| Pentagon chief seeks more help in anti-IS fight Posted: 10 Feb 2016 03:23 PM PST  Pentagon chief Ashton Carter and dozens of defence ministers from the US-led coalition striking Islamic State jihadists meet in Brussels on Thursday to take stock of the difficult campaign. More than 18 months after the United States and the quickly assembled alliance began bombing IS targets, Carter hopes renewed alarm over IS attacks around the globe and the jihadists' growing footprint in Libya will result in greater military and financial commitments from partners. Carter has taken a two-pronged approach to garnering such support, using a combination of private diplomacy and public shaming, accusing some unspecified members of the 66-nation coalition of doing "nothing at all" to help the fight.
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| Erdogan lambasts US over support for Syrian Kurds Posted: 10 Feb 2016 02:24 PM PST  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday launched a bitter attack on NATO ally the United States over its support of Syrian Kurdish groups, saying it was creating a "pool of blood" in the region. In an impassioned and sometimes angry address, Erdogan asked whether the United States was an ally or was working with groups Ankara lists as terror organisations. Turkey considers the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its People's Protection Units (YPG) militia to be terror groups allied to the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) inside Turkey, a position not shared by Washington.
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| Russia, pressed to end Syria bombing, proposes March truce Posted: 10 Feb 2016 02:18 PM PST  By Michelle Nichols, Tom Perry and Humeyra Pamuk UNITED NATIONS/DAMASCUS/ONCUPINAR, Turkey (Reuters) - World powers pressed Russia on Wednesday to stop bombing around Aleppo in support of a Syrian government offensive to recapture the city and a Western official said Moscow had presented a proposal envisaging a truce in three weeks' time. Secretary of State John Kerry is pushing for a ceasefire and more aid access to Aleppo, where rebel-held areas are being cut off and the United Nations has warned a new humanitarian disaster could be on the way. Aid workers said on Wednesday the water supply to Aleppo, still home to two million people, was no longer functioning.
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| Obama plan to ease new U.S. visa limits faces skeptics in Congress Posted: 10 Feb 2016 02:15 PM PST  By Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's plan to loosen some requirements of a visa law spurred by the deadly attacks in Paris met with open resistance from both Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. Congress on Wednesday. The measure, which went into effect in late January, requires that citizens of 38 countries who previously were 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 or Syria since March 1, 2011. Ed Royce, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, on Wednesday said he wanted to add Libya to the list of countries covered by the restrictions.
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| Turkish PM slams 'hypocritical' calls to open borders Posted: 10 Feb 2016 01:31 PM PST  Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Wednesday slammed as "hypocritical" calls by some countries urging Ankara to open its borders to Syrian refugees while failing to demand Russia halts punishing air strikes. Turkey is under mounting pressure to open its border to people fleeing a Russian-backed assault by the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad in the north of the war-torn country. On a visit to the Netherlands, Davutoglu insisted the borders of his country had always been open to those fleeing Syria's civil war.
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| French MPs approve post-attacks constitution changes Posted: 10 Feb 2016 11:34 AM PST  French lawmakers voted Wednesday in favour of measures to change the constitution following the November 13 jihadist attacks on Paris, but doubts remain as to whether the package will be fully adopted. The amendment, including a hotly contested measure to strip convicted terrorists of their French nationality, was passed by the National Assembly with 317 votes for to 199 against, clearing a first hurdle towards adoption. The package must now gain the support of the Senate, or upper house of parliament, and then three-fifths of the Congress, the body formed when both houses of France's parliament come together to debate revisions to the constitution.
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| Poland to join fight versus Islamic State in return for NATO help in east Posted: 10 Feb 2016 11:05 AM PST  By Wiktor Szary WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland will join the fight against Islamic State, its defense minister said on Wednesday, though he signaled that the scale of its involvement would depend on NATO's response to Russia's renewed assertiveness on the alliance's eastern flank. The announcement, made by Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz after a meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter in Brussels, confirmed an earlier Reuters report that Poland would boost its Middle East involvement in an attempt to convince its allies to shift NATO forces eastwards. ...
