| Air strike kills top commander of former Nusra group in Syria Posted: 08 Sep 2016 05:32 PM PDT By Suleiman Al-Khalidi AMMAN (Reuters) - The top military commander of the militant group Jabhat Fateh al Sham, the former al Qaeda offshoot in Syria, was killed in an aerial raid that targeted a meeting of the group's leaders, both the group and rebel sources said on Thursday. The commander Abu Hajer al Homsi, whose alias is Abu Omar Saraqeb, was killed in a rural area of Aleppo province, they said, where the group has played an instrumental role in ongoing battles against the Syrian army troops and Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias in the gateway city of Aleppo. Since the U.S.-led coalition was launched, air strikes have targeted Nusra Front figures in Syria, killing scores. |
| Clinton blasts Trump's comments on military generals, Putin Posted: 08 Sep 2016 05:03 PM PDT  Hillary Clinton blasted Donald Trump Thursday for his condemnation of American military generals and his praise for Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying her Republican opponent had "failed" ...
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| Rights group: Refugee children still in Greek police cells Posted: 08 Sep 2016 05:02 PM PDT  ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Refugee and migrant children in Greece are being held in police cells, often in "poor and degrading conditions" due to a lack of appropriate shelter space, Human Rights Watch said in a report published Friday.
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| US pushes Russia on 'true' Syria peace deal ahead of new talks Posted: 08 Sep 2016 04:46 PM PDT  The US pressed Russia on Thursday for a "true cessation of hostilities" in Syria ahead of high-level peace talks Friday in Geneva, warning that its patience is running thin. Foreign ministers from the two powers, which support opposite sides in the five-year conflict, will meet in the Swiss city to push for a peace agreement, Russia said. Washington later confirmed that Secretary of State John Kerry was leaving Thursday for face-to-face talks Friday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
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| The Latest: Clinton offers intimate look at her faith Posted: 08 Sep 2016 04:44 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on Campaign 2016 (all times EDT):
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| 15 years after 9/11, terror threat now 'home-grown' Posted: 08 Sep 2016 04:08 PM PDT  Fifteen years after the September 11 attacks, US anti-terror officials say the country is hardened against such well-developed plots but remains as vulnerable as ever to small and especially home-grown attacks. Counter-terror operations are under huge pressure to ferret out and disrupt plots by sympathizers of the Islamic State group and Al-Qaeda hidden by less centralized networks and new communications technologies, they say. "Our job is getting harder," said Nick Rasmussen, the powerful director of the National Counterterrorism Center, at a stock-taking this week in Washington.
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| Commander of Syrian rebel alliance killed in airstrike: jihadists Posted: 08 Sep 2016 03:52 PM PDT  Beirut (AFP) - The top military commander of the Army of Conquest, the largest Syrian rebel alliance, was killed in an airstrike during a meeting of the group's leaders, jihadist sources said Thursday.
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| Clinton hammers 'dangerous' Trump after Putin praise Posted: 08 Sep 2016 03:09 PM PDT  Hillary Clinton portrayed herself Thursday as a steely stateswoman ready to fend off the dangers facing the United States, as she denounced Republican rival Donald Trump as "unpatriotic" and unfit to lead. With just 61 days before America chooses a new commander in chief, the Democrat went on the offensive highlighting the risk of electing a political novice who praises Russia's leader while dismissing the US president, and who has no real plan to combat IS jihadists. Trump pushed back just as hard, accusing Clinton of being a failed and "trigger-happy" secretary of state whose policies triggered mayhem across the world.
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| 400 additional US troops arrive in Iraq ahead of Mosul push Posted: 08 Sep 2016 02:56 PM PDT  More than 400 additional US troops have deployed to Iraq in recent days, a defense official said Thursday, as local forces prepare for an assault on Mosul, the Islamic State group's last major Iraqi stronghold. Colonel John Dorrian, a spokesman for the US-led coalition that has been attacking IS in Iraq and Syria for the last two years, said the number of US troops in country had grown from about 4,000 a week ago to 4,460 today. Dorrian did not say what the troops would be doing, but their arrival comes as Iraqi security forces continue "shaping operations" around Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city.
