2015年3月24日星期二

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Yahoo! News: Iraq


Chaos in Yemen undercuts US war against AQAP

Posted: 24 Mar 2015 03:57 PM PDT

A member of a coalition of fighters made up of local tribes, who are all opposing the Shiite-Huthi movement, drives a T-62 tank at the Al-Anad airbase, Yemen, on March 24, 2015Yemen's descent into chaos has undermined the US campaign against Al-Qaeda there, forcing Washington to abandon a strategy once touted as a model for counter-terrorism efforts. President Barack Obama's decision last week to withdraw all remaining US troops in Yemen from a base in the south underlined the gravity of the situation, with Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) now potentially posing an even greater danger to the West, experts and former intelligence officials said. "Certainly a repositioning of our forces out of Yemen would make our fight against AQAP more difficult, there is no question about that," Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steven Warren told reporters Tuesday.


Yemen asks U.N. to back military action by 'willing countries'

Posted: 24 Mar 2015 03:47 PM PDT

By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Yemen asked the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday to back military action by "willing countries" to combat an advance by Shi'ite Muslim Houthi militia, according to a letter from President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi seen by Reuters. Hadi wants the 15-member body to adopt a resolution to authorize "willing countries that wish to help Yemen to provide immediate support for the legitimate authority by all means and measures to protect Yemen and deter the Houthi aggression." Hadi said he has asked the Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council comprised of Gulf Arab states "to provide immediately all means necessary, including military intervention, to protect Yemen and its people." Violence has been spreading across the country on the Arabian peninsula since last year when Iran-backed Houthi militia seized the capital Sanaa and effectively removed Hadi, who seeks to return from the southern port city of Aden.

Rubio pins presidential hopes on foreign policy focus

Posted: 24 Mar 2015 03:47 PM PDT

FILE - In this Feb. 27, 2015 file photo, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. speaks in National Harbor, Md. Rubio is pinning his presidential hopes on the prospect that Republican voters will have foreign policy on their minds in the 2016 primaries _ and that they'll see a 43-year-old freshman lawmaker with a keen interest world affairs as the best candidate to take on global crises. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)WASHINGTON (AP) — Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is pinning his presidential hopes on the prospect that Republican voters will have the troubled world on their minds in the 2016 primaries — and that they'll see a 43-year-old freshman lawmaker who argues for an aggressive U.S. posture abroad as the best candidate to take on global crises.


Obama slows Afghanistan troop withdrawal

Posted: 24 Mar 2015 03:35 PM PDT

US President Barack Obama (R) with Afghanistan President Ashram Ghani during a joint press conference at the White House in Washington, DC, March 24, 2015President Barack Obama on Tuesday reversed plans to withdraw about 5,000 US troops from war-torn Afghanistan this year, an overture to the country's new reform-minded leader. Hosting Ashraf Ghani at the White House for a first presidential head-to-head, Obama agreed to keep the current level of 9,800 US troops in Afghanistan until the end of 2015. "President Ghani had requested some flexibility on our drawdown timelines," Obama said after an Oval Office meeting aimed at setting aside years of unease between Kabul and it nominal ally. Obama said a decision to meet Ghani's request "reflects our reinvigorated partnership with Afghanistan." "We want to make sure that we're doing everything we can to help Afghan security forces succeed." Ghani took charge six months ago after elections and protracted power-sharing negotiations.


Utah's adoption of firing squads bucks global trend

Posted: 24 Mar 2015 03:18 PM PDT

Utah's decision to reintroduce the firing squad as an execution method if lethal injections drugs are unavailable bucks an international trend.

Syrian rebels launch offensive on government-held city

Posted: 24 Mar 2015 03:04 PM PDT

In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian president Bashar Assad, right, speaks with Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, left, in Damascus, Syria, Tuesday, March. 24, 2015. Al-Jaafari said they discussed BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian rebels launched an offensive Tuesday against a major government-held city in the country's northwest, shelling the outskirts and warning residents to remain indoors in the coming days.


