2015年2月23日星期一

Yahoo! News: Iraq

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Yahoo! News: Iraq


US Marine who vanished in Iraq gets 2 years in prison

Posted: 23 Feb 2015 03:58 PM PST

Cpl. Wassef Hassoun is escorted to the courtroom on Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, N.C., Monday, Feb. 9, 2015, for the beginning of his court martial trial. The U.S. Marine who vanished from his post in Iraq a decade ago and later wound up in Lebanon chose Monday to have his case decided by a military judge instead of a jury. (AP Photo/The Daily News, John Althouse)RALEIGH, North Carolina (AP) — A U.S. Marine who vanished a decade ago in Iraq was sentenced Monday to two years in prison for leaving his post there and then fleeing to Lebanon after a brief return to the U.S.


Marine who vanished in Iraq gets 2 years in prison

Posted: 23 Feb 2015 03:51 PM PST

FILE - In a Monday, Feb. 9, 2015 file photo, Cpl. Wassef Hassoun, left, is escorted to the courtroom on Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, N.C., for the beginning of his court martial trial. Hassoun's military defense attorney Capt. Brittaney Bennett walks with him. Hassoun was convicted Monday, Feb. 23, 2015, of desertion for leaving his post there and then fleeing to Lebanon after a brief return to the U.S. (AP Photo/The Daily News, John Althouse, File)RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A U.S. Marine who vanished a decade ago in Iraq was sentenced Monday to two years in prison for leaving his post there and then fleeing to Lebanon after a brief return to the U.S.


US Marine who vanished in Iraq guilty of deserting

Posted: 23 Feb 2015 03:41 PM PST

US Marine Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun (R), who went missing in Iraq and turned up safe in Lebanon, prepares to read a statement to the media on July 19, 2004 outside the US Marine Corps Base in Quantico, VirginiaA Marine who vanished from a US military base in Iraq in 2004 was convicted and jailed Monday for twice deserting his unit, with prosecutors saying he was disillusioned and longed for his native Lebanon. A military judge at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, sentenced Marine Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun to more than two years in prison, dishonorable discharge and forfeiture of all pay and allowances, officials said. The judge, Major Nicholas Martz, found Hassoun, 35, guilty of deserting his combat post in June 2004 in the central Iraqi city of Fallujah, and of deserting his Marine unit at Camp Lejeune in January 2005, military officials said. Hassoun fled to Lebanon in both cases, staying there for nearly a decade the second time.


U.S. Marine who vanished in Iraq found guilty of desertion

Posted: 23 Feb 2015 03:15 PM PST

By Colleen Jenkins WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (Reuters) - A U.S. Marine who disappeared from his base in Iraq in 2004 and later fled to Lebanon was found guilty on Monday of twice deserting the military and sentenced to two years in prison. Corporal Wassef Hassoun, 35, was convicted of deserting in Iraq to avoid hazardous duty and deserting again in 2005 with the intent to stay away for good, according to a statement from Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, where his court-martial was held. After Hassoun vanished from his base in Fallujah, Iraq, in June 2004, the Arabic language interpreter turned up a month later in Lebanon claiming to have been kidnapped by militants, the military has said.

US Marine gets 2 years in prison for disappearing in Iraq, Lebanon a decade ago

Posted: 23 Feb 2015 03:01 PM PST

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (AP) — US Marine gets 2 years in prison for disappearing in Iraq, Lebanon a decade ago.

Oscars 2015: 'American Sniper' "Hero" Lyric Doesn't Make Cut for Opening Song

Posted: 23 Feb 2015 02:58 PM PST

The lyrics, according to Playbill, originally included a line referencing "a hero of Afghanistan." The final version includes a nod to "a sniper in a combat zone."

