A US strike killed top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani and the deputy head of Iraq's Hashed al-Shaabi military force at Baghdad's airport early Friday, the Hashed announced.
"The deputy head of the Hashed, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and head of the Quds Force, Qasem Soleimani, were killed in a US strike that targeted their car on the Baghdad International Airport road," the group said in a statement.
The international airport was hit in a volley of missiles just after midnight, Iraq's military said.
Security sources said the rockets targeted a Hashed convoy and left eight people dead, including "important figures."
The Hashed is a network of mostly-Shiite armed units, many of whom have very close ties to Tehran, who have been officially incorporated into Iraq's state security forces.
Muhandis is the Hashed's deputy chief but is widely recognised as the real shot-caller within the group.
He has been blacklisted by the US.
Soleimani heads the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force .

Hashed military force says 'US strike' killed top Iran, Iraq commanders at Baghdad airport

PTI Automatic

The Australian military has begun the seaborne evacuation of hundreds of people trapped in a fire-ringed southeastern town, as the country braced for more catastrophic conditions.
A navy landing craft from the HMAS Choules docked in the town of Mallacoota, where residents trapped on the foreshore since New Year's Eve clambered aboard with family, pets and a few belongings.
Military aircraft have also been working with emergency crews to drop relief supplies into isolated areas.
At least 20 people have died, dozens are missing, and almost 500 homes have been destroyed, in a months-long bushfire crisis that has torched an area roughly double the size of Belgium.
But with temperatures expected to rise above 40 degrees Celsius again on Saturday, a state of emergency has been declared across much of Australia's heavily populated south-east.
Thousands of residents and tourists have been heeding warnings to flee a popular 300 kilometre-length of coastline, with queues of cars stretching ...

Military evacuates fire-hit Australian town

At least eight people were killed in a rocket attack on Baghdad airport, Iraqi security sources said Friday, days after a pro-Iran mob laid siege to the American embassy.
"Three rockets hit the international airport in Baghdad," said a statement from the Iraqi military, adding that two cars exploded.
At least eight people died, added a security official who asked to remain anonymous.

8 killed in rocket attack on Baghdad airport: Iraqi security sources

The State Department announced it was barring Cuba's defense chief from entering the US, citing what it called human rights violations in supporting the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
The department said General Leopoldo Cintra Frias, Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba (MINFAR), "bears responsibility for Cuba's actions to prop up" Maduro's leftist regime.
"Alongside Maduro's military and intelligence officers, MINFAR has been involved in gross human rights violations and abuses in Venezuela, including torturing or subjecting Venezuelans to cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment or punishment for their anti-Maduro stances," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement on Thursday.
"Dismantling Venezuela's democracy by terrifying Venezuelans into submission is the goal of MINFAR and the Cuban regime," he said.
The announcement bans Cintra Frias and two of his children, Deborah Cintra Gonzalez and Leopoldo Cintra Gonzalez, from entering the United ..

US places ban on Cuban defence chief

Four children were among 18 people killed on Friday when a Sudanese military transport plane crashed after take off from West Darfur state, a spokesman for the army said.
The plane crashed five minutes after take off from an airport in the state capital of El Geneina, after delivering aid to the area, which had been hit by recent deadly tribal fighting.

Children among 18 killed in Sudan military plane crash: army

A Tanzanian judge on Thursday denied permission for jailed journalist Erick Kabendera to pay last respects to his mother who died this week, after prosecutors said the court had no jurisdiction to release him.
Kabendera's incarceration has drawn international criticism and added to rising concerns about press freedom in Tanzania, where President John Magufuli has cracked down on critics since coming to power in 2015.
Kabendera, a reporter for local and international press outlets known for his coverage of Magufuli's administration, was charged in August with organised crime, failing to pay taxes and money laundering.
His mother Verdiana Mujwahuzi died on December 31 and a ceremony is scheduled for Friday at a church in the economic capital Dar es Salaam.
Defence lawyers filed an application for Kabendera to be granted permission to attend the ceremony under police escort but the move was opposed by prosecutors.
"Erick was taking care of his mother all the time before his arrest. It's .