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| Forum puts focus on how Clinton is judged compared to Trump Posted: 08 Sep 2016 02:51 PM PDT  WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) — For months, Hillary Clinton's supporters have griped that she's held to a higher, harder standard than Donald Trump. After Wednesday night's forum on national security, those complaints became a rallying cry.
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| Three suspected female militants seized in France, policeman stabbed Posted: 08 Sep 2016 02:45 PM PDT  By Christian Hartmann and Ingrid Melander BOUSSY-SAINT-ANTOINE/PARIS (Reuters) - Three women arrested on Thursday in connection with a car laden with gas cylinders found abandoned near Paris's Notre Dame cathedral were likely planning an imminent attack, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said. The minister said one of the women had stabbed a police officer during the arrest before being shot and wounded. A source close to the investigation said the attacker was the missing 19-year-old daughter of the car's owner.
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| ANALYSIS: 5 Things the Commander-in-Chief Forum Told Us About the Presidential Debates Posted: 08 Sep 2016 02:40 PM PDT  The forum underscored an oft-overlooked point: Clinton and Trump defy conventional labels regarding foreign policy, especially as they traditionally attach to their respective parties, to an unusual degree. It's clear from the tone of the questions and attacks Wednesday night that attention will center on Clinton's record and decisions in public life and, for Trump, on temperament and judgment. Perhaps more intriguing will be how she focuses on Trump's temperament, calling into question his fitness to be commander-in-chief simply on the basis of things he's saying onstage.
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| Donald Trump Responds to Accusations of Flip-Flopping on Iraq War Posted: 08 Sep 2016 02:40 PM PDT  Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump attempted to clarify his original position on the Iraq War during a speech in Cleveland today, a day after inconsistencies in his stance became a centerpiece of a town hall featuring veterans and their families. "Iraq is one of the biggest differences in this race," said Trump, during a speech at the Cleveland Arts and Social Sciences Academy that addressed education policy. Wednesday night, at the "Commander-in-Chief Forum" hosted by NBC News, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton took aim at Trump's prior claims that he disapproved of the war.
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| Lauer's rough night increases pressure on debate moderators Posted: 08 Sep 2016 02:24 PM PDT  NEW YORK (AP) — Traffic cop or truth detector? The rough reception given Matt Lauer for his back-to-back interviews with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump laid bare a disagreement over whether journalists who moderate presidential debates should call candidates out for telling lies.
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| Clinton criticizes Trump for remarks on security briefing, Putin Posted: 08 Sep 2016 02:15 PM PDT  By Jeff Mason WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton slammed Republican rival Donald Trump on Thursday for talking about things he learned in classified intelligence briefings and for praising Russia's Vladimir Putin as a better leader than President Barack Obama. Speaking to reporters the day after a New York security forum featuring separate appearances by the two candidates, Clinton also criticized the businessman for saying U.S. generals had been "reduced to rubble" by Obama's policies. At the televised forum on Wednesday night, Trump said he was "shocked" by information he got during the briefing.
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| US officials: IS losses on battlefield won't end threat Posted: 08 Sep 2016 02:12 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — Despite the Islamic State group's loss of territory, the Islamic extremists will continue to pose serious national security problems for the United States and Europe in coming years, the directors of the FBI and CIA said Thursday.
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| Clinton Attacks Trump, Reaffirms Commitment to Defeating ISIS Posted: 08 Sep 2016 02:04 PM PDT  Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton criticized her White House rival this morning, telling reporters that Republican nominee Donald Trump has "failed yet again" to show that he is capable of being commander in chief. Clinton, speaking to reporters at Westchester County Airport before taking off for a campaign rally in North Carolina, slammed Trump's praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin during a forum hosted by NBC last night, saying Trump took "the astonishing step of suggesting that he prefers the Russian president to our American president. Now, that is not just unpatriotic and insulting for the people of our country as well as to our commander in chief — it is scary.
