| UN diplomat: Russia to raise Turkey's military action at UN Posted: 07 Dec 2015 04:34 PM PST UNITED NATIONS (AP) — A U.N. Security Council diplomat says Russia plans to raise Turkey's military action in Syria and Iraq at a closed meeting of the council on Tuesday. |
| Amnesty: Most weapons used by IS were seized from Iraqi army Posted: 07 Dec 2015 04:28 PM PST  BEIRUT (AP) — Decades of reckless arms trading and the poorly regulated flow of weapons into Iraq have contributed to the Islamic State group's accumulation of a "vast and varied" arsenal which is being used to commit war crimes on a massive scale in Iraq and Syria, an international rights group said Tuesday.
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| 'Reckless' arms transfers to Iraq fuelled IS crimes: report Posted: 07 Dec 2015 04:22 PM PST  Decades of irresponsible arms transfers to Iraq fuelled the Islamic State group's firepower and ability to carry out atrocities on a massive scale, Amnesty International said in a report published Tuesday. "The vast and varied weaponry being used by the armed group calling itself Islamic State is a textbook case of how reckless arms trading fuels atrocities on a massive scale," Amnesty researcher Patrick Wilcken said in a statement. "Poor regulation and lack of oversight of the immense arms flows into Iraq going back decades have given IS and other armed groups a bonanza of unprecedented access to firepower," he said.
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| Canada to withdraw jets fighting Islamic State within weeks: minister Posted: 07 Dec 2015 03:35 PM PST  By David Ljunggren OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's new Liberal government will act within weeks to fulfill a campaign promise to withdraw six fighter jets that have been attacking Islamic State positions in Iraq and Syria, a top official said on Monday. The Liberals, who took power last month, say Canada can contribute more effectively to the U.S.-led campaign against the militants by assigning more troops to train Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq. "It's a matter of weeks, not months," Foreign Minister Stephane Dion told reporters when asked when the jets would be pulled out.
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| Russia asks for U.N. council talks on Turkey action in Syria, Iraq Posted: 07 Dec 2015 03:26 PM PST  By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia has asked the United Nations Security Council to hold closed-door discussions on Turkish military action in Syria and Iraq, diplomats said on Monday, in the latest sign of increasing tensions between Moscow and Ankara. Russia's U.N. mission had no immediate comment. Relations between Russia and Turkey have nosedived since that incident.
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| Washington denies U.S.-led coalition hit Syria army camp Posted: 07 Dec 2015 03:21 PM PST By John Davison BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's government said a U.S.-led military coalition carried out a deadly air strike on a Syrian army camp, but coalition officials said the report was false. Syria said four coalition jets killed three of its soldiers and wounded 13 in the eastern province of Deir al-Zor on Sunday evening, calling it an act of aggression, the first time Damascus has made such an accusation. Any such strike by U.S.-led coalition planes, which have focused their fire on Islamic State targets, would further complicate the increasingly regional conflict. |
| Syria: 3 troops killed by US-led strikes; US blames Russia Posted: 07 Dec 2015 03:10 PM PST  BEIRUT (AP) — Syria on Monday accused the U.S.-led coalition of bombing an army camp in the eastern part of the country, killing three Syrian soldiers and wounding 13, but a senior U.S. military official said the Pentagon is "certain" the strike was from a Russian warplane.
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| US says Russian strikes likely killed Syrian regime troops Posted: 07 Dec 2015 02:50 PM PST  Russian strikes likely killed Syrian regime troops in eastern Syria, an American official said Monday, despite widespread blame on the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group. Syria accused the coalition in a letter to the UN Security Council of targeting an army camp in Deir Ezzor province on Sunday, killing three soldiers and wounding 13. "We do know that the Russians were active Sunday near Deir Ezzor," the official said.
