| Trump, looking to right his campaign ship, plans to endorse Ryan Posted: 05 Aug 2016 02:48 PM PDT  By Emily Stephenson and James Oliphant DES MOINES, Iowa/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Donald Trump took steps to steer his White House campaign back into favor with his party establishment on Friday with reported plans to endorse U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan after expressing coolness toward him earlier this week. Fox News and CNN said Trump would endorse Ryan, the top U.S. elected Republican, in his re-election bid at a rally in Green Bay, in northern Wisconsin, which is Ryan's home state. Ryan had no plans to attend the event, in a sign of lingering frictions between them.
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| Trump strains to fix split GOP, blasting common foe Clinton Posted: 05 Aug 2016 02:28 PM PDT  DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Donald Trump faced an all-too-clear sign of GOP divisions Friday in Midwestern battlegrounds, embraced by party leaders in one state but ignored in another. He unleashed a scathing attack on Hillary Clinton's character as he tried to overcome deepening concerns about his presidential candidacy.
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| Clinton's lead over Trump narrows to less than three points: Reuters/Ipsos Posted: 05 Aug 2016 02:20 PM PDT  About 42 percent of likely voters favored Clinton, to Trump's 39 percent, according to the July 31-Aug. 4 online poll of 1,154 likely voters. The poll had a credibility interval of plus or minus 3 percentage points, meaning that the results suggest the race is roughly even. Among registered voters over the same period, Clinton held a lead of five percentage points, down from eight percentage points on Monday, according to the poll.
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| Kuwait arrests Filipina accused of pledging allegiance to Islamic State, planning attack Posted: 05 Aug 2016 02:16 PM PDT Kuwaiti authorities have arrested a Filipina accused of pledging allegiance to Islamic State and planning to launch an attack in the Gulf Arab state, the official news agency KUNA reported on Friday. The woman, born in 1984, entered Kuwait in June as a housemaid and has been in contact with Islamic State's affiliate in Libya, the interior ministry said in a statement published by KUNA. "The accused confessed ... that she was ready to carry out any terrorist attack once circumstances and means were available to target a specific section of the society in order to undermine security and stability in Kuwait, as well as ignite sedition," KUNA said. |
| Obama prepares to boost U.S. military's cyber role: sources Posted: 05 Aug 2016 02:13 PM PDT  By Warren Strobel WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration is preparing to elevate the stature of the Pentagon's Cyber Command, signaling more emphasis on developing cyber weapons to deter attacks, punish intruders into U.S. networks and tackle adversaries such as Islamic State, current and former officials told Reuters. Under the plan being considered at the White House, the officials said, U.S. Cyber Command would become what the military calls a "unified command" equal to combat branches of the military such as the Central and Pacific Commands. Cyber Command would be separated from the National Security Agency, a spy agency responsible for electronic eavesdropping, the officials said.
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| The Latest: Trump explains comments about crying baby Posted: 05 Aug 2016 02:11 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the 2016 presidential campaign (all times EDT):
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| US Navy throws much-mocked uniform overboard Posted: 05 Aug 2016 02:04 PM PDT  The US Navy is ditching its much-maligned blue-and-gray camouflage uniform that sailors complained was uncomfortable and joked made them harder to spot if they fell into the ocean. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus this week said the so-called Type I uniforms -- also known as "blueberries" -- were to be phased out over the next three years. "One of the issues (sailors) consistently want to talk about are uniforms," Mabus said in a statement.
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| Ex-CIA boss calls Trump 'unwitting agent' of Russia Posted: 05 Aug 2016 02:01 PM PDT  Donald Trump suffered more blows to his presidential campaign Friday when a CIA ex-director accused him of being an "unwitting agent" of Russia, as polls showed rival Hillary Clinton surging, even in traditional Republican strongholds. Trump's drive for the White House hit another snag when he made the rare acknowledgement of an error, backtracking from claims that he saw video footage of money being transferred to Iran by secret plane. The latest setback came in the form of harsh criticism by Michael Morell, a 33-year veteran of the Central Intelligence Agency who served presidents of both parties and then helmed the agency in 2011.
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| Pressure increases on Brazil's soccer team after opening tie Posted: 05 Aug 2016 01:25 PM PDT  BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — The last thing Brazil's men's soccer team needed in its first game at the Olympics was to leave the field without a win and jeered by fans.