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| Intense Cycling Adventure for a Group of Wounded Veterans Posted: 10 Feb 2016 11:00 AM PST SAN DIEGO, Feb. 10, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A group of injured service members came together for an intense cycling adventure during Base Camp in San Diego. Base Camp is for Wounded Warrior Project® (WWP) Alumni who have completed a Soldier Ride® and want to share a more in depth cycling challenge with other wounded veterans. |
| Intel chiefs find bright spots amid serious risks to US security Posted: 10 Feb 2016 10:58 AM PST Top US intelligence chiefs this week offered up to Congress their typically bracing – one lawmaker called it "predictably cheery" – rundown of the greatest dangers facing the country. Indeed, on Tuesday the intelligence chiefs discussed serious risks for the nation, including what they say are the top state threats, from Russia and China. In the Worldwide Threat Assessment, as the report to Congress is known, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper estimated that violent extremists are "operationally active" in some 40 countries. |
| NATO sends 'clear signal' to Russia with eastern presence Posted: 10 Feb 2016 10:45 AM PST  NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday said the alliance had approved plans for an increased presence in eastern member states alarmed by a more assertive Russia, sending a "clear signal" to any aggressors. Stung into action by the Russian intervention in Ukraine and shock 2014 annexation of Crimea, NATO has boosted its resources and readiness to meet any new threat but its nervous former Soviet allies in the east are pushing for more. Former Norwegian premier Stoltenberg said the 28-nation alliance's defence ministers had agreed at a meeting in Brussels on plans for an "enhanced forward presence in the eastern part of our alliance".
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| AP Exclusive: Iranian drone first over US carrier since 2014 Posted: 10 Feb 2016 10:30 AM PST  DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An Iranian drone that flew over a U.S. aircraft carrier last month was the first to conduct an overflight of an American carrier since 2014, according to a U.S. Navy report obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday.
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| Russian airstrikes boost Islamic State in Syria, says U.S. envoy Posted: 10 Feb 2016 10:28 AM PST  By Patricia Zengerle and Jonathan Landay WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. envoy to the coalition against Islamic State said on Wednesday that Russian airstrikes in Syria are boosting the militant group because of the toll they are taking on U.S.-backed opposition fighters. "What Russia's doing is directly enabling ISIL," the envoy, Brett McGurk, told a hearing of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, using an acronym for Islamic State.
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| Can Rubio leave New Hampshire's big question behind? Posted: 10 Feb 2016 09:52 AM PST Marco Rubio stood before his supporters in New Hampshire on Tuesday night and blamed his famously flubbed debate performance for his disappointing fifth-place showing at the primary polls. To be sure, Senator Rubio can hone his answers and he can expand his talking points. Is he just like another first-term senator – Barack Obama – who decided to run for president? |
| Russian air strikes in Syria 'directly enabling' IS: US Posted: 10 Feb 2016 09:49 AM PST  Russian air strikes in and around the city of Aleppo against opponents of the Syrian regime are benefitting the Islamic State group, a senior US official charged Wednesday. "What Russia's doing is directly enabling ISIL," Brett McGurk, President Barack Obama's special envoy to the coalition fighting the group in Syria and Iraq, told the House Foreign Affairs Committee. US Secretary of State John Kerry has taken the lead over the past week in accusing Russia of derailing efforts to get Syrian peace talks going, by carrying out air strikes around Aleppo in support of a government offensive.
