Friday, January 5, 2024

1/5 WAKE-UP CALL: ISIS Claims Responsibility for Iran Terror


Islamic State militants claimed responsibility for a pair of bombings that killed dozens of people yesterday in the largest attack in Iran since the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Iranian authorities are investigating the blasts and have vowed revenge. The Middle East is on edge because of the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas—an Islamist militant group that has moved closer to Iran in recent years—and increasing tensions between the U.S. and Israel on one side and other Iranian-backed militant groups in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen on the other. Separately, a deadly U.S. drone strike in Baghdad was the Biden administration’s first known targeted killing of an Iranian-backed militia leader. The attack that killed Moshtaq Talib Al-Saadi marked a more aggressive bid to stop ongoing attacks on American forces there, U.S. officials said.


➤RUSSIA FIRED NORTH KOREAN MISSILES: Russia recently used short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) sourced from North Korea to conduct multiple strikes against Ukraine, the White House said on Thursday, citing newly declassified intelligence. National security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters the United States will raise the development with the United Nations Security Council. Kirby called North Korea's arms transfer to Russia a "significant and concerning escalation" and said the United States would impose additional sanctions against those facilitating the arms deals.

➤TRUMP COMMERCIALS TARGET HALEY: Former President Donald Trump is escalating his attacks against GOP presidential rival Nikki Haley in a new ad airing on New Hampshire airwaves as he seeks to quell his former ambassador to the United Nation’s surge of support in the early-primary state. The 30-second spot attempts to portray Haley as soft on border security by aligning her immigration policies with those of President Joe Biden, arguing that both politicians “opposed Trump’s border wall.” “Confirmed warnings of terrorists sneaking through our southern border. Yet, Haley joined Biden in opposing Trump’s visitor ban from terrorist nations,” a narrator says, as pictures of large groups of people at the border play in the background. “Haley’s weakness puts us in grave danger. Trump’s strength protects us."

➤TWO MORE STATES CONSIDER REMOVING TRUMP FROM BALLOT: Groups of voters in Illinois and Massachusetts have filed petitions to remove Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot in their states. Both want him declared ineligible to hold office based on his alleged actions and words in support of the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, 2020. His removal from the ballots in Colorado and Maine is being challenged in court.


➤COVID IS STILL AROUND: A new variant of the coronavirus is increasing in the U.S. and is now claiming at least 1,200 lives each week. But that number is about one third of the death toll this time last year, and just one-eighth of the rate in 2021. Another severe wave of the virus is considered unlikely, according to a report in The New York Times. Infectious illnesses generally peak just after the holidays. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that about 7.1 million people in the U.S. have been ill this season with Covid, flu, or the respiratory illness known as R.S.V.

➤STUDENT DEAD IN SCHOOL SHOOTING: A sixth-grader was killed and five other people were injured when a gunman opened fire at a high school in Perry, Iowa, on Thursday. Officials said the gunman was also dead of what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. During a news conference, Dallas County Sheriff Adam Infante said the shooting was first reported at 7:37 a.m., shortly before classes at Perry High School were set to begin. Deputies were on the scene within seven minutes. 



The five people injured included four students and an administrator, according to Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Assistant Director Mitch Mortvedt. Four were stable, and one was in critical condition but was expected to survive, Mortvedt said.

➤COPS SHOT ON THE JOB HITS NEW HIGH: The number of police officers shot on the job hit a new high in 2023, according to a report from the National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP). The national police group, which has more than 373,000 members, said 378 officers were shot in the line of duty in 2023, up 14% from the 330 shot in 2022. Of the 378 officers shot, 46 were killed, the FOP reported. There were also 115 ambush-style attacks on law enforcement throughout the year.

➤PASSENGER JET HAD CLEARANCE TO LAND: An investigation into a fiery collision at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport is trying to figure out why a Japan Coast Guard plane was on the same runway where a Japan Airlines jet had permission to land. Regulators said they found no record of the coast guard aircraft being cleared to go on the runway. A control-tower transcript shows it being told to taxi to a holding point next to the runway, followed by one of the two pilots correctly repeating the instruction. Two minutes later, the aircraft collided. The captain, the coast guard plane’s sole survivor, said he had received permission to enter the runway, according to a coast guard official. The black box will help determine what the captain and the co-pilot said during the final minutes. The three Japan Airlines pilots said they didn’t see the other aircraft, according to the airline. The coast guard plane was bringing aid to Japan’s west coast, site of a New Year’s Day earthquake.

