Dirty bomb: does ISIS seek ultimate threat? | Victories over Islamic State give Syria Kurds claim to bigger role | ISIS 'Broken' in Tal Abyad: Kurds Claim Victory in Key Syrian Border Town | ISIS News Review: » Offering Services, ISIS Ensconces Itself in Seized Territories

June 16, 2015

Image: Kurdish fighters gesture while carrying their parties' flags in Tel Abyad of Raqqa governorate after they said they took control of the area

ISIS 'Broken' in Tal Abyad: Kurds Claim Victory in Key Syrian Border Town

Victories over Islamic State give Syria Kurds claim to bigger role

Dirty bomb: does ISIS seek ultimate threat?
Tuesday June 16th, 2015 at 12:43 PM

Story highlights

Radioactive sources acquired by ISIS cannot be used to create a nuclear bomb
The real threat from dirty bombs lies in their psychological and economic effects
Economic costs associated with a dirty bomb would be considerable

Matthew Moran is deputy director, and Christopher Hobbs is co-director of the the Centre for Science and Security Studies at King's College London, specializing on issues related to nuclear proliferation and security. The views expressed in this commentary are solely those of the writers.

(CNN)Last week, the news emerged that ISIS terrorists have reportedly obtained radioactive materials from hospitals and research facilities captured in Iraq with a view to developing a radioactive "dirty bomb."

Unsurprisingly, the prospect of ISIS dabbling with unconventional weapons has been greeted with considerable concern. The Iraqi government has appealed to the United Nations for international help to "stave off the threat" in this regard and Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop recently acknowledged that NATO countries are deeply concerned by the situation.

But what can ISIS actually do with these newly acquired radioactive materials? What is the nature of the threat?

First off, it is important to emphasize that radioactive sources of the type acquired by ISIS cannot be used to create a nuclear bomb. These sources are mostly used for medical research and treatments such as radiotherapy, and are completely unsuited to the development of nuclear weapons.

This said, the harmful effects of these sources, stemming from their chemical toxicity and radioactive properties, can be exploited in other ways. If inhaled or ingested, for example, these materials can be lethal. This was evidenced by the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko in 2006, when just a fraction of a gram of radioactive polonium proved enough to kill the former KGB officer.

Fortunately, achieving this type of internal exposure on a large scale would prove enormously challenging for a terrorist group. Consequently, attention has focused on the use of these materials by ISIS in a dirty bomb.

Combining radioactive materials with conventional explosives, this is a bomb with an edge. A dirty bomb would spread radioactive materials, contaminating the local area and any individuals in the nearby vicinity. Crucially, however, this contamination would be mostly external in nature and, if the attack was promptly identified as being radioactive, decontamination of individuals would be a relatively straightforward process. The exposure time of anyone affected would be limited and the negative health effects mitigated.

Indeed, with a dirty bomb, members of the public are more likely to be harmed by the impact of the conventional explosives than that of the radioactive materials.

This point was borne out by a series of tests conducted over a four-year period by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) in the Negev Desert. As part of this project - details of which were recently published by Haaretz -- some 20 devices laced with radioactive materials were detonated and their effects observed. The IDF concluded that a dirty bomb attack poses little physical danger beyond the conventional blast.

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Residents examine a damaged mosque after an Iraqi Air Force bombing in the ISIS-seized city of Falluja, Iraq, on Sunday, May 31. At least six were killed and nine others wounded during the bombing on Sunday.

The real threat from dirty bombs lies in their psychological and economic effects -- a fact that often sees these devices described as weapons of mass disruption rather than weapons of mass destruction.

From a psychological perspective, for example, nuclear weapons are associated with death and destruction on an enormous scale, and dirty bombs benefit from association with these more sophisticated weapons simply because they incorporate radioactive materials.

There is an important distinction to be made between nuclear and radiological materials but this is often lost in media reports and commentary on these issues. In any case, a dirty bomb detonated in a major urban center would be sure to cause widespread fear and panic.

The economic costs associated with a dirty bomb would also be considerable. A 2011 Congressional Research Service report, for example, suggested that the clean-up after such an attack could figure in the billions of dollars, if detonated in a high-value area such as city center or port. Little wonder, then, that the security of radiological sources has emerged as a politically salient issue in recent years.