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| Syrian war: It took time, but Russia was game-changer for Assad Posted: 10 Feb 2016 09:46 AM PST With Aleppo, Syria's largest city and former economic hub, on the verge of being surrounded by Syrian troops and their allies, President Bashar al-Assad appears to have finally gained an upper hand against an array of rebel forces. For that, Mr. Assad can thanks his allies – Iran, Hezbollah, Shiite militias from Iraq and Afghanistan, and, most of all, Russia, whose military intervention last August and intense aerial bombing campaign has allowed regime forces to recover valuable territory in the north of the country. Since the beginning of February, the Russian-backed offensive around Aleppo has killed more than 500 people, according to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. |
| Iraq PM says sending ground troops to Syria would be 'dangerous escalation' Posted: 10 Feb 2016 09:27 AM PST Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi warned on Wednesday of a "dangerous escalation" if ground troops were deployed to Syria, comments aimed at Sunni Arab countries that have said they are prepared to enter the fray. The foreign minister of Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday his country would be willing to commit special forces to the fight, as Syrian troops, backed by Russian air strikes, press a major offensive around the city of Aleppo. The Aleppo campaign has reversed opposition gains on the ground and encircled rebels, which Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab states have backed against President Bashar al-Assad. |
| Iraqi PM's bid to reshuffle cabinet could cost him his job Posted: 10 Feb 2016 09:26 AM PST  By Ahmed Rasheed and Stephen Kalin BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's political blocs will likely resist Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's attempts to replace politically appointed ministers with technocrats, a possible last-ditch effort to reform the government that could end up costing the premier his position. Abadi, 18 months into his four-year term, said on Tuesday he wanted to reshuffle his cabinet, which was formed in 2014 and which distributed posts based loosely on political blocs' representation in parliament. Politicians, diplomats and analysts doubt he has enough backing to overhaul Iraq's governing system, which distributes positions along ethnic and sectarian lines, creating powerful patronage networks.
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| Iraq warns risk to Mosul Dam affecting anti-IS drive Posted: 10 Feb 2016 08:50 AM PST  The risk of Iraq's largest dam collapsing and unleashing a huge wave onto Mosul is affecting plans to retake the city from jihadists, an adviser to the premier's office said. Concern has grown that a failure of the unstable dam, which is about 40 kilometres (25 miles) northwest of the city, could wipe out much of Mosul and flood large parts of Baghdad. The Americans "frequently refer to Katrina" and say a collapse of the Mosul Dam would be "a thousand times worse", the adviser to the office of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told reporters.
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| Berlin film fest opens with Clooney - and eye on refugees Posted: 10 Feb 2016 08:47 AM PST  By Michael Roddy BERLIN (Reuters) - George Clooney will be in town on Thursday when "Hail, Caesar!" opens the annual Berlin Film Festival, and Meryl Streep is the competition jury president, but the politically attuned showcase hopes to attract refugees as well as film fans this year. The festival that began in 1951 when Germany -- and Europe -- was recovering from a war that had uprooted millions of people is making an extra effort to welcome the latest wave of refugees who have fled war in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere. Refugees will be taken behind the scenes of the festival, some accompanied by NGO workers who are helping them to adjust to life in Germany, and there will be a refugee-staffed food truck serving up Mediterranean fare with the aid of a celebrity chef, the festival said in a statement.
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| AJC Names U.S. Director of Muslim-Jewish Relations Posted: 10 Feb 2016 08:09 AM PST NEW YORK, Feb. 10, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Robert J. Silverman has been named U.S. Director of Muslim-Jewish Relations for AJC (American Jewish Committee), the global Jewish advocacy organization. The new position represents a major expansion of existing AJC programmatic activities aimed at deepening Muslim-Jewish understanding and engaging in constructive, cooperative interactions. Groundbreaking initiatives in interreligious relations, across the U.S. and around the world, have been central to AJC since the organization's founding in 1906. |
| Turkey's Erdogan chastises U.S. over support for Syrian Kurds Posted: 10 Feb 2016 08:04 AM PST  By Daren Butler ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan upbraided the United States for its support of Syrian Kurdish rebels on Wednesday, saying Washington's inability to grasp their true nature had turned the region into a "sea of blood". Turkey should respond by implementing its own solution, he said, alluding to the creation of a safe zone in northern Syria - something Ankara has long wanted but a proposal that has failed to resonate with the United States and other NATO allies.