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| Biden presses Russia on Ukraine peace deal, return of Crimea Posted: 07 Dec 2015 01:49 PM PST  US Vice President Joe Biden said Monday that Washington remained determined to see Russia adhere to a shaky Ukrainian peace agreement and hand back Crimea to Kiev. Biden's visit is his fourth to Kiev since Russia annexed Ukraine's Black Sea peninsula in March 2014 and then watched with approval as pro-Kremlin fighters carved out their own region in the eastern industrial heart of the ex-Soviet state. The war-scarred nation now fears slipping off the global radar due to recent international efforts to enlist Moscow in a joint fight against the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria and Iraq.
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| Putin Stirs the Pot in Turkey and Iraq Posted: 07 Dec 2015 01:47 PM PST  Moscow is keeping up its campaign of retaliation against Turkey. Turkey claims that a Russian soldier stood with a rocket launcher on his shoulder on the deck of the landing ship Caesar Kunikov as it passed through Istanbul on the Bosporus. The incident is the latest in a campaign by Russian President Vladimir Putin to punish Turkey for downing a warplane last month near the country's border with Syria.
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| Doctors set for first penis implant in US Posted: 07 Dec 2015 01:30 PM PST  Johns Hopkins University doctors are preparing for what would be the first US penis transplant, a procedure that could potentially help hundreds of wounded veterans. A Johns Hopkins spokeswoman confirmed a New York Times report that the first such operation was planned for a soldier who suffered genital injuries in a bomb blast in Afghanistan. According to the Times, more than 1,367 soldiers suffered injury to their genitals between 2001 and 2013 in Iraq or Afghanistan.
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| Republicans assail Obama on ISIS _ despite similarities Posted: 07 Dec 2015 01:17 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — Minutes after a solemn President Barack Obama spelled out his plans to protect Americans from terrorism, Marco Rubio declared that he "may have made things worse." Jeb Bush called the president "weak" and his approach "business as usual." And Donald Trump declared on Twitter, "We need a new President - FAST!"
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| Despite similarities, Republicans assail Obama on ISIS Posted: 07 Dec 2015 01:16 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican Party's leading White House hopefuls are lashing out against President Barack Obama's plans to protect Americans from terrorism.
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| House set to tighten restrictions on visa-free travel to US Posted: 07 Dec 2015 01:10 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — Amid frightening attacks at home and abroad, the House is poised to crack down on visa-free travel to the U.S. from friendly nations like Belgium and France, aiming to ensure that the Paris attacks won't be repeated here. |
| New suspected US-led Syria raids kill dozens of civilians Posted: 07 Dec 2015 12:59 PM PST  Suspected US-led coalition air strikes killed at least 26 civilians in a Syrian village Monday, piling pressure on the alliance after allegations that another bombing raid left regime soldiers dead. The coalition has been bombarding the Islamic State group for more than a year in Syria and neighbouring Iraq, where the jihadists have declared a self-styled caliphate. Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said IS is in control of Al-Khan, but is only on its outskirts, "which is why all of the deaths were civilians".
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| Official: Red Cross ready to speak with IS to get aid in Posted: 07 Dec 2015 12:44 PM PST  GENEVA (AP) — The International Committee of the Red Cross is trying to reach out to the Islamic State group to get humanitarian aid to people in areas under its control, the organization's director-general said Monday.
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| More Outrages in Government Waste Posted: 07 Dec 2015 12:30 PM PST  How would you feel if half the tax dollars you paid the federal government each year were thrown away? That's essentially what happens when approximately $750 billion (or more) is spent every year on waste, ...
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| Is Congress Stumbling into Another Budget Crisis? Posted: 07 Dec 2015 12:16 PM PST  Congress must approve more than $1.1 trillion of funding by Friday to keep the government operating for the remainder of fiscal 2016. Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress spent last weekend desperately seeking a compromise on spending, taxes and key policy measures that would enable lawmakers to adjourn for the remainder of the holiday season and then turn their attention to the 2016 campaign and a new House GOP agenda in January. While there appears to be little appetite even among the most rabid of conservative Republicans for a repeat of the 2013 partial government shutdown, the early signs this week is that a final deal is highly elusive and that Congress may have no choice but to kick the can down the road by adopting another short-term extensions of spending authority -- a "continuing resolution" -- to keep the government afloat.
