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TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A new Iranian general is stepping out of the shadows to lead the country's elite Quds Force after the U.S. killed its previous head, Qassem Soleimani. Esmail Ghaani is now responsible for Tehran's proxies across the Mideast as the Islamic Republic threatens the U.S. with “harsh revenge” for killing Soleimani. While much still remains unknown about the 62-year-old Ghaani, Western sanctions suggest he's long been in a position of power in the organization. Likely one of the new leader's first duties will be to oversee whatever retaliation Iran intends to seek for the U.S. airstrike early Friday that killed his longtime friend Soleimani.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump has issued a stark warning to Iran, threatening to hit dozens of targets in the Islamic Republic “very fast and very hard” if it retaliates for the targeted killing of the head of Iran's elite Quds Force. The series of tweets came Saturday evening as the White House sent to Congress a formal notification under the War Powers Act of the drone strike on Gen. Qassem Soleimani. The notification is classified and it isn’t known if a public version will be released. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the classified document “suggests Congress and the American people are being left in the dark about our national security.”
FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) — Hundreds of U.S. soldiers have deployed from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to Kuwait to serve as reinforcements in the Middle East amid rising tensions following the U.S. killing of a top Iranian general. Lt. Col. Mike Burns is a spokesman for the 82nd Airborne Division. He told The Associated Press that 3,500 members of the division’s quick-deployment brigade will have deployed within a few days. The wife of one soldier who recently deployed said that his departure was so abrupt she didn’t have the chance to say goodbye in person or by phone.
NEW YORK (AP) — Rose McGowan and Rosanna Arquette are among the more prominent women to accuse Harvey Weinstein of sexual misconduct. Now the two actresses are gearing up for the fallen mogul's criminal sex assault trial, which is scheduled to begin on Monday. McGowan has accused Weinstein of rape, which he denies. She says she won't be in the courtroom because the pain would be too great. But Arquette plans to be there to support his accusers. Arquette had accused Weinstein of derailing her career after she spurned his advances. Weinstein has denied allegations of sexual assault and harassment.
HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong authorities have activated a newly created “serious response" level as fears spread about a mysterious infectious disease that may have been brought back by visitors to a mainland Chinese city. The government launched a new response plan for infectious diseases of unknown cause. It had earlier stepped up temperature checks at border crossings. At least 44 people have been infected in the city of Wuhan, and eight possible cases have been reported in Hong Kong. The outbreak has revived memories of the 2002-2003 SARS epidemic, which killed more than 700 people in mainland China, Hong Kong and elsewhere.
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