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| Trump says he was against Iraq war despite Howard Stern interview Posted: 08 Sep 2016 01:23 PM PDT  By Steve Holland CLEVELAND (Reuters) - Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Thursday said he was against the Iraq war all along despite telling radio interviewer Howard Stern in 2002 that he favored it. Trump used the start of a speech about education at a charter school in Cleveland to push back at Democratic rival Hillary Clinton's statement that his position on Iraq is pretty much like her own: She voted for the 2003 war as a U.S. senator from New York but has since disavowed the vote. At an NBC forum on Wednesday night, Clinton pointed to a September 2002 interview Trump gave to radio host Howard Stern to say that Trump had supported the war.
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| US general: Urban fight to retake Mosul will be difficult Posted: 08 Sep 2016 01:13 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — The urban battle to retake Iraq's second largest city from Islamic State militants that will unfold in the next two or three months will be "long and difficult," the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency said Thursday. |
| As retiring servicewomen enter the business world, this career coach can help Posted: 08 Sep 2016 12:53 PM PDT Carole Hyatt had assembled a collection of leaders in her dining room on a Saturday this past spring. There was an Air Force captain and a lieutenant colonel, an Army colonel and a major general, a commander of the Coast Guard, and a West Point department head, to name a few. As they scaled military ranks, they accumulated advanced degrees and valuable skills. |
| Iraq gears up for late-year push to retake Mosul from Islamic State Posted: 08 Sep 2016 12:52 PM PDT  By Stephen Kalin QAYYARA AIRBASE, Iraq (Reuters) - The U.S.-led war on Islamic State has depleted the group's funds, leadership and foreign fighters, but the biggest battle yet is expected later this year in Iraq's northern city of Mosul, where Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared his "caliphate" two years ago. The jihadist insurgents have lost more than half the territory they seized in Iraq and nearly as much in neighboring Syria, but still manage to control their twin capitals of Mosul and Raqqa, symbols of the state they sought to build at the heart of the Middle East. Military and humanitarian preparations are now in full swing to retake Mosul, the largest city under the ultra-hardline group's control.
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| Matt Lauer and why moderating presidential debates isn't easy Posted: 08 Sep 2016 12:37 PM PDT In politics as in sports, the best moderators are the ones who go unnoticed. Mr. Lauer's performance was widely panned by Democrats, Republicans, and even figures from his own network, who said the NBC Today host spent far too long grilling Hillary Clinton on email servers, didn't ask Donald Trump tough questions, and failed to press Mr. Trump on false claims. Perhaps Lauer's performance was panned for good reason, but it also shed light on the difficult and increasingly scrutinized job of debate moderator. |
| Iranian faction among Kurds trained by US against militants Posted: 08 Sep 2016 12:28 PM PDT  KHARABRUD, Iraq (AP) — An Iranian Kurdish rebel group received military training in weapons and explosives from U.S. and European advisers as part of the international program backing Kurds in the war against the Islamic State group in Iraq, the group's commander told The Associated Press.
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| Iraq, Syria might not 'be put back together again': CIA head Posted: 08 Sep 2016 12:25 PM PDT  Iraq and Syria have been so thoroughly damaged by warfare, sectarian conflict and killing that it is unclear they "can be put back together again," CIA Director John Brennan said. In an interview this week with the CTC Sentinel, a publication from the West Point military academy's Combating Terrorism Center, the head of the Central Intelligence Agency said the current system of governance in the two countries might change altogether. "I don't know whether or not Syria and Iraq can be put back together again.
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| Turkey allows German lawmakers' trip to Incirlik air base Posted: 08 Sep 2016 12:02 PM PDT  Turkey has agreed to allow German lawmakers to visit soldiers stationed at Incirlik Air Base in Turkey in October, signaling some progress in easing strains between the two NATO allies, Germany's Foreign Minister said on Thursday. Turkey had banned German lawmakers from visiting the base in response to a parliamentary resolution declaring the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman forces a "genocide". The row over Incirlik has compounded tensions between Germany and Turkey just as Chancellor Angela Merkel needs Turkish help in dealing with Europe's migrant crisis.