Obama slows withdrawal of U.S. troops in Afghanistan

Posted: 24 Mar 2015 02:58 PM PDT

Obama shakes hands with Ghani after their joint news conference at the White House in WashingtonBy Jeff Mason and Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Tuesday granted Afghan requests to slow the drawdown of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and said he would maintain a force of 9,800 through the end of 2015 while sticking to a 2017 exit plan. Capping a day of VIP treatment for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani at the White House, Obama said the U.S. force would be kept at its current strength to train and assist Afghan forces, who took over responsibility for the fight against Taliban and other Islamic militants at the start of the year. Obama said the pace of the U.S. troop reduction in 2016 would be established later this year and the goal remained to consolidate U.S. forces in the country in a presence at the Kabul embassy at the end of 2016. "It was my assessment as commander in chief that it made sense for us to provide a few extra months for us to be able to help on things like logistics," Obama said during a joint news conference with Ghani at the White House.


US advice to others it could use itself

Posted: 24 Mar 2015 01:56 PM PDT

A handy expression for any parent – "Do what I say, not what I do" – could well be said in Washington these days. Its elected leaders are so at odds that the government is adrift – hardly a model for the rest of the world. In Iraq, he encouraged one leader to step down for another who is doing better at inclusive government. This week, a good example of a US-concocted coalition is on display in Washington with a visit by Afghanistan's two leaders, President Ashraf Ghani and chief executive Abdullah Abdullah.

Yemen leader musters forces as militia foes advance

Posted: 24 Mar 2015 01:14 PM PDT

Members of a coalition or fighters who are all opposing the Shiite-Huthi movement drive a tank at the Al-Anad airbase, in Yemen's Lahj governorate, north of Aden, on March 24, 2015Forces loyal to Yemen's president are scrambling to enlist thousands of troops to resist an expected attack on his southern stronghold by militiamen who have seized swathes of the country. In the southern city of Aden, chaos erupted as would-be recruits jostled to sign up to defend the embattled leader against the advancing Huthi Shiite militia. "We came to Aden to do our duty, at the request of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi," said Saqr al-Moghrabi. Like some others seeking to enlist, he formerly served under the command of rogue general Abdel Hafedh al-Sakkaf, who sided with the Huthis before fleeing Aden.


Jordan, Russia sign $10 billion deal on nuclear power plant

Posted: 24 Mar 2015 12:32 PM PDT

Khalid Toukan, right, chairman of the Jordanian Atomic Energy Commission and Sergei Kiriyenko, of the Russian state nuclear energy agency Rosatom, answer questions from reporters after signing a deal to build Jordan's first nuclear power plant on Tuesday, March 24, 2015, in Amman, Jordan. The 2,000-megawatt plant will be located in Amra, north Jordan, and cost $10 billion. AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Jordan signed a $10 billion deal with Russia on Tuesday to build the kingdom's first nuclear power plant, with two 1,000-megawatt reactors in the country's north.


U.S. to keep 9,800 troops in Afghanistan through end 2015: White House

Posted: 24 Mar 2015 11:59 AM PDT

U.S. President Obama and Afghanistan President Ghani address joint news conference at the White House in WashingtonThe United States will maintain its current 9,800 troops in Afghanistan through the end of 2015, the White House said in a statement on Tuesday after President Barack Obama met with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. "Based on President Ghani's request for flexibility in the U.S. drawdown timeline, the U.S. will maintain its current posture of 9,800 troops through the end of 2015," the White House said. Ghani became Afghanistan's president last year and enjoys much smoother relations with Washington than his predecessor, Hamid Karzai. Obama said last year that by the end of 2015, U.S. forces in Afghanistan would be reduced to about half of the current levels.


What is driving a remarkable shift in US-Afghan relations?

Posted: 24 Mar 2015 11:59 AM PDT

When Afghan President Ashraf Ghani opened his visit to Washington this week by thanking American troops and taxpayers for their years of sacrifice in support of his country, it marked a remarkable shift in the US–Afghan relationship. Obama's revised drawdown plans take account of both Afghan and US officials' assessments that the US- and NATO-trained Afghan military and police are not yet ready to stand alone against the Taliban insurgency.

Tunisians honour massacre dead as museum reopening delayed

Posted: 24 Mar 2015 11:45 AM PDT

Singer Yosra Mahnouch performs with the Tunisian Symphony Orchestra at the National Bardo Museum in Tunis on March 24, 2015, during an official ceremony honouring the 21 people killed in last week's jihadist attackTunisians on Tuesday honoured the 21 people killed in last week's jihadist attack on foreign tourists at their national museum, but its promised reopening was delayed. Hundreds of people had gathered outside the National Bardo Museum in the capital Tunis, before it was announced that the reopening had been scrapped at the last minute. Officials have admitted there were security failures on the day of the attack on the complex, which is next to Tunisia's parliament.


