Supporters of Iranian-backed militia start withdrawing from besieged U.S. Embassy in Baghdad following militia orders - The Washington Post

BAGHDAD — Supporters of an Iranian-backed militia began to withdraw from the perimeter of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad on Wednesday following an order from senior militia leaders to end their siege of the facility.

Supporters of the Kataib Hezbollah militia, who converged on the embassy to protest U.S. airstrikes that had killed 25 fighters Sunday, had spent the night camped outside the embassy. They began dismantling their tents and leaving the area, saying they had won a victory and would now seek the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq through the nation’s parliament.

Their retreat signaled a potential end to a crisis that had seen thousands of angry militia supporters attempt to storm the embassy on Monday, prompting the United States to send additional troop reinforcements to Iraq.

Some of the demonstrators began withdrawing from the area earlier in the afternoon after an order issued by the senior leadership of the Popular Mobilization Forces, or Hashd Shaabi, the umbrella organization that groups scores of Shiite militias. The order was issued, the leadership said, “out of respect” for an instruction issued the previous day by the Iraqi government.

But several hundred supporters of Kataib Hezbollah and another Iranian-backed group, Harakat Nujaba, initially refused to comply, saying they took orders only from their own leadership.

A top Kataib Hezbollah official then showed up outside the embassy and instructed the remaining demonstrators to leave the area. “You have won a victory,” said Mohammed Mohyee, the group’s political spokesman, addressing the crowd through a loudspeaker. “We will take our fight to expel U.S. troops from our land to parliament and if we don’t succeed, we will return.”

The last demonstrators began dismantling the tents they had erected in preparation for what could have become a long siege, intended to pressure the United States to pull its troops and diplomats out of Iraq. They said they planned to relocate to an area on the opposite bank of the Tigris River and establish a protest camp there. The area is outside the fortified Green Zone, where the embassy is located, and does not pose a direct threat to the facility.

The apparent end to the siege came as U.S. troop reinforcements headed to the region. Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper said 750 soldiers from the Immediate Response Force of the 82nd Airborne Division were en route to the Middle East and additional soldiers are expected to follow in the coming days.

The U.S. military had earlier released photographs showing a contingent of around 100 U.S. Marines landing in the grounds of the U.S. Embassy compound to reinforce the existing embassy protection force.

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2020-01-01 14:18:09Z
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North Korea promises to reveal a "new strategic weapon" - CBS This Morning

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2020-01-01 12:27:03Z
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North Korea signals end of nuclear-test suspension, promises 'new' weapon - NBC News

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he sees no reason to continue his self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests, warning the world will soon see "a new strategic weapon" unveiled by his country in the near future.

However, in the comments published Wednesday, Kim also appeared to leave the door open to diplomacy, suggesting that tests would only resume if Washington did not change its policies.

North Korea has suspended nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests since an unprecedented flurry of activity in 2017. But during that time, negotiations that Washington hoped would lead to Kim giving up his nuclear arsenal have fallen apart.

In the comments released Wednesday, Kim complained that his country's suspension of nuclear and ballistic missile tests had been repaid by the U.S. holding military drills with South Korea and imposing more sanctions on his isolated country.

He said that "under such conditions" there was "no ground" to continue suspending tests. "This is chilling our efforts for worldwide nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation," he said.

The remarks were made at a four-day meeting of his Workers' Party’s Central Committee and reported by North Korea's state-controlled news agency, KCNA.

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Dec. 26, 201905:56

Late Tuesday, President Donald Trump urged Kim to stick to an agreement signed at a historic summit in Singapore in June 2018. It was the first time sitting leaders from these historical enemies had met in person, but their agreement for North Korea to "denuclearize" was widely criticized by experts as vague to the point of being almost meaningless.

"Look, he likes me, I like him, we get along," Trump said at a New Year's party at Mar-a-Lago. "But he did sign a contract, he did sign an agreement talking about denuclearization ... I think he’s a man of his word so we’re going to find out, but I think he’s a man of his word."

