VOA news for Saturday, January 4th, 2020

VOA news for Saturday, January 4th, 2020 Thanks to http://gandalf.ddo.jp This is VOA news. I'm David Byrd. President Donald Trump praised the drone strike that killed Iran's top general early Friday. AP's Sagar Meghani has more. The president says Qassem Soleimani was responsible for killing Americans and has now been terminated. He's trying to tamp down fears that the strike will lead to more conflict in the Middle East. "We took action last night to stop a war. We did not take action to start a war.” The president tells reporters in Florida, he is not looking for "regime change" in Iran but that it must stop using proxy fighters to destabilize the region and he warns targets of possible retaliation have been identified. "... and I am ready and prepared to take whatever action is necessary.” Sagar Meghani, at the Pentagon. Meanwhile, Iran told the U.N. Security Council and Secretary-General António Guterres Friday it reserves its right to self-defense under international law. As VOA's Margaret Besheer reports, António Guterres is [urgini...] urging, that is, "maximum restraint.” In a short statement, Guterres said he is "deeply concerned" about the escalation and warned that the world cannot afford another war in the Gulf. Outside the U.N. Security Council where members were holding a closed-door meeting Friday morning on the situation in Syria, diplomats echoed his call. French Ambassador Nicolas de Rivière "This is what we need now. We need de-escalation, we need stability in the region and we will really encourage everybody to work for further de-escalation.” China's envoy Zhang Jun told reporters that Beijing is "paying close attention to the situation.” Russia's Foreign Ministry condemned Washington's targeted killing of the Iranian general, saying it would escalate regional tensions. Margaret Besheer, VOA news, the United Nations. For more, visit our website voanews.com. This is VOA news. A man armed with a knife rampaged through a suburban Paris park Friday, attacking passers-by seemingly at random. One person was killed and two others were injured before police shot the man dead. AP's ??? has details. The man's motives weren't immediately clear. A witness said he saw the attacker stab one man and that he appeared to select victims at random. Officials said one victim died and two others were injured in the afternoon attack in Villejuif in the southern suburbs of Paris. Police union official Yves Lefebvre said officers opened fire repeatedly because they feared the man was wearing an explosive belt and might blow himself up. I'm ???. More than 3,500 firefighters are prepared to fight raging bushfires across Australia's most populous state as a severe inferno is expected to intensify. At the peak of the summer holiday period, tens of thousands of vacationers have been urged to leave national parks and tourist areas on the New South Wales south coast and eastern areas of Victoria state. Temperatures Saturday are expected to soar above 40 degrees Celsius. Speaking on Friday, New South Wales Rural Fire Service Deputy Commissioner Rob Rogers said that their single focus was to save lives but that homes will likely be lost. "We are unfortunately very likely we will lose homes tomorrow but we will be very happy and call it a success if there are no lives lost. That is a single focus tomorrow.” Rogers cautioned those who decide to stay with their homes to not think that fire officials will be immediately available. He said people need to realize if they stay, they will be stuck. Bushfires so far this season have scorched more than five and a quarter million hectares of land and destroyed more than 1,000 homes, including 449 homes on the [New South coast] New South Wales coast just this week. Oil prices jumped Friday on fears of Iranian retaliation against the United States. AP's Rita Foley reports. A rise in oil prices could mean higher gas prices for motorists and airlines and higher heating and electricity bills. The fear is that Iran might respond to the killing of its top general by the United States by disrupting supplies of energy from the Middle East. What about renewable energy or that could limit the financial damage from a rise in crude prices? But experts point out that fossil fuels like oil still provide most of the energy that drives industry, transportation and heating, among other things. I'm Rita Foley. A down day on Wall Street after the major indexes were jittered by ratcheting up of tensions in the Middle East. The Dow, the NASDAQ and the S&P are lost. For more, visit voanews.com. I'm David Byrd, VOA news