| Top Asian News 12:33 a.m. GMT Posted: 28 Oct 2016 05:33 PM PDT MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine defense chief said Friday that authorities are trying to verify a report that Chinese coast guard ships have left a disputed shoal, allowing Filipino fishermen to sail back to the rich fishing area that China seized in 2012. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the Philippine coast guard has reported that Chinese coast guard ships have not been sighted at Scarborough Shoal in the last three days, but he added the report has to be validated. Lorenzana told The Associated Press that the Philippine air force plans to conduct aerial surveillance of the shoal off the northwestern Philippines as early as Saturday to check the situation. |
| A task for Bill and a lightning photo op: offbeats from the White House race Posted: 28 Oct 2016 04:46 PM PDT  A suggestion from Hillary Clinton on how to keep her husband busy (and out of trouble) if they make it back to the White House, a lightning photo shoot -- and an insult for a war vet: here is a rundown of quirky moments on the campaign trail Friday, as the White House race enters its home stretch. Hillary Clinton drew both plaudits and barbs during her husband's 1992 presidential campaign when, in defense of her activism, she said she "could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas," a comment some homemakers viewed as insulting. On a radio program hosted by singer/actor Keith Sweat, she was asked whether Bill Clinton was still playing the saxophone, as he did -- wearing dark glasses like an authentic jazzman -- in a much-noted television appearance in 1992.
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| OPEC officials fail to agree on how to curb oil supplies Posted: 28 Oct 2016 01:37 PM PDT  VIENNA/DUBAI (Reuters) - OPEC officials meeting in Vienna to work out the details of their plan to reduce oil production failed to reach agreement after hours of talks on Friday, amid objections by Iran which has been reluctant to even freeze its output, OPEC sources said. The High Level Committee of experts will meet again in Vienna on Nov. 25 ahead of the next meeting of OPEC ministers on Nov. 30, to "finalise individual quotas", one source said. "Yes, we continue tomorrow with non-OPEC," one of the sources said.
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| Northwell Health, Northport VAMC Collaboration on Behavioral Health Services a Blueprint for National Public-Private Partnerships Posted: 28 Oct 2016 01:23 PM PDT BAY SHORE, N.Y., Oct. 28, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A newly released research report praises the success of the US Department of Veterans' Affairs' first-of-a-kind collaboration with Northwell Health to provide behavioral health services to veterans and their families in Bay Shore, NY. Operated jointly by the Northport VA and Northwell, the Unified Behavioral Health Center for Military Veterans and Their Families (UBHC) could serve as a blueprint for the VA to pursue similar public/private partnerships with local health care providers regionally and nationally, Long Island congressional leaders said at a news conference today with veterans and family members who have benefitted from counseling for post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) and other emotional struggles. The report by the RAND Corporation, a public-interest research group and global policy think tank, concluded: "Our analyses found that, overall, the UBHC has succeeded in implementing a promising public-private partnership model for providing behavioral health care for veterans and their families in the same facility. |
| Oil ends week down on uncertainty over OPEC cuts Posted: 28 Oct 2016 01:22 PM PDT  By Ethan Lou NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices settled below $50 on Friday to mark their biggest weekly loss in six weeks, on concerns OPEC will not fully carry out a planned output cut, even as data showed U.S. oil drillers removed rigs from production for the first time since June. Oil services company Baker Hughes Inc said two rigs were cut this week, ending a 17-week recovery in the number supplying the market.
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| Kirk apologizes for mocking rival's family military history Posted: 28 Oct 2016 01:08 PM PDT  CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois Republican U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk apologized Friday for mocking his Democratic rival's immigrant background and her claim that her family's military service dates back to the Revolution — comments that drew wide criticism and threatened an already difficult re-election campaign.
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| Russia loses election to UN rights council Posted: 28 Oct 2016 01:02 PM PDT  Russia on Friday failed to win re-election at the United Nations Human Rights Council in a vote rights groups said reflected international disapproval of Moscow's involvement in the war in Syria. The UN General Assembly elected Hungary and Croatia instead to represent eastern Europe at the 47-nation council, which monitors and investigates rights violations worldwide.
