| Kristen Stewart Joining Ang Lee's 'Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk' Posted: 01 Apr 2015 04:06 PM PDT Newcomer Joe Alwyn is starring in the project with Garrett Hedlund. |
| Rebels seize Syria-Jordan border as IS storms Damascus Posted: 01 Apr 2015 03:21 PM PDT  Rebels backed by Syria's Al-Qaeda affiliate seized control Wednesday of the last border crossing with Jordan that had been under regime control, dealing a major blow to President Bashar al-Assad. "Armed groups, joined today by Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front, took over the Nasib border point from regime soldiers" on the Syrian side of the frontier, said Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. A coalition of rebel groups had launched the offensive Tuesday, and Al-Nusra joined them late Wednesday.
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| Tikrit victory boosts Iraq fight to defeat IS Posted: 01 Apr 2015 02:49 PM PDT  Iraq vowed Wednesday to reclaim the entire country from jihadists after retaking Tikrit from the Islamic State group, as its forces fought to consolidate control of the city. Speaking from a newly-recaptured area of central Tikrit after a month-long operation that was Baghdad's biggest success yet against IS, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said the government was "determined to liberate every inch of Iraqi land". Interior Minister Mohammed al-Ghaban told journalists in Tikrit that there were "a few pockets (of IS fighters) remaining in some of the neighbourhoods".
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| UN report: More than 25,000 foreigners fight with terrorists Posted: 01 Apr 2015 02:23 PM PDT  UNITED NATIONS (AP) — A new U.N. report says more than 25,000 foreign fighters from over 100 countries have traveled to join with al-Qaida, the Islamic State group and other splinter groups in countries from Iraq and Syria to Afghanistan, Libya and the Philippines.
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| IRAQ TIKRIT Posted: 01 Apr 2015 01:32 PM PDT Map shows details of the Tikrit offensive.; 2c x 4 inches; 96.3 mm x 101 mm; |
| Iraq minister says Tikrit massacre burial sites found Posted: 01 Apr 2015 01:30 PM PDT  Iraqi forces which retook Tikrit from the Islamic State group found burial sites Wednesday believed to hold victims of a June massacre in which hundreds of army cadets were executed. Interior Minister Mohammed al-Ghaban told AFP that a burial site had been discovered in a freshly retaken palace complex on the banks of the Tigris river. He was speaking at a concrete waterfront post of Tikrit's water police building, where the wall was stained by blood that had run down into the river. We will bring security and peace to all of Iraq," he said.
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| KBR Inc. to pay $130K penalty over whistleblowers dispute Posted: 01 Apr 2015 01:25 PM PDT A global technology and engineering firm has agreed to pay a $130,000 penalty in the first action taken for an alleged violation of a whistleblower protection rule enacted in response to the recent financial ... |
| Looting in Iraq's Tikrit after city retaken Posted: 01 Apr 2015 12:50 PM PDT  Pro-government militiamen were seen looting shops in the centre of the Iraqi city of Tikrit on Wednesday after its recapture from the Islamic State jihadist group in a month-long battle. The militiamen took items including clothing, shampoo and shaving cream from two shops in central Tikrit before driving away. Two trucks were also seen leaving Tikrit loaded with new tyres, a generator and a mirror that fell out and shattered on the highway. Baghdad turned to Shiite militias to bolster its flagging forces after Islamic State group (IS) jihadists led a sweeping offensive that overran large areas north and west of Baghdad last year.
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| Iraq hails victory over Islamic State extremists in Tikrit Posted: 01 Apr 2015 12:13 PM PDT  TIKRIT, Iraq (AP) — The government declared victory in Tikrit on Wednesday over extremists of the Islamic State group, and it warned the militants holding other Iraqi provinces that they would be the next to fall.
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| Yemen FM calls for coalition to send ground troops Posted: 01 Apr 2015 11:55 AM PDT  Yemen's foreign minister called Wednesday for a Saudi-led military coalition targeting Shiite rebels in his country to send ground troops. "Yes I'm calling for this (ground forces) because I think at some stage air strikes will be ineffective," Riyadh Yassin told AFP during an interview in the Saudi capital, where he has taken refuge along with President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi. His appeal coincided with warnings from aid groups about a brewing humanitarian crisis and civilian casualties in Yemen, where the coalition began air strikes a week ago. Yassin said ground forces would cause "less civilian casualties" but added the main reason he proposes a land operation is to enable aid deliveries.
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| US-Iran thaw spurred Saudi action on Yemen: experts Posted: 01 Apr 2015 09:21 AM PDT  Wary of a rapprochement between Washington and arch-rival Iran, Saudi Arabia has taken matters into its own hands by leading an air war against Shiite rebels in Yemen, experts say. The Huthi rebels, who Tehran denies arming, were close to seizing most of Yemen when Saudi Arabia sent warplanes into its southern neighbour, with which it shares a 1,800 kilometre (1,100 mile) border. "America's indifference to Saudi concerns and -- the other side of that coin, America's increasing interest in co-opting Iran," are among the motives behind Riyadh's action, said Professor Anoush Ehteshami, Iran and Gulf expert at Britain's Durham University.
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| Report: Egypt, Nigeria led world in death sentences in 2014 Posted: 01 Apr 2015 08:41 AM PDT  UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Egypt and Nigeria accounted for well over 1,000 of the death sentences announced last year, more than a third of the world's total, Amnesty International says in its latest annual report on the death penalty.
