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An Iran-backed militia vowed on Monday to retaliate for US military strikes in Iraq and Syria which killed 25 of its fighters and wounded dozens. "Our battle with America and its mercenaries is now open to all possibilities," Kataib Hizbollah said in a statement. "We have no alternative today other than confrontation and there is nothing that will prevent us from responding to this crime."   Iraq described the attacks on Kataib Hizbollah as a “flagrant violation” of its sovereignty, and Iran said the airstrikes were “an obvious case of terrorism”. Moqtada al-Sadr, the notorious Iraqi Shia cleric, said on Monday that he was willing to work with Iran-backed militia groups - his political rivals - to end the United States military presence in Iraq through political and legal means. If that does not work, he will "take other actions" in cooperation with his rivals to kick out US troops. Sadr's militia fought US troops for years following Washington's invasion of Iraq in 2003. Iraqi Shiite cleric and leader Moqtada al-Sadr attends a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister in Najaf on June 23, 2018 The US launched strikes against five targets in Iraq and Syria on Sunday, aiming to damage Kataib Hizbollah – a separate entity to the better-known Hizbollah, based in Lebanon. The US blames the group for the killing last week of an American contractor in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base. The US attack - the largest targeting an Iraqi state-sanctioned militia since 2011 - represents a new escalation in the proxy war between the US and Iran playing out in the Middle East. Russia’s foreign ministry called the “exchange of strikes” between Kataib Hizbollah and US forces in Iraq “unacceptable,” and called for restraint from both sides. “We consider such actions unacceptable and counterproductive. We call upon all parties to refrain from further actions that could sharply destabilise the military-political situation in Iraq, Syria, and the neighboring countries,” a ministry statement said. Thousands of protesters blocked roads and bridges across southern Iraq on Dec 23, condemning Iranian influence and political leaders who missed another deadline to agree on a new prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, praised the “important” strikes, in a phone call to Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state. Mr Netanyahu “congratulated him on the important US action against Iran and its proxies in the region,” according to a statement issued by the Israeli leader’s office. Mr Pompeo said the strikes send the message that the US will not tolerate actions by Iran that jeopardise American lives. “We have repeatedly – the president, the secretary of state - made clear that if we are attacked by the regime or its proxies we will respond,” said Brian Hook, Donald Trump’s special envoy to Iran.  He refused to comment on further possible actions. The US has maintained some 5,000 troops in Iraq at the invitation of the Iraqi government, to help assist in the fight against the Islamic State group. But on Monday Iraq’s prime minister, Adel Abdul Mahdi, said that invitation could now be rescinded. "The prime minister described the American attack on the Iraqi armed forces as an unacceptable vicious assault that will have dangerous consequences," his office said.

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Dozens of Iraqi Shiite militiamen and their supporters broke into the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad on Tuesday, smashing a main door and setting fire to a reception area, prompting tear gas and sounds of gunfire, angered over deadly U.S. airstrikes targeting the Iran-backed militia. An Associated Press reporter at the scene saw flames rising from inside the compound and at least three U.S. soldiers on the roof of the main embassy building. It followed deadly U.S. airstrikes on Sunday that killed 25 fighters of the Iran-backed militia in Iraq, the Kataeb Hezbollah.

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A St. Petersburg court on Monday ordered the detention of two Russian men who were arrested on a tip provided by the U.S. and are suspected of plotting unspecified terrorist attacks in the city during the New Year holidays. The Dzerzhinsky District Court ruled that the suspects identified as Nikita Semyonov and Georgy Chernyshev should remain in custody pending their trial. The FSB didn't elaborate on their alleged motives or targets, but Russia's state television reported that the suspects had recorded a video swearing their allegiance to the Islamic State group.

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Former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn said Tuesday he had fled to Lebanon to escape injustice in Japan, where he was on bail awaiting trial on financial misconduct charges. The auto tycoon's abrupt departure was the latest twist in a rollercoaster journey that saw him fall from boardroom to detention centre and sparked questions over an embarrassing security lapse in Japan. It was not clear how he managed to leave Japan, as his bail conditions barred him from exiting the country he had been held in since his sudden arrest in November 2018 sent shockwaves through the business world.

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Andrew Yang is urging the Democratic National Committee to take an unorthodox step in its debate oversight process: commission more polling over the next several days. In a letter sent to DNC Chairman Tom Perez on Dec. 21, obtained by The Daily Beast, the Democratic contender calls for the DNC to commission four early-state polls before Jan. 10 as part of an effort to encourage more diversity on the debate stage in Iowa. “With the upcoming holidays and meager number of polls currently out in the field, a diverse set of candidates might be absent from the stage in Des Moines for reasons out of anyone’s control,” Yang wrote. “This is a troubling prospect for our party. Regardless of the DNC’s best intentions, voters would cry foul and could even make unfounded claims of bias and prejudice.”Yang, who qualified for the first six debates but has yet to reach the polling threshold for the seventh, was the only candidate of color on stage at the recent Los Angeles event. Andrew Yang Goes Mainstream in New Million-Dollar Ad CampaignSo far, the five candidates who have qualified for the CNN-hosted Jan. 14 event at Drake University—former Vice President Joe Biden, Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg—are all white.Yang has met the individual donor requirement and one qualifying poll, but has three left before he can clear the criteria, and believes commissioning more qualifying polls would be a “simple solution.” Yang, an entrepreneur who’s had flashes of momentum throughout the Democatic primary in some early states, contends the biggest barrier to allowing “a diverse set of candidates” to debate at the next event is the lack of recent qualifying polls that meet the committee’s specifications.It’s been over a month since a poll in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, or South Carolina has been taken, the letter contends, which would not take into account any potential polling bumps from candidates’ recent performances at the sixth debate earlier this month. “As you know, big shifts can happen within short periods in this race, as we’ve already witnessed multiple times,” Yang wrote.Democrats Must Not Have an All-White Debate—and the White Candidates Should Say SoMore polls, “would provide an accurate snapshot of the current state of the race and where voters’ hearts and minds are, thus getting ahead of an imminent problem,” he wrote. A DNC official pointed to 26 total qualifying polls for the December debate. For the January event, the qualifying window was one week longer, in part to account for holidays, the official said.    “The DNC has been more than inclusive throughout this entire process with an expansive list of qualifying polls, including 26 polls for the December debate, more than half of which were state polls,” the official told The Daily Beast. “The DNC will not sponsor its own debate-qualifying polls of presidential candidates during a primary. This would break with the long standing practice of both parties using independent polling for debate qualification, and it would be an inappropriate use of DNC resources that should be directed at beating Donald Trump.”The correspondence is the first time Yang has written Perez. A senior campaign official said the team has not heard back from the chairman directly, but did receive an acknowledgement that it was received from DNC staff. “Andrew Yang has managed to create a broad coalition for the future of our country and we, as a party, need to keep bringing more people into the fold instead of trying to keep people out of the political process,” a senior Yang campaign official said, noting that the team now has nearly 400,000 donors and 1 million contributions, figures first shared with The Daily Beast. Yang’s campaign expects to raise at least $12.5 million in the fourth quarter, 25 percent more money than in the previous one, his campaign said. Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

