| Trump’s continuing crowd obsession demonstrates perils of Twitter presidency Posted: 23 Jan 2017 04:23 PM PST  It was a castoff pro-football player who offered some wise advice to President Trump on Monday, after a first few days in office marred by squabbles over how many people attended his inauguration. "Yo @POTUS even I know to stay away from the notifications section on twitter," wrote former Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel, who has struggled with fame and substance abuse. "S— will drive you crazy," Manziel added.
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| The Latest: Trump meets with congressional leaders Posted: 23 Jan 2017 02:54 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump (all times local):
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| White House opens door to cooperation with Russian in Syria Posted: 23 Jan 2017 02:47 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Monday opened the door to cooperating with Russia "or anyone else" to combat the Islamic State group in Syria, suggesting it could reverse a previous refusal to coordinate military action with Moscow as long as it backs the Syrian government.
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| Trump spokesman says negative coverage is ‘demoralizing’ to Trump Posted: 23 Jan 2017 02:24 PM PST  White House press secretary Sean Spicer, holding his first formal briefing with reporters, promised Monday not to lie to the press but complained about "demoralizing" news coverage. Spicer also said President Trump would soon unveil a Supreme Court nominee and a new plan for battling ISIS, but hedged on a controversial pledge to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Two days after reading an angry statement attacking the media coverage of Trump's inauguration, Spicer spent 78 minutes in a packed White House briefing room taking roughly 60 questions about the new president's plans and priorities and a few queries about his own role as the government's top spokesman.
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| White House denies Trump filled front rows with supporters during CIA HQ visit Posted: 23 Jan 2017 02:17 PM PST  White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Monday rejected reports that President Trump's visit to CIA headquarters during the weekend hurt his already troubled relationship with the U.S. intelligence community. On Saturday, Trump gave a freewheeling speech at the CIA while standing before a wall memorializing fallen officers. Among other comments, he ripped the media for downplaying the size of the crowd at his inauguration and boasted that most of the people in the room had voted for him.
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| White House contests report that Trump bungled visit to CIA HQ Posted: 23 Jan 2017 02:01 PM PST White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Monday rejected reports that President Trump's visit to the CIA's headquarters over the weekend actually hurt his already troubled relationship with the U.S. intelligence community. On Saturday, Trump gave a freewheeling, campaign-like speech to the intelligence community while standing before a wall memorializing fallen officers. Former CIA Director John Brennan called the appearance shameful, and CBS reported that the visit was "uncomfortable" and not welcomed enthusiastically by the CIA officials there. |
| Oil slips as U.S. drilling recovery offsets OPEC-led cuts Posted: 23 Jan 2017 01:33 PM PST  By Devika Krishna Kumar NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell 1 percent on Monday as signs of a strong recovery in U.S. drilling largely overshadowed news that OPEC and non-OPEC producers were on track to meet output reduction goals. Ministers representing members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-OPEC producers said at a meeting in Vienna on Sunday that of the almost 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) they had agreed to remove from the market starting on Jan. 1, 1.5 million bpd had already been cut. "Despite comments over the weekend at the OPEC compliance meeting that cuts in OPEC/non-OPEC production were ahead of schedule, a sharp rise in U.S. rig counts and talk of large increases in capital spending seem to be souring the bullish mood," said Phil Flynn, analyst at Chicago-based brokerage Price Futures Group.
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| U.S. military denies coordinating Syria air strikes with Russia Posted: 23 Jan 2017 01:21 PM PST  The Pentagon on Monday denied that it had coordinated air strikes with Russia in Syria, after Russia's defense ministry said the United States had provided coordinates for Islamic State militants. The Russian defense ministry said the Russian military had received coordinates of Islamic State targets near al-Bab, Syria from the "American side" of the U.S.-led coalition fighting the militant group on Jan. 22.
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| Iraqi forces claim recapture of eastern Mosul after 100 days of fighting Posted: 23 Jan 2017 01:18 PM PST  By Maher Chmaytelli and Saif Hameed BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi officials said on Monday government forces had taken complete control of eastern Mosul, 100 days after the start of their U.S.-backed campaign to dislodge Islamic State militants from the city. The deputy parliament speaker announced the capture of the east of the city, Islamic State's last major stronghold in Iraq, after a meeting with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. "We completed the total liberation of the left bank of Mosul and this is a gift to the Iraqi people," said Sheikh Humam Hamoudi in a statement.
