| Islamic State expands Afghan footprint with terror campaign Posted: 19 Dec 2015 03:52 PM PST  JALALABAD, Afghanistan (AP) — Rahman Wali's younger brother was one of 10 Afghan men forced by Islamic State militants to kneel over bombs buried in the soil in a lush green valley in eastern Nangarhar province. The extremists then detonated the bombs, turning the pastoral countryside into a scene of horror.
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| Clinton, Sanders to debate amid data breach scandal Posted: 19 Dec 2015 02:12 PM PST  US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will take on rival Bernie Sanders at the third Democratic debate late Saturday, amid accusations that a data breach was carried out by his camp. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) temporarily suspended the Sanders campaign's access to a key voter database after at least one of its staffers took advantage of a computer glitch to peek at Clinton voter data. National security and foreign affairs are expected to dominate the evening -- both of which are weak points for Sanders, who is more comfortable talking about economic inequality and financial abuse, topics that are the cornerstones of his campaign.
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| Iraq gets first beauty queen since 1972 Posted: 19 Dec 2015 01:24 PM PST  The jury chose Shaymaa Abdelrahman, a tall, green-eyed 20-year-old from Iraq's multi-ethnic city of Kirkuk. "I'm very happy to see Iraq going forward," the new beauty queen told AFP as she tried to fend off a scrum of admirers hoping to clinch a selfie. Wearing her sash and holding her bouquet, Shaymaa Abdelrahman was fast learning her new trade, saying all the right things without ever breaking her smile.
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| Turkey announces troop withdrawal from Iraq after Obama appeal: ministry Posted: 19 Dec 2015 01:13 PM PST  Turkey on Saturday said it would "continue" to pull its troops out of northern Iraq after US President Barack Obama urged President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to do so in order to de-escalate tensions with Baghdad over the deployment. "Taking into account the sensitivities on the Iraqi side... Turkey will continue the process it has already begun to withdraw its troops stationed in Mosul province," the foreign ministry said in a statement. The Iraqi government earlier this week demanded the "complete withdrawal" of Turkish troops from its territory after Turkey deployed soldiers and tanks to a military camp near the city of Mosul.
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| Turkey says will continue to move troops from northern Iraqi province Posted: 19 Dec 2015 12:32 PM PST  Turkey has acknowledged a "miscommunication" with Iraq over its deployment of troops to the Bashiqa military base in northern Iraq, Turkey's foreign ministry said on Saturday. The ministry said Turkey would continue to move some of its troops out of Nineveh province, where the camp is based. Turkey deployed hundreds of troops in the Bashiqa area this month, with the stated aim of protecting its military personnel training Iraqi militia to fight against Islamic State.
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| Ikea defends its refugee shelters amid Swiss concerns Posted: 19 Dec 2015 11:15 AM PST  The Ikea Foundation on Saturday insisted that its refugee shelters are safe, a day after the Swiss city of Zurich said it no longer would use the units after discovering they posed a fire hazard. The city made its announcement just hours after unveiling the 62 units it had purchased, lamenting that it now needs to find an alternative for housing 250 asylum seekers by early January. The northern Swiss canton of Aargau followed suit, saying it no longer planned to house 300 asylum seekers in the shelters over the next few months.
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| 70 killed in major anti-PKK operation in southeast Turkey: army Posted: 19 Dec 2015 10:45 AM PST  Seventy suspected members of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) have been killed in a vast operation against the group in the mainly Kurdish southeast over the past four days, the army said Saturday. Eight PKK rebels have been killed since Friday, taking the death toll in the unprecedented offensive by the army and police on pro-PKK bastions in three towns and cities to 70, the army said on its website. The army also said it had carried out airstrikes Friday on PKK "hideouts" and "weapons sites" across the border in northern Iraq, where the outlawed group has its rear bases.
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| Pentagon chief makes first visit to French aircraft carrier Posted: 19 Dec 2015 10:22 AM PST  US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter on Saturday visited France's Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier in the Gulf where it is being used to launch strikes on Islamic State targets in Syria and Iraq, the French defence ministry said. It was the first visit by a US Pentagon chief to the French flagship aircraft carrier, which is at the heart of a stepped-up air campaign against the jihadists in Syria and Iraq.
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| 'It's a cultural thing': U.S., French navies differ on drinking wine on a warship Posted: 19 Dec 2015 09:55 AM PST On Saturday morning, French sailors prepared and served coffee behind a large curved bar outfitted with wooden stools. A wall sign advertised available drinks, including Heineken or draft beers for 1.25 euros ($1.36), or Baileys, Johnnie Walker or wine for 1.50 euros ($1.63). "We are French," said a spokesman for the French Navy, Commander Lionel Delort. |
| Pentagon chief: Iraqi strike may be 'mistake' by 2 sides Posted: 19 Dec 2015 09:27 AM PST  ABOARD THE USS KEARSARGE (AP) — The American airstrike that may have killed a number of Iraqi soldiers on Friday seems to be "a mistake that involved both sides," U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Saturday. Iraq pledged to punish those responsible.
