Knox.

"When that photo was taken of me, I had done a 15-hour shift out there."

He is one of thousands of Australians who've dropped their ordinary lives to battle the nation's raging fire crisis.

For weeks, the 22-year-old landscaper has lived around his phone, springing into action when called upon.

He is part of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service (NSW RFS) which calls itself "the world's largest volunteer firefighting organisation".
Its 70,000 members are extensively trained and, except for a few senior staff, mostly unpaid.

Mr Knox joined his local brigade in Sydney's south-west five years ago, when he was 17. He bonded with a senior member - Andrew O'Dwyer - over football and photography.

"He took me under his wing, looked after me and helped me out so much. The respect he gave me, a young bloke, even when I made mistakes... he was my brother," he told the BBC.

Last Thursday, Mr O'Dwyer and Geoffrey Keaton, the deputy captain at the Horsley Park Fire Brigade, were sent out late at night to a massive firefront.

Since September, close to 3,000 firefighters have been out every day in NSW battling blazes the size of small European countries.

Close to 90% of those people on the ground are unpaid volunteers, says the NSW RFS, the government-funded organisation leading the fight.
----------------

🇷🇺 **Russia 'successfully tests' its unplugged internet**
*BBC* - <https://archive.md/wip/EuGDF>

Russia has successfully tested a country-wide alternative to the global internet, its government has announced.

Details of what the test involved were vague but, according to the Ministry of Communications, ordinary users did not notice any changes.

The results will now be presented to President Putin.

Experts remain concerned about the trend for some countries to dismantle the internet.

"Sadly, the Russian direction of travel is just another step in the increasing breaking-up of the internet," said Prof Alan Woodward, a computer scientist at the University of Surrey.

"Increasingly, authoritarian countries which want to control what citizens see are looking at what Iran and China have already done.

"It means people will not have access to dialogue about what is going on in their own country, they will be kept within their own bubble."

How would a domestic internet work?
The initiative involves restricting the points at which Russia's version of the net connects to its global counterpart, giving the government more control over what its citizens can access.

"That would effectively get ISPs [internet service providers] and telcos to configure the internet within their borders as a gigantic intranet, just like a large corporation does," explained Prof Woodward.

So how would the government establish what some have dubbed a "sovereign Runet"?

Countries receive foreign web services via undersea cables or "nodes" - connection points at which data is transmitted to and from other countries' communication networks. These would need to be blocked or at least regulated.

This would require the co-operation of domestic ISPs and would be much easier to achieve if there were just a handful of state-owned firms involved. The more networks and connections a country has, the more difficult it is to control access.
----------------

🇺🇸🇷🇺🇹🇷🇸🇾 **President Trump warns of ‘carnage’ in rebel stronghold in Syria**
*Fox 6* - <https://archive.ph/E4nZg>

President Donald Trump is speaking out against the “carnage” involving thousands of civilians in a rebel stronghold in Syria.

In a tweet Thursday, President Trump wrote: “Russia, Syria, and Iran are killing, or on their way to killing, thousands of innocent civilians in Idlib Province. Don’t do it! Turkey is working hard to stop this carnage.”

The tweet refers to an intense air and ground bombardment by government forces in southern and eastern Idlib province, the last rebel-held bastion in the country.

Syrian government forces about a month ago launched a renewed effort to take the province, which is dominated by al-Qaida-linked militants and is also home to 3 million civilians. The United Nations has warned of the growing risk of a humanitarian catastrophe along the Turkish border.

President Trump also addressed the plight of civilians in Idlib in June, accusing Russia, Syria and Iran of “indiscriminately killing many innocent civilians” in a bombing campaign. “The World is watching this butchery,” he tweeted then, imploring them to “STOP!” Several months later he announced he would withdraw U.S. troops from northeastern Syria.
--------------

🇺🇸 **Dershowitz Meets Trump At Christmas Dinner, Fueling Speculation Of Joining Trump’s Legal Team**
*Daily Wire* - <https://archive.ph/sJYJE>

Tuesday night, famed attorney Alan Dershowitz met President Trump at Trump’s annual Christmas Eve dinner in the ballroom at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, fueling more speculation that he may join Trump’s legal team, which is dealing with the impeachment proceedings against the president. As The Daily Mail reported, “Trump got up from his table, where he was seated next to first lady Melania Trump, to walk over and talk to Dershowitz after reports his legal team has discussed bringing Dershowitz on board to help with the president’s impeachment trial in the Senate.

When The Daily Mail queried him about his appearance, Dershowitz responded, “I was a guest of friends of mine. Not part of the Trump Christmas party. The president came over to say hello to me and my wife. We wished each other happy holidays.”

In May, Dershowitz contributed an opinion piece at The Hill, in which he defended Trump’s comments in which he stated that if he were indeed impeached by the House, he might “head to the Supreme Court.”

Dershowitz noted, “No one should criticize President Trump for raising the possibility of Supreme Court review, especially following Bush v. Gore, the case that ended the 2000 election. Many of the same academics ridiculed the notion that the justices would enter the political thicket of vote-counting. But they did and, in the process, weakened the “political question” doctrine.”
--------------

🇨🇳🇷🇺🇮🇷 **China, Russia, Iran to hold joint naval drills**
*Yahoo/AFP* - <https://archive.ph/wip/F1gJy>

China, Russia and Iran will hold joint naval drills starting Friday in the Gulf of Oman, Beijing and Tehran said, at a time of heightened tensions since the US withdrew from a landmark nuclear deal with Tehran.

Set to take place from December 27 to 30, the military exercises aim to "deepen exchange and cooperation between the navies of the three countries", Chinese defence ministry spokesman Wu Qian told reporters Thursday.