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| U.N. expresses concern for 750,000 civilians remaining in western Mosul Posted: 23 Jan 2017 01:17 PM PST BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The United Nations expressed "deep concern" on Tuesday about 750,000 civilians living in western Mosul, ahead of a U.S.-backed offensive to dislodge Islamic State from this area. "The reports from inside western Mosul are distressing," Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, Lise Grande, said in a statement. "The prices of basic food and supplies are soaring ... many families without income are eating only once a day. Others are being forced to burn furniture to stay warm. ... |
| Creative Ways Hospitals Reach Diverse Populations Posted: 23 Jan 2017 12:09 PM PST In the past five decades, about 59 million immigrants have come to the U.S., and that's one reason "it's in everyone's best interest to develop and promote culturally diverse patient services," says Marisol Romany, manager of language services and cultural development at Orlando Health, which runs six acute care hospitals in Florida and is affiliated with two other facilities. Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck, New Jersey, provides patient navigators for Asian patients -- many of them first-generation immigrants -- to guide them through registration, help schedule their tests, take them to their appointments and explain every step in the patient's native language. |
| Iraq premier orders probe into violations by troops in Mosul Posted: 23 Jan 2017 11:48 AM PST  BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's prime minister on Monday ordered an investigation into violations of human rights and other abuses purportedly committed by government troops and paramilitary forces battling the Islamic State group to retake the city of Mosul.
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| After women's marches, can numbers translate to real change? Posted: 23 Jan 2017 11:42 AM PST  DENVER (AP) — Deb Szeman, a self-described "homebody," had never participated in a demonstration before hopping on an overnight bus from her home in Charlotte, North Carolina, to attend the women's march on Washington.
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| The Latest: Trump willing to work with Russia against IS Posted: 23 Jan 2017 11:26 AM PST  BEIRUT (AP) — The latest on Syria talks that are being held in Kazakhstan and developments on the ground in the war-torn country (all times local):
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| France FM in Saudi to reaffirm 'partnership' Posted: 23 Jan 2017 11:23 AM PST  France's Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday to reaffirm the allies' "strategic partnership", as European concerns mount over US President Donald Trump's foreign policies. Ayrault, on his first ministerial visit to the kingdom, "will discuss the main regional issues, particularly the situations in Yemen, Iraq, Libya and Syria", the French foreign ministry said in a statement.
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| Russian bombers hit Islamic State near besieged Syrian army enclave Posted: 23 Jan 2017 11:12 AM PST Russian jets pounded Islamic State in the eastern Syrian province of Deir al-Zor on Monday, seeking to thwart a full-blown assault by the militants against the last district in the region still held by the Damascus government. Six TU-22 strategic bombers carried out air strikes against Islamic State targets near the city of Deir al-Zor, Russia's defense ministry said in a statement. The long-range bombers took off from Russian territory, it said, a rare occurrence as Russia usually launches bombing runs from its air base in the Syrian province of Latakia. |
| Some Mosul residents face new fears after Islamic State rule Posted: 23 Jan 2017 09:57 AM PST  By Michael Georgy MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - Mohamed Mahmoud is relieved he no longer has to watch Islamic State militants hang corpses from electricity poles, now that Iraqi forces have cleared the group from his east Mosul district. Like other Iraqis, he worries that destructive forces like sectarianism, which already provoked one civil war since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, will destabilize Iraq even if Islamic State is completely removed from Mosul. The hardline jihadists were welcomed by some fellow Sunni Muslims when they seized Mosul in 2014 because the community, a majority in the city but a minority in Iraq, felt marginalized by the Shi'ite-led government in Baghdad.
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| IS expel residents to defend river bank in Mosul Posted: 23 Jan 2017 09:53 AM PST  The Islamic State group expelled civilians from their homes along the Tigris on Mosul's west bank, apparently bracing for a cross-river attack on their bastion by Iraqi forces, residents said Monday. "The group forced us to leave our homes... without allowing us to take our belongings," a resident of Al-Maidan, a neighbourhood on the city's jihadist-held west bank, told AFP. Iraqi forces have all but completed their reconquest of Mosul's east bank and commanders are turning their sights to the western side of the city, which is expected to see bitter street battles.
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| Iraq builds new airport in Karbala to handle pilgrims Posted: 23 Jan 2017 09:39 AM PST  Iraqi officials laid the cornerstone of a new airport near Karbala Monday, mostly to handle the millions of pilgrims who flock to the holy Shiite city each year. The Central Euphrates Airport will be located some 35 kilometres (20 miles) south of Karbala, Ahmed Tobal, an engineer with the Khayrat al-Sibtein company supervising the project, told AFP. Khayrat al-Sibtein belongs to the Imam Hussein shrine, the Karbala mausoleum of the Prophet Mohammed's grandson which is one of the holiest sites in Shiite Islam.
