| Ex-officers of contracting firm face prison for work in Iraq Posted: 01 Mar 2016 03:17 PM PST ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Two former officers of a New Mexico-based defense contracting firm have pleaded guilty to criminal charges related to wartime rebuilding projects in Iraq. |
| US military offers first-ever announcement of cyber attack on ISIS Posted: 01 Mar 2016 01:13 PM PST  Leaders of the Department of Defense have officially revealed that the U.S. military is working with Iraqi and Kurdish forces to regain control over Mosul from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, alternatively known as ISIS, ISIL, and Daesh. This news comes from Defense One, which covered a briefing Monday afternoon where Defense Secretary Ashton Carter finally admitted to military participation in network-based attacks, and that the cyberwarfare operation is ongoing. This is quite possibly the first time the U.S. has been open about its engagement in an electronic intervention such as this, according to Ars Technica. Where radio jamming has played a major role in U.S. military history, and electronic attacks were conducted against Iraq in the 1991 Gulf War, computer and network-based attacks have largely remained undisclosed to the public. Not once before has the Department of Defense formally announced a cyber incursion in an ongoing military undertaking. Related: Donald Trump is expected to be the big Super Tuesday winner Offering more thorough commentary on the operation, Carter added that the attacks were initiated "to interrupt [and] disrupt ISIL's command and control, to cause them to lose confidence in their networks, to overload their network so that they can't function, and do all of these things that will interrupt their ability to command and control forces there, control the population and the economy." Though the U.S. military has historically kept mum about cyber attacks, it hasn't left itself entirely powerless. In fact, the bulk of Iraq's telecommunications infrastructure was built by the United States, while repairing the damage from the Iraq War. With it, both the military and NSA were able to collect intel while combating the inevitable revolts. Nevertheless, despite vaguely revealing to us the military's participation in the cyberwarfare coalition, the details offered by the defense secretary remain sparse — and understandably so. "We don't want the enemy to know when, where, and how we're conducting cyber operations," Carter explained. "We don't want them to have information that will allow them to adapt over time. We want them to be surprised when we conduct cyber operations. The intent, he said, is to deceive Daesh into thinking its network connectivity troubles are the result of its own indiscretion, when in reality, it's being targeted by U.S. forces.
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| Gun battles in Jordan raids reportedly targeting militants Posted: 01 Mar 2016 01:06 PM PST AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Jordanian troops exchanged fire with armed men during arrest raids in the northern city of Irbid on Tuesday, including one group holed up in a building, security officials said. |
| US top brass urge tighter West Africa response to Islamist threat Posted: 01 Mar 2016 01:03 PM PST  West Africa's armed forces, police and governments need to ramp up cross-border links to contain Islamist groups now increasingly staging spectacular attacks on civilian targets, US and local top brass said this week. The region faces "an adversary that does not recognise geographic boundaries," General David Rodriguez, head of the US Africa command, said at the closing ceremony this week of the continent's US-led Flintlock military exercise. Security at the closing ceremony was remarkably light, underlining the fact that stable countries such as Senegal have only very recently faced the reality of an Islamist threat.
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| General says terrorists in 'daily' refugee flow to Europe Posted: 01 Mar 2016 12:59 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — Terrorists, criminals and foreign fighters are part of the daily refugee flow into Europe, the top NATO commander in Europe told lawmakers, "masking the movement" of these dangerous elements and heightening the potential for an attack. |
| Turkey to partly lift curfew in Kurdish town Posted: 01 Mar 2016 12:49 PM PST  The Turkish authorities Tuesday announced the partial lifting of a curfew in a town in the country's Kurdish-dominated southeast, in force since December as part of a major crackdown on rebels. The army and police closed access to the town of Cizre, near the border with Syria and Iraq, in mid-December as a military offensive was launched against rebels from the banned Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK). "The curfew will be lifted each day from 5:00 am (0300 GMT) to 7:30 pm and will be in force from 7:30 pm to 5:00 am," the governor's office in Sirnak province said in a statement.
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| Bin Laden called for Americans to rise up over climate change Posted: 01 Mar 2016 12:22 PM PST  By Jonathan Landay WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Osama bin Laden wrote a letter calling on the American people to help President Barack Obama fight "catastrophic" climate change and "save humanity", in the latest evidence of his worries about environmental issues, newly released documents show The letter was among materials that were seized in the May 2, 2011, U.S. raid on bin Laden's hideout in Pakistan that killed the al Qaeda chief and which were released on Tuesday by the Obama administration. The undated, unsigned letter "to the American people," which U.S. intelligence officials attributed to bin Laden, appeared to have been written shortly after Obama began his first term in 2009, based on the letter's references to events. Bin Laden's preoccupation with climate change also emerged as a theme in the first tranche of documents from the raid that was declassified in May 2015, as well as in an audio recording released via the al Jazeera network in January 2010.