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| Konchalovsky says 'Rai' tackles evil done in the name of good Posted: 08 Sep 2016 12:01 PM PDT  Andrei Konchalovsky uses the Holocaust-theme in his drama "Rai" to explore how people back then and today commit evil acts all the while believing that what they do is right, the veteran Russian director said at the Venice film festival on Thursday. "Rai" (Paradise), which follows three characters as they make life-altering choices, is one of 20 films competing for the coveted Golden Lion that will awarded on Saturday. Olga, played by Julia Vysotskaya, is a Russian noblewoman and part of the French resistance, who gets arrested by Nazis for hiding two Jewish children and is sent to jail where she meets French-Nazi collaborator Jules, who offers to ease her punishment in exchange for sex.
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| After 9/11, We Thought It Would Be a Generation-Long Struggle; We Were Wrong Posted: 08 Sep 2016 11:08 AM PDT  In the halls of the White House, President George W. Bush was asking us similar questions, and the administration, which was itself just beginning to understand the phenomenon that al-Qaeda represented, gave some frank answers. In a speech to Congress nine days after the attacks, Bush predicted "a lengthy campaign unlike any other we have ever seen," without a decisive victory when the enemy surrenders. We have now fought al-Qaeda and its progeny for most of a generation, and there is no reason to believe that the threat they represent will disappear in five years or a decade.
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| Islamic State to remain a challenge despite battlefield defeats: CIA chief Posted: 08 Sep 2016 11:05 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Islamic State will remain a presence inside Syria and Iraq for "quite a while to come" despite the battlefield defeats the militant group has suffered, CIA director John Brennan said on Thursday. "I do think a number of them are going to remain a challenge for the United States as well for other governments for a number of years to come," Brennan said at a conference. (Reporting by Yara Bayoumi; Writing by Mohammad Zargham; Editing by Susan Heavey) |
| AP FACT CHECK: Multiple missteps mark Trump, Clinton forum Posted: 08 Sep 2016 10:46 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Donald Trump repeated a bevy of previous misstatements in a forum on national security issues, while his Democratic presidential rival Hillary Clinton continued to gloss over her lax treatment of classified information when she used a private email system as secretary of state. A look at some missteps in the candidates' back-to-back appearances Wednesday night:
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| Kurdish role a sticking point as U.S., Turkey discuss Raqqa operation Posted: 08 Sep 2016 10:39 AM PDT  By Phil Stewart LONDON (Reuters) - Turkey supports plans to drive Islamic State out of its Syrian stronghold of Raqqa but U.S.-backed Kurdish militia fighters should not be at the core of the operation, Turkish Defence Minister Fikri Isik said on Thursday. Turkey launched its first major military incursion into Syria just over two weeks ago. Washington has said it supports the effort to push back Islamic State, but the two NATO allies remain at odds over the role Kurdish fighters should play.
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| 10 Percent of the World’s Wilderness Has Disappeared in Just 20 Years Posted: 08 Sep 2016 10:19 AM PDT  For the first time, scientists have mapped out the destruction of wilderness areas around the globe, finding a staggering loss over the past 20 years.
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| Polls Tighten, but the Electoral College Map Tells a Different Story Posted: 08 Sep 2016 10:02 AM PDT  Hillary Clinton may not have shined Wednesday night in a town hall about national security and America's armed forces, but one force is with her: Electoral College math. Related: What Happens If Neither Clinton Nor Trump Get Enough Electoral Votes? A new examination of the Electoral College map by the news, polling and market research organization Morning Consult gives Clinton 321 votes to 195 for Donald Trump if the election were held today.
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| The Latest: Merkel rejects ally's renewed migrant cap call Posted: 08 Sep 2016 09:25 AM PDT  BRUSSELS (AP) — The Latest on Europe's migrant crisis (all times local):
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| Fight for Iraqi city of Mosul may begin 'soon': U.S. military official Posted: 08 Sep 2016 08:57 AM PDT  The coalition fighting Islamic State will have to begin the fight for Mosul soon to meet Iraq's aim of freeing the city by the end of the year, a U.S. military official said on Thursday, but he declined to say if the offensive would begin in a month. The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, who took over last month as commander of U.S. operations against Islamic State, predicted in an interview that the battle for Mosul would begin before early October. "Ultimately, if the desire is to try to get it done around the end of the year, we're going to have to start soon," Air Force Colonel John Dorrian, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Iraq, told a Pentagon briefing.