Obama open to changes to military authority against IS

Posted: 23 Feb 2015 01:45 PM PST

FILE - In this Feb. 11, 2015 file photo, Vice President Joe Biden listens as President Barack Obama speaks about the Islamic State group, Wednesday, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington. White House officials say President Barack Obama is open to negotiating with Congress on many elements of his request for war powers against the Islamic State group, including his proposed three-year time limit on U.S. military action and the use of American troops. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is calling on lawmakers to work out their yawning divisions over an authorization to use military force against Islamic State militants and says President Barack Obama is open to changes to his initial proposal to achieve a compromise.


Texas trial for 'American Sniper' halted due to ice storm

Posted: 23 Feb 2015 01:11 PM PST

Eddie Ray Routh enters the court during his capital murder trial in StephenvilleBy Jon Herskovitz STEPHENVILLE, Texas (Reuters) - The Texas trial of a man charged with fatally shooting former U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, whose best-selling autobiography was turned into the blockbuster movie "American Sniper, was halted on Monday due to an ice storm. Eddie Ray Routh, 27, is accused of shooting Kyle and Kyle's friend Chad Littlefield multiple times at a gun range about 70 miles (110 km) southwest of Fort Worth in February 2013 and then fleeing in Kyle's pickup truck. Defense attorneys are trying to have Routh declared innocent by reason of insanity. A psychiatrist called by the defense testified last week that Routh had paranoid schizophrenia and showed signs of psychosis that could not be faked, media reports said.


Russia and US spar over global crises at UN meeting

Posted: 23 Feb 2015 01:08 PM PST

United States Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power listens during a meeting of the Security Council at the United Nations in the Manhattan borough of New YorkUNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov implicitly accused the United States on Monday of violating U.N. principles by bombing Syria, occupying Iraq "under false pretenses" and manipulating a Security Council mandate to destroy and create chaos in Libya.


Oscars 2015: Best & Worst Political Moments

Posted: 23 Feb 2015 12:54 PM PST

Politics and serious art have played hand in hand since Aristophanes was writing caustic socially conscious blockbusters for Athenian society. More recently, the Oscar presentations have historically been an irresistible stage for presenters and winners who have a political point to make. And the 87th Academy Awards is as politically charged as any since 2003—;when best documentary winner Michael Moore took President George Bush to task for invading Iraq.The lead-up to Oscars 2015 included open debate around the paucity of Selma nominations and whether or not American Sniper is propaganda as art or pure art. So pointed mentions of political points-of-view were anticipated for 2015, and pointed mentions were made—;just not always from the expected directions.Host Neil Patrick Harris delivered the night';s first stab at topical humor at the top of the show, ";Tonight we celebrate Hollywood';s best and whitest, sorry ...; brightest."; 

Marine who vanished in Iraq in '04 found guilty of desertion

Posted: 23 Feb 2015 12:53 PM PST

FILE - In a Monday, Feb. 9, 2015 file photo, Cpl. Wassef Hassoun, left, is escorted to the courtroom on Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, N.C., for the beginning of his court martial trial. Hassoun's military defense attorney Capt. Brittaney Bennett walks with him. Hassoun was convicted Monday, Feb. 23, 2015, of desertion for leaving his post there and then fleeing to Lebanon after a brief return to the U.S. (AP Photo/The Daily News, John Althouse, File)RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A U.S. Marine who vanished a decade ago in Iraq was convicted Monday of desertion for leaving his post there and then fleeing to Lebanon after a brief return to the U.S.


Turkey criticizes Britain over missing schoolgirls

Posted: 23 Feb 2015 12:50 PM PST

Turkey criticized Britain on Monday for taking too long to inform it about three London schoolgirls who traveled to Turkey last week possibly en route to join Islamist militants in Syria. Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said he hoped the girls would be found, but that it would be Britain, not Turkey, to blame if they were not. "It is an condemnable act for Britain to let three girls ... come to Istanbul and then let us know three days later ... They haven't taken the necessary measures," Arinc told reporters after a cabinet meeting. The three London schoolgirls arrived at Istanbul airport on Feb. 17 and British authorities, concerned that they were traveling to join Islamic State fighters, informed Ankara on Feb. 20, Arinc said.

