| Russia and Iran throw weight behind Assad at UN meet Posted: 27 Sep 2015 05:03 PM PDT  Russia and Iran announced a new coalition to defend Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad and defeat the Islamic State on Sunday, handing him a dramatic victory ahead of the UN General Assembly. Assad was not among the dozens of leaders gathered in New York for the annual UN meeting, but will have been heartened by his allies' demand that the world focus on defeating the jihadist threat. "I think today everyone has accepted that President Assad must remain so that we can combat the terrorists," Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said, in an interview with CNN.
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| The Latest: Cameron says gender equality key to progress Posted: 27 Sep 2015 04:15 PM PDT  UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Developments from the final day of a record U.N. gathering of world leaders to launch sweeping development goals:
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| Putin: No plans 'right now' to send Russian troops to Syria Posted: 27 Sep 2015 04:01 PM PDT  MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin said Russia had no plans "right now" to put combat troops on the ground in Syria, but would continue backing the Syrian government.
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| Kurdish rebel rockets miss target, kill 2 girls in Turkey Posted: 27 Sep 2015 02:42 PM PDT  Two girls were killed and four people wounded on Sunday when Kurdish rebels fired rockets at police in Turkey's southeast and missed, hitting a house instead. The outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants launched rockets at a passing armoured police vehicle in the Bismil district of the Kurdish majority Diyarbakir province, the sources told AFP. The Turkish government has been waging an offensive against PKK strongholds in the southeast and in neighbouring northern Iraq.
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| China champions women at UN but record criticized Posted: 27 Sep 2015 02:20 PM PDT  Chinese President Xi Jinping pressed Sunday for the world to step up efforts to improve women's rights, but his push was clouded by his own country's detention of feminists. Paying his first visit to the United Nations, Xi invited fellow world leaders to a special session to mark 20 years since a landmark UN conference on women in Beijing. Xi announced a $10 million pledge to the UN agency for women and said China would in the next five years build 100 health centers and an equal number of school start-ups for girls in the developing world.
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| France launches air strikes against Islamic State in Syria Posted: 27 Sep 2015 01:36 PM PDT  By John Irish and Dominique Vidalon UNITED NATIONS/PARIS (Reuters) - France said on Sunday it launched its first air strikes in Syria, destroying an Islamic State training camp in the east of the country to prevent the group from carrying out attacks against French interests and to protect Syrian civilians. France had until now only struck Islamic State targets in neighboring Iraq, carrying out just 3 percent of air strikes in an offensive on the group by a U.S.-led coalition. France has also provided limited logistical support to Syrian rebels it considers moderate, including Kurds.
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| Russia seizes initiative in Syria crisis; France bombs Islamic State Posted: 27 Sep 2015 01:28 PM PDT  By Arshad Mohammed and John Irish UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia appeared to seize the initiative in international efforts to end the conflict in Syria on Sunday as Washington scrambled to devise a new strategy for the war-ravaged country and France sent warplanes to bomb Islamic State targets. As leaders gathered in New York at the United Nations General Assembly, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry discussed Syria with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. U.S. officials said Kerry was working on a new political initiative in New York that would include Russia and key regional powers.
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| Obama makes forceful defense of new development goals Posted: 27 Sep 2015 01:25 PM PDT  UNITED NATIONS (AP) — President Barack Obama on Sunday committed the U.S. to a new blueprint to eliminate poverty and hunger around the world, telling a global summit that a sweeping new development agenda is "not charity but instead is one of the smartest investments we can make in our own future."
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| After success with Iran, pope, next stop for Obama is UN Posted: 27 Sep 2015 12:31 PM PDT  NEW YORK (AP) — Fresh from successes on Iran and with the pope, President Barack Obama still carried heavy burdens into critical meetings this week at the U.N. General Assembly.
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| Iraq steps up anti-IS coordination with Iran, Syria, Russia Posted: 27 Sep 2015 12:30 PM PDT  Iraq, Russia, Iran and Syria have agreed to set up an intelligence committee in Baghdad, the government said Sunday, a further sign of Moscow's growing role in the region's conflict. Baghdad said the cell would help harmonise often competing efforts in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group, although Washington objected to Syria's role. "It's a committee coordinating between the four countries, with representatives of each country, in the field of military intelligence and aimed at sharing and analysing information," Saad al-Hadithi, a spokesman for Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's office, told AFP.
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| House Intelligence Committee Chair 'Not Sure' U.S. Can Track Americans Headed for Syria Posted: 27 Sep 2015 11:35 AM PDT  Devin Nunes, the chair of the House Intelligence Committee, said he is not sure that the U.S. will be able to track all of the Americans who have gone to Syria to help ISIS. The New York Times reported today that the number of Americans going to join ISIS in Syria has risen to over 250, an increase from approximately 100 a year ago. American Civilians Take Up Arms in Syria, But With Whom?
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| Britain's Cameron calls for talks on Syria transition Posted: 27 Sep 2015 11:28 AM PDT  British Prime Minister David Cameron called for discussions on how to bring about political transition in Syria on Sunday as he prepares to meet world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Britain has stressed that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would not necessarily have to go immediately as part of a peace deal. "Assad can't be part of Syria's future.
