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CNN reports: US forces and air-defense missile batteries across the Middle East were placed on high alert overnight Monday to possibly shoot down Iranian drones as intelligence mounted about a threat of an imminent attack against US targets, two US officials tell CNN. The alert reflects the heightened tensions between the US and Iran in the wake of last week’s …

Axios reports: Former First Lady Michelle Obama is partnering with the digital media company ATTN: to launch a video series on IGTV, Instagram’s video platform. “A Year of Firsts” shows inspiring stories about students navigating their first year through college. Why it matters: The Obamas have maintained a strong media presence through civic media projects on newer tech platforms. The …

Al Jazeera reports: At least 32 people have been killed in a stampede that erupted in the Iranian city of Kerman at the funeral procession for a top commander killed in an air attack by the United States, Iran’s state television said. “Unfortunately because of overcrowding 32 of our citizens lost their lives in the procession … and 190 were …

The Los Angeles Times reports: Days after concerns over youth vaping led the Trump administration to announce a partial ban on many e-cigarette pods, California lawmakers on Monday introduced a much stronger measure to outlaw store sales of all flavored tobacco products. The proposal would go far beyond the federal government’s plan, announced Thursday, for a temporary ban on many …

The Hill reports: Helen Sharman, Britain’s first astronaut, said she believes in extraterrestrial life in an interview with The Guardian published Sunday. “Aliens exist, there’s no two ways about it,” Sharman told the newspaper. “There are so many billions of stars out there in the universe that there must be all sorts of different forms of life,” she said. “Will …

Variety reports: Harvey Weinstein has been hit with a new sex crimes charge for “raping one woman and sexually assaulting another in separate incidents over a two-day period in 2013,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey announced on Monday. He’s being charged with one felony count each of forcible rape, forcible oral copulation, sexual penetration by use of force …

The New York Post reports: Senior Iranian officials are using Twitter to hint at threats against President Trump’s properties — including his Mar-a-Lago Club resort in Florida and Trump Tower in Manhattan — over the killing of Iran’s top military commander. Hesameddin Ashena, a top adviser to Iranian president Hassan Rouhani, tweeted a link to a Forbes Magazine video that …

The New York Times reports: Lawmakers in Iraq heeded the demands of angry citizens and voted on Sunday to expel United States troops from the country, as hundreds of thousands of mourners poured into the streets of Iran to pay their respects to the slain leader of the elite Quds Force, Maj. General Qassim Suleimani. The vote is not final …

Politico reports: NATO suspended its training mission in Iraq, the alliance said Saturday after a U.S. drone strike killed a top Iranian general in Baghdad. NATO has been advising the Iraqi defense forces on how to keep ISIS from regaining strength. However, those “training activities are temporarily suspended,” NATO spokesman Dylan White said in an emailed statement. “The safety of …

The Times Of Israel reports: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has praised the United States and President Donald Trump for killing Iranian top commander Qassem Soleimani in an airstrike in the early morning hours. “Trump is worthy of full appreciation for acting with determination, strongly and swiftly,” he told reporters before departing Greece to head back to Israel. “We stand fully …

The New York Times reports: Expanding his footprint in a volatile region, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey received overwhelming approval from Parliament on Thursday for a new military intervention abroad, this time to dispatch troops to Libya. Coming just months after mounting a third military incursion into Syria, the Libya gambit is the latest example of Turkey’s growing self-confidence …

Reuters reports: A Chinese lantern, launched by a 60-year-old mother and her two adult daughters in a New Year’s Eve celebration, caused the fire at a German zoo in which dozens of animals were killed, including eight great apes, authorities said. Police in Krefeld, near the Dutch border, said the three women had turned themselves in on learning of the …

The Hill reports: A New Jersey man helping a friend with a marriage proposal faces criminal charges after he lit fireworks that were mistaken for gunfire, causing panic among patrons at a movie theater on Wednesday night. Nathan Sanders “lit off the fireworks while a friend was proposing marriage” inside a ClimbZone climbing facility adjacent to the Xscape Theater in …

The New York Post reports: Mayor Bill de Blasio got hot and crusty Wednesday over a Post report about a Domino’s pizzeria in Midtown that sold pies for $30 apiece to penned-in New Year’s Eve revelers in Times Square. Multiple commenters also pointed the left-leaning pol to the basic laws of economics, with Matthew Baden tweeting: “How is this different …

The Washington Post reports: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Wednesday that he would ask the Israeli parliament to grant him immunity from three criminal charges, tying up further the lengthy legal proceedings against him in a political system that has been gripped by deadlock for the past year. Netanyahu’s immunity request to the Knesset would shield him from prosecution at …

Reuters reports: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei strongly condemned U.S. attacks on Iran-allied militia group in Iraq, Iranian state TV reported on Wednesday, blaming the United States for the violence in the neighbouring country. “The Iranian government, nation and I strongly condemn the attacks,” state TV quoted Khamenei as saying. “Again that guy (Trump) has accused Iran for the …

“We often lose patience. So do I. And I apologize for yesterday’s bad example. Every form of violence inflicted upon a woman is a blasphemy against God, who was born of a woman. Humanity’s salvation came forth from the body of a woman: we can understand our degree of humanity by how we treat a woman’s body.” – Pope Francis, …

USA Today reports: It’s a new year and, for Illinois, a new era of recreational marijuana. Weed dispensaries across the state opened their doors before sunrise Wednesday, welcoming long lines of customers — some who had been waiting since 4 a.m. “Cheers to lighting up the start of 2020!” one dispensary, Sunnyside, wrote on its Facebook page. Under Illinois law, …

The Associated Press reports: West Virginia plans to begin training its corrections department staff about the Holocaust after a photograph of correction officer cadets giving Nazi salutes led to dozens of firings and widespread outrage, officials said Tuesday. A spokesman for the West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety said the leader of the regional Anti-Defamation League chapter …

Reuters reports: A visibly indignant Pope Francis had to pull himself away from a woman in a crowd in St Peter’s Square on Tuesday after she grabbed his hand and yanked him toward her. After reaching out to touch a child, the pope turned away from the crowd only for a nearby woman to seize his hand and pull her …