Chattanooga Shooting: FBI Recovers Gunman's Disturbing Diary
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Swimming with the sharks: Photos of the Day: July 19
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The discovery of the diary comes as investigators also work to solve the mystery of Abdulazeez's actions in the days leading up to the deadly shooting. The family representative told ABC News Abdulazeez rented the silver Mustang Tuesday, showed up at the local mosque and took a friend on a “joy ride” until 3 a.m. He did not sleep at his parents’ home for the next two nights and the FBI is seeking to retrace his steps.
Chattanooga Shooting: FBI Recovers Gunman's Disturbing Diary
In photos selected Sunday by Wall Street Journal editors, a shark attacks during a surfing competition in South Africa, athletes compete at the Pan Am Games in Canada and more.
After the reopening of Cuba’s embassy in Washington on Monday, more substantial steps in normalizing U.S. ties with Havana will now largely depend on Congress.
A U.S. airstrike in eastern Afghanistan has killed at least seven Afghan soldiers, local officials said, an incident that threatens to strain relations between the allies fighting there.
A Turkish town on the Syrian border was struck by a terrorist attack, killing at least 27 people in what appears to be the deadliest attack along the strategically important frontier in more than two years.
Cuba’s flag joined those from over 150 other countries with which the U.S. has diplomatic ties hanging in the State Department lobby as diplomatic relations between the two countries officially resumed.
6 Police Killed in Afghanistanby webdesk@voanews.com (VOA News)
Officials in western Afghanistan said a roadside bomb blast killed six policemen Saturday in Herat province as they were patrolling on the first day of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr. The death toll was confirmed by the provincial governor's spokesman Ehsanullah Hayat, according to the French news agency AFP. The French news agency reports three policemen were also wounded in the explosion. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the explosion, but the blast...
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US Defense Chief in Israel on Trip to See Allies After Iran Dealby webdesk@voanews.com (VOA News)
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter is in Israel on the first leg of a trip to meet with allies in the region about the international nuclear deal with Iran and the ongoing fight against Islamic State militants. Carter is meeting Monday with Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon and will travel to northern Israel to review the situation in the Lebanese border area, "including the threat that Israel faces from Hezbollah," he told reporters. He is due to hold talks Tuesday with...
Gold Prices Fall to Five-Year Low in Asia Tradingby webdesk@voanews.com (Steve Herman)
What some traders described as a “mini flash crash” in early Monday trading in Asia drove the price of gold to its lowest level in five years, falling below $1,100 dollars an ounce. The spectacular plunge saw 30 billion dollars’ worth of short selling occurring within half an hour amid what are known as stop-loss selloffs: orders entered into the market automatically executed when a specific price is reached. “In the physical market this would not be possible because that would consume...
(TEHRAN, Iran)—Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Saturday a landmark nuclear deal won’t change his country’s policy toward the “arrogant” U.S., making his first public speech since the Islamic Republic’s historic pact with world powers.
Khamenei said a more wide-ranging agreement with America is unlikely, striking a different pose than moderate President Hassan Rouhani, who earlier said the Vienna accord could “step-by-step remove bricks from the wall of mistrust” between Iran and the U.S.
However, the ayatollah’s remarks also praised the Iranian negotiators who struck the deal. That likely means he won’t offer a major criticism of the deal as Iran’s parliament and its Supreme National Security Council, the nation’s highest security decision-making body, consider the agreement in the coming days.
“Our policy toward the arrogant U.S. government won’t change at all,” Khamenei said in an address carried live by state television. “We have no negotiations with America about various global and regional issues. We have no negotiations on bilateral issues.”
Khamenei’s speech, which he gave to a large crowd in Tehran to mark the end of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, stressed that Iran will continue to support its allies in the Middle East, including the Lebanese Hezbollah, Palestinian resistance groups and the Syrian government.
