| Trump team has differences of opinion on shaping spy agencies: sources Posted: 05 Jan 2017 05:16 PM PST  By Mark Hosenball and Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - There is disagreement within President-elect Donald Trump's camp about the structure of the top U.S. intelligence agency when he takes office and it is unclear whether his national security adviser will prevail in advocating a reorganization, sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday. At issue is the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), which Congress created after the Sept. 11 attacks to better coordinate the efforts of U.S. intelligence agencies to protect the United States. Trump security adviser Michael Flynn, who as head of the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency under President Barack Obama sometimes clashed with other intelligence agencies, favors restructuring and paring back the ODNI, the sources said.
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| NASA's first African-American Space Station crewmember is your new role model Posted: 05 Jan 2017 02:36 PM PST  NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps is set to become the first African-American crewmember on the International Space Station when she flies to space next year, the space agency announced Wednesday. Epps' months-long trip should begin in 2018, and it will mark the first time she has traveled to orbit, following in the footsteps of the women who inspired her to become an astronaut. SEE ALSO: This is what astronauts see when they look out their window "It was about 1980, I was nine years old. My brother came home and he looked at my grades and my twin sisters' grades and he said, 'You know, you guys can probably become aerospace engineers or even astronauts,'" Epps said in a NASA video interview. "And this was at the time that Sally Ride [the first American woman to fly in space] and a group of women were selected to become astronauts — the first time in history. So, he made that comment and I said, 'Wow, that would be so cool.'" Not your typical resume While other African-American astronauts have flown to the Space Station for brief stays during the outpost's construction, Epps will be the first African-American crewmember to live and work on the station for an extended period of time. "Robert Curbeam, Stephanie Wilson, Joan Higginbotham, Al Drew, Leland Melvin and Robert Satcher, along with their space shuttle crewmates, helped to complete the space station during its first 11 years," space historian Robert Pearlman, who runs the website collectSPACE.com, told Mashable. Melvin actually encouraged Epps to apply to become an astronaut when the space agency put out a call for their 2009 class, Epps said. And that encouragement paid off. Epps was selected as one of 14 astronaut candidates in NASA's 2009 class. NASA received 3,500 astronaut applications that year. The International Space Station. Image: NASA Her astronaut selection wasn't the first time she worked with the space agency, however. Epps was a NASA fellow while at the University of Maryland for graduate school in aerospace engineering and then worked in a lab at Ford Motor Company for more than two years, according to the space agency. From there, Epps' path to becoming an astronaut takes a decidedly atypical turn. Most astronauts come to the Astronaut Corps either through training in science or as a military officer, but after Ford, Epps spent more than seven years at the Central Intelligence Agency as a technical intelligence officer. "I did a lot of scientific stuff, but I also did a lot of operational stuff," Epps said. "We worked in non-proliferation issues, which was great. It's reverse engineering at its best." Epps also volunteered to go to Iraq with the CIA for four months to help search for weapons of mass destruction. Life as an astronaut Culmination of a great week of training in Star City. pic.twitter.com/gUU1y319fM — Jeanette J. Epps (@Astro_Jeanette) December 10, 2016 Since being selected as an astronaut, Epps hasn't simply waited for a flight assignment. She worked in mission control, communicating with the astronauts on the Space Station, and has served in other roles supporting the program without ever getting off the ground. Epps also worked as an "aquanaut" underwater with the NEEMO program for a nine-day mission in 2014. Her crew of six — the same number of people usually on the Space Station — simulated what it would be like for astronauts to drill into an asteroid, a possible mission NASA could launch in the coming years. "I always wanted to do NEEMO," Epps said. "When I first saw it, I thought it was one of the best analogs to space. You can't just leave, you're kind of stuck with these people." BONUS: Here's an important demonstration of how astronauts 'go to the loo' in space
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| Here’s How Many Bombs the US Military Dropped in 2016 – and Where They Went Posted: 05 Jan 2017 02:35 PM PST  For a nation that isn't officially at war against another nation, the United States dropped an awful lot of bombs on a pretty large number of countries last year, according to research by Micah Zenko, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, and research associate Jennifer Wilson. According to their calculations, based on data released by the Pentagon as well as information collected by think tanks and news organizations, the U.S. dropped some 26,171 bombs across all its weapons platforms, on targets in seven different countries. Next on the list was Afghanistan where, despite having pulled out the vast majority of combat troops years ago, the U.S. saw the need to drop 1,337 bombs.