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| A new generation of Kurdish militants takes fight to Turkey's cities Posted: 27 Sep 2015 11:24 AM PDT  By Humeyra Pamuk DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) - Young, urban-based fighters, many of them still teenagers, have taken center in the conflict between Kurdish militants and Turkish security forces that has flared anew in southeast Turkey since a two-year ceasefire fell apart in July. The intensity of the violence recalls for some the 1990s, when the insurgency waged by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) was at its peak and thousands were being killed annually, though the death toll remains for now well below those levels. The police retaliate by imposing curfews and launching dragnet security operations, most controversially this month in the town of Cizre near Turkey's borders with Iraq and Syria where at least 20 people were killed.
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| Thousands march in support of migrants in Brussels Posted: 27 Sep 2015 11:22 AM PDT  "Standing behind us are all the European citizens who are working to help the refugees," Elodie Francart of the Citizens' Platform group was quoted as saying by the Belga news agency. The marchers carried banners reading "Refugees Welcome" while many tweeted messages of support and encouragement.
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| Cameron says Syria's Assad could stay as leader in short term - Sky Posted: 27 Sep 2015 11:10 AM PDT  Prime Minister David Cameron was quoted by Sky News as saying on Sunday Syrian President Bashar al-Assad could stay on as part of a transitional government but should not be part of Syria's future in the long run. Sky's correspondent, travelling with Cameron to the United States, said Cameron was not ruling out that Assad could be part of a transition, but "what he is very clear about is that Assad cannot be part of Syria's future in the long run".
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| Iraq to share intelligence on IS with Syria, Russia and Iran Posted: 27 Sep 2015 10:55 AM PDT  BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's military said Sunday it will begin sharing "security and intelligence" information with Syria, Russia and Iran to help combat the Islamic State group, a move that could further complicate U.S. efforts to battle the extremists without working with Damascus and its allies.
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| AP Interview: Kazakhstan sees unity as key to battling IS Posted: 27 Sep 2015 10:45 AM PDT NEW YORK (AP) — Political divisions prevent the global community from reversing the rise of the Islamic State group, Kazakhstan's top diplomat said, urging world leaders to unite efforts to combat extremism. |
| France carries out airstrikes in Syria against Islamic State Posted: 27 Sep 2015 10:40 AM PDT  PARIS (AP) — Six French jet fighters targeted and destroyed an Islamic State training camp in eastern Syria in a five-hour operation on Sunday, President Francois Hollande announced, making good on a promise to go after the group that he has said is planning attacks against several countries, including France.
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| IS loyalists kill 3 police in first attack on Afghan forces Posted: 27 Sep 2015 10:27 AM PDT KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Islamic State gunmen attacked checkpoints in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, killing three police in the group's first attack on the country's security forces, Afghan officials said. |
| Kerry says fight against Islamic State needs to be coordinated Posted: 27 Sep 2015 10:12 AM PDT  U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday it was vital to coordinate all efforts against the Islamic State militant group in the Middle East but this was not yet happening. Asked the purpose of an Iraqi-announced effort to coordinate intelligence among Iraq, Syria, Iran and Russia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters before he met Kerry it was to "coordinate the efforts against ISIL (Islamic State)." Kerry, however, told reporters: "I think the critical thing is that all of the efforts need to be coordinated.
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| France carries out first air strikes on IS in Syria Posted: 27 Sep 2015 10:07 AM PDT  France carried out its first air strikes against the Islamic State group in Syria on Sunday, launching a military operation as Russia and Western powers sought the upper hand in shaping the future of the war-torn country. President Francois Hollande said six French warplanes hit an IS training camp near the eastern city of Deir Ezzor, and that more air strikes could follow in the coming weeks. The action came on the eve of the UN General Assembly in New York where Syria is in the spotlight after four years of a brutal war that has killed more than 240,000 people and sent hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing to Europe.
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| UK's Labour backs down on vote on scrapping nuclear weapons Posted: 27 Sep 2015 09:35 AM PDT  LONDON (AP) — Britain's Labour Party has decided to leave the country's nuclear weapons alone.
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| Report: Negligence led to paratrooper's death during jump Posted: 27 Sep 2015 09:04 AM PDT FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Negligence by a jump master led to the broken neck and death of a 21-year-old paratrooper from New York who became tangled in another jumper's lines during a 2014 training jump, according to an Army report on the investigation of the death. |
| IS shuts playgrounds in east Syria city: monitor Posted: 27 Sep 2015 08:59 AM PDT  The extremist Islamic State group has closed playgrounds in a Syrian city because they were being used as a meeting place for unrelated men and women, a monitor said Sunday. "IS has shut down playgrounds in the city of Mayadeen in the eastern Deir Ezzor province... under the pretext that there was mixing between men and women bringing their children to play," said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The Observatory's sources inside the city said that the Hesbah -- IS's moral police -- had patrolled through Mayadeen's playgrounds on the first of day of Eid al-Adha, the Muslim feast of sacrifice, earlier this week.