Wu said the Chinese navy would deploy its Xining guided missile destroyer -- nicknamed the "carrier killer" for its array of anti-ship and land attack cruise missiles -- in the drills.

But he did not give details on how many personnel or ships would take part overall.

For Iran, the drill's purpose was to bolster "international commerce security in the region" and "fighting terrorism and piracy," said senior armed forces spokesman Brigadier General Aboldazl Shekarchi.

The exercise would "stabilise security" in the region and benefit the world, state news agency IRNA quoted him as saying on Wednesday.

The US reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran in May last year after withdrawing from the international deal aimed at tackling the Islamic Republic's nuclear programme, prompting Tehran to hit back with countermeasures.

Remaining parties to the badly weakened 2015 deal include China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany.

China's foreign minister said the exercises were part of "normal military cooperation" between the three countries.
--------------

🇺🇸 **President Trump approves raising legal smoking age to 21**
*New York Post* - <https://archive.ph/EDxIY>

By signing the $738 billion Defense Spending Bill, on Friday, President Donald Trump has raised the legal age for smoking to 21 nationwide — news that went largely unnoticed.

The new rules include cigarettes and e-cigarettes.

The smoking age hike had bipartisan support in the Senate, and was co-authored by Democrats Brian Schatz and Dick Durbin, and Republicans Mitt Romney and Todd Young, CNN reported.

Now that Trump’s signature is on the bill, the Food and Drug Administration has 180 days to update its regulations — and the new age requirement will go into effect 90 days later, ABC News reported.

Nineteen states, including New York, have already raised the smoking age to 21, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
--------------

Yeah that will stop all those young kids who are somehow already smoking and vaping from smoking and vaping

Let's ban guns too that way all those criminals who already have them will stop useing them

🇦🇫 **Taliban Has Agreed to Cease-Fire in Afghanistan, With Possibility of Peace Deal: Report**
*Newsweek* - <https://archive.ph/1yvZU>

The Taliban announced on Sunday that they have agreed to a temporary cease-fire in Afghanistan, providing hope that a potential peace agreement could move forward with the U.S. and the Afghan government.

The Associated Press first reported, citing anonymous Taliban officials, that the temporary agreement had been announced, although the promised duration is unclear. The news services said that some have suggested it would last at least 10 days, and it is expected that the Taliban's leader will sign the pending peace agreement.

The U.S. hopes to ink a peace deal that would allow President Donald Trump to end the longest war in the nation's history, which was launched 18 years ago in 2001 after the U.S. was attacked by Al Qaeda on September 11 of that year. Prior attempts by the Trump administration to secure an agreement had stalled, as the Taliban appeared unwilling to make commitments required by the U.S.

According to The Associated Press report, a "key pillar" of the potential deal will be direct negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government to shape the future of the south Asian nation. Those negotiations would reportedly cover topics ranging from a path forward on free speech, women's rights, the fate of Taliban fighters, and what will happen to Afghan warlords.
--------------

🇺🇸🇷🇺 **Putin thanks Trump for tip Russia says foiled attacks**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.md/wip/XcVAH>

Russia said on Sunday it had thwarted terrorism attacks reportedly planned in St. Petersburg thanks to a tip from Washington, bringing personal thanks again from President Vladimir Putin to his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump.

Russian news agencies cited the Federal Security Service (FSB) as saying that thanks to the information, two Russians were detained on Dec. 27 on suspicion of plotting attacks during New Year festivities in St. Petersburg.

The Kremlin said Putin passed on his gratitude to Trump during a phone call on Sunday for the tip from U.S. special services. It gave no more details.

Diplomatic ties between Washington and Moscow are fraught over disagreements from Ukraine to Syria and allegations of Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential election, but Trump and Putin have managed to keep personal lines open.

Two years ago, the Russian leader also phoned Trump to thank him for a tip that Russia said helped prevent a bomb attack on a cathedral in St Petersburg. Russia has repeatedly been the target of attacks by militant groups including Islamic State.

Sunday’s Kremlin statement said Putin and Trump agreed to continue bilateral cooperation to tackle terrorism.
----------------

🇮🇶 **U.S. strikes in Iraq, Syria target Iranian-backed Shi'ite Muslim militia group**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.md/wip/Pkgin>

The U.S. military carried out air strikes in Iraq and Syria against the Kataib Hezbollah militia group in response to the killing of a U.S. civilian contractor in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base, U.S. officials said on Sunday.

Iraqi security and militia sources said at least 18 militia fighters were killed and more than 50 wounded following three U.S. air strikes in Iraq on Sunday.

At least four local Kataib Hezbollah commanders were among the dead, the sources said, adding that one of the strikes had targeted the militia group’s headquarters near the western Qaim district on the border with Syria.

The Pentagon said it had targeted three locations of the Iranian-backed Shi’ite Muslim militia group in Iraq and two in Syria. The locations included weapons storage facilities and command and control locations the group had
used to plan and execute attacks on coalition forces, it said.

A U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the strikes were carried out by F-15 fighter jets.

The United States had accused Kataib Hezbollah of carrying out a strike involving more than 30 rockets on Friday which killed the U.S. civilian contractor and injured four U.S. service members and two members of the
Iraqi Security Forces near the oil-rich city of Kirkuk.

“In response to repeated Kata’ib Hizbollah attacks on Iraqi bases that host Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) coalition forces, U.S. forces have conducted precision defensive strikes ... that will degrade KH’s ability to
conduct future attacks against OIR coalition forces” chief Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said in a statement.
----------------

🇮🇶🇮🇷 **Trump Orders US Drone Strike, Killing Iraq Militia Officials and Iran's Quds Force Head**
*Newsweek* - <https://archive.ph/KX1A7>

President Donald Trump ordered a U.S. drone strike that killed two senior Iraqi militia officials and the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Quds Force. The operation, which Trump approved Thursday morning, escalated tensions that had been simmering in Iraq during a week of unrest and bloodshed, and it put the U.S. in an aggressive posture in the region.