Iran calls its Lebanese ally Hezbollah a “resistance movement” while the U.S. classifies it as a terrorist group. Iran also continues to call for the destruction of Israel, which Khamenei described in his speech as a “terrorist, baby-killer government.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has strongly opposed the deal. The West has feared Iran’s nuclear program could allow it to build atomic weapons. Iran says its program is for peaceful purposes. The deal calls for limiting the program in exchange for lifting economic sanctions.
Prominent Iranian analyst Davoud Hermidas Bavand said Khamenei’s remarks were primarily for domestic consumption as a “detente in Iran-U.S. relations is an inevitable consequence of the nuclear deal.”
“Khamenei sought to pacify hard-liners who are worried about rapprochement with Washington,” said Bavand, a former diplomat and a professor of international law at Science and Research University in Tehran. “The deal has increased Rouhani’s popularity and Khamenei wants to create a balance and boost the morale of disappointed hard-liners.”
Bavand said Iran and the U.S. now share some common interests in Afghanistan and Iraq, including over the ongoing fight against the militant Islamic State group. He also said that Khamenei’s carefully worded speech likely contains a warning to Rouhani to slow down the pace of detente with Washington.
Conservative politician Hamid Reza Taraqi said Khamenei sought to “nullify efforts by the U.S. to damage Iran’s anti-arrogance stance.”
“Americans have tried to suggest that Iran has given up its anti-U.S. stance in order to tarnish Tehran’s image in the eyes of its supporters. The leader’s remarks nullified that,” he said.
Taraqi accused Rouhani and his moderate allies of “seeking to pave the way for normalization of relations with the U.S.”
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NATO to build navy base in Ukraineby The European Union Times
NATO wants to help the Ukrainian Navy. On July 16, members of the Advisory Group of the North Atlantic Alliance continued analyzing the prospect for building a training facility for the Naval Forces of Ukraine in the city of Nikolaev.
Yesterday, the delegation visited the frigate “Getman Sahaidachny” in Odessa. NATO experts discussed “the development of a pilot project to restore the capacity of the Ukrainian Navy.”
Victor Murakhovsky, chief editor of “Arsenal of the Fatherland”:
“For NATO, I think, there is a more attractive idea here – they want to build their own base on the coast of Ukraine, rather than to restore the Ukrainian Navy. As of today, the Ukrainian Navy can hardly be referred to as such, because they do not have even second and third rank ships, let alone the first rank. In other words, they can not control even the near sea zone. What they have in the structure of their navy is boats, their former training ship “Sahaidachny” and that’s pretty much it. I really don’t know how NATO experts can help them.”
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has held talks with his counterparts from Ukraine, Germany, and the United States about the situation in eastern Ukraine.
The administration of U.S. President Barack Obama has submitted the recently negotiated Iranian nuclear deal to the U.S. Congress for its review.
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Thirty Years Later, Soviet-Era MI6 Double Agent Describes Escape From KGBby support@pangea-cms.com (Natalya Golitsina, Tom Balmforth)
Thirty years after MI6 double agent Oleg Gordiyevsky, a colonel in the KGB, escaped from the Soviet Union, the man regarded as the West's most valuable Cold War intelligence asset tells RFE/RL the tale of his escape.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter says the Iran nuclear deal agreed to last week does not take eliminate military action as an option for stopping Iran from obtaining an atomic weapon.
Investigative Force: Khadija Ismayilovaby support@pangea-cms.com (Charles Recknagel)
Investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova made a name for herself uncovering official corruption in Azerbaijan, where criticism of the government is rarely tolerated and frequently punished. This week she faces trial.
The UN Security Council unanimously approved a resolution on July 20 that allows the lifting of international sanctions against Iran to begin.
ISIS Says It Carried Out Bombing That Killed 100 in Iraqby OMAR AL-JAWOSHY and ANNE BARNARD
The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a bombing in eastern Iraq, as Iraqi officials on Saturday said that the death toll had risen to 100 people killed, with 20 more missing and more than 100 wounded.