Previously, North Korea had threatened to deliver a "Christmas gift" to the U.S. — raising the possibility of another weapons test. On Tuesday, Trump said, "I know he's sending out certain messages about Christmas presents and I hope his Christmas present is a beautiful vase. That's what I'd like, a vase."

According to state-media's report of the four-day meeting, Kim "confirmed that the world will witness a new strategic weapon to be possessed by the DPRK in the near future," referring to North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. It did not provide details about what this weapon might be.

Kim also said his country would take "shocking actual action to make [the U.S.] pay for the pains sustained by our people."

Many analysts and officials think that Kim will never give up his nuclear arsenal, which is estimated to contain up to 40 warheads and is seen by the repressive, authoritarian country as key to the survival of the Kim dynasty that has ruled it for more than 70 years.

However, there were elements in Kim's remarks that suggest his regime is willing to discuss the extent and power of this arsenal in exchange for sanctions relief.

"The scope and depth of bolstering our deterrent will be properly coordinated depending on the U.S. future attitude to the DPRK," he said.

Vipin Narang, a politics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who focuses on nuclear weapons, tweeted the potential to negotiate on this issue is "the door we should urgently push on."

Others noted that although Kim said he saw no reason to continue suspending tests, he had not resumed them yet.

"We should be grateful that he’s all talk and no action at this point; the subtext: Kim is leaving room for diplomacy," tweeted Jean H. Lee, a Korea expert at the Wilson Center.

Alexander Smith

Alexander Smith is a senior reporter for NBC News Digital based in London.

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2020-01-01 12:22:00Z
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Protests continue at US embassy in Baghdad - CNN

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2020-01-01 12:21:55Z
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Australia sending aid to wildfire towns as death toll rises - NBC News

PERTH, Australia — Australia deployed military ships and aircraft Wednesday to help communities ravaged by apocalyptic wildfires that have left at least 17 people dead nationwide and sent thousands of residents and holidaymakers fleeing to the shoreline.

Navy ships and military aircraft were bringing water, food and fuel to towns where supplies were depleted and roads were cut off by the fires. Authorities confirmed three bodies were found Wednesday at Lake Conjola on the south coast of New South Wales, bringing the death toll in the state to 15.

More than 175 homes have been destroyed in the region.

On Tuesday morning, 4,000 people in the coastal town of Mallacoota fled to the shore as winds pushed a fire toward their homes under a sky darkened by smoke and turned blood-red by flames. Stranded residents and vacationers slept in their cars, and gas stations and surf clubs transformed into evacuation areas. Dozens of homes burned before winds changed direction late Tuesday, sparing the rest of the town.

Victoria Emergency Commissioner Andrew Crisp told reporters the Australian Defence Force was moving naval assets to Mallacoota on a supply mission that would last two weeks and helicopters would also fly in more firefighters since roads were inaccessible.

Conditions cooled Wednesday, but the fire danger remained very high across the state, where four people are missing.

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“We have three months of hot weather to come. We do have a dynamic and a dangerous fire situation across the state,” Crisp said.

In the New South Wales town of Conjola Park, 89 properties were confirmed destroyed and cars were melted by Tuesday’s fires. More than 100 fires were still burning in the state Wednesday, though none were at an emergency level. Seven people have died this week, including a volunteer firefighter, a man found in a burnt-out car and a father and son who died in their house.

Firefighting crews took advantage of easing conditions on Wednesday to restore power to critical infrastructure and conduct some back burning, before conditions were expected to deteriorate Saturday as high temperatures and strong winds return.

"There is every potential that the conditions on Saturday will be as bad or worse than we saw yesterday," New South Wales Rural Fire Service Deputy Commissioner Rob Rogers said.

