From the Trenches World Report

CNN

Mayor Bill de Blasio said he’s spoken with top city officials about immediate steps the New York Police Department will take to protect key locations “from any attempt by Iran or its terrorist allies to retaliate against America.” The city will be “vigilant against this threat for a long time to come,” de Blasio tweeted. Continue reading “New York City takes extra measures after US airstrike kills Iranian commander”

RT

The Turkish parliament has voted to approve a plan to send troops to support the UN-recognized government in Libya as it continues to fight forces loyal to a rival government in the eastern part of the country.

Lawmakers approved the motion, which grants a one-year mandate for the troop deployment, in an emergency session on Thursday. The motion passed by 325 votes to 184.  Continue reading “Turkish parliament backs govt plan to send troops to Libya in emergency session”

Yahoo News

PARIS (AP) — Global powers warned Friday that the world became a more dangerous place after the U.S. assassinated Iran’s top general, urging restraint on all sides. Britain and Germany also suggested that Iran shared some blame for provoking the targeted killing that dramatically ratcheted up tensions in the Mideast.

China, Russia and France, all permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, took a dim view of the U.S. airstrike near Baghdad’s airport early Friday that killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani and several of his associates. The 62-year-old led Iran’s elite Quds Force, responsible for the country’s foreign campaigns.  Continue reading “‘A more dangerous world’: Iran killing triggers global alarm”

Breitbart – by Kurt Zindulka

In its annual list of ‘Heroes and Villains’, a UK based polling company found that a plurality of people in Britain think United States President Donald Trump is the world’s biggest villain, beating out the likes of Jeremy Corbyn and Jeffrey Epstein.

For the fourth consecutive year, President Donald Trump has topped a poll of the UK public’s list top ‘villains’, with 39 per cent of those surveyed saying that the American president is the world’s biggest villain, though that is eight points down from last year.  Continue reading “Poll: Brits List Trump as 2019’s Top ‘Villain’ over Corbyn and Jeffrey Epstein”

The Great Recession

With stocks priced at record highs far above the economic landscape and still rising, the economy is still receding below. We’ll know at the end of January if the fourth quarter of 2019 was the worst of the past year, as I expect it will be. For now, we have to keep looking at numerous individual metrics to see if we are moving into recession or away form it.

First, lets be clear about the stock market. It is here:  Continue reading “The Tick, Tick, Talk of Recession Drones On”

Yahoo News

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iran has vowed “harsh retaliation” for a U.S. airstrike near Baghdad’s airport that killed Tehran’s top general and the architect of its interventions across the Middle East, as tensions soared in the wake of the targeted killing.

The killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force, marks a major escalation in the standoff between Washington and Iran, which has careened from one crisis to another since President Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal and imposed crippling sanctions.  Continue reading “Iran vows ‘harsh’ response to US killing of top general”

Video Rebel’s Blog

The Democrats had successfully used Impeachment to drive Donald Trump’s poll numbers up so high that he seemed destined to win the November elections. But his unsteadfast support for Israel has put him in serious contention for the Booby Prize of American politics in 2020.

He used rockets to kill Iran’s Top Military Commander, Qasem Suleimani, head of IRGC. Retaliation is certain. Iran can give even more advanced missiles and drones to Hezbollah in Lebanon and to the Syrians. They will definitely upgrade the Popular Militias weapons so they can force the US out of Iraq. They can also upgrade the Syrian resistance to the theft of Syria’s oil.  Continue reading “Donald Trump Might Have Won the 2020 Booby Prize”

Al Jazeera

Oil prices jumped more than 4 percent on Friday after senior Iranian and Iraqi military leaders were killed in a United States air raid near Baghdad airport, raising concerns that escalating Middle East tensions may disrupt oil supplies.

Brent crude futures were up by nearly $3 at $69.16 per barrel, the highest since September 17, as markets feared Iran could retaliate against the killing of one of its top military leaders by attacking assets of the US and its allies in the Middle East. Continue reading “Oil prices surge after US attack kills senior Iran military chief”

Breitbart – by Deborah Danan

TEL AVIV — Israel, Greece, and Cyprus signed a historic agreement Thursday for the Eastern Mediterranean project that will see Israeli gas delivered to Europe via an undersea pipeline, overturning Turkey’s efforts to thwart the deal.

The accord was signed in Athens at a trilateral summit between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades. Continue reading “Netanyahu Signs Pipeline Deal: ‘Israel Is Becoming an Energy Superpower’”

Fox News

A Virginia dad on Sunday brutally beat a man after he caught him allegedly molesting his two young children, police said.

Deputies responded to a disturbance coming from a residence in the 6800 block of Luce Lane in Spotsylvania County Sunday morning, the sheriff’s office said in a press release. Continue reading “Virginia dad pummels man in bedroom allegedly molesting young kids, police say”

Aljazeera

General Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds force, has been reported killed alongside six others following a US airstrike at Baghdad’s international airport.

Iraqi officials and the state television reported that aside from Soleimani, Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis was killed in the attack.  Continue reading “Iran’s Qassem Soleimani killed in US airstrike in Baghdad airport”

KTLA

California’s long tradition of advancing nation-leading legislation continues into the new year, with laws reining in the gig economy, boosting online privacy and discouraging shootings by police, among other potential trend-setters.

The laws have sent businesses including Uber, Lyft and Google scrambling, not to mention President Donald Trump.  Continue reading “Here Are Some of California’s New Laws That Take Effect Jan.1”

Independent – by Kate Ng

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has become the first woman to be appointed the new Chancellor of Queen’s University in Belfast.

The university announced on Thursday that Ms Clinton, who received an honorary doctorate from the university in October, will become the 11^th Chancellor.  Continue reading “Hillary Clinton becomes chancellor of Belfast’s Queen’s University”