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SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Bosnia's war crimes prosecutor on Tuesday charged a former Bosnian Serb general with aiding genocide in the 1995 massacre at the eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica. More than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were killed when Bosnian Serb troops captured the U.N.-protected enclave of Srebrenica in July 1995 during the Bosnian war.

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Worshippers in the US state of Texas shot dead a gunman who opened fire during a livestreamed Sunday service, ending an attack that killed two parishioners, authorities said. The latest US shooting at a house of worship took place in the suburban Fort Worth community of White Settlement on Sunday morning when the gunman entered West Freeway Church of Christ, officials said. "A couple of members of the church returned fire, striking the suspect who died at the scene," White Settlement Police Chief J.P. Bevering told reporters.

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Japanese authorities are trying to find out how Ghosn, one of its highest-profile defendants, managed to evade surveillance and leave the country.

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The Pentagon thinks so.

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Al-Qosh (Irak) (AFP) - In the glow of the nine-candled menorah, with kippa skullcaps on their heads and tallit prayer shawls around their shoulders, a small association is working to revive Hanukkah in Iraq. The country has been nearly emptied of its Jewish community amid regional conflict and violence within its borders, but this year, the town of Al-Qosh hosted its first Hanukkah celebrations. Al-Qosh is a majority Christian town around 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of Mosul, the former self-proclaimed "capital" of the Islamic State group (IS) in Iraq.

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Senate Bill 535 took effect in September and allows licensed handgun owners to carry their weapons into places of worship.

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Mysterious groups of giant drones have appeared in the Colorado and Nebraska night sky since last week, the Denver Post reported.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office has proposed waiving a tax on coal to help finance pollution-curbing equipment, according to documents, but the move would also make coal more competitive in price with solar and wind energy. Modi's office has proposed waiving the carbon tax of 400 rupees ($5.61) per tonne that was levied on the production and import of coal, according to the documents reviewed by Reuters. The documents say the savings would improve the financial health of utilities and distribution companies, and help the power producers to install pollution-curbing equipment.

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Ride-share company Uber and on-demand meal delivery service Postmates sued Monday to block a broad new California law aimed at giving wage and benefit protections to people who work as independent contractors. Uber said it will try to link the lawsuit to another legal challenge filed in mid-December by associations representing freelance writers and photographers. The California Trucking Association filed the first challenge to the law in November on behalf of independent truckers.

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Over Sen. Mitch McConnell's "total coordination" with the Trump White House, Rep. Val Demings, said the Kentucky Republican "must recuse himself."

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(Bloomberg) -- A trade deal between the U.S. and Japan that cuts tariffs on some agricultural products and industrial goods took effect Wednesday, with little indication the two sides would meet a pledge to soon start a new round of talks broadening the pact.Under the deal, Japan reduced tariffs on beef, pork and additional U.S. agricultural products to the same levels it grants other trading partners in the Trans-Pacific Partnership regional trade agreement. Japan failed to secure its goal of reduced tariffs on the cars and auto parts it exports to America.President Donald Trump had threatened the close U.S. ally with punitive tariffs on a $50 billion-a-year sector that is a cornerstone of its economy. While there has been no written pledge from Trump to halt extra tariffs on autos, Japan’s government has said U.S. officials -- including the president -- gave assurances that they would not be introduced. In one concession to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japan’s politically sensitive rice industry was excluded from the agricultural market opening with the U.S.Trump was eager to make a deal with Japan to boost his re-election campaign by appeasing U.S. farmers who have been largely shut out of the Chinese market as a result of his trade war with Beijing. American agricultural producers, also reeling from bad weather and low commodity prices, are a core component of Trump’s political base.The U.S. and China agreed to the first phase of a broader trade agreement in December, but have yet to sign the deal that hinges on China increasing purchases of American farm goods such as soybeans and pork, and making new commitments on intellectual property, forced technology transfer and currency.Where U.S.-Japan Trade Talks Have Led and Are Going: QuickTakeFurther OpeningsThe U.S. and Japan said in a statement published when their initial deal was made in 2019 that they intended to agree to other areas for further trade openings within four months and start negotiations on issues including tariffs, trade in services and barriers to investment.But neither side seems up for a fresh battle on trade after Trump secured a deal he could trumpet to farmers. Japan could face threats on other fronts if it starts a fresh round and isn’t keen to sit down again with its second-biggest trade partner.“The second round of talks with Japan will be a low priority for the Trump administration,” said Junichi Sugawara, senior research officer at the Mizuho Research Institute. Trump was already struggling to reach agreements with China and the European Union as he heads into the November election. The U.S. is likely to demand a clause on currency manipulation, Sugawara said. While Japan says the two leaders have agreed to have their finance ministers discuss exchange rate matters, the issue was still likely to come up in a comprehensive agreement.The U.S. side is also showing interest in opening up Japan’s finance, services and investment markets and may press for more agricultural access. Even the threat of a 25% tariff on autos hasn’t necessarily disappeared, Sugawara said.To contact the reporters on this story: Isabel Reynolds in Tokyo at ireynolds1@bloomberg.net;Emi Nobuhiro in Tokyo at enobuhiro@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Jon Herskovitz, Karen LeighFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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Wildfires burning across Australia's two most populous states Tuesday trapped residents of a seaside town in apocalyptic conditions and killed at least two people while more property along the country's east coast fell victim to a devastating fire season. About 4,000 residents in the southeastern town of Mallacoota in Victoria state fled toward the water Tuesday morning as winds pushed an emergency-level wildfire toward their homes.