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| No doubt Russia interfered in election, US intel chief says Posted: 05 Jan 2017 02:21 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — Brushing aside Donald Trump's dismissiveness, the nation's intelligence chief insisted Thursday that U.S. agencies are more confident than ever that Russia interfered in America's recent presidential election. And he called the former Cold War foe an "existential threat" to the nation.
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| Intel Officials Warn About Skepticism From the Top Posted: 05 Jan 2017 02:20 PM PST  Intelligence chiefs testifying in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee today on Capitol Hill pushed back against President-elect Donald Trump's public rebukes of the intelligence community, warning that a disparagement from the top could undermine the effectiveness of the workforce. Responding to a question from Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., about "who benefits president-elect trashing the intelligence community," Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said, "I think there is a difference between skepticism and disparagement," suggesting Trump was engaged in the latter. Adm. Mike Rogers, the head of the U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency, warned that skepticism from the leadership could risk staff departures en masse.
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| State Department Designates Osama bin Laden's Son a 'Global Terrorist' Posted: 05 Jan 2017 02:15 PM PST  The State Department designated Osama bin Laden's son, Hamza bin Laden, a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist" on Thursday. Bin Laden, born in 1989, was announced as an official member of al-Qaida, the terrorist group his father founded, in 2015. Since then, al-Qaida audio messages featuring the younger bin Laden have threatened the U.S. and western nations and called for attacks against U.S., French and Israeli interests in Washington, D.C., Paris, France, and Tel Aviv, Israel.
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| 3 women become 1st female US Marines in ground infantry unit Posted: 05 Jan 2017 02:04 PM PST CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (AP) — For the first time, the Marine Corps has put three enlisted female Marines in a ground combat unit once open only to men, officials said Thursday. |
| Russia and Turkey close ranks. A victory for Putin? Posted: 05 Jan 2017 01:54 PM PST Throughout Syria's grinding six-year war, Turkey did all it could to topple President Bashar al-Assad, backing anti-regime rebels in concert with Washington's policy. For just as long, Russia did all it could to preserve Mr. Assad's rule. Recommended: Think you know Turkey? |
| New Turkey attack kills two as Istanbul gunman hunted Posted: 05 Jan 2017 01:05 PM PST  A car bombing blamed on Kurdish militants rocked the Turkish city of Izmir on Thursday, killing at least two people and triggering a deadly shootout as authorities chased the fugitive killer behind the New Year attack in Istanbul. The new attack intensified alarm in Turkey after the shooting rampage at Istanbul's Reina nightclub unleashed shortly after revellers rang in 2017, which killed 39 people and was claimed by the Islamic State group.
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| Two Islamic State car bombs in Baghdad kill at least 14: sources Posted: 05 Jan 2017 12:04 PM PST  Two car bombs in Baghdad claimed by Islamic State killed at least 14 people on Thursday, police and medics said, part of a surge in violence across the capital at a time when U.S.-backed Iraqi forces are trying to drive the militants from Mosul in the north. The first blast shook Baghdad's eastern al-Obeidi area during the morning rush, killing six and wounding 15. Islamic State said in an online statement it had targeted a gathering of Shi'ite Muslims, whom it considers apostates.
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| Suspected Kurdish militants kill two in car bombing in Turkey's Izmir Posted: 05 Jan 2017 11:53 AM PST  By Nevzat Devranoglu and Tuvan Gumrukcu ANKARA (Reuters) - Suspected Kurdish militants clashed with police and detonated a car bomb in western Turkey on Thursday after their vehicle was stopped at a checkpoint, killing a police officer and a court employee, officials said. The explosion and gunfire outside the main courthouse in Izmir, Turkey's third largest city, highlighted the country's deteriorating security after a gunman killed 39 people in a New Year's Day mass shooting at an Istanbul nightclub. "Based on the preparation, the weapons, the bombs and ammunition seized, it is understood that a big atrocity was being planned," Deputy Prime Minister Veysi Kaynak told reporters.