Hours after Newsweek reported the drone attack, Trump tweeted the image of the American flag.

Mohammed Redha al-Jabri, head of protocol of Iraq's state-sponsored Popular Mobilization Forces, was killed Thursday "along with three guests accompanying him," Al-Hashed Al-Shaabi, also known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, told Newsweek. The group initially denied rumors that Popular Mobilization Forces deputy commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis was also killed or injured, saying he was "well and currently in his residence in Baghdad."

A senior Pentagon official then confirmed to Newsweek that Muhandis was indeed killed, along with Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, pending DNA results that had a "high probability" of identifying the two men as the targets.

Shortly after, the Popular Mobilization Forces confirmed to Newsweek "the martyrdom of deputy head of Al-Hashed, Haj Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani in an American strike that targeted their vehicles on the road of Baghdad International Airport."

Earlier Thursday, the Iraqi military's Security Media Cell reported that "three Katyusha rockets fell on Baghdad International Airport, near the air cargo terminal, destroying two vehicles and wounding a number of civilians."
--------------

🇹🇼 **Taiwan president wins by landslide in stinging rebuke to China**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.md/u2Wmz>

Taiwanese re-elected President Tsai Ing-wen by a landslide on Saturday, a stern rebuke to China which has tried both military threats and economic inducements to get the island to accept its rule, and potentially ushering in further tension with Beijing.

China and the months of anti-government unrest in Chinese-ruled Hong Kong took center stage in the campaign. Tsai held out Taiwan as a beacon of hope for protesters in the former British colony, and firmly rejected
Beijing’s offer to Taiwan of the “one country, two systems” model.

China claims Taiwan as its sacred territory, to be taken by force if needed, a threat Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated year ago, though said he preferred a peaceful solution.

“One country, two systems,” which provides for a high degree of autonomy, much as Beijing uses in Hong Kong, has never been popular in Taiwan, and is even less so now after the months of protests in Hong Kong.

China made itself even more unpopular in Taiwan in the run-up to the election by twice sailing its newest aircraft carrier through the sensitive Taiwan Strait, denounced by Taipei as an effort at military intimidation.

“We hope that the Beijing authorities can understand that a democratic Taiwan with a government chosen by the people will not give in to threats and intimidation,” Tsai told reporters after her victory.

Beijing needs to understand the will of Taiwan’s people, and that only Taiwan’s people can decide its future, she added.

Tsai beat her main opponent Han Kuo-yu of the Kuomintang party, which favors close ties with China, by more than 2.6 million votes.
----------------

🇮🇷 **Iran says its military shot down Ukrainian plane in 'disastrous mistake'**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.md/EJCxa>

Iran said on Saturday its military had mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian plane killing all 176 aboard, saying air defences were fired in error while on alert in the tense aftermath of Iranian missile strikes on U.S. targets in Iraq.

Iran had denied for days after Wednesday’s crash that it brought down the plane, although a top Revolutionary Guards commander said on Saturday that he had informed the authorities about the unintentional
missile strike the same day it happened.

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who until Saturday had kept silent about the crash, said information should be made public, while top officials and the military issued apologies.

But state television suggested revealing the truth about what happened might be used by “enemies of Iran”, usually a reference to the United States and Israel.

The crash heightened international pressure on Iran after months of friction with the United States and tit-for-tat attacks. A U.S. drone strike had killed a top Iranian military commander in Iraq on Jan. 3, prompting Tehran to
fire at U.S. targets on Wednesday.

Canada, which had 57 citizens on board, and the United States had both said they believed an Iranian missile brought down the aircraft, although they said it was probably an error.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran deeply regrets this disastrous mistake,” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani wrote on Twitter, promising that those behind the incident would be prosecuted. “My thoughts and prayers go to all the mourning families.”

Experts said mounting international scrutiny would have made it all but impossible to hide signs of a missile strike in any investigation and Iran may have felt a U-turn was better than battling rising criticism abroad and growing grief and
anger at home, as many victims were Iranians with dual nationality.
----------------

🇺🇸 **Texas governor to reject new refugees under Trump order**
*BBC* - <https://archive.md/x0F7V>

The Republican governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, has said the state will not accept new refugees under the US government's resettlement programme.
The decision means Texas will become the first state known to do so.

Last year US President Donald Trump signed an executive order allowing states to opt out of the programme.
On Friday, Mr Abbott said Texas had done "more than its share in assisting the refugee resettlement process".

Refugee agencies have criticised the move, with one calling it "deeply disappointing".
Texas has large refugee populations in several of its major cities. In the 2018 fiscal year, Texas took in 1,697 refugees - more than any other state, but a large drop from 4,768 in the previous fiscal year.

Justifying his decision in a letter to the US State Department, Mr Abbott argued that the state should be focused on "those who are already here, including refugees, migrants, and the homeless - indeed, all Texans".
On that basis, Mr Abbott said he "cannot consent to initial refugee resettlement" in 2020, but added that the decision "does not deny any refugee access" to the US.

Refugees who are already settled in other states, Mr Abbott said, will be allowed to move to Texas if they choose. However, resettlement agencies say they would not have access to federal resettlement benefits, such as housing.

In September last year, President Trump announced that states must actively consent to any resettlement of refugees after June 2020.
So far, the governors of more than 40 other states have said they will opt in to the government programme.
----------------

🇧🇪 **Police detain 185 climate protesters at Brussels car show**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.md/x7zhf>

Police detained 185 protesters in central Brussels on Saturday after the environmental protest group Extinction Rebellion staged demonstrations at a car show in protest at the auto industry’s role in CO2
emissions that cause climate change.