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| Bin Laden left millions for jihad in handwritten will Posted: 01 Mar 2016 12:09 PM PST  Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had millions of dollars stashed in Sudan and wanted most of it to be used to fund jihad, according to a handwritten will released Tuesday. The late 1990s document was among a tranche of newly declassified letters and files that were seized by Navy SEALs on May 2, 2011 when they descended on Bin Laden's hideout in the Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad and killed him. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released dozens of documents, including one they said was bin Laden's will that deals with monies in Sudan.
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| Turkey's Erdogan offers to help West Africa fight terrorism Posted: 01 Mar 2016 11:39 AM PST  Turkey stands ready to help fight the growing threat of terrorism in west Africa under a new strategic partnership that aims to boost trade and other ties with the continent, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday. Addressing members of Ghana's parliament during a two-day visit to Accra, Erdogan said Turkey was well placed to help African countries combat terrorism, an allusion to its decades-long fight against Kurdish separatist rebels as well as other groups including Islamist militants. "Turkey has a vast experience in combating terrorism and we understand those countries suffering at the hands of terrorism best," he said, citing recent attacks by Islamic militants in Mali and Burkina Faso.
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| Osama bin Laden wanted much of his fortune used 'on jihad' Posted: 01 Mar 2016 11:31 AM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — In his handwritten will, al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden claimed he had about $29 million in personal wealth — the bulk of which he wanted to be used "on jihad, for the sake of Allah."
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| Malian jihadist accused of war crimes for Timbuktu attack Posted: 01 Mar 2016 10:55 AM PST  Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court on Tuesday accused a Malian jihadist of a war crime by unleashing "a callous assault" on the centuries-old world heritage site of Timbuktu. "We must stand up to the destruction and defacing of our common heritage," said chief ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda as she unveiled a single charge of war crimes against Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi. Faqi, aged about 40, is the first jihadist to appear before the ICC and the first person to face a war crimes charge for an attack on a global historic and cultural monument.
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| Germany, Tunisia to speed up repatriation of migrants Posted: 01 Mar 2016 10:42 AM PST  Tunisia and Germany have agreed to speed up the repatriation of rejected asylum-seekers from the North African country, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said on Tuesday. After taking in more than one million asylum-seekers last year, Germany is trying to reduce arrivals, including with a law to declare Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia as safe countries of origin. De Maiziere, speaking in Tunis at the end of a tour of the three countries, said a first group of 20 Tunisians who failed to secure asylum in Germany would soon be repatriated.
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| Celebrities sign petition to let Assange free Posted: 01 Mar 2016 10:40 AM PST  Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei, US filmmaker Oliver Stone and British fashion designer Vivienne Westwood on Tuesday called for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to be allowed to walk free. The celebrities were among 500 signatories of a petition to Britain and Sweden, urging them to enforce a UN panel opinion from last month that said Assange was being "arbitrarily detained". "We urge Sweden and the United Kingdom to respect the binding nature of the human rights covenants on which the decision is based," read the petition, details of which were released by Assange's spokespeople.
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| Tent city on Greek border grows as migrant stalemate persists Posted: 01 Mar 2016 09:57 AM PST  By Lefteris Papadimas IDOMENI, Greece (Reuters) - A tent city mushroomed around a tiny border town in northern Greece on Tuesday after thousands of migrants and refugees found their way towards western Europe barred by border shutdowns across the Balkans. People, many fleeing wars and poverty in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, continued to arrive all day at the Greek village of Idomeni on the border with Macedonia. The mood in the camp was subdued a day after Macedonian police used teargas to prevent angry migrants storming the border.
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| Russian oil bosses voice support for oil output freeze, not cut Posted: 01 Mar 2016 09:42 AM PST  By Vladimir Soldatkin MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian oil companies back the idea to freeze output at near-record levels reached in January, but did not support any proposals to cut oil production to lift global prices, Energy Minister Alexander Novak said. Russian President Vladimir Putin met the heads of the country's top producers, including Rosneft Chief Executive Igor Sechin, Lukoil CEO and co-owner Vagit Alekperov and others, to hear their views on last month's proposed output freeze. Novak, who was negotiating the first potential global oil pact in 15 years in Doha, said Putin and the oil firms, which pumped at a new post-Soviet high in January at 10.88 million barrels per day (bpd), discussed the deal at the Kremlin.
