| U.S. military probe of Afghan shooting found Bales' camp had lax discipline Posted: 18 Aug 2015 04:31 PM PDT  By David Alexander WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The month before he killed 16 Afghan civilians in a shooting rampage, Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales bloodied the nose of an Afghan truck driver in an assault that was not reported to his camp commanders, according to a report released on Tuesday. The assault, and the failure to report it to senior officers, was one of several signs that the post where Bales served in Afghanistan was suffering from "low standards of personal conduct and discipline," said the military's administrative investigation of the 2012 shooting incident. The week before the shootings, Bales used steroids while on a mission and one fellow non-commissioned officer was worried about his erratic behavior, but those concerns were not passed on to camp leadership, the report said.
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| Another Democrat opposes Iran deal, US approval still likely Posted: 18 Aug 2015 04:05 PM PDT  A second US Senate Democrat spoke out Tuesday in opposition to President Barack Obama's nuclear deal with Iran, but momentum within the party nevertheless appeared to be favoring the landmark accord. Despite Senator Robert Menendez joining a congressional chorus of disapproval of the pact, Senate Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell conceded that Obama likely had the votes to ensure its survival. "I have looked into my own soul and my devotion to principle may once again lead me to an unpopular course, but if Iran is to acquire a nuclear bomb, it will not have my name on it," Menendez said in a speech at Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey.
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| Jeb Bush: NSA needs broader powers to combat 'evildoers' Posted: 18 Aug 2015 03:13 PM PDT  ATLANTA (AP) — Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush said Tuesday that the government should have broad surveillance powers of Americans and private technology firms should cooperate better with intelligence agencies to help combat "evildoers."
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| AJC Enthusiastically Welcomes Sen. Menendez's Opposition to the Iran Deal Posted: 18 Aug 2015 02:49 PM PDT NEW YORK, Aug. 18, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AJC enthusiastically welcomes the remarks delivered today by U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) at Seton Hall University announcing his opposition to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), negotiated by the P5+1 (the U.S., UK, France, Germany, Russia, and China) and Iran. Sen. Menendez, a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, noted that Iran has employed "deceit, deception and delay" to advance "to the point of being a threshold nuclear state," and therefore cannot be trusted. |
| Holt maintains NBC's lead in news ratings Posted: 18 Aug 2015 02:16 PM PDT Two months into the transition from Brian Williams to Lester Holt as anchor of NBC's top-rated "Nightly News" broadcast, and executives at the network can breathe easier. NBC has beaten David ... |
| Islamic State militants behead archaeologist in Palmyra: Syrian official Posted: 18 Aug 2015 02:02 PM PDT Islamic State (IS) militants beheaded an antiquities scholar in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra and hung his body on a column in a main square of the historic site, Syria's antiquities chief said on Tuesday. IS, whose insurgents control swathes of Syria and Iraq, captured Palmyra in central Syria from government forces in May, but are not known to have damaged its monumental Roman-era ruins despite their reputation for destroying artifacts they view as idolatrous under their puritanical interpretation of Islam. Syrian state antiquities chief Maamoun Abdulkarim said the family of Khaled Asaad had informed him that the 82-year-old scholar who worked for over 50 years as head of antiquities in Palmyra was executed by Islamic State on Tuesday. |
| Greece's Lesbos at 'breaking point' amid spike in migrant arrivals: IRC Posted: 18 Aug 2015 01:22 PM PDT  An unprecedented spike in refugee arrivals on Greek shores is pushing the resort island of Lesbos to "breaking point", with some 2,000 people landing there every day, an aid group warned Tuesday. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) warned that the sheer volume of the arrivals was "overwhelming" the already limited support structure on Lesbos. In the last week alone, 20,843 migrants -- virtually all of them fleeing war and persecution in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq -- have arrived in Greece, which has seen around 160,000 migrants land on its shores since January.
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| US weighs more security, withdrawal option for Sinai forces Posted: 18 Aug 2015 01:16 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration is quietly reviewing the future of America's three-decade deployment to Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, fearful the lightly equipped peacekeepers could be targets of escalating Islamic State-inspired violence. Options range from beefing up their protection or even pulling them out altogether, officials told The Associated Press. |
| Officials: Military likely to open most combat jobs to women Posted: 18 Aug 2015 01:04 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — Two women have now passed the Army's grueling Ranger test, and even tougher and more dangerous jobs could lie ahead. The military services are poised to allow women to serve in most front-line combat jobs, including special operations forces, senior officials told The Associated Press.
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| New figures show scale of EU’s migrant crisis Posted: 18 Aug 2015 12:53 PM PDT  A record 107,500 migrants crossed the European Union's borders last month, according to new figures Tuesday, showing they are arriving in dramatically increasing numbers and creating a humanitarian crisis for the 28-nation bloc. "This is an emergency situation for Europe that requires all EU member states to step in to support the national authorities who are taking on a massive number of migrants at its borders," Frontex director Fabrice Leggeri said in a statement. Germany alone expects as many as 750,000 refugees to seek asylum there this year, according to media reports.