Official: US-led aircraft flying over IS-held Tikrit

Posted: 24 Mar 2015 11:21 AM PDT

Imam Ali Brigades, members of of an Iraqi Shiite militant group, launch rockets against Islamic State extremist positions during clashes in Tikrit, 130 kilometers (80 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, March 24, 2015. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)TIKRIT, Iraq (AP) — The U.S.-led coalition battling the Islamic State group has begun surveillance flights over the northern Iraqi town of Tikrit, a senior coalition official said Tuesday, marking the first time the alliance has taken part in a major offensive there that is being spearheaded by Iranian-backed Shiite militias.


Iraq foreign minister backs Syria fight against 'terror'

Posted: 24 Mar 2015 10:58 AM PDT

A picture released on March 24, 2015 by the official Syrian Arab News Agency shows President Bashar al-Assad (R) meeting with Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari in DamascusIraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari met President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday in the first visit by a senior Baghdad official since Syria's conflict began in 2011. Speaking after meeting Assad and his Syrian counterpart Walid Muallem, Jaafari urged regional support for Damascus as it battles "terrorism". "Arab countries should support Syria in its fight against terrorism," Jaafari said, calling on "neighbouring countries to stand with Iraq and Syria".


Lebanese army says captures militant accused of beheading soldier

Posted: 24 Mar 2015 10:57 AM PDT

Lebanon's army said on Tuesday that it had captured two militants, one of whom beheaded a Lebanese soldier who was held by hardline Islamist gunmen along with around two dozen servicemen still in captivity. A statement from the army said that Omar Mikati and Bilal Mikati were captured on Tuesday morning and are being held on charges of belonging to a terrorist organization and that one was suspected of killing a soldier. A Lebanese security source said both men are Lebanese. Militants affiliated to the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front and Islamic State are demanding the release of Islamists held by the Lebanese authorities in exchange for the captured members of the security forces.

Canada to extend airstrikes against IS, go into Syria

Posted: 24 Mar 2015 10:24 AM PDT

The original military mission started in November with Canadian war planes joining US-led airstrikes, smoke seen in the horizon at Mosul Dam, on Islamic State jihadistsCanada will expand its campaign of air strikes against the Islamic State group and for the first time strike it in Syria as well as Iraq, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Tuesday. The aim, he said, is to prevent the IS jihadist group from moving heavy equipment across the Iraqi border into Syria to avoid coalition airstrikes. "In our view, ISIL must cease to have any safe haven in Syria," Harper said, using his government's preferred acronym for the Islamic State group.


Cruz’s Forked Tongue Hurts His Presidential Chances

Posted: 24 Mar 2015 10:19 AM PDT

Last fall, the Government Business Council and Defense One surveyed nearly 430 national security experts, including many in the Departments of State, Defense and Homeland Security, asking who among the ten top potential GOP presidential candidates they would like to see as the next commander-in-chief. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who became the first Republican to formally announce for president on Monday, finished dead last.

Canada to conduct airstrikes against IS group in Syria

Posted: 24 Mar 2015 10:11 AM PDT

TORONTO (AP) — Canada is expanding its military mission against the Islamic State group to include airstrikes on targets in Syria, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Tuesday.

Women's media group honors photographer Heidi Levine

Posted: 24 Mar 2015 09:50 AM PDT

This handout photo provided by the International Women's Media Foundation shows Heidi Levine in Jerusalem. A women's media group will honor freelance photographer Heidi Levine as the inaugural winner of an award for courage named for Associated Press photographer Anja Niedringhaus, who was killed on assignment in Afghanistan. The International Women's Media Foundation in Washington announced Tuesday that Levine will be awarded the Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award. Levine is an American and is based in Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Warrick Page, International Women's Media Foundation)WASHINGTON (AP) — Photographer Heidi Levine, who has spent 30 years covering war zones and revolutions in the Middle East, Libya and Syria, was named Tuesday as the inaugural winner of an award for courage named for Associated Press photographer Anja Niedringhaus.