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What's the goal of this cooperation?

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The year 2020 will most likely mark the end of President Trump's impeachment saga, but it won't stop the flow of scandals from this White House. It probably won't even bring real resolution to the Ukraine scandal that set the impeachment in motion.We might be stuck with the refuse of this presidency forever, condemned to an endless stream of revelations long after Trump himself has left the scene.To understand why, one only has to look at this weekend's report from The New York Times offering new revelations about the Ukraine scandal — including news that Defense Secretary Mark Esper, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and then-National Security Adviser John Bolton fruitlessly joined forces to oppose the freezing of military aid. Trump, the Times reported, refused their entreaties.Some observers suggested the new revelations should increase the pressure on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to allow new witnesses at the impeachment trial, whenever it presumably takes place."Many of these officials who were directly involved with Trump's freezing of aid are the same ones Trump blocked from appearing before the House impeachment inquiry," wrote Greg Sargent at The Washington Post. "This should make it inescapable that McConnell wants a trial with no testimony from these people ... precisely because he, too, wants to prevent us from ever gaining a full accounting."It is, of course, impossible to shame McConnell into doing anything he doesn't want to do. But that doesn't mean he can prevent a full accounting. Instead, the Times report — coming after impeachment itself was already completed in the House — suggests our understanding of the scandal will evolve for years to come, as documents emerge and administration officials decide to put their memories on the record.We know this for a couple of reasons.First, there is no shortage of source material. Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of the Trump campaign's connections with Russia may be over, but it wasn't complete: The president obstructed the investigation, and Mueller himself left open the question of whether Trump colluded with foreign agents to influence the election. "If we had had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so," the prosecutor said at a press appearance in May. Between the loose ends of that investigation and the untapped testimony of the Ukraine matter, there is still a lot of information out there yet to be revealed. We may not find out all of Trump's secrets anytime soon, but we'll probably learn a lot of them, and the revelations will not be pretty. What we do know is already ugly enough to warrant the rare act of impeachment.We also know that big scandals tend to endure, and to give up their secrets over the years and decades. That is true even when we have, as a society, achieved some level of closure. Former President Richard Nixon resigned after the Watergate scandal led him to the precipice of impeachment, but the slow release of tapes and documents, as well as congressional efforts to prevent another administration from repeating Nixon's sins, kept the story alive in the headlines for years. It took three decades for "Deep Throat" to be outed as former FBI official Mark Felt in 2005, and that was still one of the biggest stories of the year.The Trump administration will be making new — possibly shocking — headlines for many years to come. Yesterday it was Russia. Today it's Ukraine. Tomorrow it might be something else entirely. This is a never-ending scandal.This Senate almost certainly will not oust Trump. So the best we can hope for is that history buries him under piles of ignominy and shame. That is small consolation — we live in the here and now, when we would benefit more from this president leaving office than we will from the judgment of history. But Trump's eternal loss of face in tomorrow's textbooks may have to do as consolation. The impeachment process is nearly complete, but our collective reckoning with Trump's behavior has just begun.Want more essential commentary and analysis like this delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for The Week's "Today's best articles" newsletter here.More stories from theweek.com The Obama legacy is not what many liberals think The first decade in history Trump's State Department reportedly launched a full-fledged investigation to find out which employee liked a Chelsea Clinton tweet

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Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden declared on Monday that he’d be open to a Republican as his running mate should he win the nomination, though he was unable to come up with a specific name.During a campaign stop in New Hampshire, the 77-year-old former vice president—who has been running on a platform that he can bridge the nation’s partisan divide—was asked by one woman about the possibility that he could lead a bipartisan ticket.“Our 21-year-old son said the other night, ‘I wonder if Joe Biden would consider choosing a Republican as a running mate,’” the New Hampshire voter wondered.“The answer is I would, but I can’t think of one now,” Biden answered, adding: “You know, there’s some really decent Republicans that are out there still, but here’s the problem right now, with the well-known ones—they’ve got to step up.”Biden, who has previously said he’d prefer to pick a woman and/or a person of color as his veep, went on to point out that there are “a lot of qualified women” and African-Americans to choose from.“There really truly are,” he said. “There’s a plethora of really qualified people. Whomever I would pick were I fortunate enough to be your nominee, I’d pick somebody who was simpatico with me, who knew what I, what my priorities were and knew what I wanted to.”This is far from the first time that a “unity” ticket has been discussed. Prior to selecting Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, for instance, 2008 GOP nominee John McCain seriously considered picking former Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) as veep.Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

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Angered by US air strikes that killed two dozen fighters, hundreds of protesters spilled through checkpoints in the high-security Green Zone, demanding the ouster of US troops from Iraq and voicing loyalty to a powerful Iranian general, Qasem Soleimani of the Revolutionary Guard Corps. US President Donald Trump blamed Tehran and warned that it would face punishment if Americans are killed.

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New Year's revelers and pro-democracy protesters were flocking to sites across Hong Kong on Tuesday to see out 2019. The semi-autonomous Chinese city has toned down the usually raucous celebrations this year amid continuing demonstrations that began in June in opposition to proposed extradition legislation. A fireworks display that traditionally lights up famed Victoria Harbor was canceled amid safety concerns, while some roads have been closed and barriers set up in the Lan Kwai Fong nightlife district for crowd control.

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The swarm appears to be practicing a search for ... something.

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Former President Jimmy Carter publicly appeared Sunday at the Georgia church where he worships for the first time since undergoing brain surgery in November. The 95-year-old Carter and his wife of more than 70 years, Rosalynn, attended services at the Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains on Sunday, news outlets reported. Parishioners also prayed for the Carters, who were nestled into front-row seats at the church where Carter famously has taught Sunday school.