The protest came only days after the European Commission unveiled ideas on how to finance its flagship Green Deal project that aims to make the European Union a CO2 emissions-neutral area by 2050,
in part through the transformation of the car industry.

A member and former spokesman for the group, Christophe Meierhans, said Extinction Rebellion targeted the car industry because it told “a lot of lies in order to sell more cars”.

One protester, his face covered with black paint, chanted “Shell kills” referring to the oil company Royal Dutch Shell before lying down in front of the company’s stall, while other protesters gathered around
wearing face masks with the company’s logo.

The protesters were quickly taken away by police and the show’s security personnel briefly blocked access to the area.

Later, demonstrators carried out a “die-in” outside the show’s entrance and were also removed by police without resisting arrest.

The show’s organizers said in a statement they expected 500,000 visitors to visit the 10-day car show, the largest of its kind in the country.
----------------

🇬🇧 **UK's Harry and Meghan to drop titles and retire as working royals**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.md/n792i>

Prince Harry and his wife Meghan will no longer be working members of Britain’s monarchy and they will pay their own way in life as they embark on an independent future, Buckingham Palace said on Saturday.

They will also no longer use their “Royal Highness” titles, the palace said in an announcement that sought to end turmoil in the monarchy sparked earlier this month when the couple announced they wanted to
reduce their official duties and spend more time in North America.

The queen and senior family members met last week to discuss the situation and have been in “constructive and friendly” discussions with officials on how this stepping back would work in practice for Harry, 35,
and his American wife, former actress Meghan, 38.

“Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved members of my family,” Queen Elizabeth said in a statement issued by the palace, referring to the couple’s baby son.

“I recognize the challenges they have experienced as a result of intense scrutiny over the last two years and support their wish for a more independent life.”

The queen said she was “particularly proud” of how quickly Meghan had become one of the family. The couple married in May 2018 in a lavish ceremony at her home in Windsor Castle, west of London in front of a global TV audience of millions.

Harry will remain a prince and the couple will keep their titles of Duke and Duchess of Sussex as they begin a new life split between North America and Britain, but they will not take part in any future ceremonial events or royal tours.

A palace spokeswoman said the couple would no longer receive public money and that they would repay the cost of refurbishing their cottage in Windsor, which official figures show amounted to 2.4 million pounds ($3.1 million).
⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻

🇺🇸 **Thousands of heavily armed protesters in bullet proof vests chant 'we will not comply' in gun rights rally against Virginia's Democrat governor's proposed clampdown on firearms**
*Daily Mail* - <https://archive.ph/I5TJX>

More than 20,000 people converged in the streets of Richmond, Virginia, on Monday to protest their right to bear arms in the face of swingeing state gun control laws set to be enacted later this year.

They started arriving before dawn – army veterans, stay-at-home-moms, attorneys, welders, democrats, republicans – united under banners defending the second amendment and, they believe, a constitution under attack.

And many of them came with their guns: AR-15s, long-guns and handguns. Governor Ralph Northam had issued a ban on a list of weapons including guns on Capitol Grounds but though the official rally was confined to a steel pen in the grounds sloping up to Virginia State Capitol, there were more people outside that perimeter and outside the scope of the ban.

Security was tight and visible – hundreds of cops on the streets and in the grounds, screening lanes at the only entrance to the park, the rest of which had been fenced off.

Officials say 7,000 actually entered the rally site and another 15,000 remained in the streets.
---------------

🇸🇪 **75,000 People “Became Swedish” Last Year**
*The Local* - <http://archive.md/s9Z4y>

Thousands of people became Swedish citizens in 2019, so here's a look at who they are, and how the figure has changed over time.

Sweden welcomed a total of 74,924 new citizens over the course of the year. That's an increase from the previous year, when 63,818 people became Swedish.

As the new year began, 98,107 people were awaiting a decision on their citizenship application.
---------------

🇰🇵 **North Korea abandons nuclear freeze pledge, blames 'brutal' U.S. sanctions**
*Reuters* - <http://archive.md/nGxsP>

North Korea said on Tuesday it was no longer bound by commitments to halt nuclear and missile testing, blaming the United States’ failure to meet a year-end deadline for nuclear talks and “brutal and inhumane” U.S. sanctions.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un set an end-December deadline for denuclearization talks with the United States and White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien said at the time the United States had opened channels of communication.

O’Brien said then he hoped Kim would follow through on denuclearization commitments he made at summits with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Ju Yong Chol, a counselor at North Korea’s mission to the U.N. in Geneva, said that over the past two years, his country had halted nuclear tests and test firing of inter-continental ballistic missiles “in order to build confidence with the United States”.

But the United States had responded by conducting dozens of joint military exercises with South Korea on the divided peninsula and by imposing sanctions, he said.

“As it became clear now that the U.S. remains unchanged in its ambition to block the development of the DPRK and stifle its political system, we found no reason to be unilaterally bound any longer by the commitment that the other party fails to honor,” Ju told the U.N.-backed Conference on Disarmament.

Speaking as the envoy from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), North Korea’s official name, Ju accused the United States of applying “the most brutal and inhumane sanctions”.

“If the U.S. persists in such hostile policy toward the DPRK there will never be the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula,” he said.

“If the United States tries to enforce unilateral demands and persists in imposing sanctions, North Korea may be compelled to seek a new path.”
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🇱🇧 **Lebanon forms new government**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.ph/u7Elj>

Lebanon formed a new government on Tuesday, the presidency announced after Shi’ite Hezbollah and its allies clinched a deal on a cabinet that must tackle the country’s worst economic crisis in decades.

