![GettyImages-503161632.jpg](https://media2.fdncms.com/stranger/imager/u/large/42459967/1578067384-gettyimages-503161632.jpg)
Welcome to World III: An American drone killed Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, the head of the elite Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, at Baghdad's international airport. The assassination occurred near the airport's cargo area. Some consider Soleimani to be the second-most powerful figure in Iran. Many believe nothing good will come out of this action, which is going down like this: Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, promises "a forceful revenge." Americans have been advised to get out of Iraq. France believes the United States has made the world less safe. Joe Biden is of the same opinion. He stated that President Donald Trump's order to kill the Iranian general has “tossed a stick of dynamite into a tinderbox.”
The sequence of events leading to the assassination: According to Vox, it began with an Iranian-backed militia killing "an American contractor while wounding others in rocket attacks, leading the Trump administration to order retaliatory strikes on five targets in Iraq and Syria that killed 25 of the militia’s fighters. In protest, the militia — Ketaib Hezbollah — organized a rally outside the US embassy in Baghdad where some got inside the compound and set parts of it ablaze."
Four days before the assassination: Russia, China, and Iran completed a four-day exercise in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Oman. The purpose of the drill, according to Iran's Admiral Hossein Khanzadi, was to show the US that it had failed to isolate Iran and that the region has new players.
Of course this was going to happen: The stock market began falling upon the news of the assassination, but not the price of oil. It surged 4 percent and is now $70 per barrel. Remove the oil from the Middle East, and peace will not be hard to find at all.
Black Twitter takes on WWIII: Almost immediately after news of the drone strike in Iraq hit the headlines, Black Twitter, which is a thing, started cracking about World War III. The laughs are much needed in this time of uncertainty and gathering dark clouds.
Me trying to convince the Army recruiter I'm under 18 #WWIIIpic.twitter.com/RDsQDJCmgM
— Logic (@The1stGentleman) January 3, 2020
Me and my niggas during basic training for World War III #WWIII pic.twitter.com/embDRRwrCf
— Ajz Máhal (@ajzmahal) January 3, 2020
Me and my boys sliding to the War 😂#WWIII
pic.twitter.com/P6Gtb6AMmF
— Mhamad Bahman 🦉 (@mhamad_bahman) January 3, 2020
Rose McGowan tweets an apology to Iran: The actress and #MeToo celebrity tweeted: "Dear #Iran, The USA has disrespected your country, your flag, your people. 52% of us humbly apologize. We want peace with your nation. We are being held hostage by a terrorist regime. We do not know how to escape. Please do not kill us." Of course, many on Twitter told her to move to Iran and get nuked in Tehran.
Rose McGowan told to "move to Iran" after apologizing to the country on Twitter https://t.co/0VduP2DQRm
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) January 3, 2020
In one other piece of news: The world-historical wildfires in Australia have killed half a billion animals. These wildfires were, of course, caused by Capitalism. They are the social cost of an economic system that is based on endless growth. Capitalism is not cheap.
This weekend's EverOut picks are: The Seventh Annual Big Ass Boom Box Festival, your last chance to see the MoPOP exhibition Prince from Minneapolis, and the return of Bon Appétit: The Julia Child Show. See more on our EverOut Things To Do calendar.