| California governor outlines push for road funding in speech Posted: 21 Jan 2016 04:49 PM PST  Gov. Jerry Brown took a muted tone Thursday as he delivered his State of the State address to the California Legislature, urging fiscal restraint and reinforcing policy positions he has already articulated ...
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| Wife of U.S. pastor imprisoned in Iran hopes to reunite, rebuild marriage Posted: 21 Jan 2016 04:37 PM PST  By Ben Klayman BOISE (Reuters) - Naghmeh Abedini is looking forward to reuniting next week with her husband, Saeed, the Iranian-American pastor freed on Saturday after more than three years in an Iranian prison. In an interview at her parent's home in Boise, Idaho on Wednesday, Abedini said that rebuilding their marriage after her husband's imprisonment will take time. Reuters could not independently confirm Abedini's allegations about her husband.
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| IS jihadists to be 'seriously dented' by end of 2016, says Kerry Posted: 21 Jan 2016 03:52 PM PST  US Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday said the Islamic State group would be "very seriously" weakened in Syria and Iraq this year, as France announced that some 22,000 jihadists have been killed by the US-led coalition. Air strikes by the alliance that includes Gulf states, France and Britain have been pounding IS positions since August 2014, with Washington claiming major gains against the extremists. "I think that by the end of 2016, our goal of very seriously denting Daesh in Iraq and Syria and of trying to have an impact on Mosul (in Iraq) and Raqa (in Syria) will be achieved," Kerry told reporters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, using an alternative name for IS.
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| What We Know: New visa rules for some Europeans to visit US Posted: 21 Jan 2016 03:48 PM PST The Obama administration is imposing new travel restrictions on certain Europeans who have visited Iran, Iraq, Syria or Sudan in the past five years. |
| Iran-linked groups focus of Baghdad kidnapping probe: U.S. sources Posted: 21 Jan 2016 03:23 PM PST  By Mark Hosenball and David Brunnstrom WASHINGTON/DAVOS (Reuters) - U.S. intelligence agencies investigating the kidnapping of three Americans in Baghdad last week are focusing their probe on three militant Islamic groups closely affiliated with Iran, U.S. government sources said on Thursday. Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Kata'ib Hezbollah and the Badr Organization are the principle focus of the probe into how the men were snatched in the Dora neighborhood, south of Baghdad, the sources said. The U.S. government does not know if any of the three groups seized the men.
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| Vice President Biden, Iraq's Abadi discuss Turkish troop issue: White House Posted: 21 Jan 2016 02:42 PM PST  U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Thursday discussed the urgency of mobilizing international support to stabilize the city of Ramadi, which the government recently retook from Islamic State militants, the White House said. "The vice president encouraged continued dialogue between Iraq and Turkey to resolve concerns about Turkish troop deployments in northern Iraq and reiterated U.S. respect for Iraq's sovereignty and territorial integrity," the White House said in a statement about the meeting between the leaders, in Davos, Switzerland.
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| Top Asian News 10:25 p.m. GMT Posted: 21 Jan 2016 02:25 PM PST CHARSADDA, Pakistan (AP) — When Islamic militants stormed the university campus in this Pakistani town, chemistry professor Hamid Hussain was carrying a concealed pistol. Locking his students in his classroom he opened fire on the assailants, buying his pupils enough time to escape before he was gunned down. The survival of Hussain's students in a massacre that left 20 others dead is a legacy of a bloodbath that targeted another school in northwestern Pakistan two years earlier. After that 2014 attack, in which 150 people, mostly children, were killed, the government trained educators to carry concealed weapons so they could be a first line of defense — giving security forces time to react. |
| Is Sarah Palin justified in using son's arrest to attack Obama's vets record? Posted: 21 Jan 2016 02:13 PM PST Speaking at a rally for Republican Donald Trump Wednesday, one day after endorsing the presidential hopeful, Sarah Palin talked of her son's recent arrest related to domestic violence. The former GOP vice presidential nominee and Alaska governor related her son's legal problems to his military service, talking about post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and accusing President Obama of doing too little to support veterans. While some have lauded Ms. Palin's willingness to address the emotive issue of PTSD, there are those, including veterans themselves, who have protested at her laying blame on Mr. Obama. |
| US announces plan for new visa rules for some Europeans Posted: 21 Jan 2016 02:12 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration tightened restrictions on European and other travelers who have visited Iran, Iraq, Syria or Sudan in the last five years, even as it said the new rules may not apply to those in certain occupations who have traveled for business.