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| The Latest: 30 injured in fire at Germany asylum seeker home Posted: 05 Jan 2017 11:46 AM PST  THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — The Latest on the flow of migrants into Europe (all times local):
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| Jordan says moving US Embassy to Jerusalem is 'red line' Posted: 05 Jan 2017 11:03 AM PST  AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Jordan's government spokesman warned on Thursday of "catastrophic" repercussions if President-elect Donald Trump makes good on a campaign promise to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel to contested Jerusalem.
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| Is Trump Headed for a Showdown With America’s Spy Agencies? Posted: 05 Jan 2017 10:41 AM PST  How incoming president Donald Trump will interact with the U.S. Intelligence Community is an increasingly urgent question given the threats that the nation and its interests face from terrorists and unfriendly state actors. Late Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources close to the Trump transition team, reported that the incoming administration was expected to engineer a major shake-up of the IC infrastructure by greatly diminishing the role of the Director of National Intelligence and slimming down the Central Intelligence Agency. The story seemed to fit comfortably into the available facts about Trump's feelings toward the IC in general.
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| Paul Ryan: ‘Russia didn't tell Hillary Clinton not to go to Wisconsin or Michigan’ Posted: 05 Jan 2017 10:24 AM PST  A day after calling WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange a "sycophant for Russia," House Speaker Paul Ryan said it's clear Moscow tried to meddle in the U.S. presidential election — but that wasn't the reason for President-elect Donald Trump's stunning victory in November. "He won fair and square," Ryan said during a Thursday press briefing in Washington. Russia didn't tell Hillary Clinton not to go to Wisconsin or Michigan.
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| Suicide blast in Baghdad, attacks earlier in the day kill 27 Posted: 05 Jan 2017 10:17 AM PST  BAGHDAD (AP) — Several attacks in and around Baghdad, including a suicide car bombing in a busy commercial area after nightfall on Thursday, killed at least 27 people in a particularly brutal day in the Iraqi capital.
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| Iraq police say a suicide car bombing in a commercial area in central Baghdad has killed at least 11 civilians Posted: 05 Jan 2017 09:49 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq police say a suicide car bombing in a commercial area in central Baghdad has killed at least 11 civilians. |
| Veterans Business Battle to welcome ret. Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell in Houston Posted: 05 Jan 2017 09:29 AM PST HOUSTON, Jan. 5, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Decorated veteran, author and philanthropist Marcus Luttrell will deliver a keynote speech at an awards banquet Feb. 25 recognizing veteran entrepreneurs. The banquet, hosted by the Houston chapter of the global non-profit Entrepreneurs' Organization, is the culmination of the EO-Houston Veterans Business Battle (www.vetbizbattle.com), a business plan competition for veterans seeking investment capital. Luttrell is author of best-selling book Lone Survivor, which tells the story of his time in Iraq as a member of the U.S. Navy SEALs and Operation Red Wings. |
| Iraq launches offensive on IS near Syria border Posted: 05 Jan 2017 09:21 AM PST  Iraqi forces launched an offensive against the Islamic State group near the Syrian border Thursday, piling further pressure on the jihadists' crumbling "caliphate". Baghdad and its allies also turned up the heat on IS in its last remaining Iraqi stronghold of Mosul, where the US-led coalition said it had doubled the number of its advisors. "A military operation has begun in the western areas of Anbar (province) to liberate them from Daesh," said Lieutenant General Qassem Mohammedi, head of Jazeera Operations Command, using an Arabic acronym for IS.
