| Saudi-Iran rivalry sets scene for OPEC showdown over output Posted: 06 Dec 2015 04:16 PM PST  By Alex Lawler, Vladimir Soldatkin and Shadia Nasralla VIENNA (Reuters) - It used to be said of OPEC that it was like a teabag – it only worked in hot water. In a move sources say was masterminded by Saudi Arabia, ministers finally agreed for the first time in decades to drop any reference to the 13-member group's output ceiling. The pivot, which surprised not only markets but also some OPEC officials, appeared to be a direct response to Saudi Arabia's arch-rival Iran, which has made clear it intends to make a rapid return to global oil markets next year as nuclear-related sanctions are lifted.
|
| Biden visits war-scarred Ukraine to reaffirm US support Posted: 06 Dec 2015 04:00 PM PST  US Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Kiev late Sunday to reassure its pro-Western leaders that Washington remains committed to Ukraine despite stepped-up efforts to work with Russia against Islamic State jihadists. Biden's three-day visit is his fourth to Kiev since Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in March 2014 and then watched with approval as pro-Kremlin insurgents carved out their own region in the eastern industrial heartland of the ex-Soviet state. After arriving at around midnight (2200 GMT on Sunday), he is due to meet Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko Monday and deliver a highly-anticipated address to parliament the following day.
|
| Obama to urge Americans 'to not give in to fear' Posted: 06 Dec 2015 03:42 PM PST  President Barack Obama will make a rare primetime address Sunday laying out plans to keep Americans safe and defeat the Islamic State group, days after 14 people were shot dead in California. Obama's top law enforcement officer, US Attorney General Loretta Lynch, said the president hoped to reassure the US public, spooked by a seemingly new type of terror attack on the home front. IS has praised the San Bernardino shooters, Syed Farook and his Pakistani wife Tashfeen Malik, as "soldiers" of its self-proclaimed caliphate, while stopping short of claiming outright credit for the attack.
|
| Police question suspect in London Tube stabbing Posted: 06 Dec 2015 03:42 PM PST  British counter-terror police on Sunday questioned a 29-year-old man on suspicion of attempted murder after a stabbing attack in a London Underground train station that is being treated as a "terrorist incident". Detectives from Britain's Counter Terrorism Command (CTC) searched a home in east London in connection with Saturday's attack at Leytonstone station, which left a 56-year-old man with serious knife injuries. Amateur video footage of the incident showed one passer-by shouting "You're no Muslim" at the suspect as he was pinned down by officers in the ticket hall, where a pool of blood could be seen on the ground.
|
| Senate Democrats to push multi-pronged domestic security bill Posted: 06 Dec 2015 03:24 PM PST  U.S. Senate Democrats plan to unveil a package of proposals this week to tighten domestic security in the wake of the mass shooting in California that killed 14 people and injured 21, according to a Senate Democratic source on Sunday. One part of the plan, according to the source, attempts to make airports safe by beefing up Transportation Security Administration operations. Democratic Senator Bill Nelson has been pushing a bill to improve screenings of TSA employees.
|
| Father of shooter: Farook 'agreed with IS ideology', report says Posted: 06 Dec 2015 02:19 PM PST  The father of Syed Farook, who with his wife shot dead 14 people in San Bernardino, California, says his son approved of the ideas of the Islamic State group and was fixated with Israel, the Italian daily La Stampa reported Sunday. "He said he agreed with (IS chief Abu Bakr) al-Baghdadi's ideas for creating the Islamic State, and he was obsessed by Israel," La Stampa quoted the father of the shooter, also named Syed Farook, as saying. "I always used to say to him, be calm, patience, in two years' time Israel will no longer exist," he said, in remarks reported in Italian.
|
| Paris a reminder India risks missing lessons from Mumbai attack Posted: 06 Dec 2015 02:04 PM PST  By Clara Ferreira-Marques and Douglas Busvine MUMBAI/NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Last month, during an exercise to test India's readiness for a militant attack, teams of coast guards approached Mumbai and surrounding areas by sea, just as assailants did before deadly strikes in 2008. Officials say the response to the mock assault in the state of Maharashtra was not a disaster, but the shortcomings it exposed were a reminder of India's vulnerability to the kind of violence that hit Mumbai seven years ago, when 166 people were killed, and Paris only last month. "There was a mixed result," said a navy spokesman in Mumbai, describing the mid-November exercise that, by coincidence, came days after gunmen targeted Paris on Nov. 13, killing 130.