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| Syria rebels claim taking part of military college in Aleppo Posted: 05 Aug 2016 12:32 PM PDT  BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian rebels and insurgents said on Friday they are edging closer to breaking the government force's siege of the opposition-held part of Aleppo, taking parts of the city's military college close to a strategic siege area.
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| Olympics-Soccer-Despite spaces, football crowds encouraging Posted: 05 Aug 2016 12:13 PM PDT Organisers in Rio de Janeiro have declared themselves happy with crowds at the first two days of Olympic football, even though early games were notable for empty seats. The football tournaments started on the two days preceding Friday's opening ceremony and 75 percent of tickets have been sold for the 32 men's and 26 women's matches, Games spokesman Phil Wilkinson said. The football is played in six cities other than host venue Rio de Janeiro and more tickets have been sold for soccer than any other sport, Wilkinson added. |
| Lawyers for U.S.-based Turkish cleric fear attacks on his life Posted: 05 Aug 2016 11:39 AM PDT By Julia Harte WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawyers for U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen said on Friday they feared attacks on his life following Turkey's demands that he be extradited to face allegations that he ordered a failed coup against the government last month. The lawyers said they expected Gulen, who has denied any involvement in the July 15 coup attempt, will remain in his remote mountain compound in Pennsylvania. "We have read concerns from Turkey that Mr. Gulen, this elderly, frail religious leader, is going to flee to another country," said Steptoe & Johnson LLP attorney Reid Weingarten on Friday, calling such allegations "absurd." Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan blames Gulen for the violence, in which Erdogan said 237 people were killed excluding the plotters and more than 2,100 wounded, and said the United States should extradite him to Turkey. |
| Donald Trump's week of campaign woe Posted: 05 Aug 2016 11:20 AM PDT  Donald Trump, the embattled Republican presidential nominee, has made a successful campaign out of incendiary rhetoric and defying political correctness. Here are six of Trump's biggest gaffes since last week. Trump alarmed American voters and his own supporters when he urged Russia to find and release emails that disappeared from Clinton's private server while she was secretary of state.
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| 400 US soldiers heading to Iraq; will aid Mosul fight Posted: 05 Aug 2016 11:00 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — About 400 soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division based in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, will deploy to Iraq as part of the military's effort to set up a logistics base at an airfield south of Mosul. |
| McCain sticks by Trump despite myriad reasons not to Posted: 05 Aug 2016 10:52 AM PDT  PHOENIX (AP) — U.S. Sen. John McCain seemingly has every reason to oppose Donald Trump.
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| The Latest: Clinton acknowledges work to do to win trust Posted: 05 Aug 2016 10:33 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the 2016 presidential campaign (all times EDT): |
| A Miracle Drug Is Saving People but Destroying the Environment Posted: 05 Aug 2016 10:10 AM PDT  Now it looks as though ivermectin, long hailed as a miracle drug, may be doing the same thing to dung beetles everywhere. Yep, it's definitely a pattern: Companies find some alleged wonder product and move it to market as quickly as possible, with a tight focus on profits and no regard (or responsibility) whatever for the inadvertent side effects. The dung beetle story has gotten relatively little attention, perhaps because people have the idea that these funny little feces eaters exist only in Africa and only to help clear the landscape of gargantuan elephant droppings.
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| Beyond Aleppo, Syria's war rages on with no end in sight Posted: 05 Aug 2016 09:10 AM PDT  BEIRUT (AP) — The U.N. says it wants to resume Syria peace talks in late August, but more than five years after anti-government protests erupted in 2011, the country is still consumed by fighting.
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| Is Trump Finished? Don’t Bet on It Posted: 05 Aug 2016 09:07 AM PDT  Donald Trump is starting to look a lot like Glenn Close in the bathtub scene of Fatal Attraction. The number-crunchers at the website FiveThirtyEight find that Trump's chances of winning the presidency in November have plummeted in the past couple of weeks, and now stand at 20.1 percent versus 79.9 percent for Hillary Clinton. One recent poll has Clinton ahead by 15 percentage points, a NBC/Wall Street Journal poll gives her a 9 point advantage and the Real Clear Politics poll average puts her lead at 6.8.
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| AP PHOTOS: Editor selections of the week in the Mideast Posted: 05 Aug 2016 08:54 AM PDT  Extreme temperatures blazed across the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan this week, during a summer when some countries broke their own records. In Iraq, the government closed offices for several days due to a spike in temperatures over 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit).