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| 2 killed in car bombing in Turkish city; 2 attackers dead Posted: 05 Jan 2017 08:59 AM PST  IZMIR, Turkey (AP) — Suspected Kurdish militants on Thursday opened fire at police who stopped them at a checkpoint in the western city of Izmir before detonating their explosives-laden vehicle, the province's governor said. A policeman and a courthouse employee were killed in the attack while two assailants were shot dead.
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| Greek minister says most migrants no longer are refugees Posted: 05 Jan 2017 08:22 AM PST THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — Greece's minister for migration says most people entering the country illegally from Turkey no longer are refugees, but economic migrants. |
| Weapons found in Izmir suggest larger attack planned: Turkish deputy PM Posted: 05 Jan 2017 07:52 AM PST Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Veysi Kaynak said a much larger attack was apparently being planned, based on the weapons found at the scene of a car bombing in the western city of Izmir on Thursday. "Based on the preparation, the weapons, bombs and ammunition seized, it is understood that a big atrocity was being planned," Kaynak told reporters in comments broadcast live. Kaynak said the attack, which the local governor said was thought to have been carried out by Kurdish militants, would not stop Turkey's military involvement in Syria and Iraq. |
| 'Hopeless' suffering in Lake Chad as children starve, mothers sell sex to survive - Red Cross Posted: 05 Jan 2017 07:25 AM PST By Lin Taylor LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Women in the Lake Chad basin have been forced to sell sex to survive due to an insurgency by Boko Haram fighters that has driven millions from their homes and left children to starve, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Thursday. The violence has displaced more than 2.4 million people across the swamplands of Lake Chad, where the borders of Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria meet, and disrupted the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of others, ICRC says. Up to a million people have been cut off from humanitarian aid by Boko Haram despite a regional military offensive against the Islamist militants, according to the United Nations. |
| Charlie Hebdo tribute marks two years of Islamist attacks on France Posted: 05 Jan 2017 07:05 AM PST  France paid tribute on Thursday to the journalists, police officers and shoppers at a kosher store killed two years ago by Islamist gunmen, the first of a wave of militant attacks that has left more than 230 dead and triggered a state of emergency. On a cold day in Paris, uniformed police, ministers and the city's mayor stood in silence outside the old office of the Charlie Hebdo magazine and other sites as floral wreaths tied in blue-white-and-red ribbons were laid to mark the anniversary. The killing spree shocked the world and preceded further attacks that did little for the declining popularity of President Francois Hollande and deepened tensions between France's secular state and its large Muslim minority.
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| U.S., European weapons used to commit war crimes in Iraq: Amnesty Posted: 05 Jan 2017 05:08 AM PST  Militias fighting alongside Iraqi troops against Islamic State are committing war crimes using weapons provided to the Iraqi military by the United States, Europe, Russia and Iran, Amnesty International said on Thursday. The rights group said that the predominantly Shi'ite Muslim militias, known collective as the Hashid Shaabi, were using weapons from Iraqi military stockpiles to commit war crimes including enforced disappearances, torture and summary killings.
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| OPEC oil output falls from record high ahead of planned cuts: Reuters survey Posted: 05 Jan 2017 05:07 AM PST  By Alex Lawler LONDON (Reuters) - OPEC's oil output in December fell from a record high ahead of a deal to cut production, a Reuters survey found on Thursday, helped by attacks on Nigeria's oil industry and top exporter Saudi Arabia trimming exports. Supply from OPEC in December fell to 34.18 million barrels per day (bpd) from a revised 34.38 million bpd in November, according to the survey based on shipping data and information from industry sources. Oil hit an 18-month high of $58.37 a barrel on Tuesday, boosted by an OPEC agreement to lower supply from Jan. 1.
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| IS group-inspired Filipino militant killed, reprisals feared Posted: 05 Jan 2017 04:22 AM PST MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A leader of suspected sympathizers of the Islamic State group was killed Thursday in a clash with Philippine police in the south, raising fears that his brutal group may retaliate by attacking a huge Catholic procession in Manila next week. |
| Iraq cuts oil production per OPEC deal Posted: 05 Jan 2017 03:27 AM PST  Baghdad (AFP) - Iraq has cut crude production by some 200,000 barrels per day as part of an OPEC oil cartel agreement aimed at boosting flagging prices, the oil ministry's spokesman said Thursday.