Ultimately, while the thought of ISIS using dirty bombs to further its terrorist agenda is unsettling, the threat should not be exaggerated, particularly when it comes to its impact on public health. These are not the nuclear weapons that ISIS supposedly desires, and will do nothing to further the group's ambitions in this regard.

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Michelle Obama to Muslim girls: 'Your story is my story'
Tuesday June 16th, 2015 at 12:42 PM

During a trip Tuesday to an all-girls school in London, first lady Michelle Obama told a crowd of young Muslim girls that her struggle as a black woman growing up on the South Side of Chicago is much like theirs.

“Girls like you inspire me and impress me every single day,” Mrs. Obama said at the Mulberry School for Girls in London’s Tower Hamlets, The U.K.’s Daily Mirror reported. “When I look

out at all these young women, I see myself. In so many ways, your story is my story.”

“Maybe you see the news and see people talking about your religion, and wonder if anyone will ever see beyond your headscarf,” she added.

The first lady stressed the importance of working hard and told the girls that in her experience growing up in a working class neighborhood, sometimes you have to go the extra mile to achieve your dreams.

“My parents told me I could grow up to do anything, but only if I worked hard in school,” she said.

Mrs. Obama is visiting the U.K. for two days with her mother and two teenage daughters, Malia and Sasha, The Daily Mirror reported.

She met with Prince Harry for tea at Kensington Palace Tuesday morning and is expected to meet with Prime Minister David Cameron later Tuesday.

All lions, tigers in Tbilisi zoo flooding found dead
Tuesday June 16th, 2015 at 12:40 PM

TBILISI, Georgia – All of the lions and tigers that were missing after severe flooding swamped Tbilisi's zoo have been found dead. One jaguar remained unaccounted for, but zoo staff said they have little hope that it survived.

The discovery of the last of the missing lions and tigers on Tuesday as the waters receded eased fears in the capital of Georgia, an ex-Soviet republic, that some of the big cats were still wandering the hills of the city.

The human death toll rose to 16 on Tuesday when the body of a missing woman was found in a children's park, the police said. Seven people are still missing after an intense downpour that began late Saturday turned a stream that runs through the city into a raging torrent that destroyed houses and tore up roads. About 40 families lost their homes.

Zoo spokeswoman Mziya Sharashidze said eight lions, all seven of the zoo's tigers and at least two of its three jaguars were killed. Only two of the zoo's 14 bears survived, while nine of its 17 penguins died, she said.

Ivane Daraseliya, chief veterinarian for the zoo, said staff on Tuesday found the carcasses of three lions, a tiger and two wolves.

A young white lion named Shumba, one of the zoo's most beloved attractions, was found shot in the head on zoo territory on Sunday. Most of the animals appeared to have been killed when water and mud inundated their enclosures.

The flooding also killed hundreds of homeless dogs at a private shelter near the zoo, shelter staff said.

Theresa May says the Mediterranean migrant crisis is 'reaching our borders' - Europe - World
Tuesday June 16th, 2015 at 12:38 PM

Theresa May is in Luxembourg to thrash out an agreement with EU interior ministers about where newly rescued migrants should end up in Europe.

The European Commission has proposed a quota system for European countries to take the pressure of Greece, Italy, and Malta – which currently take the bulk of refugees under existing rules.

Britain has set itself against accepting any refugees, however, and says development aid and security operations to stop groups from crossing the sea would be more effective.

"Of course the crisis in terms of migrants who cross the Mediterranean is a problem in two ways. First of all, obviously, lives are being put at risk but secondly, as we see in Calais and elsewhere, it's putting great pressure on European towns and cities which is even reaching to our borders, although we are not part of the borderless Schengen area,” Ms May told the Press Association before the meeting.

“To deal with this issue in the long term we need to go after the criminal gangs who are plying a terrible, callous trade in human lives.

“We also need to break the link between people getting into the boats and reaching Europe. That means returning people to North Africa or elsewhere, or to their home countries; so that they see that there is no merit in this journey.

"It also means development work in the countries of origin so that we can ensure people no longer have the same incentive to try to get into these boats and risk their lives."

Ms May skirted around Britain's opposition to taking any refugees, which was summarised by a Government spokesperson last month as: "We will oppose any EU Commission proposals to introduce a non-voluntary quota."

