Missile Attack Hits U.S. Embassy in Baghdad

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By Breitbart. A barrage of rocket fire targeted Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone on Sunday, hitting part of the U.S. embassy complex in that country. Saudi Arabia’s al-Arabiya news agency noted that the American compound “has been regularly hit by rockets in recent months.”

Both the American and Iraqi governments have confirmed a rocket attack on the complex but offered little information regarding the attack. No country or non-state actor has taken responsibility for this round of attacks.

No reports of any deaths have surfaced and estimates as to the wounded range from one to three people. Early reports do not specify the extent of the physical damage to the compound.

CNN and the Agence France-Presse (AFP) both reported that the facility hit by the rocket fire was a dining area or cafe, both citing unnamed sources. AFP’s source claimed that five Katyusha rockets fell in the Green Zone – a highly secure neighborhood in the Iraqi capital that houses most foreign embassies and other important government buildings – and appeared to target the U.S. embassy, and as many as three may have landed. Iraq’s al-Sumaria News reported that one rocket hit the embassy compound.

Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi, who resigned months ago but has not organized elections and appears to show no signs of leaving, issued a statement confirming and condemning the attack, and specifically confirming anonymous reports that rockets hit the U.S. embassy compound. He did not offer any suggestions regarding who could have organized the attack, nor did he suggest Iraq had arrested anyone in response to the rockets. (Read more from “Missile Attack Hits U.S. Embassy in Baghdad” HERE)

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Rockets ‘Hit U.S. Embassy’ in Iraq Capital Amid Anti-Gov’t Protests

By Al Jazeera. The US embassy in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone came under attack from rocket fire on Sunday evening.

Five rockets crashed into a riverbank near the embassy in the Iraqi capital without causing any injuries, the US Joint Operations Command said in a statement, but AFP news agency citing a security source said three of the rockets “directly hit the US embassy”. One slammed into a cafeteria at dinner time, it added. . .

Meanwhile, one protester was killed in Baghdad, police sources told Reuters news agency, and more than 100 demonstrators were hurt in violence in the capital and several other cities after the security forces tried to clear sit-in protest camps.

Medical sources said 75 of those hurt were in the southern city of Nasiriyah, where a witness told Reuters protesters set fire to two security vehicles, and hundreds of other demonstrators controlled key bridges in the city.

The protesters are demanding the removal of what they consider a corrupt ruling elite and an end to foreign interference in Iraqi politics, especially by Iran. (Read more from “Rockets ‘Hit U.S. Embassy’ in Iraq Capital Amid Anti-Gov’t Protests” HERE)

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ISIS Child Soldier Executes Nigerian Christian Student, Declares ‘We Will Not Stop’

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The Nigerian man who was executed by a child militant in a video released by a Boko Haram offshoot group aligned with the Islamic State days ago has been identified as a 22-year-old Christian college student.

Ropvil Daciya Dalep hailed from the Pankshin Local Government Area of the Plateau state and attended the University of Maiduguri in Borno state. His execution video gained media attention this week.

Dalep was a biology major who was returning to school from Christmas break when he was abducted on Jan. 9 allegedly by the Islamic State West Africa Province, according to the United Kingdom-based NGO Christian Solidarity Worldwide. . .

In the video released by the Islamic State-affiliated Amaq News Agency, the child reportedly claims that Dalep’s killing was revenge for the “bloodshed” committed by Christians.

“In particular, this is one among the Christians from Plateau State,” the child is reported to have said in the video. “We are saying to Christians, we have not forgotten what you have done to our parents and ancestors and we are telling all Christians around the world, we have not forgotten and will not stop. We must avenge the bloodshed that has been done like this one…” (Read more from “ISIS Child Soldier Executes Nigerian Christian Student, Declares ‘We Will Not Stop'” HERE)

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California Case of Coronavirus Revealed: Three Now Confirmed in U.S.; “Whistleblower” Nurse Says China Has 90,000 Sick (VIDEO)

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By Breitbart. A fresh diagnosis of the deadly coronavirus has been confirmed in Southern California, bringing to three the number of cases in the U.S. as the fast-moving virus continues its spread and the global death toll spiked to 56.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notified Orange County health officials late Saturday a potential case of coronavirus tested positive.

The patient has been described as a traveler from Wuhan, China — the epicenter of the disease’s outbreak — and is in isolation in a hospital in “good condition,” according to the release.

The first two U.S. cases of the virus were a Washington state man in his 30s and later an Illinois woman in her 60s who had both traveled to Wuhan, currently reported to be in stable condition at area hospitals.

The previously unknown virus has caused global concern because of its similarity to the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) pathogen, which killed hundreds across mainland China and Hong Kong in 2002-2003. (Read more from “California Case of Coronavirus Revealed: Three Now Confirmed in U.S.” HERE)

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“Whistleblower” Nurse Says China Has 90,000 Sick

By NY Post. The coronavirus now has a whistleblower — a nurse in Wuhan who insists in a shocking online video that close to 90,000 people in China have the disease, far more than the 1,975 reported by officials.