Heavily indebted Lebanon has been without effective government since Saad al-Hariri resigned as premier in October under pressure from protests against state corruption and waste - root causes of the crisis.
---------------

🇷🇺 **Russia gets new government in what Putin calls "major renewal"**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.ph/CyLdN>

Russian President Vladimir Putin approved a new government on Tuesday which he described as a break with the past, bringing in some fresh faces but retaining many senior ministers.

The new government included a new economy minister and a new first deputy prime minister, but the finance, foreign, defense, energy and agriculture ministers all kept their jobs.

The new team was formed less than a week after Putin unveiled a sweeping shake-up of the political system, which led to the resignation of his ally Dmitry Medvedev as prime minister along with the entire government.

Putin went on to pick 53-year-old former tax chief Mikhail Mishustin, who has almost no political profile, as his new prime minister.

Putin’s wider shake-up, which envisages changing the constitution, is widely seen as preparing the ground for 2024, when Putin, now 67, is obliged to leave the presidency after occupying the Kremlin or the prime minister’s job continuously since 1999.

Critics have long said Putin, a former KGB officer, wants to stay on in some capacity after his term ends so that he can wield power over the world’s largest nation and one of its two biggest nuclear powers.
---------------

🇮🇷 **Iranian lawmaker announces a $3 million cash reward for 'whoever kills Trump'**
*Fox News* - <https://archive.md/FdLUN>

An Iranian lawmaker apparently has placed a $3 million bounty on President Trump’s head.

Ahmad Hamzeh made the declaration Tuesday during a speech to parliament in Tehran, although it’s unclear whether it has any backing from Iran’s top leaders, Reuters reported, citing the ISNA news agency.

“On behalf of the people of Kerman province, we will pay a $3 million reward in cash to whoever kills Trump,” Hamzeh was quoted as saying.

During his speech, Hamzeh also addressed Iran’s nuclear program, vowing that “if we had nuclear weapons today, we would be protected from threats.”

“We should put the production of long-range missiles capable of carrying unconventional warheads on our agenda,” ISNA quoted him as saying. “This is our natural right.”
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🇨🇳**China virus spreads to U.S., curbing travel plans and spooking markets**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.md/05x8p>

The toll from the Wuhan coronavirus in China rose to six deaths on Tuesday and the first case was reported in the United States, sending markets tumbling on fears of economic damage as tourists canceled
travel plans and airports stepped up screening.

The virus struck as millions of Chinese prepared to travel for the Lunar New Year, heightening contagion risks. Many in China scrambled to buy face masks to protect themselves from the previously unknown, flu-like infection.

The outbreak, which began in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, also worried financial markets as investors recalled China’s Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic in 2002-2003, a coronavirus outbreak that killed nearly 800 people.

“We’ll stay at home during the holiday. I’m scared as I remember SARS very well,” said Zhang Xinyuan, who had been bound from Beijing for the Thai resort of Phuket before she and her husband decided to cancel their air tickets.

A traveler from China was diagnosed in Seattle with the Wuhan coronavirus, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said, the first case identified in the United States. The patient was in good condition, the CDC said.

The agency said it expected to see more cases in the United States, had developed a new test to identify the virus and was in talks with the National Institutes of Health about developing a vaccine.

Authorities have confirmed more than 300 cases of the virus in China, mostly in Wuhan. Wuhan Mayor Zhou Xianwang told Chinese state television on Tuesday that six people had died in his city.

The disease is spreading around other parts of China, including five cases in capital Beijing.
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🇺🇸🇬🇧 **Prince Andrew has provided 'zero cooperation' in Epstein probe**
*NBC News* - <https://archive.ph/Otzpi>

Prince Andrew has provided "zero cooperation" in the investigation of Jeffrey Epstein's network of enablers, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York said Monday.

Andrew, who has been accused of having sex with a teenage girl trafficked by Epstein, has publicly indicated that he would be willing to assist in any investigation related to the case.

But U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman, speaking outside the late financier's mansion in New York City, said the FBI and New York prosecutors have reached out to the prince and his attorneys but have yet to receive any assistance from him.

"To date, Prince Andrew has provided zero cooperation," Berman said.

Buckingham Palace did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
--------------

🇺🇸 **Trump leaps into Middle East fray with plan that favors Israel, upsets Palestinians**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/tLhuc>

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday proposed creating a Palestinian state as part of a Middle East peace solution, drawing Palestinian condemnation for imposing strict conditions
and for agreeing to let Israel maintain control of long-contested West Bank settlements.

Trump announced his plan for Israeli-Palestinian peace at a White House event with embattled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu standing at his side. It includes what Trump called a four-year
freeze by Israel on new settlement activity.

Although Trump’s stated aim was to end decades of conflict, the plan he advanced favored Israel, underscored by the absence of Palestinians from Trump’s announcement.

It seemed unlikely to immediately advance Israeli-Palestinian talks that broke down in 2014, but the plan was called “an important starting point for a return to negotiations” by the United Arab Emirates.
Egypt also offered an encouraging statement.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, however, mocked what Trump has called the “deal of the century,” describing it as the “slap of the century.”

Palestinians have refused to deal with the Trump administration in protest at pro-Israel policies such as moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the eastern part of which is sought by the Palestinians.

Trump set in motion a four-year timeline for Palestinians to agree to a security arrangement with Israel, halt attacks by the Islamist militant group Hamas and set up governing institutions in order to establish a
Palestinian state with its capital in Abu Dis, a part of east Jerusalem.

This too poses a potential problem for Palestinians.
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🇵🇸 **Palestinians cut ties with Israel, U.S. after rejecting peace plan**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/Z4eBc>

The Palestinian Authority has cut all ties with the United States and Israel, including those relating to security, after rejecting a Middle East peace plan presented by U.S. President Donald Trump,
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Saturday.