Jailed Tanzania journalist denied release for mother's funeral

Greece, Cyprus and Israel on Thursday signed an agreement for a huge pipeline project to ship gas from the eastern Mediterranean to Europe  despite Turkey's hostility to the deal.
The move comes amid tensions with Turkey over its activities in the area and a maritime deal with Libya expanding Ankara's claims over a large gas-rich area of the sea.
The 2,000-kilometre (1,200-mile) EastMed pipeline will be able to carry between nine and 12 billion cubic metres of gas a year from offshore reserves held by Israel and Cyprus to Greece, and then on to Italy and other southeastern European countries.
The discovery of hydrocarbon reserves in the eastern Mediterranean has sparked a scramble for the energy riches and a row between Cyprus and Turkey, which occupies the northern part of the Mediterranean island.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades joined the ceremony at which their respective energy ministers .

Greece, Cyprus, Israel sign EastMed pipeline deal

The 100 highest-paid CEOs in Canada made 227 times more than the average worker in 2018, an unprecedented high, according to a report published Thursday.
"Put another way, by 10:09am on January 2, the average top CEOs will have made as much money as the average Canadian worker will make all year," according to the annual report published by the Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).
"That's the earliest time on record in the 13 years we've been tracking these numbers."
Between 2008 and 2018, the 100 highest-paid CEOs saw their salaries increase by 61 per cent, compared to the average worker, who only saw a 24 per cent rise -- a rate more or less equal to inflation, the study found.
Between 2017 and 2018, CEO salaries jumped by 18 per cent, while average worker pay rose just 2.6 per cent, according to the left-leaning CCPA.
"Wealth continues to concentrate at the very top while average incomes barely keep up with inflation," said report author David Macdonald.
On average, the .

Canadian CEOs make 200 times more than average worker: Study

A Catalan separatist party said Thursday it would back Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's bid to form a new government, paving the way for the end of months of political deadlock.
The ERC's 13 lawmakers will abstain in a confidence vote next week, top party official Pere Aragones said, which would allow Sanchez to win.

Key Catalan separatist party backs Spain PM for new term

Pope Francis's attempt to wrest himself from the grasp of an ardent follower this week have left some asking -- where was the pontiff's security detail? Often dubbed the "People's Pope", Francis's ability to engage with crowds -- and his apparent relish in doing so -- puts him in close proximity with the throngs who gather to greet him.
Whether taking selfies with the faithful, shaking hands, or blessing children, the head of 1.3 billion Catholics around the world is protected by bodyguards from a special corps charged with the pope's security.
But on New Year's Eve in Saint Peter's Square, televised images showed a woman behind a barricade grabbing  Francis's hand, while three men in black can be seen in the background.
The Pope swats at the woman's hand to free himself, before one of the men is seen restraining her hands. Francis later apologised for setting a "bad example".
By Thursday, after the images  circulated online, some people took to Twitter to question how the incident ...

Pope's bodyguards criticised over slapping incident

US President Donald Trump on Thursday warned his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan against any "foreign interference" in Libya, the White House said, after Turkish lawmakers approved a military deployment to shore up the UN-backed government in Tripoli.
In a telephone call, Trump "pointed out that foreign interference is complicating the situation in Libya," White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said in a statement.
The government in Tripoli has been under sustained attack since April by military strongman General Khalifa Haftar, who is backed by Turkey's regional rivals -- Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.
Erdogan has repeatedly accused Russia of sending private mercenaries to support Haftar's forces, though this has been denied by Moscow.

