| Iraq, Afghanistan conflict heroes honored by namesake ships Posted: 25 Oct 2015 02:42 PM PDT  BATH, Maine (AP) — Heroes forged in Afghanistan and Iraq are having their names bestowed on a new generation of warships, joining those whose exploits in World Wars and battles domestic and abroad earned them the distinction of having U.S. Navy vessels christened in their honor.
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| EU, Balkan leaders struggle to defuse tensions over migrants Posted: 25 Oct 2015 01:52 PM PDT  European Union and Balkan leaders struggled Sunday to reduce tensions over how to tackle the migrant crisis as Slovenia warned the bloc will "start falling apart" if it fails to take concrete action within weeks. The mini summit, called by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, grouped the heads of 10 EU nations, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, plus the leaders of non-EU Albania, Serbia and Macedonia. "This is an important opportunity to have them around one table," European Council President Donald Tusk told reporters in Brussels.
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| Blair says 2003 Iraq invasion played role in Islamic State rise Posted: 25 Oct 2015 12:33 PM PDT  Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair acknowledged the 2003 invasion of Iraq played a part in the rise of the Islamic State militant group, and apologised for some mistakes in planning the war, in an interview broadcast on Sunday. Blair's decision to send troops to back the U.S.-led invasion is still a live political issue in Britain, where a six-year public inquiry into the conflict is yet to publish its findings. Asked whether the offensive was the principal cause of the rise of Islamic State, which now controls large areas of Iraq and neighbouring Syria, Blair said there were "elements of truth" in that.
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| Trump says world a better place if Saddam, Kadhafi still ruled Posted: 25 Oct 2015 12:29 PM PDT  The world would be a better place if dictators such as Saddam Hussein and Moamer Kadhafi were still in power, top Republican US presidential hopeful Donald Trump said in comments aired Sunday. The billionaire real estate tycoon also told CNN's "State of the Union" talk show that the Middle East "blew up" around US President Barack Obama and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, his biggest Democratic rival in the race for the White House. "100 percent," Trump said when asked if the world would be better off with Saddam and Kadhafi still at the helm in Iraq and Libya.
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| Today in History Posted: 25 Oct 2015 10:34 AM PDT Today in History |
| History says prep school sex convict has slim shot at pardon Posted: 25 Oct 2015 10:21 AM PDT  CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The recent graduate of an elite New Hampshire prep school who was convicted of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old freshman is unlikely to avoid having to register as a sex offender for life given the history of pardons and commutations in the Granite State.
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| Iraq Kurds release footage of US commando raid Posted: 25 Oct 2015 10:18 AM PDT  The government of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region on Sunday released footage it said was of the brazen commando operation it carried out with elite US troops at a jihadist-run prison. Elite Kurdish forces supported by US Delta Force fighters freed about 70 people who were being held by the Islamic State group near the Iraqi city of Hawijah during a raid on Thursday. It also raised questions over Washington's commitment to its declared "no boots on the ground" policy although the Pentagon stressed that the forces involved in the raid were there in an advisory capacity.
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| Kuwait telecom Zain profit drops in Q3 Posted: 25 Oct 2015 10:09 AM PDT  Kuwaiti telecoms giant Zain said Sunday its net profits fell sharply in the third quarter and in the first nine months of 2015 due to conflict in Iraq and currency fluctuations. The company said in a statement it posted a net profit of 38 million dinars ($125.8 million) in the July-to-September period, down from 46 million dinars ($152 million) in the same quarter of last year. Zain attributed the slide in profits to the appreciation of the US dollar against the Kuwaiti dinar and continued instability in Iraq, where the company has significant operations.
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| Video Shows ISIS Raid That Killed American Posted: 25 Oct 2015 09:51 AM PDT  Video obtained by ABC News shows a raid of an ISIS stronghold in northern Iraq in which an American service member was killed last week, a senior military official said today.
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| Iowa takeaways: Sanders ups critique of Clinton policies Posted: 25 Oct 2015 09:12 AM PDT  DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton cast herself as the heir to President Barack Obama's agenda and the antidote to Republicans before thousands of Iowa Democrats at a high-stakes party fundraiser.
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| EU will 'fall apart' if no quick action on migrants: Slovenia Posted: 25 Oct 2015 08:56 AM PDT  The European Union will "start falling apart" if it fails to take concrete action to tackle the migrant crisis within the next few weeks, Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar warned Sunday. "If we do not deliver some immediate and concrete actions on the ground in the next few days and weeks I believe the EU and Europe as a whole will start falling apart," said Cerar, whose tiny country of two million has been swamped by more than 60,000 migrants in a matter of days. Cerar, who spoke as he went into an emergency summit on the migrant influx, said his country was facing a "very serious" situation and could not cope on its own for much longer.
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| Economic migrants use children as 'human shields': Czech leader Posted: 25 Oct 2015 08:40 AM PDT  The Czech president Sunday accused economic migrants of using children as "human shields" in their bid to reach Europe, as the continent grapples with its biggest migration crisis since World War II. President Milos Zeman has made several fiery broadsides against migrants, earning sharp criticism from the UN's human rights chief, who this week also accused Prague of systematically detaining migrants in degrading conditions to put off others. In his latest outburst, to the Blesk tabloid, Zeman accused wealthy economic migrants of cynically exploiting children to reach the European Union.