The early and devastating start to Australia’s summer wildfires has led authorities to rate this season the worst on record and reignited debate about whether Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s conservative government has taken enough action on climate change. Australia is the world’s largest exporter of coal and liquefied natural gas, but Morrison rejected calls last month to downsize Australia’s lucrative coal industry.

Morrison won a surprise third term in May. Among his government’s pledges was to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 26 percent to 28 percent by 2030 — a modest figure compared to the center-left opposition Labor party’s pledge of 45 percent

The leader of the minor Australian Greens party, Richard Di Natale, demanded a royal commission, the nation’s highest form of inquiry, on the wildfire crisis.

“If he (Morrison) refuses to do so, we will be moving for a parliamentary commission of inquiry with royal commission-like powers as soon as parliament returns,” Di Natale said in a statement.

About 5 million hectares (12.35 million acres) of land have burned nationwide over the past few months, with at least 17 people dead and more than 1,000 homes destroyed.

Some communities canceled New Year’s fireworks celebrations, but Sydney’s popular display over its iconic harbor controversially went ahead in front of more than a million revelers. The city was granted an exemption to a total fireworks ban in place there and elsewhere to prevent new wildfires.

Smoke from the wildfires meant Canberra, the nation’s capital, on Wednesday had air quality more than 21 times the hazardous rating to be reportedly the worst in the world.

The smoke has also wafted across the Tasman Sea and into New Zealand.

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2020-01-01 10:11:00Z
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Iraqi militiamen hurl stones at U.S. Embassy, prepare for extended stay - Reuters.com

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Hundreds of Iraqi militiamen and their supporters hurled stones at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad for a second day on Wednesday and security forces fired tear gas and stun grenades to drive them away.

The protests, led by Iranian-backed militias, mark a new turn in the shadow war between Washington and Tehran playing out across the Middle East.

U.S. President Donald Trump, who faces re-election in 2020, on Tuesday threatened to retaliate against Iran but said later he did not want to go to war.

The protests also cast uncertainty over the continued presence of U.S. troops in Iraq.

Crowds had rallied on Tuesday to protest against deadly U.S. air strikes on militia bases, setting fires, throwing rocks and smashing surveillance cameras. They did not breach the huge embassy’s main compound, however.

Overnight, demonstrators pitched tents and camped outside the embassy walls. On Wednesday morning, they were bringing in food supplies, cooking equipment and mattresses, Reuters witnesses said, suggesting they intended to stay for a long time.

Senior Iraqi army officers had negotiated with those gathered outside the embassy in an attempt to convince them to leave but failed to do so. Washington is putting pressure on Iraqi leaders to ensure the security of its staff.

The incident marked a sharp escalation of the proxy conflict between Washington and Tehran - both influential players in Iraq - while mass protests are challenging Iraq’s own political system nearly 17 years after the U.S. invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

The protests followed U.S. air strikes on Sunday on bases operated by the Iranian-backed militia Kataib Hezbollah inside Iraq which killed at least 25 fighters and wounded 55.

The strikes were retaliation for the killing of a U.S. civilian contractor in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military

base, which Washington blamed on Kataib Hezbollah.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday y condemned the U.S. attacks.

“The Iranian government, nation and I strongly condemn the attacks,” Iranian state TV quoted Khamenei as saying.

Trump accused Iran of orchestrating the violence at the U.S. Embassy and said Tehran would be held responsible. Iran rejected the accusation.

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More U.S. troops were being sent to the embassy, U.S. officials said. The 750 troops would initially be based out of Kuwait. The officials said that as many as 4,000 troops could be sent to the region in the coming days if needed.

More than 5,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Iraq supporting local forces. The air strikes have galvanized calls inside Iraq to expel U.S. forces, not just from Iran-backed militias but also their political rivals.

Reporting by Thaier al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh; Writing by Ahmed Aboulenein, Editing by Angus MacSwan

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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2020-01-01 09:27:00Z
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North Korea indicates it could resume nuclear testing - CNN

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2020-01-01 09:06:15Z
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