Renewed EU operations to rescue operations have stopped 3,000 people from drowning in less than two months, the Independent reported earlier today.

However, the Guardian says Britain is due to withdraw the main warship it had sent to help migrants within the next three weeks as the media furore dies down.

The Government has previously said it believes saving the lives of drowning people acts as a “pull” factor on migrants and encourages them to make the journey.

Deaths were significantly higher this year compared to last year, but have died down since a renewed rescue push by EU countries.

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Taliban Warns ISIS to Stay Out of Afghanistan
Tuesday June 16th, 2015 at 12:22 PM

KABUL — The Afghan Taliban on Tuesday warned ISIS militants to stay out of Afghanistan in a rare open letter to the extremists that have conquered swathes of the Middle East.

The Islamic Emirate — the Taliban's name for Afghanistan — only allows the struggle "against foreign invaders to be under the leadership of" the Taliban, read the letter signed by the group's deputy leader Akhtar Mohammad Mansour and shared with NBC News.

"Jihadi groups across the Muslim world are struggling for Islam and they have their own organizational structure," continued the letter, which was addressed to ISIS' leader, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi. "If your meddling in their affairs creates division, it will cause in bloodshed within these organizations."

The lengthy statement was issued amid reports of deepening divisions within the Afghan Taliban, with some commanders supporting peace talks with the government and others vowing to continue fighting until the last foreign solder left the country. In January, ISIS' media arm declared Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan to be one region called the province of Khorasan, prompting some fighters to pledge allegiance to the group.

According to the government of the eastern province of Nangahar, around 100 families have been displaced by fighting among militants in the last three weeks. About 150 fighters have been killed during that time, a spokesman for the provincial government told NBC News.

Putin says Russia beefing up nuclear arsenal
Tuesday June 16th, 2015 at 12:21 PM

KUBINKA, Russia President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday Russia would add more than 40 new intercontinental ballistic missiles to its nuclear arsenal this year, a remark that is likely to increase alarm in the West.

Putin made his announcement a day after Russian officials denounced a U.S. plan to station tanks and heavy weapons in NATO states on Russia's border as the most aggressive act by Washington since the Cold War.

Tension has resurged between Russia and Western powers over Moscow's role in the Ukraine crisis, in which pro-Russian separatist forces have seized a large part of the country's east after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in early 2014.

The West, led by the European Union and United States, have imposed punitive economic sanctions on Russia.

"More than 40 new intercontinental ballistic missiles able to overcome even the most technically advanced anti-missile defense systems will be added to the make-up of the nuclear arsenal this year," Putin, flanked by army officers, said in a speech at an arms fair west of Moscow.

Intercontinental ballistic missiles have a minimum range of more than 5,500 km (3,400 miles). Putin gave no more details of which missiles were being added to the nuclear arsenal.

He has said several times that Russia must maintain its nuclear deterrence to counter what he sees as growing security threats, and Moscow reserves the right to deploy nuclear weapons in Crimea.

Such comments have helped whip up anti-Western sentiment and rally support behind Putin but have caused concern in the West, particularly countries on or near Russia's borders.

FEARS OF A NEW ARMS RACE

Russian officials warned on Monday that Moscow would retaliate if the United States carried out its plan to store heavy military equipment in eastern Europe, including in the Baltic states that were once in the Soviet Union.

"The feeling is that our colleagues from NATO countries are pushing us into an arms race," RIA news agency quoted Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov as saying during "Army 2015", a fair at which arms and other military equipment are on show.

Putin has said Moscow will not be drawn into a new arms race although Russia is modernizing its armed forces. Putin said in his speech that 70 percent of the military equipment in use would by 2020 be the most up-to-date and top-quality.

But lavish military spending is weighing heavily on Russia's national budget at a time when the economy is sliding toward recession, hit by low oil prices and Western sanctions.

The Kremlin portrays spending on the Russian arms sector as a driver of economic growth, but Putin's critics say it is excessive and comes at the expense of social needs.

(Additional reporting and writing by Gabriela Baczynska, Editing by Timothy Heritage and Mark Heinrich)

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France's Le Pen announces far-right bloc of anti-EU MEPs
Tuesday June 16th, 2015 at 12:20 PM

BBC News - Home

French National Front leader Marine Le Pen has announced she has formed a political group of far-right parties in the European Parliament.

