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President Donald Trump’s administration argued that the assassination of Revolutionary Guard Quds Force Major General Qassem Soleimani last January made the Middle East and the world a safer place. But on the one-year anniversary of the incident, officials of Iran, Israel and Iraq told Newsweek that tensions remain high across the region. With less than three weeks left in Trump’s tenure, the temperature was especially high for fear of a sudden escalation, planned or miscalculated, which could quickly lead to a conflict of unknown proportions and unforeseen consequences....

NEWSWEEK: How long does it take to draft a document like the Roadmap? Terje-Roed Larsen: It’s a very time-consuming process. We spent nearly half a year drafting it and negotiating absolutely every sentence. Give me an example of a section that was really labored over. We had a philosophical debate that went on throughout the drafting sessions, which we termed “sequentialism versus parallelism.” I insisted that the political issues, the security issues and the economic issues have to be addressed in parallel and that doing it sequentially—saying first the security issues have to be resolved—that wouldn’t work without tackling the final status issues like borders, Jerusalem and refugees at the same time....

Some have questioned whether this alignment is an ominous sign of things to come. Many users have voiced their concerns on social media. “Eclipses signify the ending of chapters, intense and rapid change, and disorder,” one user said on Twitter. “This will certainly be interesting.” The so-called blood moon has been a focus of folklore and superstition for centuries. “We see quite a lot of superstitions about eclipses even in the modern world,” Tom Kerss, a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society in the U....

Top-ranked Alabama did its job with a dominating 52-6 win over No. 20 USC. But the rest of the conference left a lot to be desired. The SEC is living off a distorted reputation of being a deep conference because of nine claimed national championships since 2003. But those titles have been won by only four of the league’s 14 teams — Alabama (four), LSU, (two), Florida (two) and Auburn (one)....

Oumar Diallo, from Guinea in West Africa, was transporting over a dozen people across the Alboran Sea at the time of the incident, which took place in early July according to the newspaper El Mundo. The outlet reported each person paid €2,500 for the trip across a stretch of 200 kilometers. It is alleged that Diallo reacted violently after a fatigued passenger drank his juice, taken from a survival pack....

The number of voters favoring the former mayor jumped from 5 percent to 11 percent, according to a Hill-HarrisX national poll released Friday. The total elevates Bloomberg into a third-place tie with Warren, one of his sharpest critics since he entered the race on November 24. Former Vice President Joe Biden maintains his lead in the poll with 28 percent, a one percent drop since the last poll taken in mid-December....

Sub-perb! It’s time to give Mourinho some credit Feghouli was given a straight red card after just 15 minutes at the London Stadium after he arrived later than Phil Jones in a crunching 50-50 challenge. Dean opted to dismiss the Algeria international and United went on to beat West Ham 2-0 thanks to second-half goals from Juan Mata and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Hammers boss Slaven Bilic accused Jones of “making a meal” of the incident in order to influence the decision, and Halsey - who retired in 2013 after 14 years of officiating in the top flight in England - believes Dean was affected by the centre-back’s reaction and his failure to send off Everton’s Ross Barkley for a crude challenge in the Merseyside derby last month....

On Monday, Bucs coach Dirk Koetter said he was “disappointed” in Evans’ protest that he linked to President-elect Donald Trump (though Evans said he didn’t vote). MORE: Powerful images of athlete protests In his statement released Tuesday (via ESPN.com), Evans apologized “to U.S. military members, their families, and the fans I offended,” while adding that he has “strong emotions regarding some of the many issues that exist in our society today....

Identified as Marine Private First Class Jarrett Morford, the individual in the video is seen wearing a camouflage uniform. Morford talked about China’s role in the worldwide coronavirus pandemic and how he would behave if he met a Chinese national. Warning: the following video contains language which may be disturbing to some readers. Discretion is advised. “As the honorable [President Donald] Trump said on Twitter today, it was China’s fault,” Morford said....

It amounted to a whole lot of nothing, though. Because with two runners on, two outs and slugging sensation Yordan Alvarez at the plate, reigning AL Cy Young winner Robbie Ray served an inside fastball that was summarily deposited over the right field wall. Alvarez’s walk-off blast gave the Astros a 1-0 lead in the ALDS. It also left many an onlooker wondering if M’s manager Scott Servais made the right move putting Ray in the game....