“I am in the area where the coronavirus started,” her video begins. Wuhan is the epicenter of the outbreak.

“I’m here to tell the truth,” the anonymous nurse says in the video, which shows her wearing a full-head face mask.

“At this moment, Hubei province, including the Wuhan area, even China, 90,000 people have been infected by a coronavirus.”

(Read more from “”Whistleblower” Nurse Says China Has 90,000 Sick” HERE)

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Three U.S. Firefighters Killed While Battling Australia’s Wildfires; Destructive Hail and a Massive Dust Storm Descend on Fire-Ravaged Australia (VIDEO)

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By The Blaze. Three American firefighters were killed in Australia while fighting the country’s ongoing wildfires on Thursday, when the air tanker they were flying in crashed. . .

The victims were crew members on Tanker 134, a Lockheed C-130 Hercules that was carrying retardant when it went down in New South Whales. Canadian-based private company Coulson Aviation, the owner of the aircraft, confirmed the tragedy in a news release.
The names of the fallen firefighters have not yet been released, but according to the Los Angeles Times, the U.S. Forest Service confirmed the tragedy in an email on Thursday.

“The wildland firefighting community is a family and when there is a loss it is felt throughout the entire organization,” the email said. “We extend our deepest sympathy to the families of the fallen.”

New South Whales Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said during a press conference, “Initial reports are that there was a large fireball associated with the impact of the plane as it hit the ground. Unfortunately, all we’ve been able to do is locate the wreckage and the crash site. We have not been able to locate any survivors,” NBC News reported. (Read more from “Three U.S. Firefighters Killed While Battling Australia’s Wildfires” HERE)

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Destructive Hail and a Massive Dust Storm Descend on Fire-Ravaged Australia

By NPR. Australia’s southeast was already dealing with the terrible effects of historic bushfires and huge smoke clouds. Then Canberra, Melbourne and other places were hit by golf-ball-sized hail that destroyed car windshields, killed birds and shredded the leaves off trees.

The Bureau of Meteorology in New South Wales, the country’s most populous state, warned residents of “damaging winds, large, possibly giant hailstones and heavy rainfall” as it issued severe thunderstorm warnings in the east and northeast.

The storms also prompted warnings of flash floods — adding another element of risk to areas that have been hit hard by the fires.


In the Australian Capital Territory, which includes the capital city of Canberra, the weather service reported hail Monday measuring up to nearly 2 inches in diameter — accompanied by wind gusts that were near hurricane-strength.

The storm was intense and fast-moving. The territory’s Emergency Services Agency reported receiving a record 1,900 calls for help — more than three times the average for a storm. All of those calls came in after midday, the agency said.

(Read more from “Destructive Hail and a Massive Dust Storm Descend on Fire-Ravaged Australia” HERE)

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U.S. Student Jailed in China After Critical Tweets About Government

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A 20-year-old University of Minnesota student named Luo Daiqing was arrested in China and sentenced to six months in prison for sending tweets critical of the Chinese government while he was in the U.S., according to court documents reported on by Axios.

The report says that Luo was arrested in his hometown of Wuhan, where he returned after finishing up the spring semester at Minnesota, in July 2019. He was then held for several months and sentenced in November, all for posts that the government referred to as “denigrating a national leader’s image.” . . .

This arrest and sentence could chill any criticism of the government by Chinese citizens, even when they’re in foreign countries. Over the past year, the Chinese police has escalated their fight to censor social media and crack down on critical posts by arresting more and more users who post content that they consider objectionable. (Read more from “U.S. Student Jailed in China After Critical Tweets About Government” HERE)

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China Quarantines Millions After Thousands Exposed to Mutating Virus That Has Killed Many

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China is essentially quarantining Wuhan, a city of more than 11 million people, in response to up to 4,000 people that have been exposed to a mutating Coronavirus that has killed at least 17 people.

“To combat the spread of the virus, which first appeared at the end of December and has killed at least 17 people and sickened more than 500, the Chinese government said it would cancel planes and trains leaving Wuhan beginning Thursday, and suspend buses, subways and ferries within it,” The New York Times reported. “In Beijing, at least 4,000 residents who had been exposed to the virus were kept in isolation, and 300 college students who had had contact with infected people were sequestered in a military camp for two weeks.” . . .

Several cases have been reported outside of China in the United States, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand.

“Chinese health officials said they had ascertained that the virus started in an unsanitary food market that was selling wild and exotic animals for consumption,” The Washington Post reported. “Snakes were the most likely cause of the virus, five Chinese scientists concluded in a paper published Wednesday in the Journal of Medical Virology.” (Read more from “China Quarantines Millions After Thousands Exposed to Mutating Virus That Has Killed Many” HERE)

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A Third of Israeli Males Are Mentally Unfit for Service

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Nearly half of Israeli youth do not start or finish their military service, with at least a third of males getting exemptions for mental health reasons.

