| Walker: 'I will win and fight for you' Posted: 13 Jul 2015 04:38 PM PDT  WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) — Scott Walker vowed Monday to fight for America's interests abroad and for his conservative policies in Washington, launching a 2016 Republican presidential bid by highlighting his clashes with labor unions as his campaign taunted his Democratic critics.
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| Walker reminds voters of union wins as he enters 2016 race Posted: 13 Jul 2015 03:19 PM PDT  Scott Walker vowed Monday to fight for America's interests abroad and for his conservative policies in Washington, launching a 2016 Republican presidential bid by highlighting his clashes with labor unions ...
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| Coalition-backed Iraq forces in fresh Anbar push Posted: 13 Jul 2015 01:37 PM PDT  Iraqi forces tightened the noose on the Islamic State group in its stronghold of Anbar Monday with a ground operation teed up by a record number of coalition air strikes. In a long-awaited morale boost, a much-delayed first batch of US F-16 fighter jets flew to Iraq Monday, a delivery that should enhance the capacity of the country's embattled military.
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| Son of US police officer arrested in terror case Posted: 13 Jul 2015 01:33 PM PDT  The son of a US police officer, who has a history of mental illness and was on probation for drinking, has been charged in connection with an alleged terror plot, officials said Monday. Alexander Ciccolo, 23, also known as Ali al-Amriki, was arrested on Independence Day in the northeastern state of Massachusetts and is due to appear in court to answer firearms charges on Tuesday. Partially made Molotov cocktails were found in his apartment and he was monitored buying a pressure cooker similar to that used in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, court papers allege.
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| Iran deadline blown again: why the arms embargo is tough to solve Posted: 13 Jul 2015 12:59 PM PDT Is there going to be a deal between world powers and Iran over its nuclear program? There Shiite militias who are receiving Iranian training and equipment are becoming more and more important to the war effort against the Islamic State. |
| Iraq launches offensive to drive Islamic State from biggest province Posted: 13 Jul 2015 12:31 PM PDT  By Dominic Evans BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi troops and Shi'ite Muslim militia forces attacked Islamic State fighters on several fronts on Monday in Anbar, the country's largest province, at the start of what is likely to be a long and fiercely contested offensive. A spokesman for the joint operations command said the campaign, which began at dawn, brought together the army, mainly Shi'ite Hashid Shaabi militias, special forces, police and local Sunni Muslim tribal fighters. "At 5 o'clock this morning operations to liberate Anbar were launched," the spokesman said.
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| Two Islamic State leaders killed in Syria air strike: Observatory Posted: 13 Jul 2015 12:13 PM PDT  Two senior Islamic State leaders were killed in an air strike in northeastern Syria on Monday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. The Observatory, which gathers its information from an activist network on the ground, identified the leaders as an Iraqi, Abu Osama al-Iraqi, and a Syrian named Amer al-Rafdan. The Observatory said the air strike was believed to have been carried out by the U.S.-led coalition that is targeting Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, though Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the Observatory, said he could not be sure.
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| Iraq begins operation to oust Islamic State group from Anbar Posted: 13 Jul 2015 11:57 AM PDT  BAGHDAD (AP) — The Iraqi government began a long-awaited, large-scale military operation on Monday to dislodge Islamic State militants from the country's sprawling western Anbar province, a military spokesman announced.
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| US-led coalition carries out 29 strikes near Iraq's Ramadi Posted: 13 Jul 2015 11:50 AM PDT The US-led international coalition carried out 29 air strikes against the Islamic State jihadist group near Ramadi, the capital of Iraq's western province of Anbar, the American military said Monday. "Near Ramadi, 29 air strikes struck 67 ISIL staging areas destroying two ISIL excavators, an ISIL armoured personnel carrier, and an ISIL vehicle," the US statement said, using another acronym for IS. The strikes were conducted on Sunday, on the eve of a fresh ground operation launched by Iraqi forces to tighten the noose on IS in its bastions of Ramadi and Fallujah, Anbar's two main cities. |
| Canadian-Israeli woman sought 'redemption' by helping Kurds fight IS Posted: 13 Jul 2015 11:48 AM PDT  By Dan Williams JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A Canadian-Israeli who was the first foreign woman to help the Kurds in their fight against Islamic State said on Monday that she had volunteered in an effort to "turn her life around" after being jailed in the United States for an international phone scam. Having spent eight months with Kurdish YGP guerrillas in Syria and the Dwekh Nawsha, a Christian militia in Iraq, Gill Rosenberg returned on Sunday to Israel, where she was feted by local media but may have to answer for her unauthorized travel. The 31-year-old former Israeli army volunteer said the lessons of the Holocaust drove her to help protect the Kurds and other Middle East minorities menaced by Islamic State advances.
