| U.S. National Guard may join cyber offense against Islamic State: Carter Posted: 05 Mar 2016 01:31 PM PST  JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Washington (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said the National Guard's cyber squadrons will play an increasingly important role in assessing the vulnerabilities of U.S. industrial infrastructure and could be asked to join the fight against Islamic State. The National Guard - a reserve military force that resides in the states but can be mobilized for national needs - is a key part of the military's larger effort to set up over 120 cyber squadrons to respond to cyber attacks and prevent them. One such unit, the 262nd squadron, is a 101-person team that includes employees of Microsoft Corp and Alphabet Inc's Google.
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| Turkish police fire tear gas at protesters, EU laments rights record Posted: 05 Mar 2016 10:42 AM PST  By Ayla Jean Yackley ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish police fired tear gas and rubber bullets on Saturday to disperse protesters outside the country's biggest newspaper after authorities seized control of it in a crackdown on a religious group whose leader the government accuses of treason. A court on Friday appointed an administrator to run the flagship Zaman, English-language Today's Zaman and Cihan agency, linked to U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who President Tayyip Erdogan says was plotting a coup. Rights groups and European officials condemned the takeover, seeing it as proof that Turkey's government silences dissident views.
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| Syria rebels battle IS for control of Iraq crossing Posted: 05 Mar 2016 09:36 AM PST  BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian insurgents were battling the Islamic State group for control of a key border post with Iraq on Saturday, a day after the U.S.-backed fighters seized control of the crossing, activists said.
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| Donald Trump backpedals on torture: Sign of a tactical shift? Posted: 05 Mar 2016 08:52 AM PST A week that began with GOP candidate presidential Donald Trump calling himself a "unifying force" ended on Friday with Mr. Trump backing down from his insistence that, as president, he would order US military personnel to torture terrorist suspects. As late as Thursday, Trump said that the Pentagon would follow his orders. Less than a day later, the New York billionaire told the Wall Street Journal that, if elected commander-in-chief, "I will not order a military officer to disobey the law. |
| U.N. seeks to build peace talks on fragile Syria truce Posted: 05 Mar 2016 08:51 AM PST  By Lisa Barrington BEIRUT (Reuters) - A total of 135 people were killed in the first week of a partial truce in Syria in areas covered by the deal, a monitoring group said on Saturday, highlighting its fragile nature just days before the United Nations attempts to reconvene peace talks. U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura said the talks, originally due to begin on Monday in Geneva, would get off to a staggered start later in the week, with delegates arriving from Wednesday onwards. The U.N. said the delay was due to "logistical and technical reasons and also for the ceasefire to better settle down".
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| Islamic State is losing; coalition to step up pressure: U.S. envoy Posted: 05 Mar 2016 06:55 AM PST  Islamic State is losing a battle against forces arraigned against if from many sides in Iraq and Syria and the focus would turn to stabilizing cities seized back from them, the U.S. envoy to a coalition fighting the group said on Saturday. Addressing a press conference in Baghdad, U.S. official Brett McGurk declined to put a timeline on when the group would be defeated or when Mosul and Raqqa, the main cities under its control in Iraq and Syria respectively, would be retaken. McGurk met in Baghdad Iraqi officials including Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi who said in December that 2016 would be a year of "final victory" over the group in Iraq.
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| U.S., allies conduct 14 strikes against Islamic State: U.S. military Posted: 05 Mar 2016 06:49 AM PST  The United States and its allies targeted Islamic State militants in Iraq with 12 strikes on Friday and two in Syria, the U.S. military said on Saturday. Two of the strikes in Iraq were near Ramadi, hitting two Islamic State tactical units and a tunnel. One of the strikes in Syria destroyed two Islamic State fighting positions near Palmyra, the military said.
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| Today in History Posted: 04 Mar 2016 09:01 PM PST Today is Saturday, March 5, the 65th day of 2016. There are 301 days left in the year. |