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| Domestic operations shore up Qatari telecoms operator Ooredoo Posted: 01 Mar 2016 09:40 AM PST By Matt Smith DUBAI (Reuters) - Qatari telecom company Ooredoo reported near-flat annual profit on Tuesday as improved earnings from its Gulf operations offset worsening performance in Iraq and Tunisia and widespread foreign-exchange losses. Ooredoo was credited with being the savviest of the Gulf's former monopolies that pursued rapid expansion abroad over the past decade. |
| Nobel Peace Prize nominations skyrocket Posted: 01 Mar 2016 08:47 AM PST  A record 376 nominations have been submitted for this year's Nobel Peace Prize, the Nobel Institute said Tuesday, a secret list believed to include such diverse figures as Donald Trump, Edward Snowden and the pope. "This reflects the fact that we live in a world where there are a lot of conflicts and where there are also a certain number of processes that are heading in a more positive direction," the head of the Nobel Institute, Olav Njolstad, told AFP. As a result, known to be on the list are US Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump, the Colombian peace process negotiators, Pope Francis, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, residents of the Greek islands helping migrants, and US Hollywood actress-activist Susan Sarandon.
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| Iraqi forces try to cut Islamic State supply lines in western desert Posted: 01 Mar 2016 08:26 AM PST  Iraqi security forces and Shi'ite militia began an operation on Tuesday to dislodge Islamic State militants from desert areas northwest of Baghdad and cut their supply routes between western Anbar province and the northern city of Mosul. Efforts by the Iraqi government and the U.S.-led coalition backing it to break jihadist control of large swathes of Iraq have shifted towards Mosul, the largest city under Islamic State control. Government forces retook the key cities of Tikrit, Baiji and Ramadi last year.
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| Senior Iraqi army officer killed in Haditha attack Posted: 01 Mar 2016 08:21 AM PST A senior Iraqi army officer and seven others were killed overnight when Islamic State militants attacked a military headquarters near the town of Haditha, security officials said on Tuesday. Haditha and its nearby dam, which the command is charged with protecting, are in one of the few parts of the Sunni Muslim province of Anbar still controlled by Iraq's Shi'ite-led government forces and local police backed by tribal fighters. Brigadier Ali Abboud, the command's chief of staff, was killed when four suicide bombers attacked an entrance to the base and clashed with soldiers, said Major General Ali Daboun, the commander of Jazeera and Badiya operations in charge of the western desert bordering Syria, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. |
| IS suicide bombers hit Iraqi military compound, killing 8 Posted: 01 Mar 2016 08:14 AM PST  BAGHDAD (AP) — Four suicide bombers disguised as soldiers struck an Iraqi military headquarters in the western town of Haditha on Tuesday, killing eight army officers, including a local commander, in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group.
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| New list reveals the world's most powerful passports Posted: 01 Mar 2016 07:52 AM PST  German passport holders have emerged the most mobile travelers, with visa-free access to more countries than any other passport holder in the world. According to the results of a new ranking by Henley & Partners, Germany boasts the world's most powerful passport, with passport holders able to travel visa-free to 177 countries out of 218 studied. A time when the world faces the worst refugee crisis since the Second World War, and Germany, in particular, has implemented a controversial open-door policy, receiving among the largest number of asylum-seekers in the world.
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| After Iran elections, Rouhani aims for economic reform Posted: 01 Mar 2016 07:37 AM PST  With elections having eliminated politicians that opposed his historic nuclear deal, President Hassan Rouhani will now seek to transform Iran's economy and secure another term in office next year. Rouhani signalled Tuesday he immediately aims to bring economic reform in Iran, starting with privatisation of the auto sector, a major industry that in recent years struggled, producing cars that many see as too expensive, environmentally inefficient and, worst of all, unsafe. "The car industry should become competitive," the president said at an auto conference in Tehran, noting that "government support cannot be everlasting" and insisting that Iranians need choice.
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| IS suicide bombers penetrate Iraq army HQ, kill general Posted: 01 Mar 2016 06:57 AM PST  Four Islamic State group suicide bombers infiltrated an army headquarters west of Baghdad, killing an Iraqi general and five other soldiers, army and police officers said on Tuesday. The bombers attacked a regimental headquarters in the Haditha area of Anbar province late on Monday, killing Staff Brigadier General Ali Aboud, Lieutenant Colonel Farhan Ibrahim and four others, the sources said. Major General Ali Ibrahim Daboun, the head of the Al-Jazeera Operations Command, said one suicide bomber blew himself up inside Aboud's office, while the other three detonated explosives elsewhere inside the headquarters.
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| Factbox: Double hammer in a leap year: when will the oil slump end? Posted: 01 Mar 2016 06:20 AM PST SINGAPORE/NEW YORK (Reuters) - As oil traders have learned time and again, picking a bottom in today's glutted market can be a fool's game. Ringing in 2016's leap day, there are hints that sentiment in oil markets is getting more bullish. At the same time, traders have boosted bullish bets on oil, raising net-long positions by nearly 16 percent. |
| Imprisoned Ukrainian pilot threatens to go on hunger strike Posted: 01 Mar 2016 05:33 AM PST  KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — An imprisoned Ukrainian pilot on trial in Russia has threatened to go on hunger strike unless she is extradited back home after the verdict, her sister says.