Trump warns Erdogan against 'foreign interference' in Libya

Donald Trump's re-election team on Thursday revealed that he sits atop a staggering campaign war chest, underlining the scale of the challenge facing the US president's Democratic rivals at the start of an election year.
The sprawling Democratic field meanwhile lost another candidate when Julian Castro, the only Hispanic in the 2020 field, announced he was ending his bid.
That leaves 14 candidates still in the running to take on Trump -- and competing for much-needed donations that keep a campaign's all-important ground game and advertising operations going.
In the fourth quarter of 2019, even as Trump was mired in a political scandal that resulted in his impeachment by the House of Representatives, he came out on top, raising a staggering USD 46 million.
It was his best fundraising period in a year that brought in USD 143 million for his re-election efforts, the campaign announced, easily outpacing the Democrats seeking to replace him.
And while Democrats are now effectively raising .

Trump far outpaces Democratic rivals in election fundraising

Israel's Supreme Court on Thursday refused to rule on a request by lawyers seeking to prevent indicted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from forming a government after looming elections.
The lawyers took their case to Israel's highest court on Tuesday, arguing that Netanyahu's indictment in November on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust should prevent him from being mandated by the president to form a government.
But the court on Thursday said it was unable to rule on the sensitive case, saying the lawyers' request was "premature".
Israel faces a third general election in less than a year on March 2, after national polls in April and September failed to yield a governing coalition.
Netanyahu's right wing Likud party was deadlocked with centrist Benny Gantz's Blue and White party in both the 2019 elections.
Reacting to the court's decision, Gantz said on Twitter "Netanyahu will be judged by the public at the polls, and we will win".
Israeli law stipulates that a sitting ...

Top Israeli court 'unable to rule' on PM's eligibility to form govt

Firefighters responding to a house fire in central France found the dismembered body of an 83-year-old woman in her freezer on New Year's Day, sources close to the investigation told AFP on Thursday.
The woman's grandson, in his 30s, was questioned at the scene and detained pending further investigations.
The fire brigade said it was called on Wednesday evening to a house in an isolated hamlet in the Haute-Vienne department of France.
They managed to put out a fire, which was contained to a single room, but were at first unable to find any occupants in the house.
Firefighters and police searched the property and found the mutilated corpse of the 83-year-old in the freezer, one source with knowledge of the investigation said.
The grandson, who was at the house, made conflicting statements to police, a second source said.
A post mortem examination will be carried out as part of the investigation.

Dismembered 83-year-old woman found in French freezer

Police in Spain arrested Thursday a woman who posed as the president of the Spanish branch of the United Nations' agency on women, soliciting funds and deceiving several major media outlets.
Officers detained the Spanish national of Nigerian origin in Denia on Spain's eastern Mediterranean coast for suspected fraud and impersonation, police said in a statement.
She "took part in conferences and media interviews claiming to be the president of UN Women in Spain," the statement said.
The woman offered online legal courses and allegedly asked for funds for projects linked to the UN body, it added.
Several major Spanish media outlets had presented or cited her as the president of UN Women in Spain.
According to the webpage of New York-based UN Women, there is no representative of the organisation in Spain.
The body is "dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women" and it is currently headed by Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, a former deputy president of South Africa.
Police said they 

Woman arrested in Spain was posing as UN women's rep

Former Renault and Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn said Thursday that he alone set up his flight to Lebanon from Japan, where he is facing trial over alleged financial misconduct, and denied any involvement by his family.
"The media reports saying my wife Carole and other family members played a role in my departure from Japan are falsehoods. I alone organised my departure," Ghosn said in a brief statement received by AFP.