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| Iran made 53 arrests linked to IS since 2014: police Posted: 07 Dec 2015 12:00 PM PST  Iran has arrested 53 suspects and shut down 132 websites linked to the Islamic State group since April 2014, the country's cyber police chief said Monday according to state media. "The cyber police has been identifying and removing web pages exclusively owned by Daesh or people who in some way supported them and advocated their ideologies," Brigadier General Kamal Hadian, using the Arabic acronym for IS, was quoted by official news agency IRNA as saying. Iran, sharing borders with Iraq and Afghanistan, faces the threat of attacks and recently beefed up security in Tehran and other cities, with armed police outside some metro stations and public squares.
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| Iraq warns Turkey to pull forces, Ankara says unlikely Posted: 07 Dec 2015 11:29 AM PST  Baghdad warned Ankara on Monday that time is running out to remove forces it sent to northern Iraq without permission, but Turkey indicated it was unlikely to do so. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said there were "only 24 hours left" of the 48 that Iraq gave Turkey to remove tanks and soldiers sent to a base near Mosul. "The air force has the capability... to protect Iraq and its borders from any threat it faces," the premier said.
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| German court sentences two returning IS jihadists to jail Posted: 07 Dec 2015 11:00 AM PST  Two former Islamic State jihadists, including a would-be suicide bomber, were sentenced to jail by a German court Monday on charges of involvement in a terrorist group. Ayoub B., 27, was given four years and three months, while Ebrahim H. B., 26, was handed a conviction of three years. The two were "involved in the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria organisation between June and August 2014, and were therefore members of a terrorist group abroad," the court in western Germany's Lower Saxony said in its ruling.
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| Understanding ISIS: Leaked document reveals nation-building plans Posted: 07 Dec 2015 10:52 AM PST Politicians, media, and readers from New York to Damascus have debated what, exactly, to call Islamic State, a radical Islamist group that controls a vast stretch of Syria and Iraq while inspiring terror around the globe. The dawning realization that Islamic State is actually intent on establishing a 'caliphate' for the world's Muslims is underscored by a 24-page state-building manual leaked to The Guardian, which experts say should carefully guide Western nations' response to an increasingly global fight against the group's terror both at "home" and abroad. |
| Swedish legal watchdog rejects proposal for border controls Posted: 07 Dec 2015 10:43 AM PST  The top legal watchdog in Sweden, a major destination for migrants flocking to Europe this year, on Monday rejected a government request for the right to impose tighter border controls and shut a bridge to Denmark. The Swedish Council on Legislation said the centre-left government's plan resembled martial law and would violate refugees' right to seek asylum in Sweden. Stockholm imposed temporary border controls in early November, the first in over two decades and a turn-around in its open-doors policy.
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| Air strikes kill 26 civilians in northeast Syria: monitor Posted: 07 Dec 2015 10:32 AM PST  At least 26 civilians were killed Monday in a jihadist-held village in northeast Syria in strikes likely conducted by a US-led coalition, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. "The raids struck the village of Al-Khan, which is held by the Islamic State group," said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman. "But Daesh is only present on the outskirts of the town, which is why all of the deaths were civilians," Abdel Rahman said, using the Arabic acronym for IS.
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| The Latest: Int'l Red Cross tries to reach out to IS Posted: 07 Dec 2015 10:29 AM PST  BEIRUT (AP) — The latest developments regarding the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq: All times local:
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| Iraq PM says IS smuggles majority of oil via Turkey Posted: 07 Dec 2015 09:47 AM PST  Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said Monday that most oil smuggled by the Islamic State group goes through Turkey, joining a chorus of countries linking it with the jihadists' financing. During a meeting with Germany's visiting foreign minister, Abadi stressed the "importance of stopping oil smuggling by (IS) terrorist gangs, the majority of which is smuggled via Turkey," a statement from his office said. Relations with Ankara have improved since Abadi took office in 2014, but tensions remain over issues including the Syrian civil war, and more recently a row over a Turkish military deployment in northern Iraq.