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| Hungary starts building anti-migrant border fence Posted: 13 Jul 2015 11:24 AM PDT  Hungarian soldiers on Monday began erecting a controversial fence on the border with Serbia which is aimed at keeping out migrants. The first fence section is being built on the outskirts of Morahalom, 180 kilometres (110 miles) south of Budapest and will run to 150 metres (almost 500 feet), it said. Lawmakers last week approved the building of the four-metre high barrier along the 175-kilometre border with Serbia, which unlike Hungary is not an EU member.
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| IS claims Baghdad bombings that killed 23 Posted: 13 Jul 2015 11:18 AM PDT  The Islamic State group on Monday claimed a string of bomb attacks that killed at least 23 people in the Iraqi capital Baghdad. In a statement posted on social media, IS said Sunday night's operation was dubbed "The Pounce of the Monotheists on the Chests of the Apostates". The blasts, several of which were caused by suicide bombers, left 23 people dead and 68 wounded in Shiite neighbourhoods of Baghdad, according to police and medical sources.
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| U.S. steps up air strikes on Islamic State targets in Iraq: statement Posted: 13 Jul 2015 11:16 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S.-led forces stepped up air operations in Iraq against Islamic State positions, with 29 of 39 air strikes in the country on Sunday coming near the Anbar provincial capital Ramadi, the Combined Joint Task Force leading the air operations said in a statement on Monday. There also were nine air strikes in Syria targeting Islamic State forces with bomber, fighter-attack and drone aircraft, seven coming near Al Hasakah and one each near Raqqah and Kobani, according to the statement. ...
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| The 2016 U.S. Presidential Race: A Cheat Sheet Posted: 13 Jul 2015 11:00 AM PDT  Just how strong is Scott Walker?
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| U.N. chief disappointed Yemen humanitarian pause in fighting didn't take hold Posted: 13 Jul 2015 10:25 AM PDT  By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is "very much disappointed" that a humanitarian pause in fighting in Yemen didn't take hold, his spokesman said on Monday, after Saudi Arabia did not recognize the truce and continued air strikes. A Saudi-led coalition of Arab states has been bombing the Iranian-allied Houthi rebel movement and army forces loyal to former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh since late March in a bid to restore exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power. Ban said on Thursday that Hadi had "communicated his acceptance of the pause to the coalition to ensure their support and collaboration." However, Saudi Arabia said it had not been asked by Hadi, who had fled to Riyadh, to stop its campaign.
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| Turkey vows to press on with constructions in Kurdish region Posted: 13 Jul 2015 08:52 AM PDT ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu vowed on Monday to press ahead with the construction of dams and roads in the country's mainly Kurdish southeast, saying Turkey would not bow to Kurdish rebel threats. |
| Indonesia jails three Chinese Uighurs for trying to join Islamist militants Posted: 13 Jul 2015 08:14 AM PDT An Indonesian court sentenced three men from China's Uighur Muslim minority on Monday to six years in prison for conspiring with militant Islamists in Indonesia, a police spokesman said. The men were arrested late last year near the restive region of Poso on Sulawesi island while allegedly trying to meet a militant who is on Indonesia's most-wanted list. "They admitted that they intended to meet Santoso," said national police spokesman Anton Charliyan, referring to the leader of one of the few remaining radical Islamist groups in Indonesia. |
| Poor intelligence, porous borders stymie Chinese control of Uighurs Posted: 13 Jul 2015 08:12 AM PDT  By Ben Blanchard BEIJING (Reuters) - Poor intelligence and porous borders with Southeast Asia are stymieing China's efforts to stop the flow of ethnic minority Uighur Muslims heading to Turkey, where China says many of them end up fighting for Islamists in Syria and Iraq. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Uighurs keen to escape strife in their far western Chinese homeland of Xinjiang have traveled clandestinely via Southeast Asia to Turkey. Speaking to Reuters and a reporter from a Singapore newspaper on Saturday, Tong Bishan, a senior police officer who has been helping lead China's efforts to get the Uighurs back, said the Uighurs were mostly crossing into Vietnam and Laos.
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| Hungary starts building anti-migrant fence on Serbian border Posted: 13 Jul 2015 08:03 AM PDT  BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary has begun building a fence on the country's southern border with Serbia, meant to stem the unprecedented flow of migrants, the government said Monday.