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| IS kills people trying to flee Iraq town Posted: 05 Aug 2016 06:47 AM PDT  The Islamic State group has killed several residents attempting to flee Hawijah, officers and local officials said Friday, as Iraqi forces prepared for an operation against the jihadist-held area. Hawijah and its surroundings are one of the last major areas east of the Tigris still controlled by IS and possibly the next target of the forces battling the jihadists in Iraq. "We heard from them that Daesh (IS) is holding hundreds of families hostage and has executed young men for escaping from the land of jihad (holy war) to the land of the infidels," he said.
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| UN cites reports of up to 3,000 Iraqis captured by IS Posted: 05 Aug 2016 05:15 AM PDT BERLIN (AP) — The U.N. refugee agency says it has received reports that the Islamic State group may have captured up to 3,000 Iraqis who were fleeing violence and that 12 of them may have been killed. |
| Danish warplanes drop first bombs against Islamic State in Syria Posted: 05 Aug 2016 04:36 AM PDT Danish warplanes bombed Syria for the first time, its military said on Friday, as Denmark extended its fight against Islamic State from neighboring Iraq. Four F-16 jets bombed the militants' stronghold city of Raqqa, targeting command and control facilities, weapons stocks and enemy personnel, Defence Command Denmark said. NATO member Denmark is part of the U.S.-led operation "Inherent Resolve" against Islamic State, which has declared a caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria. |
| On the trail with Mike Pence: Putting out fires lit by Trump Posted: 05 Aug 2016 04:23 AM PDT  If Mike Pence had any doubts about what life would be like on the 2016 Republican presidential ticket with Donald Trump, the past week will have erased them: He is the damage control guy. The Indiana governor who swore off political mudslinging years ago heard Trump call Democratic rival Hillary Clinton "the devil" and watched him fan the flames of a feud with the parents of a Muslim soldier who died saving U.S. troops in Iraq. Unlike many vice presidential running mates, the mild-mannered Pence was not tapped as the attack dog in the Nov. 8 presidential election.
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| A Dam Is Built in ‘Paradise’ Posted: 05 Aug 2016 03:09 AM PDT  JANNAH, Lebanon—At the bottom of a lush valley between rocky peaks of Mount Lebanon, strawberry farmer John Abu Akar may be the last man standing in the path of a dam project worth hundreds of millions of dollars. When a minister's motorcade of tinted-window SUVs rolled through his village in 2012 to announce the multinational project, Abu Akar sabotaged the signs directing visitors to the location of a press conference so they pointed instead down the gravel path leading to his farm. What does he do for a living?" Abu Akar asked them, playing dumb.
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| Brazil held goalless in exciting opener Posted: 05 Aug 2016 02:41 AM PDT  By Andrew Downie RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazil failed to make a winning start despite home advantage, a multi-million dollar strike force and a man advantage as they were held 0-0 by South Africa in their opening soccer match at the Rio Olympics on Thursday. Brazil, who have never won the Olympic gold, started with a highly rated front three of Neymar, new Manchester City signing Gabriel Jesus, and 19-year-old Gabriel Barbosa, the Santos striker expected to head to Europe in this transfer window.
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| Islamic State captures up to 3,000 fleeing Iraqis: UNHCR Posted: 05 Aug 2016 01:47 AM PDT  By Tom Miles GENEVA (Reuters) - Islamic State fighters may have captured up to 3,000 fleeing Iraqi villagers on Thursday and subsequently executed 12 of them, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said in a daily report on events in Iraq. The report followed a statement on Thursday from the Iraqi Observatory for Human rights, which said about 1,900 civilians had been captured by an estimated 100-120 Islamic State fighters, who were using people as shields against attacks by Iraqi Security Forces. "UNHCR has received reports that ISIL captured on 4 August up to 3,000 IDPs (internally displaced people) from villages in Hawiga District in Kirkuk Governorate trying to flee to Kirkuk city.
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| Support for Germany's Merkel plunges after attacks Posted: 05 Aug 2016 12:59 AM PDT  Popular support for Chancellor Angela Merkel has plunged according to a poll conducted after attacks in Germany, with almost two-thirds of Germans unhappy with her refugee policy. Merkel's open-door refugee policy has come under attack from critics after five attacks in Germany since July 18 have left 15 people dead, including four assailants, and dozens injured. Over a million migrants have entered Germany in the past year, many fleeing war in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq.