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| Glad to see Obama go, Gulf Arabs expect Trump to counter Iran Posted: 23 Jan 2017 09:24 AM PST  By William Maclean DUBAI (Reuters) - Gulf Arab states are quietly applauding the arrival in the White House of a hawkish leader opposed to their adversary Iran, even if they suspect Donald Trump's short temper and abrasive Tweets may at times heighten tensions in the combustible Middle East. While many countries around the world listened with concern to his protectionist inaugural address, Gulf Arab officials appear optimistic. In Gulf Arab eyes, that involves above all checking what they see as a surge of Iranian support for paramilitary allies in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon and for fellow Shi'ite Muslims in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia's oil-producing Eastern Province.
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| Swiss asylum requests plunge 31 percent in 2016 Posted: 23 Jan 2017 06:55 AM PST  Requests for asylum in Switzerland plunged by nearly a third to around 27,200 last year after authorities closed the Balkan land route used by thousands to flee hot spots in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, the SEM migration agency said on Monday. In December alone, requests for asylum fell 64 percent from a year earlier, bringing the full-year drop to 31 percent after the Balkan route was interrupted in March and Swiss authorities took a tough line on the border with Italy last summer. Neutral and landlocked Switzerland got just a fraction of the roughly 1.3 million requests for asylum across Europe last year as countries continued to process the wave of people that arrived in 2015, SEM said in a statement.
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| ISIS Damages Iconic Monuments in Ancient Syrian City, Reports Say Posted: 23 Jan 2017 05:43 AM PST  A month after retaking control of Palmyra, the Islamic State group (also called ISIS or Daesh) has allegedly committed new destruction and executions in the ancient Syrian city. Two of Palmyra's iconic monuments, the Tetrapylon and the Roman theater, have experienced "significant damage," according to the Cultural Heritage Initiatives (CHI) of the American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR), which obtained new satellite images of the site from DigitalGlobe. Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights alleges that ISIS is again using the archaeological site for mass executions, killing a group of 12 prisoners on Jan. 19.
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| Iraq PM orders investigation into abuses reported in Mosul battle Posted: 23 Jan 2017 04:54 AM PST  Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Monday ordered an investigation into allegations that members of Iraq's security forces and a Shi'ite paramilitary group had kidnapped and abused civilians in the campaign to take back Mosul from Islamic State. Abadi also called on field commanders to make sure no human rights violations were committed under the cover of the war operations, according to an official statement. A recording circulated on social media and on the Qatar-based Al Jazeera network on Saturday perpetrating to show police officers summarily executing three unarmed men in a district of Mosul retaken from Islamic State.
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| Prices soar, families use river water as Islamic State besieges Syrian city Posted: 23 Jan 2017 03:55 AM PST Food prices have soared and families are drinking untreated river water in the Syrian city of Deir al-Zor, the U.N. children's agency UNICEF said on Monday, as a siege imposed by Islamic State threatens tens of thousands of civilians. Islamic State militants launched a fierce assault on Syrian government-held areas of Deir al-Zor earlier this month, capturing an area used to supply the city through air drops as the assault cut the state-controlled area in two. |
| Soccer-2019 Asian Cup to begin on Jan. 5 Posted: 23 Jan 2017 03:25 AM PST The 2019 Asian Cup will begin on Jan. 5 and will be played over 28 days across eight stadiums in the United Arab Emirates, the continent's soccer governing body said on Monday. The Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi will play host to the opening game and the final on Feb. 1 in the region's premier tournament for the member nations, the Asian Football Confederation said in a statement. Three stadiums in Abu Dhabi and two each in Dubai and Al Ain and one in Sharjah will host the tournament, which will feature 24 teams for the first time after expanding from 16 in the last edition in Australia in 2015. |
| Today in History Posted: 22 Jan 2017 09:01 PM PST Today in History |
| Trump security adviser probed for Russia links: report Posted: 22 Jan 2017 07:32 PM PST  A top military counsel to President Donald Trump is under scrutiny by US counterintelligence agents who have probed the new national security adviser's communications with Russian officials, the Wall Street Journal said Sunday. The paper reported that Michael Flynn, a retired three-star general who was among senior White House staff sworn in Sunday, has come under investigation as part of a counterintelligence examination of communications between Russian government members and Trump's inner circle.
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