Markets tumbling as US kills one of Iran's most powerful generals
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News from Bloomberg:
A U.S. airstrike in Iraq killed one of Iran's most powerful generals, sending global markets tumbling. Qassem Soleimani, who led proxy militias that extended Iran's power across the region, was killed in a strike ordered by President Trump. Iran's Supreme Leader threatened " severe retaliation." Read about how the general helped shape modern Mideast.
"Trump just tossed a stick of dynamite into a tinderbox," Joe Biden said. Qassem, who led the Revolutionary Guards' Quds force, deserved to be brought to justice but the killing is a hugely escalatory move. Elizabeth Warren urged the U.S. to avoid another costly war. Iran will be under strong pressure to strike back, said Paul Pillar, a former CIA officer now at Georgetown University.
Trump's first campaign event of the year is aimed at keeping white evangelicals on his side after a prominent Christian magazine called the president immoral and supported his impeachment. He will visit a Miami megachurch today to speak at an event his campaign says is intended to launch an "Evangelicals for Trump" coalition. "He needs those votes," said the American Enterprise Institute's Matthew Continetti.
The U.S. is warning Argentine President Alberto Fernandez his early foreign policy moves may jeopardize both support from the IMF and American investment in the nation's vast shale oil and gas fields, a senior official said. Sheltering former Bolivian President Evo Morales and engaging with Nicolas Maduro's regime in Venezuela crossed a red line.
The death toll from Australia's wildfires rose to 20 as a state of emergency was declared. A mass evacuation of tourists was ordered for a 217-mile stretch of coast from Nowra to the Victoria state border, where a similar emergency is in force. And more disaster in Asia: At least 42 people died from New Year's Day flooding in Indonesia's greater Jakarta area, with more than 400,000 evacuated.
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