Passport control: Two cases test new anti-terrorism tactics in France, UK

Posted: 23 Feb 2015 12:30 PM PST

Authorities in France have confiscated the passports of six French nationals allegedly planning to travel to Syria to join the self-described Islamic State, a first in the country's invigorated campaign against Islamic extremism. Recommended: How much do you know about the Islamic State?

French carrier joins fight as US reviews anti-IS effort

Posted: 23 Feb 2015 11:41 AM PST

Technicians stand next to a French Navy Rafale fighter jet onboard the French Navy aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, operating in the Gulf, on February 23, 2015A French aircraft carrier launched operations against the Islamic State jihadist group Monday as the new Pentagon chief summoned top generals and diplomats to Kuwait to review the war effort. US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter vowed the jihadists would suffer a "lasting defeat" as he convened the meeting of more than two dozen senior military officers, ambassadors and intelligence officials at the sprawling US Army base of Camp Arifjan in Kuwait. Afterwards, the new Pentagon chief indicated he supported the current strategy and did not call for a major overhaul. A defence official confirmed Carter did not favour a radical overhaul of the war strategy, even though some US allies and Washington lawmakers have demanded a more aggressive stance in Syria.


In soldiers' rescue, Turkey plays off warring sides in Syria

Posted: 23 Feb 2015 11:33 AM PST

By Nick Tattersall ISTANBUL (Reuters) - By extracting dozens of its soldiers surrounded by Islamist fighters in Syria, Turkey has warded off a potential crisis and shown its ability to maneuver between rival warring parties, including Islamic State. Several hundred Turkish ground troops, backed by tanks and drones, mounted an eight-hour operation on Saturday night to evacuate the 38 soldiers guarding the tomb of Suleyman Shah, grandfather of the founder of the Ottoman Empire. The fact there were no clashes appeared to suggest that Islamic State fighters surrounding the site were either warned or coerced by Turkey not to try to disrupt the incursion, the first it has mounted since Syria's civil war broke out in 2011. "The game of those who tried to use the tomb and our soldiers to blackmail Turkey has been disrupted," President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday, without making clear whether he was referring to Islamic State, Kurdish militants or the Syrian army.

New U.S. defense chief hints little change in Islamic State strategy

Posted: 23 Feb 2015 11:24 AM PST

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter pauses while speaking to reporters at a news conference after a regional security meeting at Camp ArifjanBy Phil Stewart CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait (Reuters) - New U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Monday America had the right "ingredients" of a strategy to combat Islamic State, emerging from talks with top U.S. military and diplomatic leaders without hinting at any fundamental shift in the campaign. After a day of meetings in Kuwait, Carter acknowledged some room for improvement, broadly suggesting some allies could contribute more to the fight and saying the United States needed to be more aggressive on social media combating Islamic State. Our global coalition is up to the task and so (is) American leadership." Carter kicked off the talks addressing the more than two dozen senior American officials he invited to Camp Arifjan in Kuwait as "Team America" in the region. He also received an operational update from Lieutenant General James Terry, the senior U.S. commander of operations against the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.


Reuters Pakistan bureau chief dies in Islamabad

Posted: 23 Feb 2015 11:16 AM PST

The Pakistan and Afghanistan bureau chief for Reuters news agency died on Monday after collapsing in the office in Islamabad, the company saidThe Pakistan and Afghanistan bureau chief for Reuters news agency died on Monday after collapsing in the office in Islamabad, the company said. Maria Golovnina, 34, was rushed to hospital in the Pakistani capital but doctors were unable to save her, Reuters said in a statement. Before taking up her role in Islamabad in 2013, Golovnina, who was a Russian national, had worked in postings around the world, including in London, Singapore, Moscow, Afghanistan and Iraq. Reuters editor-in-chief Stephen Adler said the whole agency mourned Golovnina's death.