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| U.S. tightens visa waiver rules for visitors after Paris attacks Posted: 21 Jan 2016 02:12 PM PST  The United States on Thursday began implementing restrictions to its Visa Waiver Program under a law passed after last year's Paris attacks that makes it harder for citizens of some countries to visit. Several of the Islamic State attackers who killed 130 people in France held European passports that would have allowed them to easily enter the United States under the former system. Citizens of the 38, mainly European, countries in the U.S. Visa Waiver Program (VWP), who were previously able to travel to the United States for up to 90 days without a visa, must now obtain one if they have visited Iran, Iraq, Sudan and Syria since March 1, 2011.
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| The Latest: At Davos, Soros blasts Trump's 'fear mongering' Posted: 21 Jan 2016 02:04 PM PST  DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — The latest developments from the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, where top executives and world leaders are gathered this week. All times local.
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| The Latest: US drops rivalry to multilateral Argentine loans Posted: 21 Jan 2016 01:47 PM PST DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — The latest developments from the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, where top executives and world leaders are gathered this week. All times local. |
| Iraqi minister says 'blackmail' behind kidnapping of U.S. citizens Posted: 21 Jan 2016 01:47 PM PST Iraq's defense minister said on Thursday the three Americans who went missing in Baghdad last week had been seized by an "organized gang that carries out abductions for blackmail". In an interview with Reuters in Cairo, Khaled al-Obaidi did not elaborate.The three men are employed by a small company that is doing work for General Dynamics Corp, under a larger contract with the U.S. Army, according to a source familiar with the matter. Iraqi intelligence and U.S. government sources said on Tuesday the three were being held by an Iranian-backed Shi'ite militia. |
| Kerry spoke to Iran about Americans missing in Baghdad Posted: 21 Jan 2016 01:33 PM PST  US Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday he had spoken to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif about the fate of three Americans missing in Baghdad. Washington has not commented publicly on reports the three were kidnapped by an Iranian-backed Shiite militia, but Kerry confirmed he had raised the case with Tehran. "I've raised it with Foreign Minister Zarif," Kerry told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
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| White House reacts to Palin: 'Domestic violence is not a joke' Posted: 21 Jan 2016 01:22 PM PST  Palin's son was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a woman and carrying a gun while intoxicated, police in the family's Alaska hometown said on Tuesday. In a speech she made Wednesday to support leading Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, Palin linked her son's charges to his experience in the U.S. military and blamed the Obama administration for not doing enough to support its veterans.
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| Syria talks 'likely' delayed as opposition quarrels Posted: 21 Jan 2016 12:53 PM PST  The United Nations said Thursday that crucial talks on ending the Syria conflict would likely be delayed by a few days, as a dispute over who will represent the opposition intensified. World powers agreed last year in Vienna on an 18-month roadmap that would lead to the peace talks, a transitional government and then elections. US Secretary of State John Kerry said he was confident the talks would go ahead as planned.