US counterterrorism strategy in Yemen collapses amid chaos

Posted: 24 Mar 2015 09:48 AM PDT

FILE - In this March 21, 2015, photo, Members of a militia group loyal to Yemen's President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, known as the Popular Committees, chew qat as they sit next to their tank, guarding a major intersection in Aden, Yemen. Once hailed by President Barack Obama as a model for fighting extremism, the U.S. counterterrorism strategy in Yemen has all but collapsed as the country descends into chaos, according to U.S. and Yemeni officials. (AP Photo/Hamza Hendawi, File)WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. counterterrorism strategy in Yemen has all but collapsed as the country once hailed by President Barack Obama as a model for fighting extremism descends into chaos, according to U.S. and Yemeni officials.


Tunisia's Bardo museum in symbolic reopening and march after attacks

Posted: 24 Mar 2015 09:45 AM PDT

Children perform during the ceremonial reopening of the Bardo museum in TunisBy Patrick Markey and Tarek Amara TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisia's Bardo museum held a ceremonial reopening on Tuesday a week after gunmen claiming alliance with Islamic State killed 20 foreign tourists in an attack aimed at wrecking the country's vital tourism industry. Tunisia is keen to show it can recover from the attack which threatens to damage tourism and mar the country's young democracy four years after a 2011 uprising ended the one-party rule of Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali. Security forces later shot dead the two men, who had been recruited at mosques in Tunisia and subsequently trained at a jihadist camp in Libya. Tunisians carrying national flags and waving "Visit Tunisia" signs gathered behind barriers outside the Bardo, where dignitaries were invited under tight security to a symbolic reopening with an orchestra playing inside the museum hall.


US 'eye in the sky' aiding Iraq's Tikrit operation

Posted: 24 Mar 2015 09:26 AM PDT

Iraqi policemen stand over an army vehicle at a checkpoint at the entrance of Al-Alam, a flashpoint town north of Tikrit, on March 22, 2015Washington is providing reconnaissance support for Iraqi forces fighting to retake Tikrit from the Islamic State group, an official said Tuesday, the first confirmation of American involvement in the operation. Such assistance could help Iraqi forces move forward with their largest operation against IS jihadists to date, which enjoyed initial success but has since stalled into a siege, with the city surrounded but not retaken. A US-led coalition has targeted IS with air strikes and provided training and equipment to Iraqi forces, but had not previously announced direct assistance for the Tikrit operation, in which Iran has played a major role. "The coalition began providing ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) support on March 21, 2015 at the request of the government of Iraq, and the US is now providing that support," a senior coalition military official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.


Canada says it will bomb Islamic State 'safe havens' in Syria

Posted: 24 Mar 2015 09:19 AM PDT

By David Ljunggren OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada will expand its military mission against Islamic State by launching air strikes against the militants' safe havens in Syria as well as Iraq, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Tuesday. Harper also said Canada plans to extend its six-month mission against Islamic State by a year, to the end of March 2016.

Syria's Assad urges united front with Iraq against terrorism: state media

Posted: 24 Mar 2015 09:13 AM PDT

By Suleiman Al-Khalidi and Laila Bassam AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad called on Tuesday during talks with Iraq's foreign minister in Damascus for a united front with Baghdad in tackling terrorism as the two countries battle Islamic State militants on their territory. The Shi'ite Muslim-led government in Baghdad, along with Iran and the Lebanese group Hezbollah, has been an important ally for Assad. Shi'ite Iraqi militias have fought on Assad's side against the insurgency spearheaded by Sunni Islamists.

Lawmakers boost war spending as the wars wind down

Posted: 24 Mar 2015 09:07 AM PDT

A Pentagon budget account for the wars becomes an ever-larger slush fund

U.S. says would review any Iraqi request for help in Tikrit

Posted: 24 Mar 2015 09:06 AM PDT

The United States would review any Iraqi request for assistance with its offensive to retake the city of Tikrit from Islamic State insurgents, the Pentagon said on Tuesday, describing the operation as "stalled." "Certainly, if the Iraqis formally request U.S. assistance, we would take a look at that," Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steve Warren told a news briefing, declining to say whether Baghdad had already submitted such a request. Reuters reported on Tuesday that Iraq's request to the U.S.-led coalition for air strikes in the campaign to retake Tikrit from Islamic State insurgents was imminent. If the coalition accepts such a request, it would see by far the biggest collaboration so far against the militants by Iraqi forces, the Iranian-backed paramilitary's and their Iranian advisers on the ground, and the United States and its allies.