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| Suspect carried out London knife attack for Syria Posted: 07 Dec 2015 09:42 AM PST  By Michael Holden LONDON (Reuters) - A man accused of attacking a commuter with a knife at an east London underground train station said he was acting for Syria, a prosecutor told a London court on Monday. Muhaydin Mire, 29, of east London, was charged with attempted murder in attacking a 56-year-old commuter from behind at the ticket gates of Leytonstone underground station on Saturday evening, Westminster Magistrates' Court heard. Police are treating the incident as a terrorist attack.
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| Here’s How Much ISIS Is Earning Every Day Posted: 07 Dec 2015 09:36 AM PST  Signs are emerging that the group is struggling to fund itself, in the form of "cuts to fighters' salaries, price hikes on electricity and other basic services, and the introduction of new agricultural taxes," the report says. The remainder is derived from drug and antiquities smuggling, the sale of electricity and donations. Although the focus on attacking the sources of oil revenue is working, the coalition is having more difficulty targeting the group's tax revenues.
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| Turkey won't pull back troops deployed to Mosul: official Posted: 07 Dec 2015 08:41 AM PST  Turkey will not withdraw troops it has deployed near an area controlled by the Islamic State group, a senior Turkish official said, after Iraq ordered the immediate withdrawal of its latest contingent. Turkey deployed up to 300 soldiers to the Bashiqa area near the city of Mosul, the jihadist group's main hub in Iraq, describing it as a routine rotation in its programme of training Iraqis to retake the city from IS.
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| Suspect carried out 'hideous' London knife attack for Syria, British court hears Posted: 07 Dec 2015 08:18 AM PST  By Michael Holden LONDON (Reuters) - A man accused of attacking a commuter with a knife at an east London underground train station said he was acting for Syria, a prosecutor told a London court on Monday. Muhaydin Mire, 29, of east London, was charged with attempted murder in attacking a 56-year-old commuter from behind at the ticket gates of Leytonstone underground station on Saturday evening, Westminster Magistrates' Court heard. Police are treating the incident as a terrorist attack.
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| Croatia helps migrants settle by cooking 'taste of home' Posted: 07 Dec 2015 08:17 AM PST  In a family kitchen on the hilly outskirts of Zagreb, a group of chefs from Nigeria, Ethiopia and Croatia sprinkle salt into flour and grate orange zest as they whip up a range of breads from their home countries. The bakers belong to "Okus Doma" or "Taste of Home", a project that helps migrants and refugees to start new lives and make friends in Croatia through cooking together and sharing recipes. "Okus Doma wants to bring people together, they can come out and show their skills and show what they can contribute," he told AFP over a table scattered with mixing bowls, rolling pins and jars of ingredients.
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| Syria accuses U.S. coalition of attacking army camp, Washington denies Posted: 07 Dec 2015 08:15 AM PST By John Davison BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's government said the U.S.-led military coalition have carried out a deadly air strike on a Syrian army camp, but officials from the U.S-led alliance said the report was false. Syria said four coalition jets killed three soldiers and wounded 13 in the eastern Deir al-Zor province on Sunday evening, calling it an act of aggression, the first time it has made such an accusation. Any such strike by U.S.-led coalition planes, which have been focusing their fire on Islamic State militants, would further complicate an increasingly regional conflict now nearly five years old. |
| Experts Urge State Department Not to Exclude Christians from Middle Eastern Genocide Declaration Posted: 07 Dec 2015 08:10 AM PST WASHINGTON, Dec. 7, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Christians must not be excluded from a finding of genocide in the Middle East, according to a letter sent today to Secretary of State John Kerry. The letter was signed by Supreme Knight Carl Anderson of the Knights of Columbus. It was also signed by religious leaders and experts in the fields of human rights, religious freedom and the Middle East. |
| Turkey defends ground troops in Iraq as war escalates Posted: 07 Dec 2015 08:05 AM PST  By Daren Butler and Isabel Coles ISTANBUL/ERBIL (Reuters) - Turkey said on Monday it would not withdraw hundreds of soldiers who arrived last week at a base in northern Iraq, despite being ordered by Baghdad to pull them out within 48 hours. The sudden arrival of such a large and heavily armed Turkish contingent in a camp near the frontline in northern Iraq has added yet another controversial deployment to a war against Islamic State fighters that has drawn in most of the world's major powers. Ankara says the troops are there as part of an international mission to train and equip Iraqi forces to fight against Islamic State.