The anti-EU Europe of Nations and Freedoms bloc includes Hungary's Jobbik party and the Freedom Party of Dutch politician Geert Wilders.

The grouping also has the support of UK MEP Janice Atkinson, expelled from UKIP in March over an expenses scandal.

Forming the group will give far-right MEPs more influence in the parliament.

It will also mean that the new bloc's members have access to millions of euros in extra funding as well as more staff and speaking time.

To be valid, a group needs 25 MEPs from at least seven different nationalities.

'European resistance'

Mr Wilders, whose anti-Islam rhetoric has seen him face legal action, said that the formation was a "historic moment".

"Today it's the beginning of our liberation, our D-Day," he told reporters, adding that the new bloc would be the voice of the new "European resistance", defending their countries' sovereignty. The anti-Islam leader said the bloc would fight mass immigration as well as "Islamisation".

Eurosceptic and far-right parties made gains in last year's European Parliament elections, in what France's PM Manuel Valls called a "political earthquake".

Until now the National Front (FN) has struggled to find members from enough countries to form a group.

But it secured support from MEPs in Italy's Northern League, Austria's Freedom Party, Vlaams Belang from Belgium and the Polish Congress of the New Right.

'Anti-Semitism'

The new group represented "a political force that will go far beyond our previous situation," Ms Le Pen told reporters in Brussels on Tuesday.

She said it would be "strong, determined, coherent and ambitious".

The group could qualify for around €17.5m (£12.6m) of EU money over the next four years,according to calculations by the think tank Open Europe.

The FN leader was praised by Ms Atkinson, who said Ms Le Pen was "leading the offence" against what was happening in the European Union.

Ms Atkinson was expelled by UKIP for "bringing the party into disrepute" amid newspaper allegations that a member of her staff tried to arrange a false receipt for a meal.

UKIP has previously said it was "not interested in any deal" with Ms Le Pen or her party because of "prejudice and anti-Semitism in particular" in the FN.

UKIP leader Nigel Farage already heads another anti-immigration alliance in the European Parliament called the Europe of Freedom and Democracy Group (EFDD).

The party responded to Ms Atkinson's move to join the rival group on Tuesday by saying: "Whatever she does is beyond our control."

FN founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, who was suspended from the party last month over his comments that the Holocaust was "a detail of history", is not part of the new Europe of Nations and Freedoms group. FN MEP Bruno Gollnisch is also not a member, according to reports.

Marine Le Pen, who succeeded her father as FN leader, has spent the past year trying to distance the party from his remarks, widely condemned as anti-Semitic.

Meanwhile the three MEPs from Greece's far-right Golden Dawn party remain unattached to a political group in the European Parliament.

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France’s National Front to Spearhead New Far-Right Bloc in Europe
Tuesday June 16th, 2015 at 12:20 PM

BRUSSELS—France’s National Front will spearhead a new far-right political bloc in the European Parliament, a long-delayed move that will boost the funding and influence of anti-immigrant and anti-European Union voices in the legislature.

The new group, called “Europe of Nations and of Freedoms,” brings together 36 lawmakers from seven different countries. It will give a higher profile to parties that have been marginalized in Brussels, amid close cooperation among the three main party groups since European-wide elections in May 2014.

At a news conference on Tuesday, National Front leader Marine Le Pen said the new bloc would fight against “unbridled globalization” and seek to reclaim “lost sovereignty” for European citizens.

“We’re here for our peoples, for their freedoms,” Ms. Le Pen said at a news conference. “The EU is not the right way.”

ENLARGE

Marine Le Pen, France's National Front leader, and Geert Wilders, leader of the Dutch Freedom Party, at a joint news conference following last year’s European elections. Photo: Reuters

Anti-EU parties from the left and right performed more strongly than ever before in last year’s European elections, with the National Front coming first in France. The U.K. Independence Party, or UKIP, which isn’t joining the bloc, also came first in the U.K.

However, in the aftermath of those elections, the far-right parties failed to cobble together enough parties from enough countries to form a political grouping, despite long negotiations.