Ghosn says 'I alone organised my departure' from Japan: Statement

Austria will aim to be carbon neutral by 2040 under plans laid out Thursday by the country's first coalition uniting conservatives and the Greens.
People's Party (OeVP) leader Sebastian Kurz said that his party would have 10 ministers in the new government while the Greens would have four to implement the programme aiming to make Austria a "forerunner" in Europe to protect the climate.
The coalition agreement comes three months after snap elections that saw both parties make gains following the collapse of Kurz's previous coalition with the far-right.
"The distribution of posts corresponds to the priorities of each party," the 33-year-old said, adding his own party would head the interiors, foreign, defence and finance ministries among others.
The Greens will hold the environment, justice, social affairs and sports and culture portfolios with Greens chief Werner Kogler, 58, nominated as Kurz's vice-chancellor.
Besides the carbon neutrality goal, the 300-page programme spells out that .

Austria coalition sets goal to be carbon neutral by 2040

Elite Iraqi troops deployed to secure the US embassy Thursday, a day after a pro-Iran mob laid siege to it in dramatic scenes that overshadowed months of anti-government grassroots protests.
The unprecedented attack on the American mission in Baghdad -- in which intruders threw rocks, laid fires and graffitied walls -- sparked fears of a wider proxy war between Iran and the United States, both of them close allies of Iraq.
Supporters of Iraq's powerful Hashed al-Shaabi military force laid siege to the embassy in outrage at US air strikes that killed 25 of their fighters, but pulled back on Wednesday after an order from the group.
On Thursday, more than a dozen black armoured vehicles of the US-trained Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service deployed on the embassy's streets in the capital's Green Zone to reinforce security there.
Pro-Iran slogans still covered the entire length of the thick concrete walls breached by the mob.
But the Hashed flags planted by protesters on the embassy's outer ..

Elite Iraqi troops secure US embassy after attack

At least 48 people were killed and more than 200 wounded in tribal fighting in Sudan's strife-torn Darfur, the Red Crescent said on Thursday.
The armed clashes broke out on Sunday night in El Geneina, capital of West Darfur state, and continued until Monday between Arab and African tribes during which several houses were torched, it said.
At least 48 people were killed and their bodies transferred to a morgue in the city and 241 wounded, including 19 in critical condition who were flown to Khartoum for treatment, it said in a statement.
"This morning the situation is calm," it said, adding that several homes had been torched.
The Khartoum government imposed a curfew across West Darfur on Monday and has launched an investigation into the bloodshed, while a delegation of senior officials visited the area.
The government also deployed troops to El Geneina to restore order.
Residents of El Geneina who spoke to AFP by phone said security forces were patrolling main roads in the city, ...

Darfur tribal fighting kills 48: Sudan Red Crescent

Jofra Archer and Rory Burns missed on Thursday England's final net practice with injuries ahead of the second Test against South Africa.
Fast bowler Archer could not take part for the second successive day because of pains in his right elbow, while Burns injured his left ankle playing football as England warmed up before getting down to cricket practice.
An England spokesman said they were awaiting results of scans on both Burns and Archer, adding that Archer was a "doubt" for the Test, which starts at Newlands on Friday.
If Archer is unable to play it would enable England to play a spinner, probably off-spinner Dom Bess, without having to drop a fast bowler to make room for him.
Definitely out of contention is left-arm spin bowler Jack Leach, who came to South Africa as England's number one spinner but went down with illness at the start of the tour and was unable to play in two warm-up games and the first Test in Centurion.
England captain Joe Root said at his pre-match press ...

Archer, Burns miss training ahead of second South Africa Test

The Pentagon warned Thursday that the Iran-backed Kataeb Hezbollah group that stormed the US embassy in Baghdad would would carry out more attacks on US facilities -- and would regret it.
"The provocative behavior has been out there for months... So do I think they may do something? Yes. And they will likely regret it," Defence Secretary Mark Esper told reporters.
"We are prepared to exercise self-defense, and we are prepared to deter further bad behaviour from these groups, all of which are sponsored, directed and resourced by Iran."
Several thousand Iraqi protesters attacked the US embassy in Baghdad on Tuesday, breaching its outer wall and chanting "Death to America!" in anger over weekend air strikes that killed pro-Iran fighters.

AFP

AFP

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