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| IS group earns $80 mn a month 'but starting to struggle' Posted: 07 Dec 2015 07:43 AM PST  The Islamic State group is pulling in some $80 million a month, mainly from levies and confiscations, but is struggling financially as strikes hit its oil infrastructure, analysis firm IHS said Monday. In a new report, IHS Conflict Monitor said that IS, unlike other jihadist groups such as Al-Qaeda, does not need to rely on foreign funding as it can count on revenues from the large parts of Syria and Iraq under its control. Other terrorist groups don't have that," said Columb Strack, senior analyst at the London-based IHS.
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| Sinjar aftermath highlights Islamic State resilience in Iraq Posted: 07 Dec 2015 07:31 AM PST  By Stephen Kalin BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Kurdish forces backed by U.S. air strikes declared a major victory last month over Islamic State after cutting access to a key supply route in northern Iraq. The detour takes longer to traverse than Highway 47 and could still wash out in heavy winter rains, they said. The vast battlefield in those two countries, combined with Islamic State's nimbleness in responding to logistical setbacks, helps explain the slow pace of U.S.-led coalition operations.
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| What Obama said in Oval Office address on terrorism Posted: 07 Dec 2015 07:06 AM PST  President Barack Obama sought to assure the nation that the U.S. is doing everything possible to protect Americans from terrorism and to defeat the Islamic State group following the attacks in Paris and California. A look at what Obama said in his 13-minute Oval Office address.
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| What Obama said about guns and ISIS: Credible solutions? Posted: 07 Dec 2015 06:45 AM PST President Obama addressed the nation in a speech from the Oval Office Sunday evening, assuring Americans that his administration is prepared to fight an "evolving" threat of terrorism. As the Christian Science Monitor reported, the president's address Sunday night "pointed to a shift in America's fight against terrorism," that requires limited military force, improved gun control and stronger cyber surveillance. Obama said, again, that the United States needs stricter gun laws. |
| Full text of Obama speech on national security, threat of terrorism Posted: 07 Dec 2015 06:33 AM PST Following is the full text of a speech to the country on Sunday by President Barack Obama on national security and the threat posed by militant groups in the aftermath of last week's mass shooting in California. Well, here's what I want you to know: The threat from terrorism is real, but we will overcome it. We will destroy ISIL and any other organization that tries to harm us. Our success won't depend on tough talk, or abandoning our values, or giving into fear. That's what groups like ISIL are hoping for. Instead, we will prevail by being strong and smart, resilient and relentless, and by drawing upon every aspect of American power. Here's how. First, our military will continue to hunt down terrorist plotters in any country where it is necessary. In Iraq and Syria, airstrikes are taking out ISIL leaders, heavy weapons, oil tankers, infrastructure. And since the attacks in Paris, our closest allies -- including France, Germany, and the United Kingdom -- have ramped up their contributions to our military campaign, which will help us accelerate our effort to destroy ISIL. Second, we will continue to provide training and equipment to tens of thousands of Iraqi and Syrian forces fighting ISIL on the ground so that we take away their safe havens. In both countries, we're deploying Special Operations Forces who can accelerate that offensive. We've stepped up this effort since the attacks in Paris, and we'll continue to invest more in approaches that are working on the ground. |
| Obama in speech to nation vows to defeat 'new phase' of terrorist threat Posted: 07 Dec 2015 06:33 AM PST  President Barack Obama on Sunday laid out the most sweeping defense yet of his strategy to defeat Islamic State, but he offered no U.S. policy shift to confront what he called a "new phase" in the terrorist threat after a mass shooting in California. In a rare Oval Office address, Obama sought to calm a U.S. public increasingly jittery about the fight against Islamist militancy that once appeared to be waged overseas. Speaking in a measured tone, Obama used his 14-minute nationally televised appearance to draw a careful line about what he would and would not do.
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