AP News in Brief at 12:04 a.m. EST

Iran strikes back at US with missile attack at bases in Iraq

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran struck back at the United States early Wednesday for killing a top Revolutionary Guards commander, firing a series of ballistic missiles at two military bases in Iraq housing American troops in a major escalation between the two longtime foes.

It was Iran’s most direct assault on America since the 1979 seizing of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, and Iranian state TV said it was in revenge for the U.S. killing of Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani, whose death last week in an American drone strike near Baghdad prompted angry calls to avenge his slaying. A U.S. and Iraqi officials said there were no immediate reports of casualties, though buildings were still being searched.

The strikes, which came as Iran buried Soleimani, raised fears that the two longtime foes were closer to war. But there were some indications that there would not be further retaliation on either side, at least in the short term.

‘All is well!’ President Donald Trump tweeted shortly after the missile attacks, adding, ‘So far, so good’ regarding casualties. Moments earlier, Iran’s foreign minister tweeted that Tehran had taken “& concluded proportionate measures in self-defence,” adding that Tehran did “not seek escalation” but would defend itself against further aggression.

The killing of Soleimani — a national hero to many in Iran — and strikes by Tehran came as tensions have been rising steadily across the Mideast after Trump’s decision to unilaterally withdraw America from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers. They also marked the first time in recent years that Washington and Tehran have attacked each other directly rather than through proxies in the region. It raised the chances of open conflict erupting between the two enemies, who have been at odds since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution and the subsequent U.S. Embassy takeover and hostage crisis.

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The Latest: Japan calls for easing of Middle East tensions

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — The latest on U.S.-Iran tensions in the wake of the U.S. airstrike that killed Iran’s top general (all times local):

7:40 a.m.

Japan says it will urge governments to do their utmost to help ease tensions following an Iranian missile strike at bases in Iraq used by U.S. forces.

The strike came in retaliation for the killing of an Iranian general.

Japanese Chief Cabinet spokesman Yoshihide Suga said Wednesday that his “government will co-ordinate with the related governments to collect intelligence while we ensure the safety of Japanese citizens in the region.”

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Iran state TV says Ukrainian airplane crashes near Tehran

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A Ukrainian airplane carrying at least 170 people crashed Wednesday shortly after takeoff from Tehran’s main airport, state TV reported. There was no immediate word on casualties.

The plane had taken off from Imam Khomeini International Airport. The crash is suspected to have been caused by mechanical issues, TV reported, without elaborating.

An investigation team was at the site of the crash in southwestern outskirts of Tehran, civil aviation spokesman Reza Jafarzadeh said.

“After taking off from Imam Khomeini International Airport, it crashed between Parand and Shahriar,” Jafarzadeh said. “An investigation team from the national aviation department was dispatched to the location after the news was announced.”

State TV earlier said there were 180 passengers and crew aboard. The discrepancy could not be immediately reconciled.

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Trump campaign seizes on Soleimani killing

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump once warned Barack Obama not to “play the Iran card” to boost his political prospects by starting a war. Eight years later, Trump is showing no reluctance to capitalize politically on his order to kill a top Iranian general, drawing accusations that he is weaponizing foreign policy for his campaign’s own gain.

Trump’s campaign has used the killing of Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force, as a cudgel against the president’s Democratic political rivals and to divert attention from his impending impeachment trial in the Senate.

“Americans want to see their President acting decisively and defending the nation’s interests and that’s exactly what President Trump did,” Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh said.

“Republicans are good at killing terrorists and this is a reminder of that,” added Michael Ahrens, communications director of the Republican National Committee.

The president was expected to amplify those messages on Thursday in Toledo, Ohio, during his first campaign rally since the drone strike last week. Trump’s campaign purchased ads on Facebook highlighting the Soleimani killing.

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Trump insists ‘All is well!’ after Iran missile attack

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump insisted “All is well!” on Tuesday after Iran fired surface-to-surface missiles at two Iraqi bases housing U.S. troops. He promised to make a statement to the nation Wednesday morning about the increasingly precarious situation with Iran.

Trump offered no immediate indication of whether he would retaliate, and stayed out of sight Tuesday night as news of the missile strikes emerged.

But he tweeted that an assessment of casualties and damages was under way. The initial outlook, he said, was “So far, so good!”

The Iranian missiles came in retaliation for an American drone strike that killed top Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani. Trump and his advisers are under pressure to disclose more details about the intelligence that led to the U.S. strike.

Trump said Tuesday that his decision saved American lives and that members of Congress will get a briefing on the reasons for the U.S. attack.

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Pelosi’s next move on impeachment unclear as Senate waits

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday he has the votes to start President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial as soon as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi releases the documents, winning support from GOP senators to postpone a decision on calling witnesses.

The announcement is significant, enabling McConnell to bypass for now Democratic demands for new testimony as he launches the third impeachment trial in the nation’s history. It could begin this week if Pelosi sends the articles of impeachment to the Senate.