|
| 'Voices of the voiceless' come to life on Holocaust victims' violins Posted: 06 Dec 2015 02:03 PM PST When 300 Auschwitz survivors gathered last January for the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camp, the annual commemoration was especially poignant: With survivors now in their 80s and 90s, many worried about how future generations would learn about the Holocaust. For Israeli violin craftsman Amnon Weinstein, music is a way to honor the six million Jewish victims killed by the Third Reich. "Wherever there were violins, there was hope," says Mr. Weinstein, who has been working for 20 years to bring the lost violins of Holocaust musicians back to life, a project culminating this fall in Violins of Hope, a Cleveland-area partnership of museum exhibitions, orchestra performances, and lectures to give voice to Jewish communities who embraced music as a means of survival and resilience, even inside concentration camps. |
| Iraq gives Turkish forces 48 hours to leave country Posted: 06 Dec 2015 01:40 PM PST  Iraq on Sunday gave Turkey 48 hours to withdraw forces it said had entered the country illegally or face "all available options", including recourse to the UN Security Council. Baghdad, which is struggling to assert its sovereignty while receiving foreign assistance against the Islamic State jihadist group, said Turkish forces with tanks and artillery entered Iraq without its permission. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in a letter to his Iraqi counterpart Haider al-Abadi that there would be no deployment of forces until Baghdad's concerns were addressed.
|
| Saudi Arabia says it will host Syria opposition meet on Tuesday Posted: 06 Dec 2015 12:37 PM PST  Saudi Arabia will host a meeting of Syrian opposition groups in Riyadh from Dec. 8-10 aimed at choosing representatives for future international talks on Syria, the official Saudi Press Agency said on Sunday. "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia sent an invitation to all the moderate portions of the Syrian opposition of different types and trends, and from its ethnic, sectarian and political spectrum inside and outside Syria," SPA reported, citing an official source at the foreign ministry. Saudi Arabia is a strong supporter of opposition groups seeking to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose future has been a sticking point in attempts at a peace agreement.
|
| Obama to urge Americans not to give into fear of terrorism Posted: 06 Dec 2015 12:30 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — In a rare Oval Office address, President Barack Obama on Sunday night will urge Americans to not give into fear following attacks in Paris and California, while trying to assure the public that he takes the threat of terrorism seriously.
|
| IS-claimed bombing kills Yemeni governor, 6 guards in Aden Posted: 06 Dec 2015 12:27 PM PST  SANAA, Yemen (AP) — A huge explosion killed the governor of Yemen's southern Aden province and six of his bodyguards on Sunday, security officials said, in an attack that was later claimed by a local Islamic State affiliate.
|
| 32 IS fighters dead in US-led Syria raids, Assad slams UK vote Posted: 06 Dec 2015 10:30 AM PST  At least 32 Islamic State group fighters were killed on Sunday in apparent US-led coalition raids on Syria as President Bashar al-Assad slammed Britain's decision to participate in air strikes. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said at least 32 fighters had been killed in some 15 strikes on the IS stronghold of Raqa province in northern Syria. The monitor's head, Rami Abdel Rahman, said at least 40 jihadists were also wounded in the strikes, which hit IS headquarters and bases to the north, east and southeast of provincial capital Raqa city.
|
| Iraq's Abadi says could resort to U.N. over Turkish deployment Posted: 06 Dec 2015 10:07 AM PST BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Sunday that his country maintained the right to use all available options, including going to the U.N. security council, if Turkish troops sent to northern Iraq were not withdrawn within 48 hours. Abadi said in a statement that the deployment of hundreds of Turkish forces near the northern Islamic State-controlled city of Mosul happened without the approval or knowledge of the Iraqi government and constituted a violation of national sovereignty. (Reporting by Stephen Kalin, Louise Heavens) |
| Knife attacker slashes man in London 'terrorist incident' Posted: 06 Dec 2015 09:45 AM PST  By James Davey and William James LONDON (Reuters) - A knife attacker slashed a man at an east London metro station, reportedly screaming "This is for Syria!", in what police described as a terrorist incident, prompting a senior minister to urge Britons on Sunday not to be intimidated. A pool of blood near the ticket barriers at the Leytonstone Underground station, about six miles (10 km) east of central London, could be seen in footage posted on Twitter that also showed the suspect confronting police on Saturday evening. One man, thought to be 56 years old, suffered serious but not life-threatening injuries and was in a stable condition at a London hospital.