Rights group says Egypt airstrikes in Libya killed civilians

Posted: 23 Feb 2015 11:06 AM PST

CAIRO (AP) — A leading international human rights group said Monday that the Egyptian military failed to take the necessary precautions to avoid civilian casualties during its airstrikes last week against what Cairo said were militant targets in Libya.

Russia's Lavrov accuses West of trying to dominate world

Posted: 23 Feb 2015 10:52 AM PST

By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday accused Western powers of trying to dominate and impose their ideology on the rest of world, while the United States and European delegations slammed Moscow for supporting rebels in eastern Ukraine. Lavrov was speaking at a special meeting of the U.N. Security Council organized by China, which holds the rotating presidency of the 15-nation body this month, on the 70th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations. Without accusing specific countries, Lavrov complained about what he said was rampant violation of key principles of the U.N. Charter, specifically the "independence and sovereign equality of states, the non-interference in their internal affairs." He cited Western interventions in Syria, Libya and Iraq. "For those not wishing to play ball, there are various methods, including regime change, including the open support for the unconstitutional state coup in Ukraine a year ago," he said.

Russia accuses US of bringing 'chaos' to Middle East

Posted: 23 Feb 2015 10:50 AM PST

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov speaks during a meeting in Moscow on February 19, 2015Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the United States on Monday of plunging the Middle East into chaos and fueling the rise of extremists because of its drive to dominate the world. Lavrov leveled the fierce criticism of Washington's policies at a special UN Security Council debate on maintaining international peace and security. Russia and the United States have been at loggerheads over the war in Syria, with Moscow supporting President Bashar al-Assad and opposing US air strikes against Islamic State targets. Lavrov did not mention the United States by name, but his remarks made clear he was targeting the US administration.


Cameron: Internet firms must do more after UK girls head to Syria

Posted: 23 Feb 2015 10:46 AM PST

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron gestures as he delivers a speech in HastingsBy Michael Holden LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron said internet firms must do more to deal with online extremism after three teenage girls radicalized "in their bedrooms" left London in an apparent bid to travel to Syria. Friends Amira Abase, 15, Shamima Begum, 15, and Kadiza Sultana, 16, flew to Turkey last week in what the authorities believe was an attempt to travel to Syria to join the militant Sunni Islamist group Islamic State. News of their actions led to calls from lawmakers for social media companies to do more after it was revealed they had been in contact via Twitter with other women involved with Islamic State.


Reuters journalist Maria Golovnina dies in Pakistan aged 34

Posted: 23 Feb 2015 10:39 AM PST

Reuters reporter Maria Golovnina stands atop a church steeple, while on assignment in Dalton-in-Furness, northern EnglandMaria Golovnina, Reuters bureau chief for Afghanistan and Pakistan who was widely loved and admired for her courage, compassion and professionalism, died in Islamabad on Monday. Maria, 34, was found collapsed and unconscious in the bureau and was rushed to hospital, but medical teams were unable to save her. In a career spanning more than a decade with Reuters, Maria was always on the move, reporting from some of the world's most dangerous places with a calm authority that other, more experienced journalists could only admire. She was driven by a hunger to understand what made human beings tick, be it during the throes of revolution in Libya or in the pre-dawn calm of southern Pakistan as Sufis cleansed a revered shrine with rose water before their ecstatic rituals began.


Pentagon chief convenes counter-IS meeting, lauds strategy

Posted: 23 Feb 2015 10:36 AM PST

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter, left, speaks with a soldier at Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2015. Carter is making his first trip to visit troops and commanders in Afghanistan since his swearing-in this week. (AP Photo/Jonathan Ernst, Pool)CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter convened an extraordinary war council Monday on Iraq's doorstep six days after taking office, gathering military and diplomatic leaders to discuss the Obama administration's oft-criticized strategy for countering the Islamic State group.