Iraq's top diplomat meets with Syria's Assad in Damascus

Posted: 24 Mar 2015 08:58 AM PDT

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Iraq's foreign minister has held talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad that focused on threats facing both countries, including the Islamic State group.

Policeman, two soldiers killed in attacks in Egypt's Sinai: sources

Posted: 24 Mar 2015 08:42 AM PDT

Two Egyptian soldiers and a policeman were killed in separate attacks in North Sinai on Tuesday, medical and security sources said, the latest in a string of attacks on the peninsula bordering Israel and the Suez Canal. A roadside bomb killed an army officer and a non-commissioned officer while they were on patrol near the town of Sheikh Zuweid, the sources said. Ten soldiers were also wounded in that attack. In a separate incident, a policeman was killed in a drive-by shooting near a camp for security forces in al-Arish, the main city in North Sinai, the sources said.

Two soldiers, policeman killed in Egypt Sinai attacks

Posted: 24 Mar 2015 08:36 AM PDT

The Egyptian military has poured troops and armour into the Sinai peninsulaA roadside bomb killed two Egyptian soldiers Tuesday in an armoured vehicle in the restive Sinai hours before gunmen shot dead a policeman, security and medical officials said. A military official said the explosion took place as army forces patrolled an area near the village of el-Kharouba, close to the Gaza Strip in the north. Egypt has been battling an Islamist insurgency in North Sinai since the army ousted president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013. Militant attacks in Sinai are spearheaded by a group called Ansar Beit al-Maqdis (Partisans of Jerusalem), the Egyptian affiliate of the Islamic state group that controls swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq.


Militant attacks in Egypt's Sinai kill 2 troops, policeman

Posted: 24 Mar 2015 08:02 AM PDT

CAIRO (AP) — Suspected Islamic militants killed two Egyptian soldiers and a police conscript in attacks in the restive northeastern Sinai Peninsula on Tuesday, security officials said.

U.S., allies hit Islamic State with 14 air strikes: Joint Task Force

Posted: 24 Mar 2015 07:48 AM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and its allies staged 14 air strikes on Islamic State targets in Syria and Iraq in the latest round of daily attacks, the Combined Joint Task Force said on Tuesday. The strikes occurred between Monday and Tuesday mornings. Six were near the Syrian city of Kobani, where five Islamic State fighting positions, four tactical units, a checkpoint and a vehicle were hit. In Iraq, the task force said a total of eight strikes near Bayji, Fallujah, Mosul, Sinjar and Tal Afar hit tactical units, vehicles, storage facilities and other targets. ...

Conference Program to Scrutinize the Israel Lobby on April 10 at the National Press Club

Posted: 24 Mar 2015 07:36 AM PDT

WASHINGTON, March 24, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The April 10 conference "The Israel Lobby: Is It Good for the US? Is It Good for Israel?" at the National Press Club will present the following panels:1.0 What Is the Israel Lobby and How Does It Work? 9:00 AMGrant Smith: How big is the Lobby and what does it do? An overview of the 501(c) universe.Seth Morrison: From the Jewish National Fund to Jewish Voice for Peace and BDS.Jeffrey Blankfort: The ADL: Covert action, censure, and courting law-enforcement.2.0 Are Critical Voices Silenced? 10:10 AMProf. ...

Succession talk risks backfiring on Cameron in tight UK election

Posted: 24 Mar 2015 06:49 AM PDT

Britain's PM Cameron addresses a news conference during a EU leaders summit in BrusselsBy Andrew Osborn LONDON (Reuters) - A surprise disclosure by British Prime Minister David Cameron that he won't seek a third term if voters give him a second mandate on May 7 has backfired, sparking a media frenzy about his successor and talk of him becoming a lame duck leader. Cameron's comments, in a BBC interview conducted in the kitchen of his country home on Monday, took his own aides and lawmakers by surprise and threatened to overshadow his Conservative Party's central campaign message about the economy. In breaks between chopping vegetables, Cameron told his interviewer that whilst he was obviously keen to be re-elected and to govern the world's sixth biggest economy till 2020, he wouldn't be seeking another five years after that and would let someone else have a go instead. "There definitely comes a time where a fresh pair of eyes and fresh leadership would be good, and the Conservative Party has got some great people coming up," he said.