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| The Latest: EU foreign policy chief in Iran for Syria talks Posted: 28 Oct 2016 12:59 PM PDT  BEIRUT (AP) — The Latest on the conflict in Syria (all times local):
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| Russia voted off UN Human Rights Council Posted: 28 Oct 2016 12:49 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The General Assembly voted Russia off the U.N. Human Rights Council on Friday, a stunning rebuke to the country which is increasingly being accused of war crimes over its actions in Syria. |
| Russia fails to win re-election to U.N. Human Rights Council Posted: 28 Oct 2016 12:42 PM PDT  By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia failed to win re-election to the United Nations Human Rights Council on Friday, beaten out by Hungary and Croatia, following lobbying by rights groups against Moscow's candidacy because of its military support for the Syrian government. In a secret ballot by the 193-member U.N. General Assembly, Hungary received 144 votes, followed by Croatia with 114 votes and Russia with 112 votes.
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| UN reports IS executions as Mosul advance pauses Posted: 28 Oct 2016 12:38 PM PDT  Jihadists have killed scores of people and taken tens of thousands to use as human shields in the Mosul area, the United Nations said Friday, as Iraqi forces temporarily halted their advance on the city. Thousands of people have fled from areas surrounding Mosul, prompting a warning of "massive displacement" when fighting starts inside the Islamic State jihadist group's last major Iraqi urban stronghold. IS's "depraved, cowardly strategy is to attempt to use the presence of civilians to render certain points, areas or military forces immune from military operations", Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, the UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a statement.
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| GOP Senator Mark Kirk Apologizes After Jab at Opponent's Asian Heritage Posted: 28 Oct 2016 11:50 AM PDT  Republican Senator Mark Kirk from Illinois, running for re-election this fall, has apologized to his opponent after eyebrow-raising comments he made about her during their debate last night. The incumbent Senator took to Twitter acknowledging the gaf and thanking her for her military service. Tammy Duckworth, a Democratic congresswoman who is challenging Kirk, was born in Bangkok, Thailand.
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| BATTLE FOR MOSUL Posted: 28 Oct 2016 11:48 AM PDT Graphic shows the geography and strategies so far for taking Mosul, Iraq, from the Islamic State group.; 2c x 6 inches; 96.3 mm x 152 mm; |
| A look at Illinois GOP US Sen. Mark Kirk's history of gaffes Posted: 28 Oct 2016 11:24 AM PDT  CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois Republican U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk's inflammatory comments about his Democratic rival's immigrant background and her family's military history were the latest in a series of remarks that U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth says make him unfit for the office.
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| Amnesty warns against white phosphorus use in Mosul op Posted: 28 Oct 2016 10:45 AM PDT  Amnesty International warned Friday of the danger posed by white phosphorus munitions, saying they should not be used during the operation to retake Mosul in areas where civilians are present. Iraq launched the drive to recapture the city from the Islamic State group last week, and the country's forces are closing in on Mosul from the north, east and west. Amnesty said it had received credible photographic evidence and witness testimony pointing to the employment of white phosphorus, which is generally used to create smoke screens, north of a village east of Mosul.
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| Thousands of Iraqis being used as human shields near Mosul Posted: 28 Oct 2016 10:15 AM PDT  QAYARA, Iraq (AP) — For three months, as Islamic State militants ranged across farms and villages south of Mosul, they took Sayid Naheer, his wife and eight children with them. The family was among tens of thousands of people that the U.N. says have been rounded up to be used as human shields.
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| Hillary Clinton to campaign in Arizona in final week of election Posted: 28 Oct 2016 10:14 AM PDT  Hillary Clinton speaks with senior aide Huma Abedin aboard her campaign plane. Hillary Clinton is heading to Phoenix on Wednesday to campaign in the traditionally red state less than a week before Election Day. "With more people voting in this election than any in history, Clinton will urge Arizona voters to take advantage of in-person early voting," the campaign announced Friday.