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| Bush’s VA Plan May Be a Rehash, but It Puts Him on the Right Side of the Iraq War Posted: 18 Aug 2015 12:46 PM PDT Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush sought to reclaim his mantle as the top policy wonk in the crowded Republican presidential field on Monday when he unveiled his plan to revamp the beleaguered Veterans Affairs Department through technological innovation and privatizing more medical care. Bush detailed some of his vision in an op-ed in National Review before fleshing it out at campaign stops in South Carolina, a state with a large military presence and veteran population. "The entire system needs to be simplified, reformed and refocused on its most important mission—to 'care for those who shall have borne the battle,'" Bush wrote. |
| Iraq's Maliki rejects blame for fall of Mosul Posted: 18 Aug 2015 12:24 PM PDT  By Ahmed Rasheed and Stephen Kalin BAGHDAD/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Iraq's former prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, on Tuesday denounced as worthless a parliamentary report which blamed him and others for the fall of Mosul to Islamic State last year and called for them to be referred to the judiciary. "There is no value to the results that came out of the parliamentary investigation committee", Maliki said on Facebook in his first public comments since the report was released on Sunday and referred to the public prosecutor on Monday. Maliki, whose website says he has been in Iran since Friday, said political differences in the panel compromised its objectivity.
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| Turkey's Erdogan takes a gamble, eyes a new election Posted: 18 Aug 2015 12:13 PM PDT  ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appeared a shadow of his former self after his party suffered major losses in the June election — embattled and no longer in control of his political fate. His once-dominant movement was forced into the humiliating position of seeking a coalition with opposition parties intent on reining him in.
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| Feeling strain, Germany set to raise asylum-seeker forecast to 750,000 Posted: 18 Aug 2015 10:49 AM PDT  By Tina Bellon BERLIN (Reuters) - The German government will sharply raise its forecast for the number of asylum-seekers expected to arrive this year to a record-breaking 750,000, coalition sources said on Tuesday. The increase, from a previous estimate of 450,000, is the latest sign of how a huge influx of migrants and refugees, many fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East, is straining the European Union's ability to cope. "The situation is extremely unsatisfying," Chancellor Angela Merkel told ZDF television on Sunday, referring to the disproportionate number of refugees that Germany has taken in compared to many of its EU partners.
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| EU border agency: Migrants hit new monthly record in July Posted: 18 Aug 2015 10:36 AM PDT  BRUSSELS (AP) — U.N. and European border agency officials urged the European Union on Tuesday to step up measures to help thousands of people who have fled violence in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq and are pouring into Greece and other EU countries in record numbers.
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| U.S., allies target Islamic State with 20 air strikes in Syria, Iraq: statement Posted: 18 Aug 2015 10:27 AM PDT The United States and its allies launched 20 air strikes on Monday against Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq, according to the Combined Joint Task Force leading the air operations. In Iraq, 17 air strikes targeted the militant group and its operations near nine cities and struck 10 units of Islamic State fighters as well as other targets, the task force said in a statement on Tuesday. In Syria, three air strikes hit near Al Hasaka and Kobani, hitting two units of fighters, among other targets, it said. |
| Welcome mat fraying as more migrants reach Greek island Posted: 18 Aug 2015 10:12 AM PDT  LEROS, Greece (AP) — The islanders bring food, drinks, clothing and necessities like diapers and toothpaste to the migrants huddled on this tiny outcrop in the Aegean Sea. The generosity comes naturally to residents of Leros: The island once took in political prisoners banished here by Greece's former military rulers, a tradition that breeds a sense of duty to welcome migrants fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and Africa.
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| One Turkish soldier killed in clashes with Kurdish rebels Posted: 18 Aug 2015 09:56 AM PDT  One Turkish soldier was killed and three others wounded Tuesday in Turkey's southeastern Diyarbakir province in new violence blamed on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the army said. Fighting erupted during an operation to "capture and neutralise" the militants after they had blocked a road connecting the Lice district of Diyarbakir to Bingol province in southeast Turkey, the army said in a statement. "Four of our personnel were wounded in the clashes and one of our soldiers who was badly wounded succumbed to his injuries in hospital and was martyred," the army said.
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| Arab League vows military support for Libya, no word on air strikes Posted: 18 Aug 2015 09:34 AM PDT  By Omar Fahmy CAIRO (Reuters) - The Arab League pledged military support on Tuesday to help Libya's internationally recognized government fight Islamic State, but did not publicly agree to a request for air strikes. A communique issued after an Arab League meeting in Cairo said there was an urgent need for an "Arab strategy" to fight Islamic State in Libya, but did not mention specifics. On Saturday, Libya's official government, based in the east of the country after a rival group pushed it out of the capital last year, asked fellow Arab states to conduct air strikes against Islamic State in the central city of Sirte where the hardline Islamists crushed rival fighters.