Abbas was in Cairo to address the Arab League, which backed the Palestinians in their opposition to Trump’s plan.

The blueprint, endorsed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calls for the creation of a demilitarised Palestinian state that excludes Jewish settlements built in occupied territory and is under near-total Israeli security control.

“We’ve informed the Israeli side ... that there will be no relations at all with them and the United States including security ties,” Abbas told the one-day emergency meeting, called to discuss Trump’s plan.

Israeli officials had no immediate comment on his remarks.

Israel and the Palestinian Authority’s security forces have long cooperated in policing areas of the occupied West Bank that are under Palestinian control. The PA also has intelligence cooperation agreements with the CIA, which continued even after the Palestinians began boycotting the Trump administration’s peace efforts in 2017.

Abbas also said he had refused to discuss the plan by with Trump by phone, or to receive even a copy of it to study it.
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🇲🇽 **In Mexico, "El Chapo's" daughter ties knot in state cathedral**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/ylAas>

The daughter of Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman married another offspring of a drug empire in a lavish ceremony held in the
cathedral of Sinaloa’s state capital Culiacan, Mexican media reported, in a new display of her family’s prominence.

Alejandrina Gisselle Guzman married Edgar Cazares, the nephew of Blanca Margarita Cazares, Mexican newspaper Reforma reported on Saturday, in the heartland of Mexico’s powerful Sinaloa Cartel.

The wedding took place on Jan. 25, Reforma said. Photographs and videos, including performances of a popular Mexican band and singers, fireworks, and yellow tape around the cathedral, were shared on social media.

A source at the Roman Catholic Diocese of Culiacan, confirmed the wedding took place, but declined to give details. The couple could not be reached for comment.

Culiacan citizens living and working near the cathedral told Reuters on Saturday that they had noticed an extravagant wedding though they had been unaware of who the couple was.

“The church is for everyone,” Sofia, who declined to give her surname, said. “But the church shouldn’t give privileges to anyone.” Others agreed. “With money, you can close any building here,” Francisca added. “It’s unfair.”

Blanca Margarita Cazares was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in 2007 for her “sophisticated money laundering apparatus” and links to Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada Garcia and Victor Emilio Cazares of the Sinaloa Cartel.

Reuters could not determine charges against the couple.
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🇯🇵 **Japan panel recommends ocean release for contaminated Fukushima water**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.ph/YOBqA>

A panel of experts advising Japan’s government on a disposal method for radioactive water from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant on Friday recommended releasing it into the ocean, a move likely to alarm neighboring countries.

The panel under the industry ministry came to the conclusion after narrowing the choice to either releasing the contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean or letting it evaporate - and opted for the former. Based on past practice it is likely the government will accept the recommendation.

The build-up of contaminated water at Fukushima has been a sticking point in the clean-up, which is likely to last decades, especially as the Olympics are due to be held in Tokyo this summer with some events less than 60 km (35 miles) from the wrecked plant.

Neighboring South Korea has retained a ban on imports of seafood from Japan’s Fukushima region imposed after the nuclear disaster and summoned a senior Japanese embassy official last year to explain how the Fukushima water would be dealt with.

Its athletes are planning to bring their own radiation detectors and food to the Games.

In 2018, Tokyo Electric apologized after admitting its filtration systems had not removed all dangerous material from the water - and the site is running out of room for storage tanks.

But it plans to remove all radioactive particles from the water except tritium, an isotope of hydrogen that is hard to separate and is considered to be relatively harmless.

“Compared to evaporation, ocean release can be done more securely,” the committee said, pointing to common practice around the world where normally operating nuclear stations release water that contains tritium into the sea.
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🇺🇸 **Financial market website Zero Hedge knocked off Twitter over coronavirus story**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.ph/2cvqm>

Twitter Inc has banned financial market website Zero Hedge from the social media platform after it published an article linking a Chinese scientist to the outbreak of the fast-spreading coronavirus last week.

Zero Hedge said it received a notification from Twitter on Friday, accusing it of violating Twitter's "rules against abuse and harassment."

The move against the website came as the coronavirus has stoked a wave of anti-China sentiment around the globe. Hoaxes have spread widely online, promoted by conspiracy theorists and exacerbated by a dearth of information from the cordoned-off zone around China's central city of Wuhan, where the outbreak began.

Twitter confirmed to Reuters on Sunday Zero Hedge's account on its platform had been permanently suspended for violating "platform manipulation policy."

Zero Hedge said it initially thought the suspension was triggered by an article it published on Friday about the makeup of the coronavirus. But it said it later learned Twitter had received a complaint from online news website BuzzFeed over a separate article.

BuzzFeed said Zero Hedge had released the personal information of a scientist from Wuhan in an article that made allegations about coronavirus having been concocted "as a bioweapon." The article was titled "Is This The Man Behind The Global Coronavirus Pandemic?"

BuzzFeed did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Last week, Twitter had said "those who engage in coordinated attempts to spread disinformation at scale about coronavirus issue will be removed from service."

Facebook Inc also said it would take down misinformation about the virus.

Zero Hedge, which covers mostly finance and economics, had more than 670,000 followers on Twitter as of its suspension.
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🇺🇸 **Not Guilty: Senate acquits Trump of impeachment charges**
*AP* - <https://archive.ph/R8vVF>

President Donald Trump won impeachment acquittal Wednesday in the U.S. Senate, bringing to a close only the third presidential trial in American history with votes that split the country, tested civic norms and fed the tumultuous 2020 race for the White House.