➤PRINCE ANDREW DENIES ALLEGATIONS: Prince Andrew has been reported to the police by an anti-monarchy campaign group after allegations of sexual assault were made against him in unsealed court documents. The Duke of York, who has always denied any wrongdoing, was reported to the Metropolitan Police by Republic after he was referenced multiple times in files relating to disgraced paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein. This was matched by similar calls from a US attorney who represented some of Epstein's victims, who said police in Britain have a duty to investigate Andrew as he 'still refuses to fully account for his time' with the pedophile. 

The unredacted documents, which were released on Wednesday in the United States, included allegations Andrew had an orgy with underage girls and touched a woman's breast while posting with a puppet of himself. It is a fresh setback for the late Queen's second son who, just 10 days ago, walked to church on Christmas Day with the King and the rest of the royal family , symbolizing his gradual rehabilitation within the monarchy after his public appearance at his brother's coronation in his garter robes in May.


🎥HUNTER BIDEN: THE MOVIE: First son Hunter Biden’s so-called “sugar brother,” Hollywood attorney Kevin Morris, is backing a soft-focus documentary on the disgraced and indicted presidential offspring. While the first son’s life as viewed through his now-infamous laptop resembles a Quentin Tarantino film — with plenty of not-so-tasteful nudity — the untitled Morris project would show a more gentle Hunter “painting, selling his art, raising his son, and navigating everyday life as a sober adult with ongoing criminal investigations and in the crosshairs of [former President Donald] Trump and his supporters,” the Los Angeles Times credulously reported this week. A film crew has been trailing Hunter, 53, for years and was most recently spotted recording the first son publicly defying a subpoena from the House Oversight Committee to sit for a deposition Dec. 13.

➤COOKIES CRUMBLE IN GOOGLE CHROME: Google is beginning to roll out a new feature in its Chrome browser that disables third-party cookies. These are small files that advertisers store on your computer to monitor your browsing activity and personalize the ads you see. The disable feature is being tested by a relatively small user group now but the company plans a wider rollout later this year. Apple’s Safari already has the option.

➤ADVOCACY GROUP CLAIMS PLASTICS ARE IN OUR FOOD: Consumer Reports has found that plastics retain a "widespread" presence in food despite the health risks, and called on regulators to reassess the safety of plastics that come into contact with food during production. The non-profit consumer group said on Thursday that 84 out of 85 supermarket foods and fast foods it recently tested contained "plasticizers" known as phthalates, a chemical used to make plastic more durable. It also said 79% of food samples in its study contained bisphenol A (BPA), another chemical found in  plastic, and other bisphenols, though levels were lower than in tests done in 2009.Consumer Reports said none of the phthalate levels it found exceeded limits set by U.S. and European regulators.

🏈RAVENS RESTING EASY IN SEASON FINALE: The Baltimore Ravens have ruled out several players for tomorrow’s season finale against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Head Coach John Harbaugh has decided to rest some key players including MVP favorite Lamar Jackson. Others on the inactive list but not due to injuries include wide receiver Odell Beckham Junior and guard Kevin Zeitler..Tyler Huntley will start at quarterback. Baltimore is already the AFC’s Number one seed, so they have little to lose. The Steelers are unlikely to be resting anybody. They’ll be aiming to keep their playoff hopes alive tomorrow.This weekend is win-or-go-home time for the Houston Texans, the Indianapolis Colts, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Texans play the Colts tomorrow night. The Buccaneers play the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.

🏈DALVIN COOK WILL SIGN WITH THE RAVENS: Dalvin Cook, a four-time Pro Bowl running back, is expected to sign up with the Baltimore Ravens in time for the playoffs. The news comes just days after Cook was waived by the New York Jets. He was with the Minnesota Vikings for six years before joining the Jets for one season.

🏀LeBRON AND GIANNIS LEAD ALL-STARS. (WELL, DUH!): The early returns from the NBA All-Star Game fan vote show LeBron James leading the West and Giannis Antetokounmpo leading the East. Joel Embiid, Kevin Durant and Jayson Tatum round out the top five vote-getters. The fan vote counts for 50 percent of the overall vote to pick the All-Star starters. The other half of the votes go to players and the media. Fan voting continues tomorrow, with every vote counted three times.







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