Saudi security forces have conducted a nationwide dragnet that highlights the country’s fears regarding jihadists.
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Mr. Missfelder, foreign affairs spokesman for the governing Christian Democrats, was known for his commitment to the trans-Atlantic partnership and to Israel.
The affiliate, which calls itself Sinai Province, said that it carried out an attack on military checkpoints in North Sinai that killed five members of the government’s forces.
A year after the war started in southeastern Ukraine, the Russian military has largely abandoned efforts to disguise its activities along the border.
The strike in the eastern province of Logar, which killed at least seven Afghan soldiers, is under investigation, an American military spokesman said.
The opening in Havana on Monday was a watershed moment of transition for the two nations as they lean toward closer diplomatic ties.
The resolution, required for the nuclear accord to become effective, sets up a potential showdown over the accord in the United States Congress.
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It is understood that the 17-second clip showing the Queen apparently giving a Nazi salute as a child was copied by a researcher with ‘access to the royal archives’ several years ago.
A new Channel 4 documentary set to air next week will revisit the links between Prince Philip's older sisters, three of whom married leading German aristocrats, and the Nazi party.
WATER MARK REMOVED BY DM..** THE SUN WORLD EXCUSIVE 18th July 2015**..THE Queen and Queen Mum raise a Nazi salute in an astonishing home movie shot at Balmoral and seen today for the first time...The film shows the then Princess Elizabeth, just seven, larking about in 1933.
Ash Carter visits Israel in attempt to ease concerns over Iran deal by Agence France-Presse
Israel was US defence secretary Carter’s first stop on a regional tour, following last week’s historic agreement between Iran and world powers
US defence secretary Ashton Carter visited Israel on Monday in a bid to ease concerns over the nuclear deal with Iran, saying the Jewish state remains the “bedrock of American strategy” in the region.
Israel was Carter’s first stop on a regional tour following last week’s historic agreement between Iran and world powers, underlining the importance of the relationship between the two countries despite frictions over the accord.
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Section of I-10 ends up in floodwaters below amid heavy desert rain; motorists must now detourhundreds of miles out of their way
Your world in 90 seconds
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ISIS recently used devices filled with chemical agents against Kurdish forces and civilians in both Iraq and Syria, a joint investigation by two independent organizations has found.
The price of gold falls 4% to its lowest in more than five years as talk of a rise in US interest rates this year led investors to sell the precious metal.
Eight Afghan soldiers believed killed by US helicopter strike in "friendly fire" incident near capital Kabul.
Israeli defense minister warmly welcomes US Pentagon chief Carter
New details emerge about Mohammod Abdulazeez's movements hours before attack.
UN Security Council unanimously endorses nuclear deal between Iran and 6 world powers
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UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council on Monday endorsed a deal to curb Iran's nuclear program in return for sanctions relief, but it will be able to re-impose U.N. penalties during the next decade if Tehran breaches the historic agreement.
California I-10 bridge collapse: Travel woes that could lastby By ANDREW DALTON and TAMI ABDOLLAH
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- All traffic along a major freeway connecting California and Arizona was blocked indefinitely when a bridge over a desert wash collapsed during heavy rain, and the roadway in the opposite direction suffered severe damage, authorities said....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sen. John McCain said Monday that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump doesn't need to apologize to him for remarks about his captivity in Vietnam, but should tell veterans he's sorry....
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter speaks to the media on a military aircraft on Sunday, en route to Tel Aviv from Andrews Air Force Base. (Pool/Reuters)
TEL AVIV — Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter began a tour Sunday of Middle Eastern nations whose alliances with the United States have been strained by President Obama’s nuclear agreement with Iran.
Carter is the highest-level U.S. official to visit Israel and Saudi Arabia since six world powers struck the deal, designed to prohibit Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon.
