A US drone strike - ordered by President Donald Trump - has killed the head of Quds Force, the elite branch of Iran's Revolutionary Guard. General Qasem Soleimani, a heroic national figure in his homeland, died while being driven at Baghdad Airport in neighbouring Iraq. The Pentagon, which blames Gen Soleimani for approving this week's attack by protesters on the US embassy in Baghdad, says the strike was "aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans". The US would take "all necessary action to protect our people and our interests" around the world, it added.
BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner says, in the short term, it might have the opposite effect, having "raised US-Iranian tensions to a new and dangerous level". Iran's Foreign Minister, Javad Zarif, called the move "extremely dangerous and a foolish escalation". He tweeted: "The US bears responsibility for all consequences of its rogue adventurism." Following the attack, President Trump tweeted a graphic of the US flag.

They might be a good fit for some of your colleagues, but the terms "weirdos and misfits" are unlikely to feature in many job descriptions. However, that's exactly who Boris Johnson's chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, reaches out to in a blog post calling for people with "odd skills" to apply to work in Downing Street, alongside more data scientists, software developers and economists. He says fresh blood is needed to address a lack of "deep expertise in specific fields" in the civil service. Dave Penman, of senior civil servants' union the FDA, says recruitment is "on merit, not patronage". He adds: "All senior civil service roles are already open to external competition, yet time and again, government's failure to pay a market rate restricts the pool." Forgotten who Dominic Cummings is? Remind yourself.

It's been a record-breaking year for British weather, according to the Met Office. July saw the hottest day ever recorded in the UK (38.7C in Cambridge). London measured the warmest February day (21.2C), while the Scottish Highlands experienced the highest daily minimum temperature for February at 13.9C. Meanwhile, provisional figures suggest the Highlands also recorded a new December high of 18.7C. The National Climate Information Centre says 2019 brought down the curtain on the second-hottest decade in a century. Its head, Dr Mark McCarthy, says it's a consequence of our warming climate and we can expect more extremes.

A variety of stories feature on front pages, with the i assessing the possibility of Northern being stripped of its rail franchise for a "disastrous track record". The Times leads on No 10 chief adviser Dominic Cummings' call for "weirdos and misfits" to work with him in Downing Street. Meanwhile, the Sun's headline - "Help me, Boris" - sums up a plea from a British woman, convicted in Cyprus of lying about being raped, for the UK prime minister to press for a pardon.

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