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| Libya meeting hopes to break political stalemate, focus on economy Posted: 28 Oct 2016 10:09 AM PDT By Lesley Wroughton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A meeting on Libya in London next week will seek to break a political stalemate over the country's U.N-backed unity government, which has struggled to extend its influence beyond the capital, Tripoli, a senior U.S. official said on Friday. Monday's ministerial meeting, convened by Britain and the United States, takes place as Libyan forces close in on the key city of Sirte, hoping to flush out Islamic State forces that grabbed it during factional infighting more than a year ago after the fall of strongman Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. "The goal in London is to ... see if we can make some progress and get beyond the stalemate, which is preventing the government from doing what it needs to do," the senior State Department official told Reuters ahead of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's arrival in London. |
| The Latest: Posted: 28 Oct 2016 09:59 AM PDT  BAGHDAD (AP) — The Latest on the fighting in Iraq (all times local):
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| GOP senator attacks his opponent, a war hero, for her Asian heritage Posted: 28 Oct 2016 09:06 AM PDT  During a debate Thursday night at the University of Illinois Springfield, Representative Tammy Duckworth began to discuss her experience as a veteran, only to have it attacked by her rival, Senator Mark Kirk, using inflammatory and racially charged rhetoric. Duckworth, who is challenging Kirk for his seat in the Senate in this November's election, had been discussing her experiences as a war veteran when Kirk launched a bitter counterattack. The representative's parents, he claimed, didn't come "all the way from Thailand" just so that they "could serve George Washington." SEE ALSO: The police technology intensifying racial discrimination Duckworth, a Democrat, won a Purple Heart and lost both of her legs during the Iraq War. She was born to a Thai mother of Chinese descent and an American marine, whose ancestors served in the American Revolution. "I've bled for this nation. But I still want to be there in the Senate when the drums of war sound. Because people are quick to sound the drums of war, and I want to be there to say this is what it costs, this is what you're asking us to do . . . Families like mine are the ones that bleed first," Duckworth said. "I forgot that your parents came all the way from Thailand to serve George Washington," Kirk sarcastically responded. In September, the Illinois senator was accused of inflating his own war record. His website claimed that he was a veteran of the Iraq War, when in fact, he stayed in the United States in the Navy Reserves throughout the course of the war. Though Duckworth did not immediately respond on stage to the comment, she did follow up later with a photo posted on Twitter. "My mom is an immigrant and my dad and his family have served this nation in uniform since the Revolution," Duckworth wrote. My mom is an immigrant and my dad and his family have served this nation in uniform since the Revolution #ILSEN pic.twitter.com/ehEBHswFMs — Tammy Duckworth (@TammyforIL) October 28, 2016 The Kirk campaign has not offered any apology, but instead released the following statement: "Senator Kirk has consistently called Rep. Duckworth a war hero and honors her family's service to this country. But that's not what this debate was about. Rep. Duckworth lied about her legal troubles, was unable to defend her failures at the VA and then falsely attacked Senator Kirk over his record on supporting gay rights," Eleni Demertzis, a spokesperson for the Kirk campaign, said. Public polls give Duckworth a comfortable lead over the incumbent. RELATED: Obama laughs 'most of the time' Trump is on the debate stage
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| Iran-backed Shi'ite militias to join assault near Mosul on new front Posted: 28 Oct 2016 09:02 AM PDT  By Saif Hameed and Maher Chmaytelli BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi Shi'ite militias backed by Iran said on Friday they would soon join the fight against Islamic State on a new front west of Mosul, a move which could block any retreat by the jihadists into Syria but might alarm Turkey and the United States. The Shi'ite militias, with thousands of battle-hardened fighters trained by Iran, would bring important extra firepower to what is expected to be the biggest battle in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. A spokesman for the paramilitary groups said the advance toward the Islamic State-held town of Tal Afar, about 55 km (35 miles) west of Mosul, would start within "a few days or hours".
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| Islamic State using tens of thousands as human shields in Mosul: U.N. Posted: 28 Oct 2016 09:02 AM PDT  By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - Islamic State forces in Iraq have abducted tens of thousands of men, women and children from areas around Mosul and are using them as "human shields" in strategic sites in the city as Iraqi troops advance, the U.N. human rights office said on Friday. "ISIL's depraved, cowardly strategy is to attempt to use the presence of civilians to render certain points, areas or military forces immune from military operations, effectively using tens of thousands of women, men and children as human shields," said Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights. Using human shields is prohibited under international law, he said in a statement.
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| Russia seeks to stop jihadists from fleeing Mosul Posted: 28 Oct 2016 09:00 AM PDT  Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday called for cooperation to prevent Islamic State jihadists from leaving Mosul and heading to Syria during the offensive under way to recapture the Iraqi city. "We are interested in cooperation with our Iraqi colleagues to take measures to prevent the outflow of terrorists from Mosul with their weapons, which of course will exacerbate the situation in Syria," Lavrov said following talks in Moscow with his Iranian and Syrian counterparts Mohammad Javad Zarif and Walid Muallem.