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| Libya, Egypt seek international aid against IS Posted: 18 Aug 2015 09:16 AM PDT CAIRO (AP) — Libya's internationally recognized government, with strong backing from neighboring Egypt, on Tuesday urged fellow Arab countries to provide arms to help it defeat a local Islamic State affiliate and criticized the U.S.-led coalition for confining its efforts to Syria and Iraq. |
| Turkish lira hits new record low on rate freeze, uncertainty Posted: 18 Aug 2015 08:59 AM PDT  The Turkish central bank had earlier kept its rates on hold, scotching hopes held by some economists of a rate hike to support the lira and keep a lid on inflation. As Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu prepared to inform President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of the failure of coalition talks, the currency was also depressed by the looming prospect of new elections and political uncertainty. "Exchange rate movements delay the improvement in the core (inflation) indicators," it said in the statement.
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| Iraq's economy battered by Islamic State war, low oil prices Posted: 18 Aug 2015 08:18 AM PDT  BAGHDAD (AP) — In business since the 1960s, Karim al-Aboudi's family has seen Iraq's economy boom with oil wealth and bust through wars and the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, but today marks the worst downturn he's seen in decades.
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| Nearly 21,000 migrants hit Greek shores last week: UN Posted: 18 Aug 2015 08:01 AM PDT The number of migrants arriving in crisis-hit Greece is accelerating dramatically, with nearly 21,000 landing on the overstretched Greek islands last week alone, the United Nations said Tuesday. Since the beginning of the year, more than 160,000 migrants have made their way to Greece -- nearly four times the 43,500 who arrived in the country during all of 2014, the UN refugee agency said. "The pace of arrivals has been steadily increasing in recent weeks," UNHCR spokesman William Spindler told reporters in Geneva. |
| ICC to rule on Kenya's alleged failure to cooperate Posted: 18 Aug 2015 07:56 AM PDT  By Anthony Deutsch AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Appeals judges at the International Criminal Court are set to decide on Wednesday whether Kenya cooperated in the court's collapsed case against President Uhuru Kenyatta, or failed to provide key evidence to prosecutors. Prosecutors dropped charges of crimes against humanity against Kenyatta in December. Judges in The Hague will rule on a prosecution request to declare that Kenya failed to comply with an April 2012 attempt to obtain Kenyatta's personal banking records.
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| Dubai's Emirates Airline to resume flights to Baghdad Posted: 18 Aug 2015 07:07 AM PDT  Dubai's Emirates Airline said Tuesday it will resume passenger flights to the Iraqi capital in September, months after they were suspended over safety concerns. Emirates will operate four weekly flights from Dubai to Baghdad, served by an A330-200 aircraft starting from September 17, the carrier said in a statement published by the UAE's official WAM news agency. "After conducting an exhaustive safety and security review, we have decided to restart services between Dubai and Baghdad," said Sheikh Majid al-Mualla, a company vice president.
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| Arab League urges military support for Libya against IS Posted: 18 Aug 2015 06:50 AM PDT  The Arab League called Tuesday for an "urgent" Arab strategy to militarily back Libya's government against the Islamic State group, but stopped short of endorsing air strikes against the jihadists. The Cairo-based Arab bloc issued its call after an extraordinary meeting to discuss a request by the internationally recognised Libyan government to adopt measures to confront IS which has seized the coastal city of Sirte. "The Arab League affirms that given the difficult situation, there is an urgent need to quickly put an Arab strategy in place that includes assisting Libya militarily in confronting Daesh's terrorism," a League statement said, referring to IS by its Arabic acronym.
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| Hope and despair for migrants on Europe's long march Posted: 18 Aug 2015 06:49 AM PDT  Beyond the fields of sunflowers on the other side of the railway tracks outside a small village in northern Greece, hundreds of refugees gather on a patch of litter-strewn earth beneath the beating sun, uncertain of what happens next. Two stone blocks and half a dozen Macedonian policemen are the only border markings at what has become a funnelling point for tens of thousands of men, women and children taking this route to northern Europe in search of a better life. After landing on the Greek islands from Turkey, many of the refugees and migrants are hurrying to the border without waiting for the authorities to issue them with official travel documents, desperate to cross Serbia before Hungary fences off its border.
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| U.N. urges Greece to take charge of refugee crisis Posted: 18 Aug 2015 06:45 AM PDT  By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - Greece must show "much more leadership" to tackle an escalating crisis in which 160,000 refugees and migrants have reached its shores so far this year, the United Nations said on Tuesday. Clashes erupted last week on the overwhelmed Greek island of Kos between desperate people, mainly fleeing conflicts in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, who come on small boats from nearby Turkey only to find dire conditions. More refugees and migrants arrived in Greece during the month of July - 50,242 - than during the whole of last year," William Spindler of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) told a Geneva news briefing.
