| Islamic State strikes back to slow Iraqi forces in Mosul Posted: 04 Dec 2016 04:48 PM PST  By Saif Hameed and Ulf Laessing BAGHDAD/BARTELLA, Iraq (Reuters) - Islamic State fighters retreating in the face of a seven-week Iraqi military assault on their Mosul stronghold have hit back in the last two days, exploiting cloudy skies which hampered U.S.-led air support and highlighting the fragile army gains. In a series of counter-attacks since Friday night, the jihadist fighters struck elite Iraqi troops spearheading the offensive in eastern Mosul, and attacked security forces to the south and west of the city. On Sunday two militants tried to attack army barracks in the western province of Anbar.
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| Search broadens for Trump's top diplomat Posted: 04 Dec 2016 01:55 PM PST  Donald Trump on Sunday expanded his search for a secretary of state -- a crucial post given the president-elect's unorthodox communication style -- as aides downplayed the controversy over his phone call with Taiwan's leader. Trump top aide Kellyanne Conway said "a very full slate of meetings" was set to begin Monday to fill the remaining cabinet positions, including post of top US diplomat. While Trump has named his picks for senior defense and economic officials, the lack of a top diplomat is a glaring hole for the incoming administration of a political novice known for dashing off comments on Twitter on everything from election fraud claims to complaints about late-night comedians.
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| Syrian army tells rebels in Aleppo to leave or die Posted: 04 Dec 2016 10:59 AM PST  ALEPPO, Syria (AP) — The Syrian army on Sunday ordered rebels in Aleppo to leave the city or face "inevitable death," as a series of airstrikes on the neighboring Idlib province killed at least 50 people, including several children.
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| Uzbekistan's interim leader expected to win presidential election Posted: 04 Dec 2016 10:12 AM PST  Uzbekistan's prime minister and interim president, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, looked likely to win a presidential election on Sunday by a landslide and become the second leader of Central Asia's most populous nation since independence. The biggest challenge may still lie ahead for the 59-year-old former communist apparatchik - establishing the same level of authority as his all-powerful predecessor, Islam Karimov, in whose shadow Mirziyoyev spent more than a decade. Karimov, who had run the resource-rich former Soviet republic of 32 million people with an iron fist since 1989, died from a stroke in September, aged 78.
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| Ex-general Petraeus says he's ready to be top US diplomat Posted: 04 Dec 2016 09:25 AM PST  David Petraeus, the army ex-general who resigned in disgrace as head of the CIA, said Sunday that he's paid for his mistakes and is ready to become Donald Trump's chief diplomat. Petraeus has interviewed with the president-elect and is on the short list to become the new president's secretary of state. "I have acknowledged for a number for years that five years ago I made a serious mistake, I acknowledged it, I apologized for it, I have paid a heavy price for it, and I have learned from it," Petraeus said on ABC News.
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| Chaos erupts as Iraq delivers aid to Mosul Posted: 04 Dec 2016 09:06 AM PST  MOSUL, Iraq (AP) — Chaos erupted in eastern Mosul on Sunday when hundreds of civilians overwhelmed aid trucks distributing food and water.
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| Secret weddings and phone calls in Mosul under IS Posted: 04 Dec 2016 08:17 AM PST  To celebrate her wedding in Mosul, Shaimaa covered herself in black to hide her dress and make-up from the jihadists on her way to the groom's house. In the Hasansham displacement camp where they now live with thousands of other people who fled their homes since Iraqi forces launched a broad offensive to retake Mosul in mid-October, they recounted their big day. "I never thought my wedding party would be like that, I really wanted to wear a suit and shave, I wanted my friends to share our joy and I wanted to parade around town with my wife in a convoy," Ali said.
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| Kurdish curbs harm recovery of Iraq Yazidis: rights group Posted: 04 Dec 2016 01:30 AM PST  Kurdish restrictions on the movement of goods are harming the recovery of Iraq's Yazidi minority, which was targeted for genocide by the Islamic State group, Human Rights Watch said Sunday. It said the restrictions affected the Sinjar area, the main hub of the Yazidis, a Kurdish-speaking religious minority whose unique faith is despised by jihadists. The area is theoretically under the authority of the central government in Baghdad but it is largely controlled by the forces of the autonomous Kurdish region.
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| Morocco arrests suspected militant involved in French plot Posted: 03 Dec 2016 11:12 PM PST By Aziz El Yaakoubi RABAT (Reuters) - Moroccan authorities have arrested a suspected militant accused of acting as an intermediary between Islamic State commanders and a cell dismantled by French authorities last month, the Interior Ministry said on Saturday. France said late last month it had foiled a possible attack after detaining seven people, including some who had been in the ranks of Islamic State in Syria. "For his mission (the suspect) met Islamic State messengers on the Turkish-Syrian border and he received instructions ... to pass on to the group that has been arrested on French soil," the Moroccan ministry said in a statement. |
| Australian PM says he's confident Trump won't pull out of U.S. refugee deal Posted: 03 Dec 2016 08:43 PM PST  By Harry Pearl SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said on Sunday he was confident a refugee resettlement deal with the United States would go ahead, despite White House comments which seemed to cast doubt about its future under a Trump Administration. White House deputy spokesman Eric Schultz told reporters the deal to resettle in the U.S refugees currently held at Australian-funded offshore processing centers was reached with President Barack Obama, and it was the prerogative of each president to set policies. "The President-elect, Donald Trump, will set the policies once he takes the oath of office." Turnbull downplayed the comments when questioned by reporters in Sydney on Sunday.
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| Carter: US, partners need to stay in Iraq after IS defeat Posted: 03 Dec 2016 06:32 PM PST  SIMI VALLEY, Calif. (AP) — The American military, along with its international partners, will need to remain in Iraq even after the expected defeat of the Islamic State group, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Saturday.
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