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| Colin Powell advised Hillary Clinton about emails: Does it matter now? Posted: 08 Sep 2016 08:30 AM PDT The top House Democrat who released Colin Powell's advice to Hillary Clinton about how to use emails at the State Department said the 2009 exchange (also through email) shows the "longstanding problem that no Secretary of State ever used an official unclassified email account" until John Kerry. The release of the exchange comes as Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, continues to be dogged by how she handled classified emails. |
| Why Clinton's Iraq Apology Still Isn't Enough Posted: 08 Sep 2016 08:14 AM PDT For well over a decade, Hillary Clinton's vote in favor of the Iraq War Resolution has been used to undermine her political ambitions. She entered the 2008 Democratic presidential race as the heavily favored candidate, only to have her 2002 Senate vote, if not outright disqualify her in the eyes of voters, at least breathe oxygen into then-Senator Barack Obama's outsider campaign. In the most recent Democratic presidential primary, Bernie Sanders relentlessly attacked Clinton for her lack of "judgment" when it came to what he characterized as the most important foreign-policy decision of a generation. In her defense, Clinton chided Sanders for conflating policy disagreements with poor judgment, while correctly arguing that her 2002 vote was more complex than her critics acknowledge. |
| Syrian army and allies regain southern Aleppo district: monitor Posted: 08 Sep 2016 08:09 AM PDT  Syria's army and its allies have regained an important Aleppo district lost to rebels last month, state media and a war monitor said on Thursday, and were pressing an offensive south of the city to further squeeze the insurgents. If sustained, the advance in Ramousah would reverse nearly all gains rebels made in a push last month, tighten a blockade over rebel-held eastern Aleppo and ease access for the army into government-held western districts through the city's south. A second line of attack, aimed at villages south of Aleppo and supported by what a pro-government fighter called "dusk to dawn" bombardment, is intended to isolate Telat al-Eis, a hill captured by rebels in May that commands fire over the region.
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| Islamist militants pose challenge for next Uzbek leader Posted: 08 Sep 2016 08:04 AM PDT  By Dmitry Solovyov OSH, Kyrgyzstan (Reuters) - Whoever takes over the Central Asian state of Uzbekistan after its president's death faces a challenge to keep a lid on Islamist militants who have become foot soldiers in global jihadist groups. Uzbek fighters are deeply embedded in Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, fight alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan, have secret outposts in the biggest Russian cities and have ties with Muslim militants from China who reject Beijing's rule. Veteran Uzbek leader Islam Karimov, who died last week from a stroke, used brutal methods and a vast security apparatus to keep tabs on a militant movement born in the 1990s out of an insurgency in Uzbekistan, a former Soviet republic.
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| Asylum seekers protest in Helsinki against Finland's tightened policy Posted: 08 Sep 2016 07:20 AM PDT  About 300 asylum seekers and pro-immigration citizens gathered in Helsinki on Thursday to protest against Finland's new asylum policy, which considers Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia largely safe countries to return to. About 32,000 came to Finland and the government responded by tightening immigration policies, along with other Nordic countries. Finnish Immigration Service in May said security had improved to such an extent in Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia that refugees would generally not be at risk in the countries.
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| Trump’s Praise of Putin Overshadows Clinton’s Continued Email Struggles Posted: 08 Sep 2016 06:55 AM PDT  The "Commander-in-chief forum" for the two major party presidential candidates hosted by NBC News in New York last night wound up looking very much like a microcosm of the general election race so far: We witnessed a poor performance from Democrat Hillary Clinton offset by an even worse showing by her Republican rival Donald Trump. Clinton repeated her dubious letter-of-the-law defense of the decision to use a personal email system while serving as secretary of state and even seemed to become angry with a former Navy officer who asked about her trustworthiness. Clinton's half-hour session with Lauer was dominated by the email question.
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