US Pentagon chief vows 'lasting defeat' against IS

Posted: 23 Feb 2015 10:35 AM PST

Ashton Carter has flown to Kuwait for a meeting with senior military officers and ambassadors at the US Army base of Camp ArifjanNew Pentagon chief Ashton Carter will hold talks Monday in Kuwait with top US commanders and diplomats to discuss the war effort against the Islamic State jihadist group, officials said. Carter flew to Kuwait City from Afghanistan on Sunday to chair the extraordinary meeting that will see more than two dozen senior military officers and ambassadors gather at the sprawling US Army base of Camp Arifjan, officials said. Carter, an experienced Pentagon technocrat who took office last week, "wants it to be an open conversation regardless of rank," a senior US defence official told reporters on condition of anonymity.


Islamic State uses social media to groom British Muslim girls: think tank

Posted: 23 Feb 2015 10:23 AM PST

By Kieran Guilbert LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Islamic State is using social media and the promise of adventure to lure British Muslim girls to join its cause, an anti-extremism think tank said on Monday, as police attempt to trace three London schoolgirls believed to be heading to Syria. The three friends, two aged 15 and one 16, left their east London homes last week and caught a Turkish Airlines flight to Istanbul without telling their families. The Quilliam Foundation said there had been a concerted effort from Islamic State to use websites like Twitter, Ask.fm and Facebook to groom young girls into believing they have a moral duty and obligation to join the militant group. For girls from conservative Muslim families in Britain, who may be denied the same opportunities as their brothers and male peers, messages offering the chance to "do something with your life" can prove tempting, said managing director Haras Rafiq.

Questioning the 'root causes' approach to countering violent extremism

Posted: 23 Feb 2015 10:23 AM PST

The root causes as they're often defined – poverty, ignorance, economic and political injustice – are prevalent in many places where there isn't much violent extremism. The last two bullet points above are central to the "deradicalization" programs of recent decades aimed at gently weaning jihadis and jihadi sympathizers off violence. But Omar Ashour, author of "The De-Radicalization of Jihadists: Transforming Armed Islamist Movements" and a professor at at the University of Exeter in the UK, reviewed those programs' recent track record for the Washington Post last week, and argues that they don't succeed unless the broader national and social conditions are right. As for Muammar Qaddafi's efforts with the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, many of whose members figured prominently in the 2011 civil war that drove him from power and have since joined Islamist militias that are helping to tear the country apart, there was almost no hope once the uprising against Qaddafi began.

France seizes passports of would-be jihadists

Posted: 23 Feb 2015 10:20 AM PST

France's Minister of the Interior Bernard Cazeneuve says his department has been alerted to over 1,000 potential jihadist casesSix French citizens have had their passports confiscated and 40 more will be banned from leaving the country as Europe cracks down on would-be jihadists planning to travel to Syria and Iraq. This is the first time France has resorted to the measure since its introduction as part of a raft of new counter-terrorism laws in November. "If French people go commit attacks in Iraq or in Syria, on their return they will present an even greater danger of carrying out large-scale terrorist attacks on the national territory," Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve told reporters.


UK police brief students at school of Syria-bound girls

Posted: 23 Feb 2015 10:19 AM PST

A handout CCTV picture received from the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) on February 23, 2015 shows (left-to-right) Amira Abase, Kadiza Sultana and Shamima Begum at Gatwick Airport on February 17, 2015The headmaster of a London school attended by three girls believed headed for Syria on Monday called for their return as police briefed staff and students on the threat of radicalisation. Mark Keary, headmaster of east London's Bethnal Green Academy, said the visiting police officers were part of a "support team" from the government's Prevent programme called in following the girls' disappearance last week. Around ten police stood on duty outside the secondary school, as pupils made their way back to school for the first time since police on Friday launched an appeal to find the missing teenagers.