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| No sign of peace for Turkey's Kurds after Erdogan victory Posted: 19 Dec 2015 09:07 AM PST  Like many Kurds in Turkey's southeast, Sevgi Gezici, 22, believed President Tayyip Erdogan might relent in a clampdown against Kurdish militants after his party won back its majority in an election in November. Before the Nov. 1 vote, the view among some of Turkey's Kurds was that Erdogan had engineered a new conflict with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to win over Turkish nationalist voters and help the AK Party he founded, but no longer formally leads, return to the single party rule it had lost in an earlier vote in June. Erdogan rejects such a plot.
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| What Is America Fighting For? Posted: 19 Dec 2015 08:45 AM PST  The United States has been at war with ISIS for more than a year. But you cannot beat a surging ideology without a higher sense of purpose.
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| Pentagon chief visits French carrier to show joint resolve against Islamic State Posted: 19 Dec 2015 08:38 AM PST  By Yeganeh Torbati ABOARD THE CHARLES DE GAULLE, (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter visited the French aircraft carrier the Charles de Gaulle in the Gulf on Saturday to highlight both countries' determination to defeat Islamic State militants.
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| Iraq investigating killing of soldiers in apparent US strike Posted: 19 Dec 2015 08:24 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's defense minister says he has launched an investigation into the killing of 10 Iraqi soldiers in an apparent American airstrike, adding that the wrongdoers would be "punished according to Iraqi law." |
| US defense chief visits French, US warships in Persian Gulf Posted: 19 Dec 2015 08:01 AM PST  ABOARD THE CHARLES DE GAULLE (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter met Saturday with naval commanders on U.S. and French warships in the Persian Gulf, saying that there will be more to come in the battle against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.
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| Air strike that killed Iraqi soldiers appears to have been by U.S. plane: Carter Posted: 19 Dec 2015 07:57 AM PST  By Yeganeh Torbati ON BOARD THE USS KEARSARGE (Reuters) - A U.S. aircraft appears to have mistakenly carried out an air strike that killed Iraqi security forces near the city of Fallujah, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Saturday. The Iraqi Minister of Defence Khaled al-Obeidi said earlier that nine soldiers died in the strike on Friday. The U.S. military is leading an international coalition that is waging an air offensive on Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, where the militant group control large swaths of territory.
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| U.S. reports 20 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria Posted: 19 Dec 2015 07:57 AM PST The United States and its allies staged 20 strikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria on Friday, including one near the Iraqi city of Fallujah that is being investigated as a possible friendly fire incident, the coalition leading the operations said on Saturday. U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Saturday a U.S. aircraft appeared to have mistakenly carried out the strike that Iraqi Defence Minister Khaled al-Obeidi said killed nine Iraqi soldiers. |
| IRAQ FALLUJAH Posted: 19 Dec 2015 07:57 AM PST Map locates Fallujah, Iraq; 1c x 2 inches; 46.5 mm x 50 mm; |
| Turkey says 69 Kurdish militants killed in southeastern offensive Posted: 19 Dec 2015 07:54 AM PST  By Seyhmus Cakan DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) - Sixty-nine Kurdish insurgents and two Turkish soldiers have been killed in four days of fighting across southeast Turkey as security forces ramp up operations against the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), security sources and the military said on Saturday. The military said Turkish warplanes taking off from their southeastern base in Diyarbakir had also bombarded PKK camps in northern Iraq on Friday, destroying shelters and weapon posts. A two-year ceasefire between Turkey and the PKK fell apart in July, shattering peace talks and reviving a conflict that has afflicted the mainly Kurdish southeast for three decades, killing more than 40,000 people.
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| At least 14 killed in clashes in Libya's Ajdabiya Posted: 19 Dec 2015 05:37 AM PST By Ayman Al-Warfalli BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - At least 14 people have been killed and 25 wounded during clashes in eastern Libya between armed groups loyal to official government and Islamist groups, two medical sources said on Saturday. The fighting, which was continuing on Saturday, erupted on Thursday in the town of Ajdabiya, the same day as Libya's warring factions signed a United Nations-brokered agreement to form a unity government. Western powers hope the deal will bring stability and help to combat a growing Islamic State presence. |
| '18 migrants drown' as boat sinks in the Aegean Posted: 19 Dec 2015 01:48 AM PST  Eighteen people drowned overnight when their boat sank in the Aegean Sea as it was heading for the Greek island of Kalymnos, Turkish media reported early Saturday. The migrants had left the southwestern Turkish resort of Bodrum during the night on board an old vessel which capsized around two nautical miles off Turkey's coast, survivors said. Some 650,000 migrants, often from Iraq and Syria, have tried to cross the Aegean Sea this year in search of better lives in the European Union.
