| Biden: US supports Iraq's fight against al-Qaida Posted: 26 Jan 2014 01:12 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden says the United States continues to support Iraq in its fight against al-Qaida-linked militants. |
| Iraqi planes, artillery strike rebel-held Falluja Posted: 26 Jan 2014 01:04 PM PST  By Ahmed Rasheed BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi government forces battling al Qaeda-linked militants intensified air strikes and artillery fire on the rebel-held city of Falluja on Sunday, and at least seven people were killed, according to hospital officials and tribal leaders. Religious and tribal leaders in the city, 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad, said they feared an imminent assault by the army to expel militants and end a three-week standoff that has driven thousands of people from their homes. Iraqi security forces have set up a loose cordon around Falluja and have clashed sporadically with insurgents inside. "There is no time left for talks and we're afraid a military solution is looming," said a local cleric in Falluja, the scene of two major battles with U.S. troops in 2004.
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| Violence rages on Damascus outskirts Posted: 26 Jan 2014 12:47 PM PST  Syrian rebels and government troops clashed Sunday in restive districts of Damascus, a monitoring group said, as representatives of the warring sides met for peace talks in Geneva. "Fierce fighting raged between rebels and troops in Jobar (in eastern Damascus) and the Port Said area of Qadam (in the south)," said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Meanwhile troops pounded opposition-held Douma northeast of the capital, the Britain-based Observatory said. It also reported the choking siege of the Yarmuk Palestinian camp in southern Damascus by regime troops claimed six more lives Sunday because of food and medical shortages.
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| Militants 'capture soldiers' as Iraq unrest kills 13 Posted: 26 Jan 2014 10:49 AM PST  Militants appeared to have captured five Iraqi soldiers near Fallujah, according to witnesses and online videos, while anti-government fighters took control of more territory in Anbar province on Sunday. Meanwhile attacks elsewhere in Iraq killed 13 people, pushing to more than 850 the number of people killed this month. Authorities have been grappling for weeks with a deadly standoff in Anbar province, west of Baghdad. Foreign leaders have urged the Shiite-led government to seek political reconciliation with disaffected minority Sunnis in order to undercut support for militants.
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| Crash Course in Diplomacy: U.S. Offers Free College for the World Posted: 26 Jan 2014 08:09 AM PST These students are all benefiting from a relatively new trend in online learning: MOOCs, shorthand for massive open online courses, which are being offered by major American universities. Many of them also lack the chat-room interaction with other students that online courses are known for. But the State Department is expanding its program to offer MOOC access and group support to a growing number of international students. Increasingly, students "come together around the world," says Craig Weidemann, Penn State's vice president for outreach and vice provost for online education. |
| Suicide bomber kills 4 in Kabul attack on military bus Posted: 25 Jan 2014 10:53 PM PST  A Taliban suicide bomber blew himself up near an Afghan military bus in Kabul Sunday, killing four people in the latest attack in the Afghan capital in the final year of NATO combat operations. Two military officers and two civilians died when the bomber, who was on foot, targeted the bus taking defence ministry staff to work. The attack followed an improvised explosive device (IED) blast on Saturday evening in which two people were wounded and a massive suicide attack on a restaurant a week ago that killed 21 people, including 13 foreigners. NATO combat forces are withdrawing from Afghanistan this year after more than a decade of fighting the Taliban, but negotiations have stalled over a deal to allow some US and NATO troops to stay after 2014.
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