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| Turkey makes new arrests over attack, tightens borders Posted: 05 Jan 2017 03:23 AM PST  Turkish police detained several new suspects on Thursday in fresh raids over the nightclub attack that killed 39, as authorities tightened borders to prevent the fugitive killer from escaping. A top official said the attacker was likely a Turkic Uighur and reports have indicated the authorities are looking into the possible existence of a cell, also including other jihadists from Central Asia. In the early hours of Sunday, a gunman stormed the swanky Reina nightclub on the shores of the Bosphorus in Istanbul and sprayed 120 bullets at terrified partygoers celebrating New Year.
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| Obama defends legacy in letter to American people Posted: 05 Jan 2017 03:10 AM PST  US President Barack Obama acclaimed his outgoing administration's accomplishments on Thursday in a letter to the American people defending a legacy on health care and other issues that his successor Donald Trump has vowed to dismantle. The White House released the president's letter along with reports from each of his cabinet secretaries describing the progress made since Obama took office eight years ago with the world's largest economy spiralling towards depression.
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| Iraqi general says 70 percent of east Mosul retaken from Islamic State Posted: 05 Jan 2017 02:13 AM PST  By Stephen Kalin and Isabel Coles ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqi forces have retaken around 70 percent of eastern Mosul from Islamic State militants and expect to reach the river bisecting the city in the coming days, Iraq's joint operations commander told Reuters. Lieutenant General Talib Shaghati, who is also head of the elite counter-terrorism service (CTS) spearheading the campaign to retake the northern city, said the cooperation of residents was helping them advance against Islamic State. In its 12th week, the offensive has gained momentum since Iraqi forces backed by a U.S.-led coalition renewed their push for the city a week ago, clearing several more eastern districts despite fierce resistance.
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| Iraqi forces gaining momentum in Mosul: U.S. coalition chief Posted: 04 Jan 2017 11:38 PM PST  (This version of the Jan 4th story corrects billion to million in the penultimate graph) By Stephen Kalin NORTH OF MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqi army and security forces are working better together in their battle against Islamic State militants and are gaining momentum in the 11-week campaign to retake Mosul, the commander of the U.S.-led coalition backing them said on Wednesday. During a helicopter tour over recently recaptured areas, U.S. Army Lieutenant-General Steve Townsend said coordination had been largely absent in the first two months of the campaign, when Iraqi forces made slow progress after breaching the city. Elite counter-terrorism troops entered Mosul from the east and seized a quarter of the city but troops on other fronts stalled, leading to a military pause last month.
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| Hope, and fear, as US Gulf allies look to Trump Posted: 04 Jan 2017 10:06 PM PST  US Gulf allies are looking at Donald Trump to tilt Washington in their favour, analysts say, but fear a dangerous void if the incoming president goes so far as to tear up the Iran nuclear deal. Washington's traditional allies in the Middle East are concerned, however, over the potential uncertainty of a radical move to go back on the deal with Iran.
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| Head of pro-IS Philippine militant group slain: police Posted: 04 Jan 2017 10:02 PM PST  Philippine security forces killed Thursday the leader of a Muslim militant group that has carried out deadly attacks on civilians to win support from Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria, authorities said. Mohammad Jaafar Maguid, founder and leader of Ansarul Khilafa Philippines, was tracked down and shot at a beach resort on the southern island of Mindanao shortly after midnight, while three "cohorts" were arrested, a police report said. Ansarul Khilafa is one of several violent Islamic militant groups on Mindanao, homeland of a large Filipino Muslim minority where a decades-old separatist rebellion has claimed more than 120,000 lives.
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| Today in History Posted: 04 Jan 2017 09:02 PM PST Today in History |
| Leader of Philippine group sympathetic to IS group killed Posted: 04 Jan 2017 07:15 PM PST MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A leader of suspected sympathizers of the Islamic State group was killed Thursday in a clash with Philippine police after resisting arrest at a beach resort in the south, officials said. |
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