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| Assange refused arrest warrant suspension for mentor's funeral Posted: 28 Oct 2016 08:51 AM PDT  The Swedish prosecutor's office on Friday said it had rejected WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's request to temporarily suspend an arrest warrant so he could leave the Ecuadoran embassy in London to attend the funeral of mentor Gavin MacFayden. The 45-year-old Australian -- wanted for questioning in Sweden over a 2010 rape accusation -- has been holed up in the embassy since June 2012. "The prosecutor has rejected the request, as there is no grounds in Swedish legislation to make an exemption from a court's decision of detention in absence or from a decision on a European Arrest Warrant, neither by granting a leave nor by any other means," the prosecutor's office said in a statement.
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| Trapped in Serbia, migrants seek refuge in derelict warehouse Posted: 28 Oct 2016 08:37 AM PDT More than 1,000 migrants, trapped in Serbia after fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and Central Asia, have occupied a derelict warehouse in the capital Belgrade, where they are preparing to tough out a bitter Balkan winter. More than 100,000 migrants have passed through Serbia this year, from countries such as Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, to seek sanctuary in the wealthy countries of northern Europe. "We want to go to Italy, Germany, France, but the border is closed at Hungary and Croatia," said Najib, who said he was from Afghanistan. |
| Iraqis bury their dead in cemetery destroyed by IS Posted: 28 Oct 2016 08:04 AM PDT  QAYARA, Iraq (AP) — Sabriya Hammad buried her son in a cemetery that was destroyed by the same people who killed him.
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| Reclaiming Mosul: for Iraq leaders, a gap in political lessons learned Posted: 28 Oct 2016 07:57 AM PDT Jihadist attackers of the Islamic State burned two humvees of Lt. Col. Helan Mahmoud Ali's unit Friday morning, but did little to dent the Iraqi Army's methodical advance on Mosul. Backed up by US airpower, long-range artillery, Kurdish peshmerga forces and, further back, even Shiite militias, the Iraqi Army will inevitably expel the self-declared Islamic State from its last stronghold in Iraq, says Ali, echoing top Iraqi and American commanders. Recommended: How much do you know about the Islamic State? |
| ICC's toughest trial: Africa vs. 'Infamous Caucasian Court' Posted: 28 Oct 2016 07:43 AM PDT  By Ed Cropley JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa and Burundi's decision to quit the International Criminal Court (ICC) and an attack by Gambia against its supposed 'Caucasian' justice are likely to embolden other African states to leave the world's only permanent war crimes tribunal. With South Africa - a continental heavyweight and key backer of the ICC in the late 1990s - making clear it could no longer tolerate the court's denial of immunity to sitting leaders, the departure gates have been flung open. All eyes are now on Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, the ICC's chief tormentor who made history in 2013 by becoming the first sitting head of state to appear before the court, on charges of crimes against humanity.
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| Yazidi survivor of IS slavery aims to be 'voice' of her people Posted: 28 Oct 2016 07:43 AM PDT  A Yazidi teenager who escaped the Islamic State group after nearly two years of enslavement said Friday the prospect of one day becoming a "voice" for her community saw her through the nightmarish ordeal. Lamia Haji Bashar, who on Thursday won the European Parliament's prestigious Sakharov human rights prize with another Yazidi survivor, told AFP she had long envisioned fleeing her jihadist captors, who had repeatedly raped, tortured and sold her. "To give my voice and be the voice of all these victims and get out -- this was the big driving force for me to escape," she said, speaking Kurdish on the sidelines of an aid conference through a translator.
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| Sen. Mark Kirk apologizes after taking shot at opponent Tammy Duckworth’s heritage Posted: 28 Oct 2016 07:27 AM PDT  Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk apologized early Friday afternoon after widespread censure for his racially charged quip against Democratic challenger Rep. Tammy Duckworth. During Thursday night's debate, Kirk invoked her Thai-Chinese heritage to question her family's extensive military service. At the debate, Duckworth, who was born in Thailand to a mother of Chinese descent and a white father from the United States, proudly cited the extensive record of military service on her father's side of the family, stretching back to the dawn of the country.
