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Iran crisis: US embassy tells its citizens to leave Iraq immediately – live updates World reacts to news of US drone strike ordered by Donald Trump on Iranian general Qassem Suleimani in BaghdadFull report: Qassem Suleimani killed in drone strike ordered by TrumpAnalysis: death threatens to open grisly new chapter in Middle EastProfile: who is Qassem Suleimani? 11.42am GMTExperts have warned that the strike on Iran’s top general puts the US and allies, including the UK, at risk. Ian Bond, foreign policy director at the Centre for European Reform, tweeted that the airstrike was a “big escalation” by Trump.No doubt #Soleimani was v bad actor, w much blood on his hands. But killing non-state terrorists eg bin Laden or Baghdadi v different from killing senior official o...

Qassem Suleimani's death threatens to open grisly new chapter in Middle East Killing of powerful Iranian general will have far-reaching consequences for TrumpUS kills Iranian general in Baghdad drone strike – live updatesIn 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. Continue reading... Go to Sour...

Iran general Qassem Suleimani killed in Baghdad drone strike ordered by Trump Supreme leader vows ‘severe revenge’ after US president orders Baghdad airport strike as part of ‘decisive defensive action’ The White House said Donald Trump ordered an air strike that killed powerful Iranian general Qassem Suleimani in Baghdad in the early hours of Friday, in a dramatic escalation of an already bloody struggle between Washington and Tehran for influence across the region.Suleimani, who ran Iranian military operations in Iraq and Syria, was targeted while being driven from Baghdad airport by local allies from the Popular Mobilisation Units (PMU). The deputy head of the PMU, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandes, a close Suleimani associate, was also killed in the attack. Continue re...

Who is Qassem Suleimani? Iran farm boy who became more powerful than a president Quds leader was extraordinarily successful in reshaping the region in wake of Iraq war and Syrian revolutionUS drone strikes in Baghdad on Friday morning have killed not just one of the most influential men in Iran but also in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq, too.Qassem Suleimani had become well known among Iranians in past years and was sometimes discussed as a future president. Yet the leader of the Revolutionary Guards’ Quds force was still a relatively obscure figure outside a region that he may have done more than anyone to reshape. Continue reading... Go to Source

Australia fires: NSW bushfires cause tens of thousands to flee as Victoria declares state of disaster – live Victorian premier Daniel Andrews declares state of disaster for East Gippsland, urging people to flee bushfire zones, while Scott Morrison is abused by fire victims in Cobargo. Follow today’s live news and latest updates 12.03am GMTHMAS Choules is expected to reach Hastings at 11pm tonight after leaving Mallacoota today. 12.00am GMTLong time Moruya resident Ryan Gallagher will be back here by the river if the town is badly hit by fire, “ready to jump in if I need to.”“You can kind of feel that tentative angst in the air, you know it’s coming.”#NSWfires @abcnews @ABCemergency pic.twitter.com/D9xNL9FkwI Continue reading... Go to Source

Lib Dem MP Layla Moran announces same-sex relationship MP decides to go public after being approached by journalistsThe Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran has announced she is in a “really happy, loving, stable relationship” with a woman, saying she decided to go public after being approached by journalists.The MP for Oxford West and Abingdon said she found attributing labels to people’s sexuality contrived, but that the term she most identified with was pansexual, meaning she is attracted to people regardless of their sex or gender identity. Continue reading... Go to Source

Report shows betting industry's reliance on problem gamblers Exclusive: Regulator considers banning VIP schemes after betting firm data reveals widespread use‘It keeps you coming back’: the rise of VIP gambling schemesThe dependence of the UK gambling industry on high-spending VIPs, customers who are disproportionately likely to be addicts, has been laid bare in a secret report obtained by the Guardian.The Gambling Commission is considering whether to ban VIP schemes in Britain after collecting data from betting firms, including one that took 83% of all deposits from 2% of its customers. Continue reading... Go to Source

Families pay tribute to couple found stabbed to death in Derbyshire Man, 39, charged with double murder as victims are named by Derbyshire policeThe families of two people who were found stabbed to death in Derbyshire on New Year’s Day have paid tribute to them.Helen Hancock, 39, from Duffield, and Martin Griffiths, 48, from Derby, who were found at a property in Duffield, were formally named by Derbyshire police. Continue reading... Go to Source

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. Continue reading... Go to Source

Levels of child criminal exploitation 'almost back to Victorian times' Exclusive: police chief says problem is at a high for modern era amid lack of youth facilitiesThe criminal exploitation of children is at its highest level in modern times as gangs capitalise on a lack of youth facilities and school exclusions to groom children, a police chief has revealed.Chief constable Shaun Sawyer said that as state provision for children receded in the last decade, driven in part by austerity, criminals had exploited the space between “the school gate and the front door”. Continue reading... Go to Source

Starmer says he wants Labour 'rebuilt ... as trusted force for good' as poll puts him leadership favourite - live news Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happenAfternoon summaryStarmer says he wants to see Labour ‘rebuilt ... as trusted force for good’Blow to ‘continuity Corbyn’ as poll makes Starmer favourite for leaderDUP signals it won’t be rushed into hasty deal to restore power-sharing 5.45pm GMT 5.27pm GMTAnd Jeffrey Donaldson, the DUP’s new leader at Westminster, also told reporters after the talks about power-sharing in Belfast that getting the devolved institutions restored was “an absolute priority” for his party. But he said the DUP would not be rushed into an agreement against its interests. He...