The nuclear agreement is viewed with alarm in Israel, where officials fear the deal won’t effectively block Iran’s path to a bomb, and in Sunni-led Persian Gulf nations, which worry it will enhance the Shiite power’s influence across the Middle East.
Pentagon officials say Carter’s visit was planned prior to the conclusion of nuclear talks and is not intended as a reassurance tour. But this week’s meetings in Tel Aviv and in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, will focus in part on plans for countering Iran’s support for common adversaries, which include the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei promised this past weekend that Tehran would continue its support for allies in Yemen and Syria, where Iranian support has helped President Bashar al-Assad survive four years of civil war.
American officials are also stressing that while diplomacy prevailed this month, they will not rule out potential use of unilateral military action if Iran should violate the terms of the nuclear agreement.
“One of the reasons this deal is a good one is that it does nothing to prevent the military option . . .which we are preserving and continually improving,” Carter told reporters en route to Tel Aviv. “But the point of the nuclear deal is to get the result of no Iranian nuclear weapon without carrying out a military strike.”
He said he did not expect to change Israeli officials’ minds about the deal and said the two countries could “agree to disagree.”
Plans for joint steps to contain Iran are unlikely to diminish criticism of the deal that Carter will hear in talks Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is expected to lobby U.S. lawmakers to vote against the deal following a 60-day congressional review period. Obama has vowed to veto any such vote.
“This is an allied relationship,” a senior defense official said on the condition of anonymity. “And allied relationships bend; they do not break.”
Brian Katulis, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, said the two countries’ ability to effectively plan steps to contain Iran’s conventional and proxy threat may be impeded by a “cloud of mistrust” that has engulfed bilateral ties as a result of the nuclear negotiations and other actions such as Netanyahu’s March address to Congress, where he outlined Israel’s worries about Iran.
Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon has suggested that arrangements for U.S. military aid to Israel may eventually need to be modified to adapt to the post-deal realities of the region. Under a current agreement that expires after Obama leaves office, the United States provides Israel around $3 billion a year in annual military aid, in addition to financing for missile defense systems.
But Israeli officials appear to want to defer discussions about future aid arrangements until after Congress votes on the nuclear deal in September.
Ilan Goldenberg, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, said the two countries had generally been able to separate military cooperation from political differences.
“If a nuclear Iran is an existential threat to Israel, so is major damage to the U.S.-Israel relationship,” he said. “In fact, I think it’s a greater threat.”
Leaders in Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, fear that Iran’s access to more than $100 billion in frozen assets, once sanctions are lifted, will enable it to fund Shiite militant groups such as the Houthis, which Riyadh and other Arab nations are now battling with U.S. support.
Despite American assurances, gulf nations also fret that the United States is turning away from the region, which remains in turmoil four years after the Arab Spring. In keeping with the kingdom’s traditions, Saudi opposition has mostly been voiced privately.
Carter said he would focus in meetings with King Salman and Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman on enactment of commitments made at a summit of gulf leaders in May. Steps agreed upon at the Camp David gathering include enhanced U.S. support for Saudi Arabia’s cyber-, terror and maritime defenses. But officials say no major weapons packages or military initiatives will be unveiled in either country.
The Obama administration must balance Saudi Arabia’s desire for enhanced military might with Israel’s insistence that it maintain its military edge over others in the region.
Carter will also visit Jordan, where talks will focus on the Islamic State, whose military successes and widespread appeal have transformed the region as much as the nuclear deal promises to do. In Iraq, the United States and Iran are in a de-facto alliance against the group, an uncomfortable reality for Riyadh as much as it is for Washington.
Katulis said that both Israel and Saudi Arabia, which remain reliant on American technology and security guarantees, remained tightly allied with the United States despite the recent political disagreements.
“It’s not like these two countries have many great alternatives when it comes to the types of things the United States provides,” he said.
Missy Ryan writes about the Pentagon, military issues, and national security for The Washington Post.
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