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| Smugglers dodge Turkish army on border with Islamic State-held Syria Posted: 13 Jul 2015 06:37 AM PDT  By Humeyra Pamuk ELBEYLI, Turkey (Reuters) - Emerging into Turkish territory through a field of towering corn a stone's throw from the Syrian border, more than a dozen men make their way under scorching heat towards two white vans by the roadside, their engines running. Carrying rucksacks and bags, these new arrivals appeared to have crossed illegally into Turkey from a part of Syria just a few hundred meters away controlled by Islamic State militants. "Get lost or I will get your car stoned." Turkey's armed forces may have sent additional soldiers and equipment to this region in recent weeks as fighting in northern Syria intensifies, but smuggling along a border which thousands of foreign fighters are thought to have crossed to join the militant ranks appears to be continuing.
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| OPEC sees more balanced oil market in 2016 Posted: 13 Jul 2015 06:11 AM PDT  The oil market should be more balanced next year as China and the developing world use more oil while supply of fuel from North American shale grows more slowly, OPEC said on Monday. In its monthly report, the 12-member Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said it expected world oil demand to increase by 1.34 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2016, up from growth of 1.28 million bpd this year. World oil demand growth should outpace any increase in oil supply from non-OPEC sources and ultra-light oils such as condensate, increasing consumption of OPEC crude, it said.
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| Bus bomb hits checkpoint in Nigeria's Maiduguri, one killed Posted: 13 Jul 2015 06:05 AM PDT By Lanre Ola MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - A suicide bomber in a bus killed one member of Nigeria's civilian joint task force (JTF) at the main checkpoint on the outskirts of the northeastern city of Maiduguri on Monday, military and JTF sources said. There was no immediate claim for the attack but it bore the hallmarks of Islamist militant group Boko Haram. Maiduguri, the state capital of Borno, is the birthplace of the jihadi sect. |
| Tunisia tourism may be crippled by European warnings Posted: 13 Jul 2015 06:00 AM PDT  TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — The blood on the sand has washed away, but the damage inflicted on Tunisia by a few terrifying minutes of gunfire at a beach resort will be deep and lasting.
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| Islamic State claims Afghan leader alive after US airstrike Posted: 13 Jul 2015 04:28 AM PDT  KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Islamic State group released an online audio clip Monday they claim came from the leader of an Afghan affiliate that authorities there say was killed in a U.S. airstrike.
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| UAE executes woman convicted of US teacher's murder Posted: 13 Jul 2015 04:04 AM PDT  The United Arab Emirates carried out a rare execution Monday, putting to death by firing squad an Emirati woman convicted of the jihadist-inspired murder of a US school teacher, media reported. Alaa Bader al-Hashemi, 30, was executed at dawn after President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan approved the death sentence against her, said the official WAM news agency, citing prosecutors. The National, an English-language daily, said Hashemi had been put to death by firing squad.
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| Tunisia says almost wipes out al Qaeda group after attacks Posted: 13 Jul 2015 04:00 AM PDT  By Tarek Amara TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisia's interior minister said security forces had almost wiped out an Islamist militant group linked to al Qaeda during a crackdown launched after two deadly attacks on tourists. Clashes last week killed leaders, including two veteran Algerian militants, from the Okba Ibn Nafaa brigade, blamed for an assault on the Bardo Museum in Tunis in March, minister Najem Gharselli told reporters late on Sunday. The North African country has come under growing international pressure to show it is in control of militants after a gunman also killed 38 holidaymakers at a beach hotel in Sousse last month, an attack claimed by the Islamic State group.
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| Indonesia jails Uighurs over attempt to join militants Posted: 13 Jul 2015 03:41 AM PDT  An Indonesian court Monday jailed three members of China's Uighur minority for six years each after they were caught attempting to join an Islamic extremist group led by the country's most wanted militant. The court heard that the men were arrested in September on the rugged central island of Sulawesi as they sought to meet militant Santoso, leader of a group known as the Eastern Indonesia Mujahideen. The group, which hides out in the jungles in an area known as a militant hotbed, is considered one of the few remaining extremist outfits that pose a serious threat in Indonesia and has been accused of deadly attacks on police.
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| How the Dominoes Will Fall After ISIS Takes Damascus Posted: 13 Jul 2015 03:00 AM PDT During the last several weeks, the Assad regime has shown signs of vulnerability punctuated by a weakened relationship with Iran. Iranian advisers who had supported Assad for years are now consumed with supporting the Iraqi government in its war against ISIS and the Houthis in Yemen in their war against a Saudi-led coalition of Arab nations. |
| Iraqi forces in renewed anti-IS push in eastern Anbar Posted: 13 Jul 2015 02:43 AM PDT  Iraqi forces retook two villages in Anbar on Monday as part of their operations against the Islamic State group in the western province, security officials said. "The security forces were able to advance and liberate the areas of Albu Shijil and Shiha near Khaldiyah, between Saqlawiya and Ramadi," an army lieutenant colonel said. A top official from the Khaldiyah area, Ibrahim al-Fahdawi, confirmed the liberation of the two villages in the Euphrates Valley.