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| Swiss asylum requests fall in January, expected to pick up again Posted: 10 Feb 2016 07:49 AM PST  By Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi ZURICH (Reuters) - Asylum requests in Switzerland dipped in January due partly to harsher winter weather but the country is bracing for the arrival of at least as many people this year as in 2015, migration authorities said on Wednesday. Europe is experiencing its worst refugee crisis since World War Two, with more than a million people arriving during 2015, the majority fleeing conflicts in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere and crossing the Aegean Sea and the Balkans to reach western Europe. "The overall situation in the origin countries hasn't changed, the circumstances haven't improved, transit countries are still under stress," Martin Reichlin, spokesman for the Swiss State Secretariat for Migration (SEM), told Reuters.
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| Saudi Arabia says ready to send forces to Syria if coalition decides Posted: 10 Feb 2016 07:44 AM PST Saudi Arabia would be willing to commit special forces to Syria should the international coalition decide to deploy ground troops against Islamic State, the country's foreign minister said on Wednesday. It was the Saudi minister's second reference to sending special forces since he met U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Washington on Monday for talks on the war in Syria and the crisis in Yemen. President Barack Obama, anxious to avoid being sucked into another Middle East conflict after the long and costly wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, has been deeply reluctant to commit U.S. ground forces in Syria. |
| Syrian Kurds open Moscow office, amid Kremlin push Posted: 10 Feb 2016 07:15 AM PST  Syrian Kurdish separatists on Wednesday opened a representation in Moscow amid a push by the Kremlin to have them included in Syria peace talks despite Turkey's objections. "This is a historical moment for the Kurdish people," Merab Shamoyev, chairman of the International Union of Kurdish Public Associations, said at the ceremony in an industrial neighbourhood in southeast Moscow. "Russia is a great power and an important actor in the Middle East.
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| Outgoing French foreign minister raps US Syria role Posted: 10 Feb 2016 06:45 AM PST  Outgoing French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius on Wednesday criticised the US role in Syria, saying he did not see "a very strong commitment" from Washington. "There are ambiguities... You don't get the feeling that there is a very strong commitment," Fabius told reporters shortly before announcing that he was stepping down after nearly four years as foreign minister. "There are words, but actions are something else," said Fabius, whose country is a member of the US-led coalition bombarding the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.
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| India, UAE eye trade, security on crown prince's visit Posted: 10 Feb 2016 03:59 AM PST  India and the United Arab Emirates are eyeing a string of defence, infrastructure and other deals when Abu Dhabi's crown prince starts a visit to New Delhi late Wednesday, an official said. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan will hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the two-day trip aimed at bolstering trade which reached $59 billion last year. The trip comes six months after Modi became the first Indian premier in three decades to visit the UAE, as he seeks to attract more foreign investment, including from the oil-rich state's sovereign wealth fund.
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| Obama to tackle dashed hopes for bipartisan change Posted: 10 Feb 2016 01:46 AM PST  Barack Obama on Wednesday returns to the Midwestern city where his White House journey began, to sell progress made in office and address one of the great failings of his presidency. Standing in frigid Springfield, Illinois in 2007, Obama told anyone listening that he was running for president. American voters, after years of divisions over Iraq, responded warmly to Obama's bipartisan message by handing him the White House -- and, ironically, a thumping partisan majority in Congress.
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| At least six dead in Cameroon double suicide attack Posted: 10 Feb 2016 01:36 AM PST  Yaoundé (AFP) - At least six civilians were killed and over 30 injured Wednesday in a double suicide attack in Cameroon's northern border region with Nigeria, which is regularly attacked by Boko Haram fighters, security sources said. "Six civilians were killed as well as two suicide bombers who blew themselves up" during a funeral wake in the village of Nguetchewe, a source told AFP, adding that between 30-50 people were injured. It is the fifth suicide attack in Cameroon's far north region since the start of the year.