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(Bloomberg) -- Iraq resumed pumping at the Nasiriya oil field a day after protesters forced it to halt operations, the government said, as widespread unrest starts to take a toll on the country’s most important industry.Employees returned to work at the field in southern Iraq after authorities cleared away protesters who had cut roads to the area, Oil Ministry spokesman Asim Jihad said Monday in a statement. OPEC’s second-biggest producer maintained its overall output level during the halt by pumping more oil at its Basra fields to offset the loss of about 80,000 to 85,000 barrels a day from Nasiriya, Jihad said earlier.Nasiriya’s oil refinery, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the field, also restarted after shutting down on Sunday when about 700 protesters blocked worker access to the plant, according to a person familiar with the operations. The refinery in the southern province of Thiqar processes crude into gasoline, fuel oil and kerosene sold mostly in the province. All three of its units are back on line, the person said, asking not to be identified due to the matter’s sensitivity.Protesters -- most of them unemployed and some of them recent graduates -- have rallied repeatedly over the past two months near southern oil fields and refineries, though Nasiriya was the first field to be closed due to the disturbances. Iraq is the largest producer, after Saudi Arabia, in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. It pumps most its oil at deposits in the south, exporting cargoes by sea through the Persian Gulf.Iraq’s oil production is in line with limits set by OPEC and the group’s global allies, Jihad said. The so-called OPEC+ coalition has decided to reduce its collective output until the end of March in an effort to balance the market and prop up crude prices.Around 500 people have died and more than 22,000 others have been wounded in clashes between security forces and protesters since Oct. 1. Iraqis, mostly from the Shiite majority population, are protesting against government corruption, poor services, and wide-ranging Iranian political influence, calling for an overhaul of the ruling class.(Updates with refinery restarting in third paragraph)\--With assistance from Salma El Wardany.To contact the reporter on this story: Khalid Al-Ansary in Baghdad at kalansary@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Bruce Stanley at bstanley5@bloomberg.net, James HerronFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

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Carley McCord was one of five people killed in a small plane crash in Louisiana over the weekend

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Joe Biden, the US presidential hopeful, has indicated he would comply with a subpoena demanding his testimony in Donald Trump’s Senate impeachment trial, reversing a previous insistence he would dismiss any such request.  Mr Biden, the former US vice president seeking the Democratic nomination for the 2020 election, tweeted that during four decades in both Congress and the White House he had “always complied with a lawful order”.  He went a step further while out campaigning in the state of Iowa, telling the audience at a town hall event on Saturday: “I would obey any subpoena that was sent to me”.  The new position contradicts the stance Mr Biden, the Democratic primary front-runner, had taken just a day before, when he insisted he would reject any demand to give evidence in the impeachment trial.  “The reason I wouldn’t is because it’s all designed to deal with Trump doing what he’s done his whole life: trying to take the focus off him,” Mr Biden had told the editorial board of The Des Moines Register on Friday. A trial over whether to remove Donald Trump from office is expect to be held by the US Senate in January Credit: Nicholas Kamm / AFP That original position risked a backlash, given it was Mr Trump’s refusal to comply with subpoenas - legally binding demands for evidence or documents - issued by Congressional committees which fuelled the impeachment drive.  The changing position reflects the difficult Mr Biden faces over impeachment. It was Mr Trump seeking an investigation from Ukraine into Mr Biden and his son Hunter Biden, who once worked for a Ukrainian natural gas company, which triggered the impeachment inquiry.  Mr Biden has made clear his frustration at being asked questions about his behaviour, seeing it as an attempt by the White House to harm his candidacy and distract from Mr Trump's actions in office.  Joe Biden and his son Hunter at a basketball game in 2010 Credit: AP Photo/Nick Wass Mr Trump, the US president, has been impeached by the House of Representatives, one half of the US Congress.  The Senate, the other half, is expected to hold a trial in January over whether to remove him from office.  Given the Republicans hold a majority of seats in the Senate they can decide which witnesses are called, if no senators rebel. Some want both Bidens to give evidence. Both Bidens have always denied any wrongdoing in Ukraine.  Mr Biden tweeted: "In my 40 years in public life, I have always complied with a lawful order and in my eight years as VP, my office — unlike Donald Trump and Mike Pence — cooperated with legitimate congressional oversight requests. “But I am just not going to pretend that there is any legal basis for Republican subpoenas for my testimony in the impeachment trial." He added: "This impeachment is about Trump’s conduct, not mine.”

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A plane crashed Saturday in Lafayette, Louisiana, killing five people. One person on board survived. Passersby pulled person from flaming wreckage.

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A man charged with federal hate crimes Monday in a bloody attack on a Hanukkah celebration had handwritten journals containing anti-Semitic references and had recently used his phone to look up information on Hitler and the location of synagogues, authorities said. Grafton Thomas, 37, was held without bail after appearing in federal court in White Plains on five counts of obstructing the free exercise of religious beliefs by attempting to kill with a dangerous weapon. Five people were stabbed and slashed in the Saturday attack north of New York City.

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An Iran-backed militia vowed on Monday to retaliate for US military strikes in Iraq and Syria which killed 25 of its fighters and wounded dozens. "Our battle with America and its mercenaries is now open to all possibilities," Kataib Hizbollah said in a statement. "We have no alternative today other than confrontation and there is nothing that will prevent us from responding to this crime."   Iraq described the attacks on Kataib Hizbollah as a “flagrant violation” of its sovereignty, and Iran said the airstrikes were “an obvious case of terrorism”. Moqtada al-Sadr, the notorious Iraqi Shia cleric, said on Monday that he was willing to work with Iran-backed militia groups - his political rivals - to end the United States military presence in Iraq through political and legal means. If that does not work, he will "take other actions" in cooperation with his rivals to kick out US troops. Sadr's militia fought US troops for years following Washington's invasion of Iraq in 2003. Iraqi Shiite cleric and leader Moqtada al-Sadr attends a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister in Najaf on June 23, 2018 The US launched strikes against five targets in Iraq and Syria on Sunday, aiming to damage Kataib Hizbollah – a separate entity to the better-known Hizbollah, based in Lebanon. The US blames the group for the killing last week of an American contractor in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base. The US attack - the largest targeting an Iraqi state-sanctioned militia since 2011 - represents a new escalation in the proxy war between the US and Iran playing out in the Middle East. Russia’s foreign ministry called the “exchange of strikes” between Kataib Hizbollah and US forces in Iraq “unacceptable,” and called for restraint from both sides. “We consider such actions unacceptable and counterproductive. We call upon all parties to refrain from further actions that could sharply destabilise the military-political situation in Iraq, Syria, and the neighboring countries,” a ministry statement said. Thousands of protesters blocked roads and bridges across southern Iraq on Dec 23, condemning Iranian influence and political leaders who missed another deadline to agree on a new prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, praised the “important” strikes, in a phone call to Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state. Mr Netanyahu “congratulated him on the important US action against Iran and its proxies in the region,” according to a statement issued by the Israeli leader’s office. Mr Pompeo said the strikes send the message that the US will not tolerate actions by Iran that jeopardise American lives. “We have repeatedly – the president, the secretary of state - made clear that if we are attacked by the regime or its proxies we will respond,” said Brian Hook, Donald Trump’s special envoy to Iran.  He refused to comment on further possible actions. The US has maintained some 5,000 troops in Iraq at the invitation of the Iraqi government, to help assist in the fight against the Islamic State group. But on Monday Iraq’s prime minister, Adel Abdul Mahdi, said that invitation could now be rescinded. "The prime minister described the American attack on the Iraqi armed forces as an unacceptable vicious assault that will have dangerous consequences," his office said.