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| Britain's Tony Blair: Iraq war contributed to rise of IS Posted: 25 Oct 2015 08:37 AM PDT  LONDON (AP) — Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has acknowledged that the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 was partly responsible for the emergence of the Islamic State militant group in the Middle East. But he insists that toppling Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had been the right thing to do.
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| New video purportedly shows US-Kurdish raid against IS group Posted: 25 Oct 2015 07:48 AM PDT  IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — The Kurdish regional government in northern Iraq released a video Sunday purportedly showing the joint raid of a prison by U.S. and Kurdish peshmerga forces in which they released 70 hostages held by the Islamic State group.
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| U.S.-led forces carry out 22 air strikes in Iraq: U.S. military Posted: 25 Oct 2015 07:31 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria carried out 22 air strikes on Saturday, most of them against targets near the Iraqi towns of Kisik, Ramadi and Sinjar, the U.S. military said on Sunday. A coalition statement did not report any air strikes in Syria on Saturday. Coalition warplanes carried out eight strikes around Kisik targeting fighting positions, staging areas and a mortar and a machine gun position, the military said in a statement. ... |
| Britain's Blair says 2003 Iraq invasion played role in Islamic State rise Posted: 25 Oct 2015 06:20 AM PDT  Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair acknowledged the 2003 invasion of Iraq played a part in the rise of the Islamic State militant group, and apologized for some mistakes in planning the war, in an interview broadcast on Sunday. Blair's decision to send troops to back the U.S.-led invasion is still a live political issue in Britain, where a six-year public inquiry into the conflict is yet to publish its findings. "Of course, you can't say that those of us who removed (former Iraqi dictator) Saddam (Hussein) in 2003 bear no responsibility for the situation in 2015," Blair told U.S. network CNN.
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| Israel says Arab citizen used paraglider to join Syria war Posted: 25 Oct 2015 03:46 AM PDT By Dan Williams JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel said on Sunday that an Arab citizen had used a paraglider to fly illegally into neighboring Syria, where he planned to join Islamic State insurgents in the four-year-old rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad. The man's flight on Saturday across the fortified Golan Heights frontier jarred Israel, which has seen dozens of its minority Muslim Arabs or Palestinians from East Jerusalem reach the Syrian civil war through legal destinations such as Turkey. |
| Blair concedes link between Iraq invasion and Islamic State rise Posted: 25 Oct 2015 03:17 AM PDT  Britain's ex-leader Tony Blair again apologised Sunday for certain aspects of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, adding there were "elements of truth" to the view it was connected to the rise of the Islamic State group. "I apologise for the fact that the intelligence we received was wrong," he told CNN in an interview. Blair acknowledged there were "elements of truth" to the argument that the US-led and British backed invasion of Iraq eventually led to the rise of IS jihadists in Syria and Iraq, according to a transcript on the CNN website.
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| Sanders, Clinton set tone for leadoff presidential caucuses Posted: 25 Oct 2015 02:39 AM PDT  DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Bernie Sanders sharpened the contrast with Hillary Rodham Clinton on a bevy of liberal causes on Saturday, casting himself as a principled progressive before thousands of Iowa Democrats in an appearance that could set the tone for the leadoff presidential caucuses in February.
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| Why 2 'Normal' Teens Joined ISIS Posted: 25 Oct 2015 01:00 AM PDT  Merve and Ece seemed like quiet teenage girls, until they disappeared.
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| Sanders contrasts his record with Clinton's at Iowa dinner Posted: 24 Oct 2015 10:41 PM PDT  By Amanda Becker DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders contrasted his record with that of Hillary Clinton on key issues, including his early support for same-sex marriages and consistent opposition to the Iraq war, during a Democratic fundraising dinner in Iowa on Saturday. The annual dinner in the early-voting state has become a bellwether of Democratic support, and it was the first time that Sanders, Clinton and former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley have appeared on the same stage since the first Democratic debate on Oct. 13. While the debate was a largely genial affair in which the candidates complimented one another and disagreed on policy specifics, Sanders used the Jefferson-Jackson dinner, attended by more than 6,000 Democrats, to highlight differences with front-runner Clinton, without mentioning her by name.
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| The Latest: Clinton has high praise for Biden now Posted: 24 Oct 2015 09:02 PM PDT  DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The latest on the Iowa Democratic Party's Jefferson-Jackson dinner, the traditional kickoff leading to the Feb. 1 caucuses. Speakers include presidential candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley. All times local.
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| %xhl(Today in History for Sunday, Oct. 25 Posted: 24 Oct 2015 09:01 PM PDT Today in History |
| The Latest: Sanders draws contrasts with Clinton in Iowa Posted: 24 Oct 2015 07:16 PM PDT  DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The latest on the Iowa Democratic Party's Jefferson-Jackson dinner, the traditional kickoff leading to the Feb. 1 caucuses. Speakers include presidential candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley. All times local.
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