But Pelosi gave little indication Tuesday of her next move. She cut short an impeachment discussion with her leadership team late at the Capitol when an aide handed her a note about the crisis unfolding in the Middle East. She asked Democrats to “pray,” according to a lawmaker at the closed-door session.

Pelosi appears in no rush to transmit the articles of impeachment as Democrats push to hear from more witnesses but McConnell focuses Republicans on a strategy for speedy acquittal. The Senate can’t start the proceedings until the charges against Trump are sent.

“We have the votes,” McConnell told reporters about his proposal that would set the rules for a trial and would be modeled after President Bill Clinton’s impeachment 20 years ago. He said the question of new witnesses and documents will be addressed later “and not before the trial begins.”

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Australian family’s fortress no match for rapacious fires

BALMORAL, Australia (AP) — With flames climbing as high as a 15-story building and menacing his supposedly fireproof home on three sides, Justin Kam ran to the laundry room and opened the door. Inside was fire.

That’s not supposed to happen, he thought.

It was clear his family’s fortress had been breached and they were in mortal danger and needed to get out.

“Once the fire had penetrated the structure, that was the signal: Time to get out. You can’t save it,” he said. “Staying in any longer and we really would’ve been a statistic.”

They escaped — just barely — but found themselves among 2,000 homeowners whose houses have burned down during what has been been a catastrophic fire season Down Under, full of apocalyptic images that have focused the world’s attention on climate change.

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Jury selection in Weinstein case could prove to be drawn-out

NEW YORK (AP) — On Sunday, Harvey Weinstein was a punchline at the Golden Globes. On Monday, he was hit with new sex-crimes charges in Los Angeles. And on Tuesday, he and his lawyers walked into court in New York to begin picking the jury that will decide the fate of the man widely seen as the biggest monster of the #MeToo movement.

Selecting the jury for the Hollywood mogul’s rape and sexual assault trial is likely to be a painstaking, weekslong process, made complicated by the high stakes, heavy publicity and public revulsion toward him.

In fact, one-third of the first 120 prospective jurors summoned for the case were promptly sent home after the judge asked if there was anyone who could not be impartial and about 40 hands went up.

Weinstein’s lawyers unsuccessfully tried to delay jury selection in light of the new case filed in Los Angeles, asking for a “cooling-off period” to allow the publicity to subside.

“For a prosecutor, this is Christmas morning — the morning of jury selection to have him smeared everywhere,” Weinstein lawyer Arthur Aidala said.

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Official quits amid charges he paid women to give up babies

PHOENIX (AP) — An elected official in metro Phoenix resigned Tuesday, months after being charged with running a human smuggling operation that paid pregnant women from the Marshall Islands to give up their babies in the U.S.

The resignation of Maricopa County Assessor Paul Petersen came after leaders in the one of the nation’s most populous counties suspended and pressured him to resign after his arrest nearly three months ago. The county’s governing board voted in late December to start the process of removing Petersen, who also works as an adoption attorney.

He is accused of illegally paying women from the Pacific island nation to come to the United States to give up their babies in at least 70 adoption cases in Arizona, Utah and Arkansas over three years. Citizens of the Marshall Islands have been prohibited from travelling to the U.S. for adoption purposes since 2003.

In a statement released by his attorneys, Petersen proclaimed his innocence and said he never neglected his duties as assessor, responsible for determining the property values in the county. The Republican said county officials and news organizations presumed he was guilty.

“My focus now turns to defending the allegations against me,” Petersen said.

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‘Prozac Nation’ author Elizabeth Wurtzel dies at age 52

NEW YORK (AP) — Elizabeth Wurtzel, whose blunt and painful confessions of her struggles with addiction and depression in the bestselling “Prozac Nation” made her a voice and a target for an anxious generation, died Tuesday at age 52.

Wurtzel’s husband, Jim Freed, told The Associated Press that she died at a Manhattan hospital after a long battle with cancer.

“Prozac Nation” was published in 1994 when Wurtzel was in her mid-20s and set off a debate that lasted for much of her life. Critics praised her for her candour and accused her of self-pity and self-indulgence, vices she fully acknowledged. Wurtzel wrote of growing up in a home torn by divorce, of cutting herself when she was in her early teens, and of spending her adolescence in a storm of tears, drugs, bad love affairs and family fights.

“I don’t mean to sound like a spoiled brat,” she wrote. “I know that into every sunny life a little rain must fall and all that, but in my case the crisis-level hysteria is an all-too-recurring theme.”

Wurtzel became a celebrity, a symbol and, for some, a punchline. Newsweek called her ”the famously depressed Elizabeth Wurtzel.” She was widely ridiculed after a 2002 interview with the The Toronto Globe and Mail in which she spoke dismissively of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks from the year before.

The Associated Press