With Chief Justice John Roberts presiding, senators sworn to do “impartial justice” stood at their desks to state their votes for the roll call — “guilty” or “not guilty” — in a swift tally almost exclusively along party lines. Visitors, including the president’s allies, watched from the crowded gallery. Roberts read the declaration that Trump “be, and is hereby, acquitted of the charges.”

The outcome followed months of remarkable impeachment proceedings, from Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s House to Mitch McConnell’s Senate, reflecting the nation’s unrelenting partisan divide three years into the Trump presidency.

What started as Trump’s request for Ukraine to “do us a favor” spun into a far-reaching, 28,000-page report compiled by House investigators accusing an American president of engaging in shadow diplomacy that threatened U.S. foreign relations for personal, political gain as he pressured the ally to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden ahead of the next election.

No president has ever been removed by the Senate.

A politically emboldened Trump has eagerly predicted vindication, deploying the verdict as a political anthem in his reelection bid. The president claims he did nothing wrong, decrying the “witch hunt” and “hoax” as extensions of special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian 2016 campaign interference by those out to get him from the start of his presidency.
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🇺🇸 **YouTube, Venmo: AI firm must stop scraping faces from sites**
*AP* - <https://archive.ph/71Dee>

Payment service Venmo joined YouTube and Twitter on Wednesday in demanding that a facial recognition company stop harvesting user images to identify the people in them, which the startup does as part of its work with police.

Venmo said Wednesday it is sending a cease-and-desist letter to New York-based Clearview AI. The small firm has drawn scrutiny following investigative reports in January by the New York Times and Buzzfeed detailing its work with law enforcement agencies and its practice of scraping social media and other internet platforms for images.

“Scraping Venmo is a violation of our terms of service and we actively work to limit and block activity that violates these policies,” said Venmo spokesman Justin Higgs, who said the Paypal-owned mobile payment service is in the process of sending the letter.

Google-owned video service YouTube sent a similar letter to Clearview on Tuesday.

“YouTube’s Terms of Service explicitly forbid collecting data that can be used to identify a person,” YouTube spokesman Alex Joseph said in a statement Wednesday. “Clearview has publicly admitted to doing exactly that, and in response we sent them a cease and desist letter.”

Clearview CEO Hoan Ton-That told CBS in an interview that it has a First Amendment right to the roughly 3 billion images it has collected.

“The way we have built our system is to only take publicly available information and index it that way,” he told CBS.

He also said the technology is only used by law enforcement to identify potential criminals.
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🇹🇭 **Thai forces believe shooter in mall basement as death toll hits 21**
*Reuters* - <http://archive.md/rNJcC>

A Thai soldier who has killed at least 21 people in a shooting rampage was thought to be holed up in the basement of a shopping mall in northeastern Thailand on Sunday and security forces were closing in on him, a police officer said.

The officer said nine civilians had been evacuated from the shopping mall and security forces were checking whether any remained there.

“The perpetrator is still in the basement and it doesn’t look as though he has hostages. We are getting close to him,” said the officer who did not give his name because he was not authorized to speak to media.

The killings began at around 3 p.m. (0800 GMT) on Saturday when the soldier opened fire in a house before moving to an army camp and then to the mall in Nakhon Ratchasima in northeastern Thailand, posting messages on Facebook as he went.

Police have identified the suspected shooter as 32-year-old Jakrapanth Thomma.

Overnight, one member of the security forces was killed and at least two others wounded in a raid into the Terminal 21 mall to try to stop the gunman.

More than 30 people have been wounded.

“We are doing our best. You can see that all our senior officers of the government have been assigned here,” Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told reporters at the scene. “All steps are being taken with precautions so that we can minimize the damage as much as we can.”

Police closed off streets around the mall and kept journalists behind a security cordon.

Thai media said the suspected shooter had worked at an army base close to Nakhon Ratchasima, which is about 250 km (155 miles) from the capital Bangkok. Before the attack, Jakrapanth had posted on his Facebook account that he was out for vengeance — but he did not say for what.
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🇷🇺 **'Are you real?' Putin quashes rumors he uses a body double**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/Ue4yY>

Russian President Vladimir Putin has acknowledged he was offered the chance to use a body double to make appearances in public for security reasons, but said he declined the offer and never used one.

Putin, 67, who has dominated Russian politics for more than two decades, has long been the subject of conspiracy theories in Russia - all of them unsubstantiated - that he uses a body double or even a small army of them.

One of the more elaborate theories compares photographs of Putin over the years, claiming to have identified a number of different individuals posing as him.

But during an interview with TASS news agency aired on Thursday, Putin was shown a list of popular Internet searches purportedly associated with his name, one of which was entitled “Putin body double evidence”.

Asked “Are you real?” by the interviewer, Putin replied “Yes” before going on to deny that he uses a lookalike for public appearances for his own safety.

But he said he had been offered the opportunity.

“I declined these body doubles. This (the offer) was during the most difficult periods of the fight against terrorism,” Putin said, adding that he was referring to the beginning of the 2000s.

Russia fought a war in the southern Muslim majority region of Chechnya in the early years of Putin’s first term and was frequently targeted in attacks by Islamist militant groups.

Putin said in the same interview that he didn’t use a mobile phone. He had access to a special official phone, he said, that could connect with any number he wanted.
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🇺🇸 **Mike Bloomberg drops out of 2020 presidential race, endorses Joe Biden**
*CNBC* - <https://archive.fo/IP64z>

Mike Bloomberg dropped out of the presidential race on Wednesday after a poor performance in the Super Tuesday primaries.

“Three months ago, I entered the race for President to defeat Donald Trump,” Bloomberg said in a statement. “Today, I am leaving the race for the same reason: to defeat Donald Trump – because it is clear to me that
staying in would make achieving that goal more difficult.”