It remains to be seen how far the parties will be able to agree a common approach to contentious issues. The group will be under tight political pressure, needing to keep on board at least 25 lawmakers from all seven countries to continue functioning under the European Parliament’s rules.

Geert Wilders, leader of the Dutch Party for Freedom, admitted there were “differences” between the parties, but he said they would seek to “find consensus as much as possible.”

The new bloc will win millions of euros of additional funding and privileges, including greater speaking rights during Parliamentary debates and the right to shepherd legislation. It will also give Ms. Le Pen, whose party has topped some opinion polls in France, a more prominent European platform as France moves toward presidential elections in 2017.

“Today it’s D-Day, we are at the beginning of our liberation,” said Mr. Wilders, whose four European lawmakers will join the new group.

Mr. Wilders pledged to “fight against mass immigration and Islamization” in Europe. He said the bloc faces an imminent “catastrophe” as hundreds of thousands of refugees arrive in Europe from war-torn North Africa.

In total, the new bloc will comprise 36 European lawmakers from seven countries, including Austria, Poland and Belgium. Lawmakers from Italy’s Northern League and one former member of UKIP, Janice Atkinson, are also involved. Ms. Atkinson was expelled from UKIP earlier this year after a dispute over expenses.

At Tuesday’s news conference, Ms. Atkinson said the parties had united against the creation of a “European superstate.” She praised Ms. Le Pen as one of her two female political heroes, alongside Margaret Thatcher.

The new group’s support falls far short of that of the main center-right and center-left party groups, which between them hold over 400 of a total 751 European lawmakers.

The European Parliament warned in March of “possible financial irregularities” at the National Front party linked to the salaries of parliamentary assistants. Under the parliament’s rules, assistants paid with EU funds cannot do work for the national party of their lawmaker.

Ms. Le Pen said she wished “to particularly thank” Martin Schulz, president of the European Parliament and leader of its main center-left group. “They’ve treated us like sub-members of the house and persecuted us from the beginning, but this has energized us,” she said.

Write to Tom Fairless at tom.fairless@wsj.com and Laurence Norman at laurence.norman@wsj.com

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Rachel Dolezal’s brother Joshua to stand trial for alleged sexual abuse of a black child - Americas - World
Tuesday June 16th, 2015 at 12:19 PM

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Rachel Dolezal says that she considers herself to be black

Family claims that Rachel Dolezal may have helped initiate the charges

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Joshua Dolezal faces four felony counts of sexual assault in Colorado, which he has denied, according to the Denver Post. He is free on bail while he awaits trial.

Mr Dolezal is accused of forcing a “6-or-7-year-old” boy to perform a sex act on him while he was “19 years old”, according to court documents. He also allegedly performed a sex act on the boy “seven or eight times” the Washington Post reported.

The alleged activities took place at the home of Lawrence and Ruthanne Dolezal, the parents of both Joshua and Rachel, either “in 2001 or 2002”. There is no indication that the alleged victim is a child of the family.

The Dolezal parents have indicated that Rachel may have helped bring the charges against her brother, possibly answering one question that has baffled those who have been following the story: Why would parents out their daughter, subjecting her to public humiliation?

Kurds and Syrian Rebels Storm ISIS-Held Border Town
Tuesday June 16th, 2015 at 12:18 PM

Update: Kurdish fighters took full control of the border town of Tal Abyad on Tuesda y.

ISTANBUL- A coalition of Kurdish militias and Arab rebels stormed into a strategic Syrian town on theTurkey border on Monday, seizing most of it from Islamic State fighters who had long used the area to smuggle supplies and fighters into their self-declared caliphate, according to Kurdish militia leaders and activists.

The complete loss of the town, Tal Abyad, would deal a major blow to the jihadists by cutting the primary lifeline to the Syrian city of Raqqa, which the Islamic State has ruled for more than a year and has tried to turn into a model of strict Islamic governance.

The advance was a boost to opposition fighters who have watched in dismay as the Islamic State has grown, taking over resources and waging deadly battles against their communities. Control of Tal Abyad also would help create a contiguous slice of Kurdish-held territory adjoining Turkey.

“This is a very important victory for the Kurds because it will nourish the area economically,” said Saleh Muslim, a Kurdish activist, shouting on the phone from the area near the battle to make himself heard over the chants of celebrating militiamen. “Fuel and other goods will be available for the areas that were besieged before.”