The teams have not confirmed the deal, but a source told the News Tribune’s Bob Dutton: “It’s going to get done. We’re down to looking at medicals (records). Barring something unexpected, we’ve got a deal.” Dutton was first to report that the Mariners were moving on from Trumbo after just half a season. MORE: Classic images of Ken Griffey Jr. | The 10 worst designated hitters of all time...

In a statement released Sunday, Greene accused Graham of “pretending to be a friend” of Trump and slammed the South Carolina senator for condemning rioters involved in the deadly insurrection. “While no one agrees with the violence and riot at the Capitol on J6, Lindsey Graham would rather see pretrial J6 defendants be abused and forgotten just like Nancy Pelosi wants them abused and forgotten,” Greene said, according to the Hill Reporter....

The altercation between the two actors dominated the night, going viral on social media and prompting responses from a number of celebrities. Some politicians, including the controversial Georgia Republican, also weighed in on the slap. “I never watch the Oscars but I’ve seen the Will Smith/Chris Rock clip a million times this morning,” she tweeted Monday. “I have to say I appreciate the Alpha male response of a husband defending his wife....

Musk had endured a months-long legal skirmish with the social media company’s top brass, but on Thursday, the $44 billion deal finally went through. Conservatives have largely applauded the buy from Musk, who’s vowed to safeguard free speech on the platform. However, the Tesla CEO has also met critics on the left who say that the acquisition would degenerate Twitter into an “arena of hate.” Some right-wing members who could potentially see their Twitter accounts reinstated include InfoWars conspiracy king Alex Jones and Greene, whose personal account had been permanently suspended for violating the social media platform’s COVID-19 misinformation policy....

“HR 7276 would hand over authority & our intelligence to the ICJ & ICC - international courts that could put our military on trial,” Greene said in a Thursday statement. “I will not vote for globalism & the slow slide to become a one world government. I will only vote to protect America, our military, & our borders.” Greene was one of only seven Republicans who voted against the House bill this week, known as the Ukraine Invasion War Crimes Deterrence and Accountability Act, which would “collect, analyze, and preserve evidence and information related to war crimes and any other atrocities....

The controversial Georgia Republican lawmaker shared the post under a picture of her and former deputy assistant to Donald Trump, Sebastian Gorka. Both Trump loyalists held an “Impeach Biden” sign and were seen standing in front of a Ronald Reagan photo and a map of the 2016 Presidential Election results. Her statement, posted today on Telegram, read: “It’s time to impeach Biden! Sign the official impeach Biden petition today and become a citizen co-sponsor....

A poll of Greene’s constituents found 4 percent of voters didn’t plan on casting a ballot in the 2022 midterms, according to the Georgia representative. While Greene’s been a vocal critic of the handling of the 2020 election and is pushing for a full audit of Georgia’s results, she told constituents that if 4 percent of them had stayed home in 2018, Georgia would currently have a Democratic governor....

Greene posted a video of her announcing the bill while standing outside the Supreme Court building on her Twitter page on Thursday. In the video, she argued that the abortion-rights groups Jane’s Revenge and Ruth Sent Us should be considered terrorist organizations in the same way Al-Qaeda is. She captioned the video: “As we prayerfully await the decisions of the Supreme Court tomorrow, I introduced legislation to declare pro-abortion organizations, who have fire bombed women’s pregnancy centers, as terrorist organizations....

Cuban announced Friday that the team will offer free heart health exams for any former Mavericks player 50 and older who played at least two seasons with Dallas. MORE: Cuban’s crazy killing spree in ‘Sharknado 3’ “We have had several tragedies in the NBA family recently with the passing of several legends at a young age,” Cuban said in a statement. “The Mavs want to be proactive to inform and educate our alumni about potential health concerns they may face as they age....

Hughes takes struggling Southampton to the Emirates Stadium on Sunday desperate for a positive result as they bid to avoid relegation from the Premier League. The Welshman has clashed at times with his Arsenal counterpart down the years, including one incident in 2009, when Wenger opted not to shake his fellow manager’s hand following a 3-0 defeat to Hughes’ Manchester City side. However, while admitting the rivalry with the Frenchman did “get a little bit silly” in the past, Hughes is still full of praise for the longest-serving manager currently in England’s top flight....