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| AP PHOTOS: Editor selections from the Middle East Posted: 13 Jul 2015 02:43 AM PDT In the Middle East this week, Shiite Muslims in different countries commemorated the anniversary of the death of Imam Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad and an iconic Shiite martyr. |
| Cameron to focus defence spending more on militant risk Posted: 13 Jul 2015 01:52 AM PDT  Britain should spend more of its defence budget on spy planes, drones and special forces to counter militants and Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, Prime Minister David Cameron will say on Monday. "I have tasked the Defence and Security chiefs to look specifically at how we do more to counter the threat posed by IS and Islamist extremism," Cameron will say, according to excerpts from his speech. "This could include more spy planes, drones and special forces.
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| Saudi king shuffles government again Posted: 13 Jul 2015 12:23 AM PDT  Saudi Arabia's King Salman on Monday named a new housing minister and replaced the head of the royal court in his latest government shuffle. A decree named Minister of State Khalid bin Abdulrahman al-Issa to replace Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Suwailem as head of the royal court, a type of gatekeeper to the king. Suwailem had held the post since late April when he took over from Salman's powerful son Prince Mohammed bin Salman as part of a major shake-up which saw the king's son named Deputy Crown Prince and second in line to the throne.
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| U.S. considering drones in North Africa to monitor Islamic State: WSJ Posted: 13 Jul 2015 12:06 AM PDT  The United States is holding discussions with countries in North Africa about locating drones at a base there to heighten monitoring of Islamic State in Libya, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing a senior administration official. Such a base near Islamic State strongholds in Libya would help the United States "fill gaps in our understanding of what's going on" in that region, the official was quoted as saying.
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| Boko Haram attacks prison in Niger, four killed: military Posted: 12 Jul 2015 11:56 PM PDT Suspected Boko Haram militants launched an attack on the prison in the southern Niger town of Diffa late on Saturday, military sources said, in an apparent bid to free fellow members of the Nigerian Islamist group held there. Boko Haram also attacked the prison in February. "When the attack was repelled, the assailants fled, probably back into the town," one military source said. |
| Doubts and divisions among commanders as Taliban talk peace Posted: 12 Jul 2015 11:37 PM PDT  Talks last week between Afghan and Taliban negotiators were hailed by officials as a major breakthrough, but insurgent commanders on the ground have responded far more sceptically, highlighting the huge challenges facing the embryonic peace process. Members of the Afghan High Peace Council sat down with Taliban cadres last week in Murree, a tourist town in the hills north of Islamabad, for their first official talks to try to end the militants' bloody fight, now in its 14th year. The split in responses, with some commanders openly questioning the legitimacy of the Taliban negotiators in Murree, underscores the potentially dangerous faultlines within the movement, particularly between the older leadership and younger, sometimes more hardline frontline fighters.
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| Today in History Posted: 12 Jul 2015 09:00 PM PDT Today is Monday, July 13, the 194th day of 2015. There are 171 days left in the year. |
| British military should focus on drones, spy tech: Cameron Posted: 12 Jul 2015 07:01 PM PDT  Britain's defence forces should spend more of their budget on spy planes, drones and covert forces to fight extremist militants, Prime Minister David Cameron said on Monday. The government last week announced it would meet the minimum defence spending target set by NATO of two percent of gross domestic product for the full five years of Cameron's Conservative administration, elected in May. "I have tasked the defence and security chiefs to look specifically at how we do more to counter the threat posed by ISIL and Islamist extremism," Cameron said in a statement, referring to Islamic State (IS) militants, who have carved out large regions of control in Syria and Iraq.
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| UN says at least 15,000 civilians killed in Iraq war Posted: 12 Jul 2015 05:43 PM PDT  Baghdad (AFP) - At least 15,000 civilians have been killed and twice as many wounded in Iraq's armed conflict since the start of 2014, the United Nations said in a report Monday.
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| First batch of US F-16 jets delivered to Iraq Posted: 12 Jul 2015 05:02 PM PDT  Four US F-16 warplanes landed in Iraq on Monday, the first batch of a much-delayed delivery aimed at boosting the ailing Iraqi military's capacity, the defence ministry said. "Arrival of four F-16s at Balad air base," read a flash on the ministry's website, in an announcement also confirmed to AFP by the prime minister's office. Brett McGurk, US President Barack Obama's deputy envoy for the international coalition against the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group, also confirmed the jets had arrived.
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