美联社新闻一分钟 AP 哈梅内伊誓言要＂严厉报复＂（在线收听）

This is AP News Minute.

President Donald Trump says an Iranian general was killed 'to stop a war,' and Trump vows the United States is 'ready and prepared' for any response. Nearly 3,000 more army troops are being sent to the Mideast in the volatile aftermath of the killing of general Gassem Soleimani.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei paid a visit to the family of his country's top general, hours after he was killed in a US airstrike in Iraq. Khamenei has vowed "harsh retaliation" for the US airstrike near Baghdad's airport that killed Gassem Soleimani.

Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell is indicating he has little interest in hearing from witnesses in president Donald Trump's impeachment trial. Mcconnell criticized Democrats Friday as having engineered a "slapdash" impeachment that he called the "most rushed, least fair" in history.

Animal residents of Tierpark Berlin had their belated Christmas feast on Friday, with the annual distribution of unsold Christmas trees to German zoos. The popular fir trees are traditionally on the menu for dromedaries, elephants and other animals such as porcupines.

这里是美联社一分钟新闻。

美国总统特朗普称，清除一名伊朗将军是为了“防止战争”。特朗普信誓旦旦地表示，美国已经“准备好”应对一切。卡西姆·苏莱曼尼将军被杀后，将近3000多名军人被派往中东。

伊朗最高领袖哈梅内伊(Ayatollah Ali Khamenei)探望了遇害的最高将领的家属，就在几小时前，苏莱曼尼在美国对伊拉克的空袭中丧生。哈梅内伊誓言要“严厉报复”美国在巴格达机场附近发动的空袭。

参议院多数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔表示，他对听取特朗普总统弹劾审判的证人、证词没什么兴趣。麦康奈尔周五批评民主党人策划了一场“草率”的弹劾，他表示，这是历史上“最仓促、最不公平”的弹劾。

德国柏林Tierpark公园的动物们于上周五迎来迟到的圣诞盛宴，一年一度的未售出圣诞树将被送往德国各大动物园。传统上，受欢迎的冷杉树是单峰骆驼、大象和豪猪等其他动物的“必点菜”。