US-led strikes in Syria 'kill 1,600' in five months

Posted: 23 Feb 2015 09:28 AM PST

Smoke rises from the impact of an airstrike targeting Islamic State (IS) militants in the Syrian town of Kobane, on October 8, 2015Beirut (AFP) - US-led air strikes against the Islamic State group in Syria have killed more than 1,600 people, mainly jihadists, since they began five months ago, a monitor said on Monday.


Europol chief says more cooperation needed to counter terror

Posted: 23 Feb 2015 09:10 AM PST

FILE - In this Monday, Feb. 4, 2013 file photo, Europol's director Rob Wainwright answers questions during an interview in The Hague, Netherlands. Wainwright said at a meeting on Monday, Feb. 23, 2015 that intelligence and law enforcement agencies across the continent have to co-operate better to fight against the threat of terrorism. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Intelligence and law enforcement agencies across the European Union have to cooperate better to fight against the threat of terrorism, the head of EU police organization Europol said Monday.


Turkey's Erdogan says relocation of tomb in Syria not a retreat

Posted: 23 Feb 2015 07:42 AM PST

By Tulay Karadeniz ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey's military incursion into Syria to relocate a tomb surrounded by Islamic State militants and evacuate the soldiers guarding it was a temporary move to safeguard their lives and not a retreat, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday. The action, which involved tanks, drones and reconnaissance planes as well as several hundred ground troops, was the first of its kind by the Turkish army into Syria since the start of the civil war there nearly four years ago. "The Suleyman Shah tomb operation is not a retreat, it is a temporary move in order not to risk soldiers' lives," Erdogan said in a speech in the capital Ankara. "The game of those who tried to use the tomb and our soldiers to blackmail Turkey has been disrupted," he said.

2 UK politicians caught in lobbying sting deny wrongdoing

Posted: 23 Feb 2015 07:11 AM PST

FILE - This is a Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2014 file photo of Britain's former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw as he listens to Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of the Iranian parliament's foreign policy and national security committee, during their meeting at the Iranian parliament in Tehran, Iran. Two former senior British government ministers Jack Straw and Malcolm Rifkind denied Monday Feb 23, 2015, any wrongdoing after being caught in a hidden-camera sting appearing to offer access to politicians and diplomats in return for cash. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)LONDON (AP) — Two former senior British ministers denied wrongdoing Monday after being caught in a hidden-camera sting appearing to offer access to politicians and diplomats in return for cash.


Iraqis 'fighting to recapture western town from Islamic State jihadists'

Posted: 23 Feb 2015 07:10 AM PST

Iraqi soldiers regroup during a military operation against jihadists near the village of Sharween, in Diyala province, on January 24, 2015About 800 Iraqi forces backed by US warplanes are waging a battle to retake the western town of Al-Baghdadi from Islamic State jihadists, a US military commander said Monday. Kurdish militia, meanwhile, rebuffed an attempt by the IS group on Sunday night to recapture an Iraqi town standing on a crucial supply route to the northern city of Mosul, the commander said. Lieutenant General James Terry, who oversees the US-led war effort against IS, told reporters the jihadists had been "halted" across Iraq and that it was now only able to launch smaller-scale attacks. Terry, who is headquartered in Kuwait, said that while the IS militants are under mounting pressure, the Iraqi army was improving.


More former CBS staffers challenge Bill O’Reilly’s Falklands war stories

Posted: 23 Feb 2015 07:05 AM PST

New TV Movie Based on Bill O'Reilly's 'Killing Jesus'More journalists who covered an angry protest in Buenos Aires, Argentina, during the Falklands War are refuting the Fox News host's account.