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| French MPs vote on post-attacks constitution changes Posted: 10 Feb 2016 12:53 AM PST  French lawmakers will vote on Wednesday on a controversial package of measures to change the constitution in the wake of the terror attacks on Paris in November. One of the measures proposed by President Francois Hollande would strip people convicted of terrorism of their French nationality, a contested move that has led to the resignation of the justice minister. Another would enshrine in the constitution the state of emergency which is currently in force, giving security forces greater powers.
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| Libya must lead anti-Islamic State effort, Egypt's foreign minister says Posted: 09 Feb 2016 11:41 PM PST By Warren Strobel WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Libya needs to form a unified government before the United States and European allies opt for any military intervention against thousands of Islamic State fighters in the chaotic North African country, Egypt's foreign minister said on Tuesday. "This has to be a Libyan-led process," Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told Reuters in an interview, while acknowledging that efforts to forge a single government from two rivals in neighboring Libya have been "difficult." U.S. counter-terrorism officials have been alarmed at the growth of an Islamic State affiliate in Libya, where it has amassed thousands of fighters, seized a coastal strip that includes the city of Sirte and attacked oil infrastructure. |
| Hunting houbara: royal kidnap casts spotlight on Gulf 'sport of kings' Posted: 09 Feb 2016 10:25 PM PST  By Tom Finn DOHA (Reuters) - Every year the houbara bustard, a rare desert bird whose meat is prized by Arab sheikhs as an aphrodisiac, migrates from Central Asia to the far reaches of Iraq and Pakistan in search of a mild climate and a place to breed. Its arrival sets off another migration - as scores of wealthy Gulf Arabs descend on Iraq to hunt the bird with trained falcons through the winter months.
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| Today in History Posted: 09 Feb 2016 09:01 PM PST Today is Ash Wednesday, Feb. 10, the 41st day of 2016. There are 325 days left in the year. |
| Attacks keep millions away from famed Egypt tourist sites Posted: 09 Feb 2016 08:14 PM PST  Said Ramadan has lost count of how much he's borrowed just to stay afloat while other vendors at Giza's pyramids have already lost hope, as jihadist attacks bring Egypt's tourist industry to its knees. Since Egypt's then army chief and now President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ousted Islamist leader Mohamed Morsi in 2013, a deadly insurgency led by the Islamic State jihadist group has kept away millions of tourists. Tourism in Egypt was dealt a body blow when a Russian airliner blew up mid-air over the Sinai Peninsula on October 31, killing all 224 people on board, mostly Russian tourists.
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| Libya must lead anti-Islamic State effort: Egypt's foreign minister Posted: 09 Feb 2016 08:09 PM PST  By Warren Strobel WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Libya needs to form a unified government before the United States and European allies opt for any military intervention against thousands of Islamic State fighters in the chaotic North African country, Egypt's foreign minister said on Tuesday. "This has to be a Libyan-led process," Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told Reuters in an interview, while acknowledging that efforts to forge a single government from two rivals in neighboring Libya have been "difficult." U.S. counter-terrorism officials have been alarmed at the growth of an Islamic State affiliate in Libya, where it has amassed thousands of fighters, seized a coastal strip that includes the city of Sirte and attacked oil infrastructure.
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| Australia drops charge against suspected Kurdish militant Posted: 09 Feb 2016 05:06 PM PST CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The government has dropped a charge against an Australian man accused of preparing to fight with Kurdish militants against the Islamic State movement. |
| flydubai says profits nosedived 60% in 2015 Posted: 09 Feb 2016 04:52 PM PST  Dubai's no-frills carrier flydubai said Wednesday its 2015 net profit stood at 100.7 million dirhams ($27.4 million), down 59.7 percent from the previous year, due to the strong dollar and route suspensions. Total revenues increased 11 percent to 4.9 billion dirhams ($1.33 billion), with passenger numbers surging 25 percent to 9.04 million, it said in a statement.
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| Why 2 'Normal' Teens Joined ISIS Posted: 09 Feb 2016 04:00 PM PST  Merve and Ece seemed like quiet teenage girls, until they disappeared.
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