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| One giant leap for womankind: NASA's new class of astronauts is officially 50 percent female Posted: 21 Jan 2016 12:46 PM PST  Over the years, a handful of brilliant women have been instrumental in the groundbreaking developments of math and science. But historically speaking, when it comes to space travel, flight teams and astronaut programs have almost always been heavily weighted towards male participants. This year, NASA is changing that with a class of astronauts that is officially 50 percent female. Jessica Meir, Christina Hammock Koch, Anne McClain, and Nicole Aunapu Mann are the four women representing this year's NASA astronaut class. Their training will be ongoing and will prepare them for all kinds of space flight, but the planet on the tip of everyone's tongue is definitely Mars. NASA's inaugural human-piloted Mars excursion is at least 15 years away, and is 35 million miles long. But these four pioneering women are as much in the running to make the journey as any of the other NASA astronauts in their class. Related: Congress wants NASA to build a deep space habitat for astronauts, and finish it by 2018 Each of the four women accepted into the new NASA class pursued impressive, patriotic careers before applying to become astronauts. Anne McClain was a US army helicopter pilot and Nicole Mann was a fighter jet pilot with the Marine Corps – both served on the front lines in Iraq. Jessica Meir has a Ph.D in marine biology, which led her to some freezing fieldwork scuba diving below the ice in Antarctica. Christina Koch spent a year in the South Pole overseeing the more than 10,000 gallons of liquid helium used to supercool some of the world's most powerful telescopes. Three out of four of these new astronauts said that they've dreamed of being astronauts ever since they were kids. Over 6,000 candidates applied for this year's NASA astronaut program. Candidacy alone requires two years of flight training on T-38 supersonic jets and testing in deep underwater conditions and simulated null gravity environments. NASA inducts new classes of astronauts only once every five years or so, and the rigorous testing program ensures that only the cream of the crop get their NASA wings. This is the first time in history that a class of NASA astronauts has featured an equal number of men and women. Also watch: Raimond de Hullu's vision for Oas1s green buildings Please enable Javascript to watch this video
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| Anti-IS coalition has killed 22,000 jihadists since mid-2014: France Posted: 21 Jan 2016 12:44 PM PST  Around 22,000 jihadists have been killed by the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group since mid-2014, France's defence minister said on Thursday. "The figure given by the coalition... is about 22,000 dead since the start of operations in Iraq and Syria," Jean-Yves Le Drian told the France24 news channel, adding that the figure was "approximate". "We haven't seen a large offensive by Daesh for some time," Le Drian said, using an alternative name for the group.
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| Fires rage as jihadists attack Libya oil facilities Posted: 21 Jan 2016 12:39 PM PST  Oil facilities in northern Libya were set ablaze Thursday as the Islamic State group launched fresh attacks to seize key export terminals, renewing concerns over the jihadists' growing influence. Fighting broke out at dawn in the Ras Lanouf region, which along with the nearby Al-Sidra facility is one of the country's main oil export hubs, said the National Oil Corporation (NOC). "The situation in Ras Lanouf is catastrophic for the enviroment," it said in a statement.
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| New US visa rules on some travellers with Mideast ties Posted: 21 Jan 2016 12:36 PM PST  The United States on Thursday began enforcing new visa rules on some travellers who have visited or who have dual nationality with states considered seedbeds of terrorism. The Department of Homeland Security said would-be US visitors who have been to Iran, Iraq, Sudan or Syria since March 2011 will now always have to apply for a visa. This will be the case even if the traveller is from a country in the US visa waiver program -- the 40 nations seen as friends of America whose citizens can visit freely.
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| Exclusive: Saudi Arabia warns against 'nefarious activities' by Iran Posted: 21 Jan 2016 12:36 PM PST  By Angus McDowall RIYADH (Reuters) - The lifting of sanctions on Iran as a result of its nuclear deal with world powers will be a harmful development if it uses the extra money to fund "nefarious activities", Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told Reuters on Tuesday. Asked in an exclusive interview if Saudi Arabia had discussed seeking a nuclear bomb in the event Iran managed to obtain one despite its atomic deal, he said Saudi Arabia would do "whatever we need to do in order to protect our people". Jubeir's comments were the first to directly address the lifting of sanctions on Iran, Riyadh's bitterest regional rival, although Saudi Arabia has previously welcomed Iran's nuclear deal so long as it included a tough inspections regime.
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| U.S. gives troops broader order to strike Islamic State in Afghanistan Posted: 21 Jan 2016 12:09 PM PST  U.S. military commanders have been given the authority to target Islamic State fighters in Afghanistan, the Pentagon said on Thursday, the first such order beyond Iraq and Syria, where the militants control parts of both countries. The U.S. State Department said last week that it had designated Islamic State's offshoot in Afghanistan, known as Islamic State-Khorasan, as a foreign terrorist organization. U.S. forces could previously strike Islamic State in Afghanistan but it was under more narrow circumstances, such as for protection of troops.
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| Kerry believes 2016 will see Islamic State 'seriously dented' Posted: 21 Jan 2016 11:59 AM PST  By David Brunnstrom DAVOS (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Thursday he believed Islamic State's military capabilities in Iraq and Syria would be seriously weakened by the end of 2016. Asked at a media roundtable on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, whether this year would see the end of Islamic State, Kerry replied, referring to the militant group by an Arabic acronym: "I think that by the end of 2016, our goal of very seriously denting Daesh ...will be achieved.