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| Female asylum seekers in Greece face sexual harassment, assault Posted: 05 Aug 2016 12:55 AM PDT  By Natasha Bowler ATHENS (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - When Warda left her hometown of Idlib in Syria, she knew she had a long, difficult journey ahead, but it never crossed her mind that she would face increased danger as a young woman. The large numbers of young, single Syrian and Afghan men, many of whom sit in groups, commenting on the women they see, is also unnerving. "It's hard for everyone here, but particularly for women," said Warda, who like many asylum seekers declined to give her full name.
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| US poised to hit Obama's target of 10,000 Syrian refugees Posted: 05 Aug 2016 12:28 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — After a slow start, it appears increasingly likely that the Obama administration will hit its goal of admitting 10,000 Syrian refugees into the United States before the end of September.
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| Obama denies $400M payment to Iran was ransom Posted: 05 Aug 2016 12:23 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama vigorously denies that a $400 million cash payment to Iran was ransom to secure the release of four Americans jailed in Tehran. He defended the transaction as evidence that the nuclear accord with Iran has allowed for progress on other matters.
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| Booed off Brazil won't cruise to gold - Neymar Posted: 04 Aug 2016 10:33 PM PDT  Brazil captain Neymar slammed his side's goalless draw with South Africa to start their Rio 2016 campaign as "a defeat" and insisted there would be no easy path to a maiden Olympic gold. Neymar and Brazilian football's newest golden boys Gabriel Jesus, who completed a $35.4 million (31.7 million euros) move to Manchester City on Wednesday, and Gabriel Barbosa attracted a nearly capacity 70,000 crowd in Brasilia.
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| Brazil booed off as Neymar flops in South Africa stalemate Posted: 04 Aug 2016 08:37 PM PDT Brazil and superstar Neymar were booed off as their quest for a maiden Olympic football gold medal began with a 0-0 draw against 10-man South Africa on Thursday. Barcelona ace Neymar is by far the biggest name in the competition and has been tasked with restoring pride to Brazilian football after a catastrophic 7-1 semi-final defeat to Germany on home soil at the 2014 World Cup. "For us the draw is a defeat," said Neymar. |
| Olympics-Soccer-Brazil held goalless in exciting opener Posted: 04 Aug 2016 08:11 PM PDT (Adds final results) By Andrew Downie RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Brazil failed to make a winning start despite home advantage, a multi-million dollar strike force and a man advantage as they were held 0-0 by South Africa in their opening soccer match at the Rio Olympics on Thursday. Brazil, who have never won the Olympic gold, started with a highly rated front three of Neymar, new Manchester City signing Gabriel Jesus, and 19-year-old Gabriel Barbosa, the Santos striker expected to head to Europe in this transfer window. |
| Penned in on all sides, Syria Kurds in economic dire straits Posted: 04 Aug 2016 07:49 PM PDT  Syria's Kurds dreamt of an economic success story when they declared an autonomous region in the country's north, an area rich in oil resources and known as a breadbasket. In his pharmacy in Qamishli, Mustafa Ebdi examined his dwindling stock. "The economic situation is bad because the Kurdish areas are surrounded -- to the south there is the Islamic State group, to the north Turkey," said analyst Fabrice Balanche.
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| Obama turns up pressure on Putin over Syria Posted: 04 Aug 2016 07:04 PM PDT  US President Barack Obama warned Russia faces fierce international rebuke if it continues to make common cause with Syria's brutal regime, signaling a renewed push to end the bloody five-year civil war. Obama said Russia risked casting itself as an "irresponsible actor" on the world stage, after meeting with top aides at the Pentagon. Eying a looming humanitarian catastrophe in Aleppo -- the besieged northwestern city of 250,000 people that was once Syria's commercial hub -- Obama said it was "time for Russia to show that it is serious" about bringing peace.
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| Obama touts progress on Islamic State, warns of small-scale attacks Posted: 04 Aug 2016 06:20 PM PDT  By Jeff Mason and Idrees Ali WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Thursday touted progress he said the United States and its allies had made in the military campaign against Islamic State, but warned that the militant group still can direct and inspire attacks. The United States is leading a military coalition conducting air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, where the group seized broad swathes of territory in 2014. It has succeeded in breaking Islamic State's grip on some towns, although it still controls its two de facto capitals, Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria.
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