|
| Pakistani security seeks to tamp down reporting on California shooter Posted: 06 Dec 2015 09:29 AM PST Pakistani security forces appeared to be trying to dampen down reporting this weekend on the background of Tashfeen Malik, who mounted an attack alongside her husband that killed 14 people in California. Three professors at Malik's university said they had been advised not to talk to the media, while men claiming to be from Pakistan's security agencies told reporters to drop their investigations into her background on pain of arrest. An official at the interior ministry later said this was due to a "misunderstanding". |
| Obama to make forceful pledge of U.S. power against Islamic State in address Posted: 06 Dec 2015 09:22 AM PST  By Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will pledge to use "every single aspect of American power" to destroy Islamic State during a rare Oval Office address on Sunday in an effort to reassure Americans his administration is handling the threat of terrorism forcefully. Obama has come under consistent pressure from Republicans to step up his response to Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, and the shooting in San Bernardino, California last week that killed 14 people has raised fears among Americans about the threat of more attacks at home. Obama will give an update on the status of the investigation into that shooting during his remarks.
|
| The mysterious Islamic movement quietly sweeping the Middle East Posted: 06 Dec 2015 09:06 AM PST Abu Murad surveys the captive audience in the mosque in West Amman, Jordan. Several latecomers kneel for the sunset Maghrib prayer, while others perform individual Sunna prayers in the corner. A handful of old men whisper passages from the Quran in the back. "I was a Muslim," Abu Murad begins, gazing at the crowd. "But I did not know Islam." |
| Red Cross seeking permission to work in IS territory Posted: 06 Dec 2015 08:49 AM PST  The International Committee of the Red Cross has said it is trying to establish relations with the Islamic State group in hopes of delivering aid to the 10 million people living under its control. "Yes, we are of course looking at building a relationship" with IS, ICRC Director-General Yves Daccord told AFP in an interview. The comments were made ahead of an agency conference in Geneva, held every four years, which gathers some 2,000 ICRC employees and national Red Cross/Red Crescent staffers for talks on the challenges facing humanitarian workers in increasingly complex environments.
|
| At least 32 Islamic State fighters killed in strikes in Syria's Raqqa: monitor Posted: 06 Dec 2015 07:48 AM PST  At least 32 Islamic State fighters were killed and 40 more wounded in Syria's Raqqa province on Sunday, in a series of air strikes believed to be carried out by a U.S.-led coalition targeting the jihadists, a monitoring group said. More than 15 explosions hit Islamic State positions in the countryside of Raqqa province and near its capital, Raqqa city, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Raqqa is Islamic State's Syrian stronghold.
|
| German Vice Chancellor warns Saudi Arabia over Islamist funding Posted: 06 Dec 2015 07:42 AM PST  German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel urged Saudi Arabia on Sunday to stop supporting religious radicals, amid growing concern among some lawmakers in Berlin about the funding of militant mosques by the world's biggest oil exporter. The unusual criticism of the Gulf state follows a report by Germany's foreign intelligence agency which suggested that Saudi foreign policy was becoming more "impulsive". The German government rebuked the BND agency for making such suggestions about Saudi Arabia, an important business partner that is involved in international talks to find a political solution to the Syria crisis.. "We need Saudi Arabia to solve the regional conflicts," Sigmar Gabriel, the head of the Social Democrats (SPD) who share power with conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel, told the mass-circulation newspaper Bild am Sonntag.