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| Losses in Syria may force some IS leaders to move to Libya: EU official Posted: 21 Jan 2016 11:54 AM PST  Islamic State military losses in Syria and Iraq may prompt some of its leaders to relocate to Libya where they will face less pressure, the EU's counter-terrorism coordinator said Thursday. In an interview with AFP, Gilles de Kerchove also warned that the raids by the US-led coalition and Russian warplanes as well as operations by Iraqi and Syrian ground troops could lead IS to stage more Paris-style attacks in Europe. De Kerchove cited the jihadist group's recent ouster from the Iraqi city of Ramadi and heavy air strikes in Syria where he said the organisation is now on the defensive.
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| World Muslim body condemns attacks on Saudi missions in Iran Posted: 21 Jan 2016 11:11 AM PST  A global Muslim body on Thursday condemned the attacks on Saudi missions in Iran earlier this month and denounced Tehran's regional "interference". Foreign ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, in a statement, said it "condemns the aggressions against the missions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Tehran and Mashhad". The statement followed an extraordinary meeting requested by Saudi Arabia after protesters in Iran burned Riyadh's embassy in Tehran and a consulate in the second city of Mashhad.
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| Officials name top suspects in Iraq abductions of Americans Posted: 21 Jan 2016 11:10 AM PST  BAGHDAD (AP) — Two powerful Shiite militias are top suspects in the abduction of three Americans last weekend in a southern neighborhood of the Iraqi capital, an Iraqi police commander and a Western security official in Baghdad said Thursday.
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| US Army secretary nominee worries about force size Posted: 21 Jan 2016 10:07 AM PST  President Barack Obama's pick for the next secretary of the US Army said Thursday he is worried about broad cuts to the service, which is set for a dramatic downsizing. Eric Fanning, who was nominated to the Army's top civilian post in September and would be the first openly gay person to fill the position, told a long-delayed Senate confirmation hearing that budget cuts were reducing military preparedness at a time of growing international instability. The Army is due to shrink to 450,000 active duty soldiers by 2018, down from a peak of 570,000 during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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| US to sell Iraq huge arsenal of attack jet munitions Posted: 21 Jan 2016 09:50 AM PST  The United States has approved the sale of almost $2 billion worth of bombs and missiles to equip Iraq's squadron of F-16 attack jets in their battle against jihadist rebels. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency said 400 American government staff and contractors would work in Iraq until at least 2020 to maintain the arsenal and train Iraqi pilots and ground crew. "This proposed sale enables Iraq to fully maintain and employ its aircraft and sustain pilot training to effectively protect Iraq from current and future threats," it said.
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| Australia's Lleyton Hewitt: from tearaway to national treasure Posted: 21 Jan 2016 09:45 AM PST  The ultra-competitive Aussie battler went down in a typically fighting display against David Ferrer in the Australian Open's second round, in which he was warned for swearing and clashed with the umpire. In his early years on the circuit, the national emotions were the polar opposite for Hewitt and his trademark "C'mon!" war cry. While Hewitt won two Grand Slams at Wimbledon and Flushing Meadows, and remains the youngest player to reach world number one (at 20 years and eight months), he was also making headlines for the wrong reasons.
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| US, coalition looks to boost propaganda war on Islamic State Posted: 21 Jan 2016 09:41 AM PST  PARIS (AP) — U.S. and coalition forces are battling Islamic State militants in the skies and on the ground across Iraq and Syria, but the allies are increasingly also targeting the airwaves, where they now are losing the propaganda war.
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| Netflix picks up Iranian horror picture 'Under the Shadow' Posted: 21 Jan 2016 09:33 AM PST  Set to be one of the most anticipated pictures at Sundance, "Under The Shadow" is written and directed by Babak Anvari. The horror film is set in Iran in 1988 during the Iran-Iraq war and centers on a family that seems to be haunted by evil spirits. According to online entertainment source Variety, the film will be released later this year on Netflix.
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| Migrants, refugees still flow to Greek islands' shores Posted: 21 Jan 2016 08:35 AM PST  CHIOS, Greece (AP) — Half buried in the fine yellow sand of one of this Greek island's most popular beaches lies one of the few signs of the drama that has played out over the past year: The remains of two torn and deflated dinghies by the water's edge.
