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NEW YORK, Jan 06 (APP): Worried about a military confrontation in the Gulf after the U.S. assassinated Iran’s top general, Saudi Arabia is dispatching a senior government minister to Washington on a mission to contain the escalating crisis, according to a media report.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has instructed his younger brother, Deputy Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman, to travel to Washington and London in the next few days to urge restraint, Bloomberg News reported, citing the Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper.

NEW YORK (AP) — Harvey Weinstein is expected to be in a New York court Monday as his lawyers and a judge handle the final preparation for his trial on charges of rape and sexual assault.

After more than two years since the allegations first came to widespread public attention and catalyzed the #MeToo movement, jury selection is scheduled to start this week.

The disgraced movie mogul faces allegations that he raped one woman in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013 and performed a forcible sex act on a different woman in 2006.

NEW YORK (AP) — Four years after President Donald Trump drove the rules of politics over a cliff to win the Republican presidential nomination and ultimately the White House, Democrats will go through their own version of the same test.

NEW YORK (AP) — Rose McGowan’s tweet that apologized on behalf of the U.S. to Iran for “disrespecting their flag and people” in the wake of an airstrike that killed the country’s top general was not anti-American, the actress said in the face of harsh criticism.

“I don’t support Iran over America. I want America to be better,” McGowan said during an exclusive interview with The Associated Press on Friday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A former Mexican government official who oversaw public security in his country pleaded not guilty on Friday to U.S. charges he accepted millions of dollars in bribes to protect the Sinaloa drug cartel once run by Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and let it operate with impunity.

Genaro Garcia Luna, 51, entered his plea through a translator at a hearing in federal court in Brooklyn, where lawyers signaled he may be in talks to change his plea later.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Trump administration on Friday justified its killing of a top Iranian general as an act of self-defense, trying to deflect accusations that it violated international law and concerns raised by legal experts and a senior U.N. rights investigator.

Qassem Soleimani, the 62-year-old commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force, was killed in the U.S. air strike in Baghdad overnight. The attack, ordered by President Donald Trump, sent tensions between the United States and Iran soaring, with Iranian officials promising revenge.

04 Jan 2019; MEMO: Oil prices jumped to the highest level in more than three months on Friday after the US killed a top Iranian military commander in Iraq, sparking fears that escalating conflict in the region could disrupt global oil supplies, Reuters reports.

An air strike at Baghdad airport killed Major-General Qassem Soleimani, architect of Iran’s spreading military influence in the Middle East, with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowing revenge.

UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for de-escalation in the Gulf, said his spokesman on Friday.

"The Secretary-General has consistently advocated for de-escalation in the Gulf. He is deeply concerned with the recent escalation," said Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for Guterres.

"This is a moment in which leaders must exercise maximum restraint," the UN chief was quoted as saying. The world cannot afford another war in the Gulf, he added.

NEW YORK, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. airstrike that had killed one of Iran's most powerful generals sent oil prices significantly higher on Friday, as market participants feared an escalation of the tensions in the Middle East could disrupt energy flows in the region.

The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for February delivery rose 1.87 U.S. dollars to settle at 63.05 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after trading as high as 64.09 dollars. The settlement was the highest for a front-month contract since May 20, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

NEW YORK (AP) — After Friday’s targeted killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, newsrooms struggled with the question: Had the United States just carried out an assassination? And should news stories about the killing use that term?

The AP Stylebook, considered a news industry bible, defines assassination as “the murder of a politically important or prominent individual by surprise attack.”