Tunisia's Bardo museum in symbolic reopening after attacks

Posted: 24 Mar 2015 05:20 AM PDT

A French tourist places a placard upon bouquets of flowers during a rally to express solidarity with Tunisians after an attack at Tunisia's Bardo Museum, outside the museum in TunisTunisia's Bardo museum held a ceremonial reopening on Tuesday a week after gunmen claiming alliance with Islamic State killed 20 foreign tourists in an attack aimed at destroying the country's tourism industry. Tunisians carrying national flags and "Visit Tunisia" signs gathered behind barricades outside the Bardo on Tuesday where dignitaries only were invited for a symbolic reopening with drummers and traditional pipe music under tight security. The public reopening of the Bardo is expected at the weekend. The Bardo attack by gunmen trained in jihadi camps in Libya shocked Tunisia, which mostly managed to escape the upheaval of other "Arab Spring" countries four years after its revolt to topple autocrat Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali.


Iraq request for U.S.-led Tikrit air strikes 'imminent': diplomat

Posted: 24 Mar 2015 04:49 AM PDT

Shi'ite fighters from Saraya al-Salam gather in Najaf before heading to Tikrit to continue the offensive against Islamic State militantsBy Richard Mably, Samia Nakhoul and Ned Parker BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's request to the U.S.-led coalition for air strikes in the campaign to retake Tikrit from Islamic State insurgents is "imminent", a senior diplomat from a Western nation that is part of the coalition told Reuters on Tuesday. There was no immediate confirmation from the Iraq government about the request, which the diplomat said would be positively received. "Once that's happened (that) we have gotten the request, we will do whatever we are asked to do," the diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The coalition has been absent so far from the Tikrit campaign launched three weeks ago, the largest to be undertaken by the Iraqi forces and Iranian-backed Shi'ite Muslim militias since Islamic State overran a third of the country last year.


Bomb kills two soldiers in Egypt's Sinai: sources

Posted: 24 Mar 2015 02:58 AM PDT

A roadside bomb killed two Egyptian soldiers on Tuesday during a patrol near the town of Sheikh Zuweid, medical and security sources said, the latest in a string of attacks in the Sinai Peninsula bordering Israel and the Suez Canal. Deadly attacks mostly targeting security forces have been concentrated in North Sinai, the epicentre of an Islamist insurgency seeking to topple the Cairo government, though blasts have occurred across the country in the past two years. Militants based in North Sinai have killed hundreds of soldiers and police since the army toppled Islamist president Mohamed Mursi in 2013 following mass protests against his rule. Sinai is home to Egypt's most dangerous Islamist group, Sinai Province.

Canada will expand anti-ISIS bombing campaign to Syria: sources

Posted: 24 Mar 2015 02:53 AM PDT

Canada's PM Harper speaks in OttawaBy David Ljunggren OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada plans to expand its mission against Islamic State militants by sending fighter bombers to attack targets in Syria as well as Iraq, two well placed political sources said on Monday. Prime Minister Stephen Harper will formally announce the plan at 10 a.m. eastern time (1400 GMT/ 1000 ET) on Tuesday, the sources said. He will also announce that Canada intends to extend its six-month military mission by another year to April 2016. Canada has around 70 special forces troops operating in northern Iraq and has also provided six jets to take part in U.S.-led bombing missions against Islamic State in Iraq.


Islamic State recruits 400 children since January: Syria monitor

Posted: 24 Mar 2015 02:40 AM PDT

Islamic State has recruited at least 400 children in Syria in the past three months and given these so-called "Cubs of the Caliphate" military training and hardline indoctrination, a monitoring group said on Tuesday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the children, all aged under 18, were recruited near schools, mosques and in public areas where Islamic State carries out killings and brutal punishments on local people. One such young boy appeared in a video early this month shooting dead an Israeli Arab accused by Islamic State of being as spy. A French police source said the boy might be the half-brother of Mohamed Merah, who killed three soldiers, a rabbi and three Jewish children in Toulouse in 2012.

Angelina Jolie Reveals She Had Ovaries Removed, Cannot Biologically Have More Children

Posted: 24 Mar 2015 12:16 AM PDT

The actress underwent a preventive double mastectomy in 2013.

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