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| US special forces playing key targeting role in IS fight: Carter Posted: 21 Jan 2016 07:33 AM PST  US special forces are directly engaged in pinpointing targets and launching raids against the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq, Defence Secretary Ashton Carter said Thursday. "These forces have already established contact with new forces that share our goals, (opening) new lines of communication to local, motivated and capable fighters, and new targets for air strikes and strikes of all kinds," Carter told an audience at the Ecole Militaire, a training school for French officers in Paris. The US has called on allies, including France and Britain, to contribute special forces as a key part of their effort to bolster coalition forces fighting the jihadist group.
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| Refugees cross after Macedonia reopens Greek border Posted: 21 Jan 2016 07:28 AM PST  After a night on the Greek-Macedonian frontier in sub-zero temperatures, some 2,000 mainly Syrian refugees on Thursday resumed their tortuous trek to northern Europe that was temporarily blocked by a border closure by Skopje. "I want to go to Germany to study". Imad and some 1,200 other conflict refugees from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan had just spent the night in heated tents operated by aid groups.
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| Iraq faces 'harsh year' due to oil price fall: minister Posted: 21 Jan 2016 07:19 AM PST  Oil revenues that supply the vast majority of Iraqi government funds are "very limited", with crude trading at half the value projected in the budget, the finance minister said Thursday. Plummeting oil prices mean Iraq is facing a financial crisis as it fights a costly war against the Islamic State jihadist group, and rebuilding areas devastated by the conflict will cost even more. Iraq is selling oil at "between $21 and $25 per barrel", Hoshyar Zebari told a news conference, adding that "the revenues we are obtaining from oil are very limited".
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| Saudi-Iran dispute jeopardizes Yemen peace talks Posted: 21 Jan 2016 07:08 AM PST  By Yara Bayoumy and Mohammed Ghobari DUBAI/CAIRO (Reuters) - Worsening enmity between rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran is jeopardizing peace prospects in Yemen where a nine-month-old war has given Islamist militants a foothold in Riyadh's backyard. Yemen's principal warring factions -- fighters loyal to the ousted Saudi-backed Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi who are battling the Iran-allied Houthi militia and loyalists of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh -- held talks last month in Switzerland to try to end a war that has killed some 6,000 people. Shortly after the row in which the Saudi embassy in Tehran was stormed, the U.N.-brokered talks between the two opposing sides were postponed, with no clear date set to resume.
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| Sarah Palin Defects From the Neocons Posted: 21 Jan 2016 05:29 AM PST When John McCain chose Sarah Palin as his running mate in 2008, his campaign hoped to unite Republicans by pairing an establishment moderate with a folksy, populist outsider. In theory, the Alaska governor's appeal to disaffected working class whites, whether Republican, independent, or Democrat, would help build a winning coalition. |
| Arab, Kurdish forces to get more support to fight Islamic State: Hollande Posted: 21 Jan 2016 04:49 AM PST  By John Irish and Elizabeth Pineau PARIS (Reuters) - Arab and Kurdish forces will be given additional support to help retake Islamic State's bastions in Syria and Iraq, French President Francois Hollande said on Thursday, adding that 2016 had to be the year of transition in Syria. Speaking at an annual gathering of about 200 foreign and French ambassadors, Hollande outlined his foreign policy objectives for the year, saying France would not shirk its responsibilities in fighting militancy after two deadly attacks marked his country last year. "France is not the enemy of any people, religion or civilization" he said.
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| U.S. leads 16 strikes against Islamic State: statement Posted: 21 Jan 2016 04:34 AM PST The U.S.-led coalition on Wednesday staged 16 strikes in Iraq and Syria targeting the against Islamic State militant group, the Combined Joint Task Force leading the operations said. In a statement released on Thursday, the coalition said 15 strikes in Iraq centered on seven cities and destroyed 14 of the militants' fighting positions in Sinjar. One strike in Dayr Ar Zawr, Syria, hit four of the militants' cranes, according to the statement. |
| France's Hollande says Iraq, Syria air strikes to be 'accelerated' Posted: 21 Jan 2016 03:26 AM PST  French President Francois Hollande said Thursday that a coalition waging a bombing campaign against the Islamic State group would "accelerate" air strikes. "The pace of the interventions will be accelerated and France will play its role in this," Hollande said in a speech to ambassadors. "They also decided to reinforce support to Arab and Kurdish forces fighting Daesh on the ground," Hollande said, using an alternative name for IS.
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