U.S., allies stage 25 air strikes on Islamic State -joint task force

Posted: 23 Feb 2015 06:15 AM PST

Smoke and flames rise over a hill near the Syrian town of Kobani after an airstrikeWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and its allies staged 25 air strikes on Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria, focusing on the Syrian cities of Kobani and Hasakah, the Combined Joint Task Force said on Monday. In attacks from Sunday morning through Monday morning, the coalition staged 11 strikes near Hasakah that hit 10 tactical units and six raids near Kobani that struck five tactical units and five fighting positions, the task force said in a statement. With the coalition's help, Syrian Kurds have been pushing Islamic State in recent fighting. ...


Reuters Afghanistan-Pakistan bureau chief dies in Islamabad

Posted: 23 Feb 2015 06:10 AM PST

LONDON (AP) — The Reuters news agency says Maria Golovnina, its bureau chief for Afghanistan and Pakistan, has died at the age of 34.

Lebanese satirist in hot water over claims he defamed Islam

Posted: 23 Feb 2015 06:05 AM PST

Supporters of Lebanese satirist Charbel Khalil cover their mouths with black cloth and hold a French placard that reads: "we are Charbel," as they protest outside the judicial palace in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Feb 23, 2015. The Lebanese satirist has appeared before a prosecutor in Beirut after the country's top Sunni religious authority filed a judicial complaint against him for allegedly defaming Islam. Khalil found himself in hot water after he shared a photo on social media earlier this week that was viewed by some as insulting of Islam. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)BEIRUT (AP) — A Lebanese satirist appeared before a prosecutor in Beirut on Monday, after the country's top Sunni religious authority filed a judicial complaint against him for allegedly defaming Islam.


'Birdman' tops Oscars defined by advocacy, originality

Posted: 23 Feb 2015 06:00 AM PST

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu attends the 87th Academy Awards - 21st Century Fox and Fox Searchlight Oscar Party at BOA Steakhouse on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2015 in West Hollywood, Calif. (Photo by Omar Vega/Invision/AP)LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hollywood is smarter than you thought. Whether by design or chance, the 87th Academy Awards elegantly and subtly shifted the tone of the season from a reductive fixation on snubs and fact-checking to a positive celebration of original filmmaking and purposeful advocacy for causes as diverse as immigration, suicide and equal rights.


Iraq moving to retake town from Islamic State: U.S. officer

Posted: 23 Feb 2015 05:55 AM PST

By Phil Stewart CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait (Reuters) - Iraqi forces appear set to drive Islamic State militants out of the town of al-Baghdadi, securing an area near a key air base where U.S. Marines are training local forces, a top U.S. commander said on Monday. Lieutenant General James Terry, the senior U.S. commander of U.S.-led coalition efforts in Iraq and Syria, played down the militants' seizure of large parts of the town earlier this month, saying that the area had long been contested. Speaking to reporters before an unusual war strategy meeting with top U.S. military and diplomatic leaders in Kuwait, Terry portrayed Islamic State as being on the back foot after they swept through northern Iraq last summer. "My assessment is (Islamic State) is halted, on the defensive, and really forced-exposed themselves in order to achieve gains," Terry told reporters in Kuwait.

Top British lawmakers deny wrongdoing over 'cash for access' report

Posted: 23 Feb 2015 05:27 AM PST

Former British foreign minister Jack Straw speaks to a television crew as he leaves a BBC building in LondonBy Kylie MacLellan LONDON (Reuters) - Two former British foreign ministers denied wrongdoing on Monday after they were filmed offering their services to a fake Chinese company in return for thousands of pounds, reigniting a damaging 2010 "cash for access" row just months before an election. Malcolm Rifkind, a senior member of Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives who heads a committee scrutinising security policy, and Jack Straw, Labour's foreign minister when Britain went to war in Iraq, have both been suspended from their parties. The new report will further dent public perception of Britain's main political parties which has given anti-establishment rivals a boost before May's vote. It prompted opposition Labour leader Ed Miliband to call for lawmakers to be banned from paid directorship or consultancy work, a move Cameron said he did not support as parliament was "enriched" by people gaining outside experience.


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