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| Sweden refuses to suspend Assange's arrest warrant for funeral Posted: 28 Oct 2016 04:58 AM PDT The Swedish prosecutor's office on Friday said it has rejected WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's request to temporarily suspend an arrest warrant so he could leave the Ecuadorian embassy in London and attend a funeral. "Julian Assange has requested that the Swedish prosecutor should grant him leave from the detention order and the European arrest warrant in order to go to a funeral," the prosecutor's office said in a statement. |
| Post-Mosul Campaign Guarantees for Religious Minorities Crucial, Says Iraqi Human Rights Leader Posted: 28 Oct 2016 04:23 AM PDT ZURICH, Oct. 28, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- "There will probably be another crisis after the 'liberation' of Mosul from the Islamic State," William Warda, the Chairman of the Alliance of Iraqi Minorities and co-founder of the Hammurabi Human Rights Organization, warned in a CSI-hosted lecture here Tuesday. As the Iraqi, Kurdish and Turkish armies and their respective proxy militias advance on Mosul, supported with American air power, Mr. Warda raised the sobering prospect that a coalition victory over the Islamic State (IS) may not mean a genuine "liberation" for city's civilian inhabitants nor for the hundreds of thousands of displaced religious minorities. |
| Syria says U.S.-led coalition wants Islamic State fighters to leave Iraq for Syria Posted: 28 Oct 2016 04:16 AM PDT MOSCOW (Reuters) - Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem said on Monday a U.S.-led coalition was encouraging Islamic State fighters to move from Iraq to Syria. Speaking after talks with his Russian and Iranian counterparts in Moscow, Muallem said the coalition wanted the fighters to move from Iraq's Mosul to Syria's Raqqa, the de facto capital of the radical Sunni group in Syria. (Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; writing by Maria Tsvetkova; editing by Jack Stubbs) |
| The Shia Power Brokers of the New Iraq Posted: 28 Oct 2016 04:00 AM PDT KARBALA, Iraq—The inner sanctum of the Imam Hussein Shrine shines day and night, illuminated by jeweled chandeliers. Their light is reflected in the mirrored domes of the roof, and gleams across the gold-framed marble walls. At the center of the shrine, a stream of pilgrims presses against the gilded grating that surrounds the sarcophagus of Hussein, grandson of the prophet Muhammad. In 680 AD, Imam Hussein was killed in the Battle of Karbala fighting the forces of the Umayyad caliph, his death cementing Sunni political dominance across the Islamic world. The battle was the point of no return in the schism between Sunni and Shia Islam, becoming the basis for the Shiites' distinct rituals and identity, at the center of which is Hussein's sacrifice. |
| Azerbaijan kills two suspected 'terrorists' Posted: 28 Oct 2016 03:17 AM PDT  Azerbaijani security services have killed two men suspected of plotting "terrorist attacks" in the secular ex-Soviet country with a mainly Muslim population, authorities said Friday. The two Azerbaijani nationals were shot dead during a special operation on Wednesday night, the oil-rich Caucasus nation's State Security Service said in a statement, adding that another suspected "terrorist" had been arrested. The three suspects had been mandated by "foreign radical religious terrorist groups" to create an armed group known as the Caucasus Jamaat to carry out attacks in the country of 9.5 million, authorities said.
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| Kurdish PM wants to discuss independence with Baghdad after Mosul Posted: 28 Oct 2016 03:03 AM PDT  Iraq's Kurdish autonomous region plans to renew its push for independence once the city of Mosul is retaken from Islamic State group jihadists, its prime minister said Friday. "The time has long been ripe for it, but we are currently concentrating on the fight against IS," Kurdish prime minister Nechirvan Barzani told Germany's Bild daily. "As soon as Mosul is liberated, we will meet with our partners in Baghdad and talk about our independence," he said according to the German translation.
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| Turkey Could Turn the Battle for Mosul into a Sectarian Bloodbath Posted: 28 Oct 2016 02:15 AM PDT  The most consequential aftermath is the political, diplomatic, and battlefield mess Turkish President Recip Tayyip Erdoğan is determined to make of Mosul in the name of self-interest across the region. Related: Has the US Backed an Incompetent Commander in Iraq? Anything other than a short, sharp victory will leave the White House at least partly responsible for the same kind of destruction, violence, and loss of life that the Syrian–Russian campaign wreaks daily in East Aleppo.
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| The Last 100 Days: Obama’s Biggest Mistake edition Posted: 28 Oct 2016 02:00 AM PDT  Ever since the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, presidents have been judged on the successes they notch during their first 100 days. Now, as Barack Obama prepares to end his historic turn on the political stage, Yahoo News is running The Last 100 Days, a look at what Obama achieved during his consequential presidency, how he navigates the struggles of his last months in office and what lies ahead for him after eight years filled with firsts. As Obama himself is fond of noting, he also spent his two terms as father to daughters Malia and Sasha and husband to first lady Michelle Obama.
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| Policy Prescriptions: Trump and Clinton on military defense Posted: 28 Oct 2016 12:45 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump calls the U.S. military "depleted." It urgently needs more planes, ships, troops and nuclear weapons, he says, to ensure American predominance in the world. |