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KIEV/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists in the east completed a large-scale prisoner swap on Sunday after bussing scores of detainees in the five-year conflict to an exchange point in the breakaway Donbass region. The swap should help build confidence between the two sides, who are wrangling over how to implement a peace deal after the loss of more than 13,000 lives, but major disagreements remain and full normalization is far off. Ukraine said 76 pro-government detainees were handed over, while separatists said they took 120 of their prisoners during the swap at a checkpoint near the industrial town of Horlivka.

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In their BBC interview, Thunberg called Attenborough "inspiring," and he praised her for having "achieved things that many of us ... have failed to."

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(Bloomberg) -- Bernie Sanders helped light a menorah at a “Chanukah on Ice” event at an Iowa ice skating rink Sunday night, and condemned a rise in anti-semitism in America and “all over the world.”It’s rare to see the U.S. senator from Vermont, who is a secular Jew, in a religious setting while running for the Democratic presidential nomination.The annual Hanukkah event, organized by Des Moines Rabbi Yossi Jacobson, came less than 24 hours after an intruder stabbed five people at a rabbi’s home in the New York City suburb of Monsey Saturday night.“What we’re seeing right now -- we’re seeing it in America, we’re seeing it all over the world -- is a rise in anti-semitism. We’re seeing a rise in hate crimes,” Sanders said.“We’re seeing somebody run into a kid here in Des Moines because that child was a Latino. We’re seeing people being stabbed yesterday in New York City because they were Jewish. We are seeing people being assaulted because they are Muslim,” he told an audience of about 90 gathered on a frigid Iowa winter night.“And as the rabbi indicated, if there was ever a time in American history where we say no to religious bigotry, this is the time,” he said.Sanders talked about his father immigrating at age 17 from Poland, “fleeing anti-semitism and fleeing violence and fleeing terrible, terrible poverty.”Sanders joked about not burning down the ice skating rink before lighting the menorah candles with a blowtorch provided by the event organizers. He joined in, reading the words, as the rabbi sang a blessing. An icy wind blew his borrowed kippah off his head at one point.As Jacobson and his wife, Chana, who run Maccabee’s Kosher Deli in Des Moines, handed out latkes and doughnuts, the rabbi noted that Sanders rarely talks about Judaism on the campaign trail.That has raised questions about whether he’s uncomfortable with his Jewish identity, Jacobson said.Jacobson said Sanders was reluctant at first to accept the invitation to light the menorah candles, but once he did, he embraced the evening with enthusiasm.Jacobson said he asked Sanders his Hebrew name. Binyamin, Sanders answered.The rabbi said he gave Sanders a blessing, “for his health.”To contact the reporter on this story: Jennifer Jacobs in Washington at jjacobs68@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Elizabeth Wasserman, Kasia KlimasinskaFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

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Michael Moore has warned Donald Trump could lose the popular vote by 5 million but still win the 2020 election, given the Electoral College system.In 2016, Mr Trump won almost 3 million fewer votes than Hillary Clinton but comfortably won the election by winning key states.

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Worshippers in the US state of Texas shot dead a gunman who opened fire during a livestreamed Sunday service, ending an attack that killed two parishioners, authorities said. The latest US shooting at a house of worship took place in the suburban Fort Worth community of White Settlement on Sunday morning when the gunman entered West Freeway Church of Christ, officials said. "A couple of members of the church returned fire, striking the suspect who died at the scene," White Settlement Police Chief J.P. Bevering told reporters.

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The United States carried out airstrikes in Iraq and Syria on Sunday, targeting weapons and munitions depots used by Kataib Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militia.Over the last two months, there have been 11 rocket attacks against bases used by the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State. U.S. officials said Sunday's airstrikes were in response to an attack that took place in Kirkuk, Iraq, on Friday, which left one U.S. contractor dead and four U.S. troops injured.Kataib Hezbollah is connected to Iran's paramilitary Quds Forces, U.S. officials told The Wall Street Journal, and the Pentagon said the airstrikes are meant to serve as a warning to stop attacking the coalition's bases. A Kataib Hezbollah official said 25 members of the militia were killed in the airstrikes.More stories from theweek.com The best headlines of 2019 Giants, Browns fire head coaches on otherwise quiet 'Black Monday' Republicans are still trying to steal your health insurance

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A Sri Lankan Court on Monday granted bail to a Swiss Embassy employee who was detained pending charges that she made statements to create disaffection toward the government and fabricated evidence. Before her arrest, the employee, a Sri Lankan national, had reportedly said she was abducted, held for hours, sexually assaulted and threatened by captors who demanded that she disclose embassy-related information. Sri Lankan authorities have said they investigated her complaint but found no evidence to file charges against anyone.

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(Bloomberg) -- A Saudi Arabian court sentenced a Yemeni man to death for stabbing three performers at a theater show in the capital last month in an attack ordered by al-Qaeda, state-run TV reported.Another defendant was jailed for 12 1/2 years, Al Ekhbariya channel reported, citing the criminal court. The attack, in which three people were injured, was ordered by al-Qaeda in neighboring Yemen, the broadcaster said. It didn’t specify where it got the information.The mid-November attack in Riyadh came as the conservative kingdom undergoes a drastic overhaul of its social norms spearheaded by its young crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman. Saudis have been granted freedoms that include the loosening of rules on women’s attire and travel as well as the mixing of genders in conjunction with a plan to wean the economy off oil.The court rulings were preliminary and both defendants can file appeals.\--With assistance from Sarah Algethami.To contact the reporter on this story: Reema Alothman in Riyadh at ralothman1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Donna Abu-Nasr at dabunasr@bloomberg.net, Michael Gunn, Bruce StanleyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

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Republican Senator John Kennedy, a frequent defender of President Donald Trump, said on Sunday there were no real rules for how the U.S. Senate should run its impeachment trial and that the chamber could choose to hear witnesses and evidence. "When it comes to impeachment, the rule is that there are virtually no substantive rules," Kennedy told CNN's "State of the Union." As a result, he said, there were plenty of steps the Senate could take, including forming a committee to hear evidence in the case. The Democratic-led House of Representatives impeached Republican Trump this month for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress charges stemming from his effort to get Ukraine to investigate political rival Joe Biden, a leading contender in the 2020 Democratic presidential race.