The alarming figure based on IDF data, first published by Yediot Aharonot, shows that 32.9% of men will receive an exemption from the army. With an average of 15% dropping out during their service, nearly half of men (47.9%) do not complete their military service. . .

According to the report in Yediot, the figures show a clear downward trend in IDF enlistment among both sexes. For example, in 2007 a quarter of males did not enlist in the IDF, and in 2015 the figure rose to 26.9% for men and 30% last year.

In addition to the skyrocketing increase in medical exemptions for mental health reasons, the general recruitment figures for combat units have also seen a general decline over the past decade, to less than two-thirds (65%) in 2018 from four-fifths (81%) in 2011. (Read more from “A Third of Israeli Males Are Mentally Unfit for Service” HERE)

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Here’s the Ex-Green Beret Who Allegedly Smuggled an Imprisoned Auto Exec out of Japan in a Box

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A security operative and ex-Green Beret was reportedly part of an audacious plan to smuggle auto executive Carlos Ghosn out of Japan where prosecutors charged him with numerous financial crimes.

Michael Taylor, a former Green Beret who has etched out a long career arranging high-risk rescue missions, took part in the caper, which entailed Ghosn hiding in a box transported into a private jet before being flown to Turkey, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

Taylor’s decision to help Ghosn was borne out of his own experiences in the U.S. judicial system. He pleaded guilty in 2015 on charges that he bribed a Pentagon official to obtain bidding information that helped him fraudulently win $54 million in government contracts, WSJ noted. Taylor said his 14-month stint in a Utah county jail awaiting trial was torturous. . .

The flight took the corporate titan to Istanbul, where Ghosn boarded another private jet for a flight to Lebanon — he arrived in Beirut in December, just before New Year’s Day. Ghosn is a citizen of Brazil, France and Lebanon, none of which have extradition treaty agreements with Japan.

Japanese authorities believe that Taylor, who speaks some Arabic, and an associate wheeled Ghosn in the chest through the lobby of the Osaka airport. Taylor, 59, has worked in the past freeing other people stuck in tight spots. He once helped rescue a New York Times reporter from the Taliban and freed children who were kidnapped overseas, WSJ reported, citing a memo Taylor’s lawyers produced. (Read more from “Here’s the Ex-Green Beret Who Allegedly Smuggled an Imprisoned Auto Exec out of Japan in a Box” HERE)

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11 U.S. Troops Injured in Iran Missile Attack

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While it was initially reported that the Jan. 8 Iranian attack on Iraqi bases housing U.S. troops caused no casualties or injuries, 11 U.S. service members have been treated for injury.

The troops were airlifted to Germany and Kuwait and underwent treatment for traumatic brain injuries and screening, said Col. Myles Caggins, a spokesman for U.S. military command in Baghdad.

“As previously stated, while no U.S. service members were killed in the Jan. 8 Iranian attack on Al Asad Air base, several were treated for concussion symptoms from the blast and are still being assessed,” Caggins told Defense One.

“Out of an abundance of caution, some service members were transported from Al Asad Air Base, Iraq to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, others were sent to Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, for follow-on screening,” he added. “When deemed fit for duty, the service members are expected to return to Iraq following screening. The health and welfare of our personnel is a top priority and we will not discuss any individual’s medical status.” (Read more from “11 U.S. Troops Injured in Iran Missile Attack” HERE)

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Trump Administration Issues MORE Sanctions Against Iran

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The Trump administration continued to tighten the screws on the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism on Friday as Special Envoy to Iran Brian Hook announced new sanctions against a top general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO).

“The United States is listing IRGC Brigadier General Hassan Shahvarpour under section 7031c visa sanctions. General Shahvarpour committed gross violations of human rights against protestors in Mahshahr. He oversaw the massacre of 148 helpless Iranians in the Mahshahr region last November,” Hook said. “General Shahvarpour was in command of units responsible for the violent crackdown and lethal repression around Mahshahr. This is the first designation on an Iranian regime official being taken under the State Department authority from section 7031c authorities.”

Hook noted that the tip-line that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo established last November has received 88,000 tips from the people of Iran.

“Since the violent crackdown on protests last November, the United States has sanctioned two judges and eight other regime officials for their roles in brutalizing the Iranian people. We are continuing to review all information we receive from the Iranian people and will continue to hold more regime officials responsible for human rights violations,” Hook continued. “Over the past week, many Iranians took to the streets again to protest a corrupt government that lies to them. President Trump recognized their courage with his tweets in Farsi this past week standing with the Iranian people. We call on all nations to join our lead, particularly by sanctioning Iranian officials for human rights violations.” (Read more from “Trump Administration Issues MORE Sanctions Against Iran” HERE)

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