|
| Red Cross talks to debate new mechanism for upholding laws of war Posted: 06 Dec 2015 06:26 AM PST  By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - States are divided about an attempt to improve compliance with the rules of war, a non-binding but contentious issue at the heart of an international conference next week, senior Swiss and Red Cross officials say. The Dec. 8-10 meeting will consider a resolution to hold an annual meeting of states that have ratified the Geneva Conventions to report on how they are enforcing its provisions to protect civilians, prisoners and the wounded in armed conflict. Russia is leading an effort to defeat or dilute the proposal, diplomats said.
|
| Syria slams Turkey over troop deployment in Iraq Posted: 06 Dec 2015 05:36 AM PST Syria slammed Turkey on Sunday for deploying hundreds of troops in neighboring Iraq, accusing Ankara of playing a "destructive role" against both Arab countries. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has described the deployment as a routine rotation of forces that set up a camp almost a year ago near the northern city of Mosul, which is controlled by Islamic State militants. Davutoglu says the troops had originally been deployed in coordination with Iraqi authorities, but Baghdad demanded the their withdrawal on Saturday. |
| U.S., allies say 17 strikes launched in Iraq, 12 in Syria against Islamic State Posted: 06 Dec 2015 05:20 AM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and its allies conducted 17 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and 12 in Syria on Saturday, the coalition leading the operations said in a statement. In Iraq, the air strikes focused on the militant strongholds of Mosul and Ramadi, where four and six strikes respectively hit tactical units, weapons and buildings, the coalition said on Sunday. Other strikes hit near Albu Hayat, Sinjar, Sultan Abdalla and al Huwayjah. ... |
| Assad says British bombing in Syria will fail, ridicules PM Cameron Posted: 06 Dec 2015 03:58 AM PST  British air strikes on Islamic State will fail to defeat the militant group, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview with the Sunday Times newspaper, mocking Prime Minister David Cameron's strategy in the region. British lawmakers approved the bombing of Islamic State targets in Syria on Wednesday. Hours after that approval, the Royal Air Force struck the oilfields that Cameron's government says are being used to fund attacks on the West.
|
| Biden makes trip to Ukraine in sign of US support Posted: 06 Dec 2015 02:59 AM PST  KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — U.S. Vice President Joe Biden comes to Ukraine's capital on Sunday for a visit aimed at pushing the country toward making reforms and reassuring it that the crisis in Syria is not overshadowing Washington's concerns about Ukraine.
|
| 'Weak link' gets tough: After Paris, Belgium raises spy game Posted: 06 Dec 2015 01:18 AM PST By Philip Blenkinsop BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Islamic State's attack on Paris has triggered shifts in great power strategy in the Middle East, but just as significant for Europeans may be change afoot inside an office block near Brussels' Gare du Nord station. The Belgian capital was home to some of the Paris attackers and a logistical planning base for the operation. Now, stung by international accusations that underfunding and political in-fighting had left its security services the weakest link in Europe's counter-terrorism defenses, Belgium is ploughing resources into an intelligence agency that faces the biggest concentration of Syria-linked militants in the West. |
| IDA Awards: 'The Look of Silence' and Other Oscar-Shortlisted Docs Make Strong Showing (Analysis) Posted: 05 Dec 2015 09:00 PM PST The IDA and Academy both gave their top doc prize to 'Citizenfour' last year, but their overall track record when it comes to overlapping is a bit spottier, for reasons explained by THR's awards analyst. |
| GI Jane coming to US military, but it might take time Posted: 05 Dec 2015 06:44 PM PST  Officials say it could take years for women to percolate into some of the military's most specialized roles, including the elite special operations forces that have long epitomized macho soldiering. "Implementation won't happen overnight," Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Thursday as he announced the Obama administration's "No Exceptions" policy unlocking every occupation in America's vast military. When the new rules kick in, 52 military occupations -- some 220,000 jobs -- will accept female applicants, who must still pass the same rigorous physical tests as men.
|
| Three injured in knife attack 'terror incident' in London metro Posted: 05 Dec 2015 03:26 PM PST  A man with a knife stabbed another in an east London metro station on Saturday evening, reportedly screaming "this is for Syria", before police used a stun gun on the attacker and detained him. "We are treating this as a terrorist incident," Richard Walton, who leads the London police's Counter Terrorism Command, said in a statement. Police were called to reports of a number of people stabbed at the Leytonstone Underground station in east London and a man threatening other people with a knife.
|