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The shooting took place at the West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, Texas

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The U.S. launched strike against Iranian military targets in Syria following a Friday attach in Iraq that killed one American.

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You've probably heard about President Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani getting involved with Ukraine, but he also played a role in back-channel negotiations regarding Venezuela, The Washington Post reports. And nobody was really sure why.In September 2018, Giuliani, who isn't an official member of the Trump administration, reportedly listened in on a phone call between Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and then-Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) — who went on to assist Giuliani in the ouster of former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch — in which the sides discussed easing Maduro from power.When White House officials eventually found out about Giuliani's participation in the phone call, alarms bell went off, the Post reports. They reportedly couldn't figure out why someone in a private role was getting involved in a shadow diplomatic effort, especially because Giuliani and Sessions' plan went against the White House's official sanctions-heavy stance championed by former National Security Adviser John Bolton. "We didn't know why Rudy was involved at the time," a former senior administration official said.Giuliani reportedly met with Bolton around the time of the phone call to discuss the softer proposal, and sources told the Post it didn't go well. Washington went on to stick with the tougher line.It's not exactly clear why Giuliani was involved in the discussions or how large his role was, but even if it was just the one phone call, the White House still found it a head-scratcher. Read more at The Washington Post.More stories from theweek.com The best headlines of 2019 Giants, Browns fire head coaches on otherwise quiet 'Black Monday' Republicans are still trying to steal your health insurance

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(Bloomberg) -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte continued his attacks on a local television network he’s accused in the past of bias, and urged owners of ABS-CBN Corp. to sell before its franchise expires in March.In a televised speech delivered in the local language at Davao City on Monday, Duterte suggested the media firm’s franchise renewal is uncertain. He had earlier threatened to block the network’s bid to extend the franchise for 25 years.“Your contract is expiring. I’m not sure what will happen if you renew,” he said. “If I were you, I would just sell.”Duterte has accused ABS-CBN as well as privately-owned Philippine Daily Inquirer of unfair reporting, allegations that the media companies have denied. The president’s criticisms of ABS-CBN pushed its share price to a decade low earlier this month. The stock ended 2019 with a 21% loss compared with the local benchmark index’s 4.7% gain for the year.Duterte also resumed his criticism of water utilities for alleged corruption, threatening to arrest and jail the owners of Manila Water Co. and Maynilad Water Services Inc. He reiterated a plan for a military takeover of the operations.Manila Water of Ayala Corp. and Maynilad owners Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and DMCI Holdings Inc. are among the worst-performing Philippine stocks this year, plunging since early December when Duterte started his censure.“For those of you asking where are the big fish in my fight against corruption, I’ll deliver them: Ayala and Pangilinan,” he said. “If they do something wrong, I’ll really jail them,” Duterte said, referring to the family of Jaime Augusto Zobel, which owns Manila Water and Manuel Pangilinan, who chairs Metro Pacific.The two tycoons didn’t immediately respond to requests for comments.Manila Water plunged 63% this year despite a rebound in the final week of trading ending Dec. 27. Metro Pacific was down 25%, while DMCI tumbled 48%.To contact the reporters on this story: Andreo Calonzo in Manila at acalonzo1@bloomberg.net;Clarissa Batino in Manila at cbatino@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Sam Nagarajan at samnagarajan@bloomberg.net, ;Cecilia Yap at cyap19@bloomberg.net, Clarissa BatinoFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

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Turkish police detained 94 people suspected of ties to Islamic State in nationwide raids on Monday ahead of New Year celebrations, police and state media said, two months after the group's leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed. Counter-terror police carried out the operations in the central provinces of Ankara, Kayseri and Adana, and Batman in the southeast, state-owned Anadolu news agency reported. At 5 a.m. (0200 GMT) in Batman, some 400 police officers detained 22 people in simultaneous raids on various addresses, seizing weapons, ammunition and documents, Anadolu said.

