| Exclusive: Fresh advance in east Mosul to begin within days - U.S. commander Posted: 26 Dec 2016 11:06 AM PST  By Stephen Kalin EAST OF MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqi forces will resume their push against Islamic State inside Mosul in the coming days, a U.S. battlefield commander said, in a new phase of the two-month-old operation that will see American troops deployed closer to the front line in the city. The battle for Mosul, involving 100,000 Iraqi troops, members of the Kurdish security forces and Shi'ite militiamen, is the biggest ground operation in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003.
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| Singer George Michael of Wham! fame dies at 53 Posted: 26 Dec 2016 07:40 AM PST  By Guy Faulconbridge LONDON (Reuters) - Singer George Michael, who became one of the pop idols of the 1980s with Wham! and then forged a career as a successful solo artist with sometimes sexually provocative lyrics, died at his home in England on Sunday. "It is with great sadness that we can confirm our beloved son, brother and friend George passed away peacefully at home over the Christmas period," his publicist said in a statement. British police said Michael's death was "unexplained but not suspicious." Born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou June 25, 1963 in London to Greek Cypriot immigrant parents in a flat above a north London laundrette, Michael once played music on the London underground train system before finding fame with Wham!.
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| Over 2,000 Saudi jihadists abroad: ministry Posted: 26 Dec 2016 05:21 AM PST  More than 2,000 Saudis are fighting abroad with jihadist groups, with over 70 percent of them in Syria, the kingdom's interior ministry was reported as saying Monday. "The number of Saudis proven to be in conflict areas is 2,093," interior ministry spokesman General Mansour al-Turki told daily newspaper Al-Hayat.
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| Pope pays tribute to Iraqi Christians persecuted by Islamic State Posted: 26 Dec 2016 04:46 AM PST  Pope Francis paid tribute on Monday to Middle East Christians who have clung to their faith during persecution by Islamist militants, saying there are more Christians martyrs now than in the Church's early days.
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| Russian envoy's killer remembered as lonely boy, not angry jihadist Posted: 26 Dec 2016 03:09 AM PST  By Tuvan Gumrukcu SOKE, Turkey (Reuters) - Those in the small Turkish town of Soke who knew Mevlut Altintas, the smartly dressed, clean-shaven young man who shot dead Russia's ambassador this week, recall a lonely taciturn boy twice rejected by university before leaving home and joining the police. Altintas was 22 when he shot Andrei Karlov in the back at an Ankara art gallery before being himself gunned down by police. Few in Soke would have recognised the figure in black suit and tie who stood over the diplomat's body screaming jihadi slogans.
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| From Obama, a final Christmas tribute to the troops he's led Posted: 26 Dec 2016 01:40 AM PST  KANEOHE BAY, Hawaii (AP) — For eight years, Barack Obama has led a military fighting in multiple theaters overseas, becoming the only president in U.S. history to serve full two terms with the nation at war. On Sunday, he sought to pay tribute to the men and women who sacrificed along the way in battles that will continue even after his presidency comes to a close.
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| From Obama, a final Christmas tribute to the troops he's led Posted: 25 Dec 2016 10:11 PM PST KANEOHE BAY, Hawaii (AP) — For eight years, Barack Obama has led a military fighting in multiple theaters overseas, becoming the only president in U.S. history to serve full two terms with the nation at war. On Sunday, he sought to pay tribute to the men and women who sacrificed along the way in battles that will continue even after his presidency comes to a close. |
| Obama pays last presidential holiday visit to Hawaii marine base Posted: 25 Dec 2016 09:36 PM PST  US President Barack Obama on Sunday visited American troops at a Hawaii military base, the last time he will participate in his holiday tradition as commander-in-chief. Obama and the first lady Michelle visited the Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe Bay, close to where the presidential couple are vacationing with their daughters. Obama also noted that on Saturday he called troops stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan -- "some of them who, as we speak, are carrying out missions to defeat ISIL," he said, using an acronym for the Islamic State group.
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| Today in History Posted: 25 Dec 2016 09:01 PM PST Today in History |
| Fighting back: How Indonesia's elite police turned the tide on militants Posted: 25 Dec 2016 07:44 PM PST  By Tom Allard and Kanupriya Kapoor JAKARTA (Reuters) - As the world battles a spike in assaults and plots by Islamist militants, Indonesia's anti-terrorism unit is drawing praise for stemming a wave of bloody attacks in the sprawling Muslim-majority nation. Indonesia has foiled at least 15 attacks this year alone and made more than 150 arrests, disrupting plots ranging from suicide attacks in Jakarta to a rocket attack from Indonesia's Batam island targeting Singapore. Going back to 2010, a Reuters analysis of data shows the elite unit, Special Detachment 88 (Densus 88), has prevented at last 54 plots or attacks in the nation of 250 million people, the world's fourth largest.
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| The Latest: Obama honors US troops in final Christmas visit Posted: 25 Dec 2016 06:55 PM PST HONOLULU (AP) — The Latest on President Barack Obama's annual holiday vacation in Hawaii (all times local): |