Following his campaign departure, Bloomberg endorsed rival and former Vice President Joe Biden. “I’ve always believed that defeating Donald Trump starts with uniting behind the candidate with the best shot to do it.
After yesterday’s vote, it is clear that candidate is my friend and a great American, Joe Biden,” he said in the statement.

“I’ve known Joe for a very long time. I know his decency, his honesty, and his commitment to the issues that are so important to our country – including gun safety, health care, climate change, and good jobs.”

Bloomberg’s embarrassing finish Tuesday night marked the first time he was on the ballot. Had he continued in the race, his candidacy might have taken away votes from Biden, a fellow moderate who’s competing for the
nomination with Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. With his departure, there are now only four candidates in the race, including Biden, Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii.

The billionaire and former New York City mayor spent more than $500 million on campaign advertising, but of the 14 states and one territory at stake on March 3, Super Tuesday, he was only able to take American Samoa.

Bloomberg launched his bid with a $31 million TV ad blitz, breaking former President Barack Obama’s record campaign spending of $24 million on TV ads in one week. He ended up spending hundreds of millions of his own dollars on his campaign.
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https://nationalfile.com/video-alex-jones-shaves-head-says-hes-in-war-mode/

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🇺🇸 **Elizabeth Warren ends 2020 Democratic White House bid, says 'we will persist'**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.ph/ARkDY>

Elizabeth Warren, the liberal firebrand who emerged as a top Democratic contender for the White House on the strength of an anti-corruption platform backed by a dizzying array of policy proposals, ended her campaign on Thursday.

A former bankruptcy law professor who forged a national reputation as a scourge of Wall Street even before entering politics, Warren had banked on a strong showing on Super Tuesday after a string of disappointing finishes in the early states.

But she trailed far behind front-runners Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden, placing third in her home state of Massachusetts, which she continues to represent in the U.S. Senate.

Warren held a call with her vast organizing staff on Thursday morning to break the news.

“I may not be in the race for president in 2020, but this fight - our fight - is not over,” she said. “The fight may take a new form, but I will be in that fight, and I want you in this fight with me. We will persist.”

Warren’s exit comes one day after former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who also had a disappointing Super Tuesday, dropped out on Wednesday.
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🇺🇸 **Mormon Church rebukes BYU students with letter stating homosexual behavior ‘not compatible’ with its principles**
*Fox News* - <https://archive.ph/3D30E>

Utah’s Brigham Young University on Wednesday clarified its stance on homosexuality, stating in a letter that “same-sex romantic behavior” is not allowed on campus, in a rebuke to LGTBQ students who perceived last month’s revision of the school’s code of conduct as a victory.

The university, owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, had removed a section of the code dedicated to “homosexual behavior.”

BYU officials said on Feb. 19 that questions about permitted behaviors by same-sex couples would be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

LGBTQ students and allies celebrated the announcement. But their hopes were dashed after the university posted a letter online Wednesday saying it was clarifying that the revision doesn't change the "moral standards" of the church or the faith's opposition to same-sex marriage.

"Same-sex romantic behavior cannot lead to eternal marriage and is therefore not compatible with the principles included in the honor code," wrote Paul V. Johnson, commissioner of the church education system.

The clarification letter sparked an uproar. Addison Jenkins, a former BYU student and a past president of a campus support group for gay and lesbian students, called it "cruel" to LGBTQ students who thought the campus was becoming more welcoming.

"This says: We do not care and we are no longer embarrassed about not caring about queer people," Jenkins said.
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🇨🇳 **Coronavirus: Ten dead in China quarantine hotel collapse**
*BBC* - <https://archive.fo/9Fpo5>

At least 10 people are dead and 23 remain missing after a hotel being used as a coronavirus quarantine facility in the Chinese city of Quanzhou collapsed on Saturday.

Rescue workers are still searching the rubble of the five-storey Xinjia Hotel in the southern province of Fujian.

Seventy-one people were in the building when it collapsed and dozens have been rescued, authorities say.

It is not clear what caused the collapse on Saturday evening.

State media say the hotel was being used as a quarantine facility monitoring people who had had close contact with coronavirus patients. It's reported 58 of the 71 people in the building were under quarantine.

The building's first floor had been undergoing renovation since before the Lunar New Year, the official Xinhua news agency said, adding that police had summoned the building's owner.

The hotel reportedly opened in 2018 and had 80 guest rooms.

The city of Quanzhou has recorded 47 cases of the virus, which first emerged in the city of Wuhan, about 1,000km away.
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🇵🇰 **Islamists hurl stones and shoes at Women's Day marchers in Pakistan**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/CdnoV>

Islamists pelted campaigners with stones, shoes and sticks as they marched through Pakistan’s capital on Sunday to mark International Women’s Day.

Women and men joined the event in Islamabad, one of several rallies across the country, for what is known in Pakistan as the Aurat March, using the Urdu word for women.

Hundreds of men and women from the Red Mosque brigade, consisting of several local militant groups, and a Taliban allied religious party staged a rival rally just across from the women’s march venue, District Deputy Commissioner Hamza Shafqaat said.

Police official Mazhar Niazi said the officers blocked the Islamists as they tried to break through a cordon to attack the marchers.

A Reuters witness and Niazi said the Islamists threw stones, bricks, sticks and shoes at the marchers. Niazi said no one was injured.

He said a criminal case would be registered against the Islamists for violating the law and attempting to attack the women’s march.

The event organizers said some of those marching hit by stones and bricks were injured.

One of the organizers Ammar Rashid posted a photo on Twitter of a secular woman leader Ismat Shahjahan with a head injury.

Police said they were investigating the claim.

There has been an uproar in conservative circles over slogans used at the past two such events, including “My body, my choice”, “My body is not your battleground” and “Stop being menstrual phobic”.
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