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CALI, Colombia—A municipal police chief in northern Mexico has been arrested for an alleged role in the deaths of three women and six children—all dual U.S.-Mexican citizens—on November 4.Fidel Alejandro Villegas, aka El Chiquilín (The Kid), is the police chief of Janos, Chihuahua. The municipality borders the U.S. and sits about 105 miles across the state line from the site of the massacre in neighboring Sonora. It’s also on the same route the families had planned to travel on the day they were ambushed.Why the Drug War Can’t Be Won—Cartel Corruption Goes All the Way to the TopThe victims were members of the LeBaron and Langford clans, which are part of a breakaway sect of Mormons long established in both Chihuahua and Sonora. Villegas, who was detained on Thursday, is now awaiting trial in Mexico City. He is the fifth person to be arrested as part of an investigation that has at times seemed scattershot, since the other suspects have all been picked up under questionable circumstances. Mexican federal officials claim the mothers and children were accidental victims in a turf war between rival crime groups. And prosecutors allege Villegas is tied to one of those groups, called La Línea, which is the armed enforcement wing of the Juárez Cartel and has a strong presence in Janos. Surviving members of the Mormon families reject the official “accident hypothesis” and claim they were targeted deliberately  on a remote stretch of highway last month, and family spokesperson Julián LeBaron says he was less than surprised by the alleged involvement of a high-level police officer in the region.“The entire northwest [of Mexico] has a reputation that all police officers work for organized crime,” he said in an interview with Aristegui News, shortly after Villegas’ arrest. “And that's what high school kids tell you. It’s not a mystery.”* * *‘ENDEMIC’ CORRUPTION* * *Villegas’ detention raises as many questions as it answers. How was a police chief from a jurisdiction more than a hundred miles away from the crime scene, and in another state, actually involved? So far authorities have released scant details.Robert Bunker, an expert on international security at the University of Southern California, told The Daily Beast that corruption among security forces in Mexico has “metastasized over decades” to the point where it is “endemic.” The most infamous case of cops working with organized crime was the disappearance of 43 students in Guerrero state in September 2014, when police and soldiers allegedly teamed up with cartel sicarios to do away with the victims.Bunker noted that a law officer like Chief Chiquilín Villegas could have provided “departmental resources—vehicles, uniforms, intelligence, weapons or even personnel—to help facilitate the ambushes.” Another possibility, as Bunker noted, is that the investigation of Police Chief Villegas will be used to expose people who have “more intimate knowledge of the cartel and its operations.”Emmanuel Gallardo, an independent Mexican journalist who specializes in organized crime, agrees. “They’re going to investigate his bank accounts and his financial history for evidence of bribes and paybacks and where they might have come from.”A similar background investigation led to another high-profile arrest earlier this month, when Genaro García Luna, the central government's former National Security Minister and mastermind of the country’s ongoing Drug War, was arrested by U.S. authorities on charges of conspiring with the Sinaloa Cartel.“First Luna and now Chiquilín,” Gallardo said. “This shows again the relationship the cartels have with the state. We cannot think of Mexican authorities and organized crime as separate entities. They are part of the same problem, part of the same world.” “This is why Mexicans are frustrated. Why they are afraid,” Gallardo said. “When a violent crime happens you can’t go to the police because there is a high probability the same cops who are listening to your complaint are working with drug traffickers and assassins. This is the reason that 98 percent of homicides go unsolved in Mexico.”* * *TORTURE, DEATH THREATS, STARVATION* * *Added to the persistent failure to nail the killers is the equally persistent inclination of authorities to round up “the usual suspects,” then let them go. The first man arrested in the LeBaron case, just two days after the shooting, already has been released. Three other men were rolled up in Janos the first week of December, amid government claims that they were high-ranking members of La Línea. But protests erupted after friends and family members claimed the men had been framed. Janos Mayor Sebastián Efraín Pineda also backed the families, telling news outlets he knew the arrestees personally and that “they’re not criminal leaders.” In that incident, authorities stand accused by the families of planting evidence and of trying to force confessions from the detained suspects.“Scapegoating to create guilty parties” remains a frequent problem in Mexico, journalist Gallardo said, citing the case of French national Florence Cassez, who was imprisoned for seven years in Mexico on trumped up kidnapping charges before judges overturned her sentence.“They can make you confess with several techniques,” said Gallardo. These including physical torture, death threats to loved ones, even starvation. “This is not like the States, where you can complain of human rights abuses. Here they can torture with impunity. They know how to push prisoners to say anything they want them to say,” Gallardo said. After the LeBaron killings, which made headlines around the world, the administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is “throwing suspects at the problem as it engages in damage control,” said USC’s Bunker. “At this level of Mexican politics it is not about getting the perpetrators or championing the rule of law—it is about making the problem go away as quickly as possible.” * * *AN ALL-OUT CARTEL WAR* * *Whatever comes of Chiquilín’s involvement—or the lack thereof—the killing of those nine women and children continues to cause ripples throughout the Mexican underworld.The area of eastern Sonora where the attack took place is said to be controlled by a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel under the rule of Iván Guzmán, 36, and Alfredo Guzmán, 30. These two sons of jailed kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán are known collectively as Los Chapitos. The other principal bloc of the Sinaloa Cartel is dominated by Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, a shadowy figure often referred to as “El Capo de Capos,” the Boss of Bosses, due to his power and longevity.As The Daily Beast reported shortly after the massacre, Zambada was none too happy about the bad publicity and the major heat brought down on the supposedly sovereign territory of the Sinaloa Cartel. The tension between El Mayo and Los Chapitos has continued to worsen, and could result in Mayo taking over the whole outfit from the Guzmán family.A source within one of the cartels that operate in the area, who agreed to speak only under condition of anonymity, described El Mayo as “an old-school man with Old Testament laws,” who has little time for the “Narco Juniors’” seeming frivolity. “A couple of weeks ago the little Chapo boys were supposed to attend a meeting [with Mayo] on the mountain. They were ‘too busy to go.’”Yet they have “plenty of time to post on Facebook about cars and pictures of money,” the source said, and added the Chapitos were “too impressed” with their position to be good bosses due to their “immaturity.”“They are getting weaker every day,” he said.Reporter Gallardo agreed with that assessment, saying: “El Mayo is respected. The Chapitos are young and spoiled.” Gallardo added that their growing vulnerability could have far-reaching consequences, in part due to a botched and bloody attempt to arrest two other, younger Guzmán brothers this fall. “The eyes of the federal government and of Washington are on them all now,” he said. “They can handle local authorities, but not the White House [or] joint operations with the DEA.”If Mayo, sensing weakness and ineptitude, moved against the younger faction, Gallardo said, the Chapitos “would just be killed. El Mayo has more resources and experience.” However, conflict like that could bleed both sides, and “open the door for other groups to move in and start taking over their territory,” including arch rivals like the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and La Línea’s parent group, the Juárez Cartel. Smelling blood, such enemies “would move in like hyenas,” touching off a kill-or-be-killed conflict between high-powered, paramilitary gangs, resulting in even higher levels of civilian deaths and collateral damage.“The last thing the Mexican government wants,” Gallardo said, “is an all-out cartel war.” But the savage murder of those women and children on a lonely road in northern Mexico could lead to exactly that.Trump Labeling Mexico’s Cartels ‘Terrorists’ Makes Things WorseRead more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

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President Donald Trump, who is withdrawing the US from the Paris climate accord, has a long record of expressing skepticism on climate science.

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A suspect has been arrested after five people were stabbed at a Hasidic rabbi’s New York home during a Hanukkah celebration, an attack Governor Andrew Cuomo has branded “domestic terrorism”.One person was very seriously wounded, the governor told reporters, and remains in critical condition. The rabbi’s son was also injured, Mr Cuomo said. His status and that of the other victims was not immediately clear.