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| Hungary says sending thousands of police to border against migrants Posted: 18 Aug 2015 06:44 AM PDT Hungary will send thousands of policemen to its southern border with Serbia where it is building a security fence to stem an influx of migrants, a top government official said on Tuesday. Landlocked Hungary is part of the European Union's Schengen zone of passport-free travel, making it attractive to migrants transiting the non-EU Balkans. It has registered over 100,000 migrants so far this year, compared with 43,000 in all 2014. |
| Islamic State fighter urges fellow Turks to conquer Istanbul Posted: 18 Aug 2015 06:03 AM PDT  By Humeyra Pamuk ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A fighter proclaiming allegiance to Islamic State has appeared in a video urging fellow Turks to rebel against "infidel" President Tayyip Erdogan and help conquer Istanbul, highlighting the threat the NATO member faces as it battles the radical insurgents. Turkey has been in a heightened state of alert since launching a "synchronized war on terror" last month, which included air strikes against Islamic State fighters in Syria and the opening of its air bases to U.S.-led coalition forces. The steps followed a suicide bombing, blamed on Islamic State, in the Turkish border town of Suruc on July 20 which killed 34 people.
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| Two women pass Army Ranger school – historic first raises big questions Posted: 18 Aug 2015 04:05 AM PDT The announcement by the Army Tuesday is historic. The two women – a captain and a first lieutenant – are the first to pass a course that is a crucial stepping stone to a US Special Operations unit. Though they cannot yet serve as special operators, given the continued ban on women in combat jobs, the Ranger tabs they have earned bring considerable respect. Only 3 percent of all Army troops wear one. |
| Iraq's Maliki says report on fall of Mosul has 'no value': statement Posted: 18 Aug 2015 03:33 AM PDT  BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's former prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, on Tuesday condemned as having "no value" a parliamentary panel's findings on the fall of Mosul to Islamic State which called for him and other top officials to stand trial for negligence. "What happened in Mosul was a conspiracy planned in Ankara, then the conspiracy moved to Erbil," Maliki said in posts on Facebook, referring to the capitals of Turkey and the Kurdistan Regional Government. (Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed; Writing by Stephen Kalin; Editing by Alison Williams)
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| Iraq's Maliki dismisses Mosul fall report as 'worthless' Posted: 18 Aug 2015 01:43 AM PDT  "There is no value in the result that emerged from the parliamentary investigation committee on the fall of Mosul, which was dominated by political differences and was not objective," Maliki said on his Facebook page. "What happened in Mosul was a conspiracy planned in Ankara, then the conspiracy moved to Arbil," Maliki said in a second post, referring to the capitals of Turkey and Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, both long-time foes of his. The two-term premier is currently in Iran, where he was due to meet Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday, an official in his office said.
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| Iraq PM delays China trip over security, reform drive Posted: 18 Aug 2015 12:44 AM PDT  Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi postponed a planned visit to China due to security developments and the need to follow up on a wide-ranging reform drive, his office said. Abadi "decided to postpone his visit to China, which was scheduled for the 19th of this month, until further notice," his office said in a statement released late on Monday. The decision was made "as a result of developments in the security situation" and due to "operations to liberate Anbar and operations in other sectors including Baiji, in addition to the reform package launched" by Abadi, it said.
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| Pentagon plans to increase drone flights by 50 percent Posted: 18 Aug 2015 12:24 AM PDT  JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va. (AP) — Faced with escalating aggression from Russia and China, the Pentagon is planning to increase its use of drones by about 50 percent over the next several years.
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| Iraq's Abadi, in reform push, reduces ministerial adviser positions Posted: 17 Aug 2015 11:11 PM PDT  Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Tuesday he was cancelling the positions of advisers hired as contractors in ministries and limiting the number of advisers for himself, the president, and the parliamentary speaker to five each. The sackings are the latest in a sweeping reform campaign launched last week aimed at reducing graft and incompetence in government, which critics say have deprived Iraqis of basic services while undermining government forces in their battle against the Islamic State group. Abadi's ambitious reform plan follows weeks of street protests in Baghdad and southern cities demanding better government services and a call by leading Shi'ite Muslim cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani to "strike with an iron fist" against corruption.
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| First two women soldiers pass elite U.S. Army Ranger course Posted: 17 Aug 2015 06:30 PM PDT  Two women have made military history after becoming the first female soldiers to pass the U.S. Army's grueling Ranger Course, the Army said on Monday. In April, 19 women and 381 men began the first Army Ranger school that included women. The course, based at Fort Benning, Georgia, includes training in woodlands, mountainous terrain and Florida swampland.
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