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| More than 30 jihadist groups 'support IS' Posted: 01 Apr 2015 08:11 AM PDT More than 20 jihadist groups have pledged their allegiance to the Islamic State movement and 10 others have voiced their support for the extremist organisation, according to US monitoring body IntelCenter. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the head of IS which controls swathes of Syria and Iraq, proclaimed the establishment of an "Islamic caliphate" at the end of June last year after his fighters captured the Iraqi city of Mosul, asking all Muslims around the world to swear allegiance to him. A jihadist group in Algeria, another in Egypt's restive Sinai Peninsula, and one in Lebanon immediately pledged their allegiance to the new chief, followed over the next weeks and months by 18 other movements including Boko Haram in Nigeria -- taking the total so far to 21. Ten other groups have voiced their support for IS, without pledging formal allegiance, IntelCenter said. |
| A history of the Islamic State group as Iraq retakes Tikrit Posted: 01 Apr 2015 07:21 AM PDT  CAIRO (AP) — The extremist Islamic State group, which controls a third of both Iraq and Syria in its self-declared caliphate, found itself driven out of the city of Tikrit on Wednesday by an allied Iraqi force backed by U.S.-led airstrikes.
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| Tikrit: Sunni bastion on road to Islamic State-held Mosul Posted: 01 Apr 2015 07:01 AM PDT  Iraq's Tikrit, the largest city yet to be pried away from the Islamic State group, is a Sunni bastion in a part of the country where distrust of the Shiite-led government in Baghdad runs deep, and securing it likely will prove a challenge for the Iraqi forces and Shiite militias that drove out the extremists.
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| 10 Things to Know for Today Posted: 01 Apr 2015 06:44 AM PDT  Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:
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| AP names Adam Schreck as news director for the Gulf region Posted: 01 Apr 2015 05:20 AM PDT  CAIRO (AP) — Adam Schreck, who has covered conflict and upheaval in the Middle East as well as sweeping economic changes reshaping the region, has been named Gulf News Director for The Associated Press.
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| AP names Karin Laub as Jordan bureau chief Posted: 01 Apr 2015 05:15 AM PDT  AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — The Associated Press has named Karin Laub, a veteran Middle East correspondent, as its chief of bureau for Jordan.
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| African envoy expresses concern over EU migrant center plans Posted: 01 Apr 2015 05:06 AM PDT  BRUSSELS (AP) — Africa's envoy to the European Union warned Wednesday that EU plans to process migrants in the countries they leave or transit on their way to Europe are "a dangerous approach."
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| Morocco: Militant cell recruiting IS fighters is dismantled Posted: 01 Apr 2015 04:47 AM PDT RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Morocco's Interior Ministry has announced the dismantling of a cell that recruited young Moroccans to fight with the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq. |
| Morocco dismantles IS recruitment cell Posted: 01 Apr 2015 04:27 AM PDT  Moroccan authorities said Wednesday they dismantled a cell in the city of Fez that was recruiting fighters for the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria. The interior ministry said the head of the cell maintained strong ties with IS leadership and sent Moroccans to training camps in the two countries, where they received intensive training in weapons handling.
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| Amnesty warns against Egypt, Nigeria death sentences Posted: 01 Apr 2015 03:33 AM PDT  Egypt and Nigeria accounted for an "alarming rise" in the number of death sentences handed out around the world in 2014, often on the back of security concerns, Amnesty International said Wednesday. "It's a very worrying development in 2014 that there has been this increase in death sentences," Audrey Gaughran, Amnesty's director of global issues, told AFP at the launch of a report on capital punishment. "The death penalty isn't justice," she said. Titled "Alarming rise in death sentences as governments resorted to capital punishment to combat crime and terrorism", the report recorded 2,466 death sentences during last year -- a 28-percent increase from 2013.
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| A Naïve Deal with Iran Tops Obama’s Bungled Mideast Policy Posted: 01 Apr 2015 02:30 AM PDT Obama has a War on Reality. Obama has doggedly pursued negotiations aimed at restricting Iran's access to a nuclear weapon even though the mullahs in Tehran have done nothing to prove their peaceful intentions. They have continued and even expanded their proxy wars throughout the Middle East, while also refusing to answer questions about their presumed development of advanced weapons. Certain of these demands were considered non-negotiable, and critical to refusing Iran a nuclear weapon. |
| Syria slashes imports to save dwindling foreign reserves Posted: 31 Mar 2015 09:53 PM PDT  Syria's government, presiding over an economy ravaged by war and facing dwindling foreign currency reserves, is taking new measures to slash imports and prop up exports. Importers require government licences that allow them to request a favourable exchange rate at the Syrian central bank. "A month ago, I got a text message from the economy finance ministry telling me that because of the shrinking foreign currency reserves, I would no longer get the preferential dollar rate at the central bank," one importer of consumer goods told AFP. An official at Syria's economy ministry, quoted by the Al-Watan daily, said two-thirds of import licences granted in the last quarter of 2014 went to industries considered essential, including fuel, agriculture and pharmaceuticals.
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| Starz to Debut OTT Service in Middle East Posted: 31 Mar 2015 09:00 PM PDT The direct-to-consumer SVOD venture, entitled Starz Play Arabia, will launch on April 2 in 17 countries. |
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