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After a public uproar, The New York Times has revised a column by Bret Stephens that cited an academic paper co-authored by an anthropologist who has been branded a white nationalist.An editor’s note, appended to the column headlined “The Secrets of Jewish Genius,” says a reference to the 2005 study was removed and that Stephens did not know the author “promoted racist views.”“Mr. Stephens was not endorsing the study or its authors’ views, but it was a mistake to cite it uncritically,” the note said. “The effect was to leave an impression with many readers that Mr. Stephens was arguing that Jews are genetically superior. That was not his intent.” It noted that he “went on instead to argue that culture and history are crucial factors in Jewish achievements.”In the column, Stephens posed a question about Jews: “How is it that a people who never amounted even to one-third of 1 percent of the world’s population contributed so seminally to so many of its most pathbreaking ideas and innovations?”New York Times Columnist Bret Stephens Cites White Nationalist in ‘Jewish Genius’ ColumnHe said that Jews “are, or tend to be, smart” and then cited the 2005 paper “Natural History of Ashkenazi Intelligence” by Gregory Cochran, Jason Hardy, and Henry Harpending, which declares that Ashkenazi Jews have the highest average I.Q. of any ethnic group.It was quickly pointed out on social media that Harpending, who died in 2016, was listed as an extremist by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which listed his ideology as “white nationalist.” “Harpending has given talks on these ideas at white supremacist conferences, and is widely celebrated among white supremacists on forums like Stormfront and the Vanguard News Network, who see a champion for their cause behind his academic rhetoric,” the center said.Nieman Lab scholar Joshua Benton also pointed out in a Twitter thread that Cochran has a history of homophobia.In the paper “An Evolutionary Look at Human Homosexuality,” Cochran wrote that homosexuality, from a biological perspective, is “surely a disease.” “So it’s a bug,” Cochran wrote. “Somehow, the brain has been damaged, but in a limited and focused way.”Stephens—who previously stirred outrage by calling a professor’s boss to complain he compared him to a bedbug on Twitter—has not commented directly on the last controversy.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

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Tehran accused Paris on Sunday of "interference" in the case of an Iranian-French academic held in the Islamic republic, saying she is considered an Iranian national and faces security charges. France said on Friday it summoned Iran's ambassador to protest the imprisonment of Fariba Adelkhah and another academic, Roland Marchal of France, saying their detention was "intolerable". Their imprisonment has added to distrust between Tehran and Paris at a time when French President Emmanuel Macron is seeking to play a leading role in defusing tensions between Iran and its arch-foe the United States. "The statement by France's foreign ministry regarding an Iranian national is an act of interference and we see their request to have no legal basis," Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said in a statement. "The individual in question (Adelkhah) is an Iranian national and has been arrested over 'acts of espionage'," he said, adding that her lawyer had knowledge about the details of the case which is being investigated. Iran does not recognise dual nationality and has repeatedly rebuffed calls from foreign governments for consular access to those it has detained during legal proceedings. France's President Emmanuel Macron is seeking to play a leading role in defusing tensions between Iran and the US Credit: LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP In its statement on Friday, the French foreign ministry reiterated its call for the release of Adelkhah and Marshal. It also reaffirmed France's demand for consular access. In response, Mousavi said Marshal was detained for "conspiring against national security", that he has had "consular access multiple times" and that his lawyer was in touch with the judiciary. A specialist in Shiite Islam and a research director at Sciences Po University in Paris, Adelkhah's arrest for suspected "espionage" was confirmed in July. Her colleague Marchal was arrested while visiting Adelkhah, according to his lawyer. A judge had decided to release the two on bail this month, as they had been entitled to it after six months in detention, their lawyer said. But this was opposed by the prosecution, and as a result the case was referred to Iran's Revolutionary Court to settle the dispute, Iran's semi-official news agency ISNA reported. The Revolutionary Court typically handles high-profile cases in Iran, including those involving espionage. The university and supporters said this week that Adelkhah and another detained academic, British-Australian Kylie Moore-Gilbert, had started an indefinite hunger strike just before Christmas. British-Australian national, Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert, has gone on indefinite hunger strike in Iranian prison Credit: Nicholas Razzell  The French statement said the ministry had made clear to the ambassador "our grave concern over the situation of Mrs Fariba Adelkhah, who has stopped taking food". "Creating hype cannot stop Iran's judiciary from handling the case, especially considering the security charges the two face," Mousavi said. Mousavi had previously dismissed similar calls from France, saying it should remember that "Iran is sovereign and independent" and interference in its affairs is "unacceptable". The latest tensions come after Xiyue Wang, an American scholar who had been serving 10 years on espionage charges, was released by Iran this month in exchange for Massoud Soleimani, an Iranian who had been held in the US for allegedly breaching sanctions. Iran has said it is open to more such prisoner swaps with the United States. Tehran is still holding several other foreign nationals in high profile cases, including British-Iranian mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Iranian-American businessman Siamak Namazi and his father Mohammad Bagher Namazi. US-Iran tensions have soared since Washington pulled out of a landmark nuclear agreement with Tehran last year and reimposed crippling sanctions.

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(Bloomberg) -- Ukraine and two breakaway regions supported by the Kremlin exchanged prisoners on Sunday under an agreement reached with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this month as the former allies seek an end to more than five years of war in the Donbas area.Ukraine received 76 captives from the Russian-backed rebels, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s office said Sunday when announcing the completion of the swap. Ukraine returned 127 captives to the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk republics, Ukrainian Hromadske TV reported, citing Serhiy Sivokho, adviser to the head of the National Security and Defense Council.Zelenskiy and Putin met with the leaders of France and Germany in the first week of December in an effort to resume the peace process, which has become a main point of division between Russia and the West. The U.S. and European Union accuse the Kremlin of stoking the conflict and responded with economic sanctions that are still in place.Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel “gave a positive assessment” of the swap, the Kremlin said Sunday after the leaders spoke by phone. Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko said on his Twitter feed that the “all for all” formula for exchanging verified prisoners will discussed as a priority at the next Normandy format meeting with Germany, France and Russia.The deadly conflict in Ukraine’s east erupted soon after Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. Fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists has claimed more than 13,000 lives since it began, and negotiators have struggled to make a ceasefire stick along the 500-kilometer (310-mile) contact line.In September, Ukraine and Russia had exchanged 35 prisoners each The Ukrainians who were freed included a filmmaker and 24 sailors while the authorities in Kyiv handed over militants captured during the fighting in Donbas.(Updates with the number of prisoners in the 2nd paragraph, reaction from Putin, Merkel, Ukraine Foreign Minister in fourth.)To contact the reporter on this story: Volodymyr Verbyany in Kiev at vverbyany1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Torrey Clark at tclark8@bloomberg.net, Andrew ReiersonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

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