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| Tunisia backs plan to host German troops to train Libyan army Posted: 01 Mar 2016 05:18 AM PST  Tunisia's government backs a plan for German forces to come to the country to train troops from neighboring Libya for the fight against Islamic State militants, the Tunisian defense minister said on Tuesday. The Islamic State militants have taken advantage of political chaos and a security vacuum in Libya to expand their presence there, taking control of the city of Sirte and staging frequent attacks. Western officials are discussing ways to counter the group, including through the use of air strikes and special forces operations, though plans for outside assistance have been hampered by the failure of a United Nations-backed unity government in Libya to win wide approval in the country.
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| U.S. stages 27 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq, Syria: statement Posted: 01 Mar 2016 04:53 AM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S.-led coalition conducted 27 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria on Monday in its latest round of daily attacks, according to the Combined Joint Task Force leading the operations. Fifteen strikes in Iraq targeted the militant group near eight cities, including Falluja, Mosul and Ramadi, the task force said on Tuesday. Altogether, the strikes hit two Islamic State tactical units as well as several of its vehicles and mortar positions, it added. ... |
| Russia calls for pact against chemical warfare by Islamic State Posted: 01 Mar 2016 04:10 AM PST  By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - Russia said on Tuesday there was a growing threat from Islamic State militants waging chemical warfare in the Middle East and called for global negotiations on a new pact to combat what he called "a grave reality of our time". Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made the appeal in a speech to the U.N.-sponsored Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, a now largely moribund forum which clinched a major pact banning chemical weapons in the 1990s. "However, we still face significant gaps related, in particular, to the use of chemicals for terrorist purposes," Lavrov told the 65-member-state forum.
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| Invictus Games Announces 2016 U.S. Team and Tickets on Sale Date Posted: 01 Mar 2016 03:50 AM PST WASHINGTON, March 1, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, the Invictus Games Organizing Committee announced the 115 competitors who will make up the U.S. team in the 2016 Invictus Games presented by Jaguar Land Rover. Hosted at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, FL, May 8-12, the 2016 Invictus Games will bring together more than 500 competitors from 15 nations to compete in 10 adaptive sports – archery, cycling, indoor rowing, power lifting, sitting volleyball, swimming, track and field, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby and wheelchair tennis. Tickets for the 2016 Invictus Games will go on sale on Monday 3/7 and more information about tickets and competition schedule can be found by clicking http://invictusgames2016.org/ -- don't miss out! Sign up for information about tickets and we will let you know as soon as they go on sale. |
| Remembering Harry Browne, Ten Years Later Posted: 01 Mar 2016 03:38 AM PST AKRON, Ohio, March 1, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Harry Browne died ten years ago today, March 1, 2006. Today, the organization he co-founded, DownsizeDC.org, Inc., is pausing to remember him. In an editorial tribute published this morning, Downsize DC President, Jim Babka, who guest-hosted Harry's radio show during his final months, suggests that Mr. Browne would have had something unique and useful to say about things like the 2008 financial crisis, marijuana legalization, and Edward Snowden. |
| Iraq's oil exports in February fall below planned levels Posted: 01 Mar 2016 03:33 AM PST Iraq's Oil Ministry said Tuesday that crude exports averaged 3.225 million barrels a day in February, far below levels planned to provide the nation with badly needed cash for ongoing military operations ... |
| OPEC watching Iran, Russia, unlikely to cut output in June Posted: 01 Mar 2016 02:40 AM PST  DUBAI/LONDON (Reuters) - OPEC is very unlikely to cut output at its next meeting in June, even if prices remain extremely low, according to OPEC sources and delegates, as it will be too early to say how fast Iranian output is rising. The sources, which include officials from the Middle East, say OPEC countries such as Saudi Arabia also want to test Russia's commitment to freezing output before taking any further steps to stablize prices. More than 18 months after oil prices began a steep slide due to excess supply, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Venezuela and non-OPEC Russia agreed last month to freeze output at January levels in the first global oil pact in 15 years.
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| UK to send troops to Tunisia to help stop IS crossing Libyan border Posted: 01 Mar 2016 12:33 AM PST  Britain is to send troops to Tunisia to help prevent Islamic State fighters from moving into the country from Libya, the British defence minister has said. "A training team of some 20 troops from the 4th Infantry Brigade is now moving to Tunisia to help to counter illegal cross-border movement from Libya in support of the Tunisian authorities," Michael Fallon told Parliament on Monday. The move comes after growing Western concern that Islamic State (IS) is seeking to use Libya as a base to plan and carry out attacks.
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| TV Ratings: CNN Tops News Demo in February Posted: 29 Feb 2016 09:00 PM PST Meanwhile, Fox News Channel bests all of basic cable in total viewers — a feat the network last held during the Iraq War. |
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