Iran Strikes Back | Plane Crash Kills 176 Near Tehran

www.ozy.com [Smart news for busy people]( *Podcast available from 8 am et *Podcast available from 8 am et Sponsored by HAPPENING TODAY | January 08 [Iran Strikes Back | Plane Crash Kills 176 Near Tehran]( important 1 [Iran Strikes Back With Rocket Attacks]( “The fierce revenge by the Revolutionary Guards has begun.” Those words from the elite Iranian force — delivered via messaging app Telegram — accompanied a barrage of more than a dozen missiles early Wednesday on two Iraqi bases housing U.S. troops. So far, no casualties have been reported in Tehran’s first retaliation for last week’s American airstrike killing of [Gen. Qassem Soleimani](. “All is well!” tweeted President Donald Trump. Is more retribution on the way? Not according to Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif: Appearing eager to ease tensions, he said Iran “concluded proportionate measures” and isn’t seeking an escalation. SOURCES: [NYT]( / [Reuters]( 2 [Plane Crash Kills 176 Near Tehran]( The Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737-800 passenger jet crashed [shortly after taking off]( from the Iranian capital’s Imam Khomeini Airport. Officials from both countries believe a mechanical malfunction may have been to blame. Warning against “speculation or unchecked theories,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was cutting short a visit to Oman. Most of the passengers were Iranian or Canadian nationals. What are experts saying? One aviation analyst said the plane appeared to have been in good condition, and that the fragmentation of debris showed “either there was an intense impact on the ground or something happened in the sky.” SOURCES: [AP]( / [BBC]( 3 [McConnell Ready to Start Impeachment Trial]( Skirting a key demand by Democrats, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said yesterday he’s got the necessary votes to kick off President Trump’s impeachment trial without calling witnesses. For her part, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reportedly said she won’t hand over her chamber’s impeachment articles until she knows more about how the hearings will proceed. Are witnesses totally out of the picture? McConnell says he’ll consider allowing testimony once the first phase of the trial is over, effectively leaving it up to Pelosi to break the weekslong stalemate over the trial rules. Read [OZY’s Special Briefing]( on the impeachment charge that really matters. SOURCES: [Fox News]( / [Washington Post]( 4 [Saudi Aramco Suffers Amid Iran Turmoil]( Shares in the Saudi oil giant opened at $9.06 Wednesday, down 12 percent from their peak — and the lowest point since the firm started trading last month. Still, they’re hovering above the IPO price that valued [the world’s largest public company]( at $1.7 trillion. Oil prices have surged against the background of flaring tensions in the Middle East, but appeared to steady Wednesday at around $69 per barrel. What’s next? For now, analysts say, investors are treating the ongoing turmoil as a “Cold War type situation” that’s unlikely to spill into an all-out conflict. SOURCES: [CNBC]( / [FT (sub)]( / [Reuters]( 5 [Also Important...]( Today ex-Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn [is expected to make his first public appearance]( since he fled from Tokyo last week. Amid a standoff with security forces, Venezuelan [opposition leader Juan Guaidó was once again sworn in yesterday]( as the head of the National Assembly. And the annual Consumer Electronics Show [has drawn criticism for hosting Ivanka Trump]( because she “is not a woman in tech.” #OZYfact: In Utah, the governor’s office and business groups are hoping to create 25,000 new jobs in rural areas. Read more [on OZY](. OZY is hiring! We’re looking for an ambitious journalist to cover business and finance through unique, analytical and globally-minded write-ups. Check out our [jobs page]( and read the description [here](. 6 [Sponsored by Bright Cellars]( [Drinking Wine Is Easy. Choosing Wine Is Hard.]( That’s why two MIT grads created an algorithm that recommends wine based on your individual palate by using a simple seven-question quiz. You don’t have to know anything about wine to take the quiz. They ask questions like “What’s your favorite chocolate?” and “How do you like your tea?” Seeing which wines they recommend is 100 percent free. [So take the quiz.]( Bright Cellars is offering OZY readers [$50]( off their first order! SOURCES: [Bright Cellars]( intriguing 1 [Can Legalizing Weed Help Save Wildlife?]( California’s wildlife has a few major enemies: climate change, habitat loss — and so-called “trespass grows,” or cannabis grown on illegal sites. There, rat- and insect-killing chemicals have had a disastrous effect on local food chains. But legalizing cannabis, [this OZY writer argues](, could turn things around by wresting cannabis cultivation out of national forests and onto agricultural lands. Has it worked before? Data from Oregon shows that legalization helped reduce the number of trespass grows, which account for around 70 percent of California’s black market cannabis. SOURCES: [OZY]( 2 [Boeing Recommends 737 Max Simulator Training]( Reversing its earlier position that additional training was unnecessary, the Chicago-based planemaker recommended yesterday that pilots should undergo flight simulator practice before flying the troubled 737 Max. Boeing changed tack after a number of pilots failed to follow the correct procedures during tests last month. Whether simulator training will be required is up to the Federal Aviation Administration and international regulators. Who’s footing the bill? A recent deal with Southwest Airlines would [force Boeing to pay a $1 million rebate per plane]( if flight simulator training was necessary. SOURCES: [Bloomberg]( / [The Verge]( / [AP]( 3 [Astronomers Redraw Map of Milky Way]( Harvard astronomers have announced the discovery of the largest structure in our galaxy, reshaping our view of [the Milky Way](. The Radcliffe Wave, an undulating gaseous structure that’s 9,000 light-years long and 400 light-years wide, is made of interconnected stellar nurseries that were previously assumed to be part of another system called Gould’s Belt. The team used data from the European Space Agency’s Gaia probe and other measurements to create a detailed 3D map of interstellar material. What else does the study reveal? According to one of its authors, the Radcliffe Wave is close enough that our sun interacts with it, crossing its path “like we are ‘surfing the wave.'” SOURCES: [Cosmos]( / [Daily Mail]( / [Harvard Gazette]( 4 ['Prozac Nation' Author Dies at 52]( Elizabeth Wurtzel, who shot to fame with her best-selling 1994 memoir that illuminated clinical depression at a time when such discussions were still taboo, died yesterday of breast cancer. Though panned by some critics as being overly confessional and self-absorbed, she’s credited with stirring conversation about drug use and sex in an unapologetic style that hooked readers. “I made a career out of my emotions,” the New York native said. How are fans reacting? They thanked Wurtzel for her honest writing, while prominent political commentator Ian Bremmer described her as “such a force of nature.” Read [this OZY feature]( about the art of ironing out depression. SOURCES: [NPR]( / [NY Daily News]( / [Vogue]( / [W]( 5 [Sadio Mane Named Top African Soccer Player]( The Senegalese forward, who scored 30 goals last year and helped Liverpool win the Champions League title, beat out Egyptian teammate Mohamed Salah for the Confederation of African Football award. Mané is only the second Senegalese player to win the honor. It concludes a blazing 2018/2019 season during which the 27-year-old also won the Premier League Golden Boot Award. What’s next for Mané? He’s attracting attention from Real Madrid, while analysts believe he could even succeed Barcelona’s Lionel Messi as [the world’s best soccer player](. SOURCES: [Forbes]( / [BBC]( / [Goal.com]( caught up? now vault ahead ... 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