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| Putin's Syria gambit puts US on back foot at UN Posted: 27 Sep 2015 08:46 AM PDT  Russia's President Vladimir Putin launched a new coalition to battle the Islamic State in Syria on Sunday, as he prepared to confront US rival Barack Obama at the United Nations. The dramatic diplomatic gambit underlined how Russia has seized the initiative on Syria, as US Secretary of State John Kerry met his counterpart Sergei Lavrov to express his concerns.
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| War on IS a focus of UN General Assembly amid stalemate Posted: 27 Sep 2015 07:54 AM PDT  BEIRUT (AP) — When world leaders convene for the U.N. General Assembly this week, it will be a year since the U.S. president declared the formation of an international coalition to "degrade and ultimately destroy" the Islamic State group.
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| French strikes in Syria to reap political, but not military gains Posted: 27 Sep 2015 07:36 AM PDT  French air strikes launched against Islamic State jihadists in Syria on Sunday may win Paris political capital, but are unlikely to yield serious military gains or stop terrorist attacks, analysts say. The strikes were announced on the eve of the UN General Assembly in New York where Syria is back in the diplomatic limelight after four years of grinding war that has sent tens of thousands of refugees fleeing to Europe. France, which has been the target of a series of jihadist attacks, has explained its change in strategy by saying it was acting in self-defence.
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| U.S., allies conduct 23 air strikes in Syria, Iraq: U.S. military Posted: 27 Sep 2015 07:33 AM PDT A coalition led by the United States conducted 20 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and three against the militant group in Syria on Saturday, according to a statement released by the Combined Joint Task Force on Sunday. In Iraq, the coalition conducted five strikes near the town of Hit, where it destroyed a facility for making vehicle bombs, a command and control facility, and one of the headquarters for Islamic State. Other air strikes were spread across the country, according to the statement. |
| Iran denounces Saudi Arabia over haj and demands apology Posted: 27 Sep 2015 07:08 AM PDT  By Bozorgmehr Sharafedin DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran demanded an apology from Saudi Arabia on Sunday over the deaths of 769 people at the haj pilgrimage and accused it of trying to evade blame, while Riyadh in turn accused Tehran of playing politics with the disaster. At least 155 Iranian pilgrims died in the crush of pilgrims on Thursday near Mecca and 300 other Iranians remain unaccounted for. Iranian officials say that, three days after the incident, they suspect most of the missing are dead too.
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| Putin says seeking 'coordinated framework' to fight IS Posted: 27 Sep 2015 06:37 AM PDT  Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview released Sunday that he was seeking partners to set up a "coordinated framework" to fight the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria. Putin said he had personally informed the kings of Saudi Arabia and Jordan of his plan and that he had also informed the United States. Russia has increased its military presence in Syria, deploying more troops and warplanes to an air base along with new arms deliveries to President Bashar al-Assad's forces.
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| Iraq says Russia, Iran, Syria cooperating on security issues in Baghdad Posted: 27 Sep 2015 03:46 AM PDT  By Stephen Kalin BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq has said its military officials are engaged in intelligence and security cooperation in Baghdad with Russia, Iran and Syria to counter the threat from the Islamic State militant group, a pact that could raise concerns in Washington. A statement from the Iraqi military's joint operations command on Saturday said the cooperation had come "with increased Russian concern about the presence of thousands of terrorists from Russia undertaking criminal acts with Daesh (Islamic State)." The move could give Moscow more sway in the Middle East.
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| Iraq: Deal reached on 'intelligence cooperation' with Russia, Iran and Syria against IS Posted: 27 Sep 2015 03:09 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq: Deal reached on 'intelligence cooperation' with Russia, Iran and Syria against IS. |
| While EU governments demur, refugees find a welcome on the Web Posted: 27 Sep 2015 02:54 AM PDT  By Chine Labbé and Yoruk Bahceli PARIS/AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - With one million people expected to seek asylum in Europe this year and governments arguing over how to cope, thousands of volunteers are taking to the Internet to offer refugees shelter free of charge. In France, the Netherlands and other European countries, private individuals are proposing free lodging via Web-based platforms inspired by Airbnb, the home rental venture that has flourished with the rise of smartphones. "It's laudable symbolically but it's not the model favored by the state," said an official at the interior ministry of France, where arrivals are despatched to accommodation centers or state-paid hotel rooms.
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| Tulsi Gabbard: A Young Star Headed for the Cabinet? Posted: 27 Sep 2015 01:00 AM PDT  She's a veteran with seats on three bumpin' committees in Congress. Quite the résumé for a 34-year-old from Hawaii.
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| Nearly 30,000 foreign fighters went to Syria and Iraq: report Posted: 27 Sep 2015 12:44 AM PDT  US intelligence fears nearly 30,000 foreign fighters have traveled to Iraq and Syria since 2011, many of them to join the Islamic State group, The New York Times reported. In recent weeks, there have been allegations that the US military has been playing down the IS threat in intelligence reports, to paint a rosier picture of its efforts.
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