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| Eighteen migrants drown after boat sinks off Turkey's southwestern coast Posted: 19 Dec 2015 12:48 AM PST Eighteen people died and 14 were rescued late on Friday after a boat carrying migrants trying to sail to Greece sank off the southern Turkish town of Bodrum, Dogan News Agency reported. Fishermen hearing the migrants' screams of migrants alerted the Turkish coast guard, who picked up the bodies from the sea after the wooden boat carrying migrants from Iraq, Pakistan and Syria capsized about 3.5 km off the coast. The coast guard was not immediately available for comment. |
| The Tourist Haven ... At War Posted: 19 Dec 2015 12:00 AM PST  Thailand's secret war is costing thousands of civilian lives but rarely makes headlines.
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| Indonesia to deploy 150,000 security personnel for year-end celebrations Posted: 18 Dec 2015 11:48 PM PST  Indonesia will deploy more than 150,000 security personnel and several religious organizations to safeguard churches and public places around the country during Christmas and New Year's Eve celebrations, the military chief said late on Friday. Indonesia, with the world's largest Muslim population, has already stepped up security and surveillance in some areas in the wake of attacks in Paris last month that killed nearly 130 people and for which militant group Islamic State claimed responsibility. Over 80 percent of Indonesia's population is Muslim, but the country recognizes five other religions including Catholicism, Hinduism, and Buddhism.
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| UAE sending Colombian mercenaries to Yemen: sources Posted: 18 Dec 2015 10:13 PM PST  The United Arab Emirates has secretly sent some 300 Colombian mercenaries to fight for it in Yemen, paying handsomely to recruit a private army of well-trained, battle-hardened South American soldiers, sources told AFP. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Colombians' experience fighting leftist guerrillas and drug traffickers in their home country made them attractive recruits for the UAE, whose relatively inexperienced army is part of an Arab coalition helping Yemen's government fight a war against Huthi rebels. "Colombian soldiers are highly prized for their training in fighting guerrillas," one source, a Colombian former army officer, told AFP in Bogota.
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| Today in History Posted: 18 Dec 2015 09:01 PM PST Today in History |
| New 'Star Wars' smashes box-office record Posted: 18 Dec 2015 08:11 PM PST  Los Angeles (AFP) - "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" smashed the opening night record in the United States and Canada and was poised to become one of the biggest grossing movies ever, industry experts said. The latest instalment of the highly anticipated space epic raked in $57 million for its opening night Thursday, easily beating the previous record -- $43.5 million -- held by "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" in 2011. The "Harry Potter" film holds the all-time record for opening day at $91 million but the new "Star Wars" -- which has had rave reviews and even saw Stormtroopers "invade" the White House on Friday -- is expected to also force it out of that slot.
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| Cyprus refugees hope courts end 17-year wait on UK base Posted: 18 Dec 2015 07:20 PM PST  When Taj Bashir saw land after days adrift aboard a ramshackle fishing trawler, he thought his treacherous journey from persecution in Sudan to sanctuary in Europe was finally over. "We get used to waiting," says Bashir, 43, outside the corrugated steel bungalow that serves as his family home in Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area, on Cyprus's southern shore. "We don't have most of our civil rights because we are in a military base.
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| Obama presses Turkey's president to lower tensions with Iraq Posted: 18 Dec 2015 05:42 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — Urging an end to tensions between two U.S. partners, President Barack Obama asked Turkey on Friday to keep pulling its troops from a training camp in Iraq and respect the country's integrity as a sovereign nation.
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| U.N. endorses Syria peace plan in rare show of unity among big powers Posted: 18 Dec 2015 05:10 PM PST  By Denis Dyomkin, John Irish and Sabine Siebold UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council on Friday unanimously approved a resolution endorsing an international road map for a Syria peace process, a rare show of unity among major powers on a conflict that has claimed more than a quarter million lives. The resolution gives a U.N. blessing to a plan negotiated previously in Vienna that calls for a ceasefire, talks between the Syrian government and opposition, and a roughly two-year timeline to create a unity government and hold elections. Despite their agreement, the major powers are bitterly divided on who may represent the opposition as well as on the future of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
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| At U.N., Turkey accuses Iraq of undermining Islamic State fight Posted: 18 Dec 2015 05:06 PM PST By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Turkey accused Iraq on Friday of undermining the global fight against Islamic State militants by taking its complaint about the deployment of Turkish troops in northern Iraq to the United Nations Security Council. The 15-member council met on the issue on Friday at the request of Iraq and Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari who asked the body to adopt a resolution demanding Turkey withdraw its troops immediately. Jaafari signaled the request for council action was a last resort. |
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