Tal Abyad, a Syrian town on the border with Turkey, is under siege.

OPEN Graphic

The opposition’s attack, helped from heavy airstrikes by the United States-led military coalition that is bombing the Islamic State, was surprisingly swift, especially since recent victories by the jihadists inIraq and Syria had suggested that months of airstrikes had done little to blunt the Islamic State’s military prowess.

But on Monday, The Associated Press quoted Redur Khalil, a Kurdish militia spokesman, as saying that his group had entered Tal Abyad from the east and was advancing westward against small pockets of resistance from the Islamic State.

By Monday evening, activists were posting videos online of men running through the town with Syrian opposition flags and distributing images of celebrating fighters inside the border crossing. It was not immediately clear how many of the jihadists who had ruled the town remained, had been killed or had fled elsewhere as the opposition approached. Images said to show Islamic State fighters surrendering to Turkish soldiers circulated on social media.

The airstrikes, combined with ground battles between advancing opposition fighters and the jihadists, had terrified civilians in recent days, and thousands of them streamed across the border into Turkey, ripping holes in the border fence to make way for women and children.

The fighting near Tal Abyad illustrated the complexity of the local and international alliances that have evolved during more than four years of war in Syria.

Driving the battle on the ground were Kurdish militias that have used the weakening of the Syrian state to carve out greater autonomy for themselves in their areas along the Turkish border. Their seizure of Tal Abyad will further advance that cause by connecting Kurdish territories previously separated by the jihadists.

They were joined by Arab rebel groups that formed with the goal of ousting President Bashar al-Assad of Syria but have found themselves also fighting the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, which has exploited the chaos in Iraq and Syria to seize territory for the creation of its own state.

The United States-led military coalition appeared to have created the opportunity for the advance of the opposition forces by repeatedly bombing Islamic State targets in the area in recent days.

But the new battle on the Turkish border once again laid bare the divisions between Turkey’s leadership and the coalition. As displaced Syrians massed near the border over the weekend, journalists captured images of armed Islamic State fighters moving among them unmolested, often within eyeshot of Turkish soldiers.

Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has accused the coalition of bombing Turkmens and Arabs, empowering Kurdish groups that Turkey considers terrorists near its border.

The airstrikes “could lead to the creation of a structure that threatens our borders,” Mr. Erdogan said, according to Agence France-Presse. “Everyone needs to take into account our sensitivities on this issue.”

The main Kurdish militia fighting in the area, known as the Democratic Union Party, or P.Y.D., is an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or P.K.K., which has waged a 30-year insurgency against the Turkish state.

Mr. Erdogan repeatedly raised concerns about Kurdish advances on Tal Abyad in comments carried by Turkish media, saying that Kurdish self-rule near the Turkish border was a security threat.

Pro-government media in Turkey reported that the refugee influx was caused by coalition airstrikes and that some had caused civilian casualties.

The Islamic State aims to build a broad colonial empire across many countries.

OPEN Graphic

The American Embassy in Ankara, the Turkish capital, responded on Monday, saying on Twitter,“contrary to insinuations from some in the media, the coalition works hard to ensure civilians are not hit in airstrikes.”

The embassy also said, in another Twitter message, that “civilian outflows from Tal al-Abyad are the result of people fleeing fighting brought about by #ISIL.”

The tensions were similar to those during an Islamic State offensive last fall on the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani, also on the Turkish border. That attack caused a humanitarian crisis, and the coalition carried out some of the most intense airstrikes of its entire campaign against the Islamic State, reportedly killing more than 1,000 Islamic State fighters before the jihadists abandoned the assault.

Turkey, meanwhile, positioned tanks on the border but did not intervene, appearing more concerned with the prospect of an autonomous Kurdish enclave on its border than with the Islamic State’s taking the town.

Turkey, which already hosts nearly two million Syrian refugees, has struggled to confront the recent flood of civilians fleeing the fighting near Tal Abyad. The border crossing has been closed periodically, and clusters of desperate refugees have gathered near the crossing, at one point breaking a hole in the border fence.

At times, the Turkish soldiers at the border have fired water cannons and warning shots to control the refugee crowds.

The Turks opened the gate on Sunday, and nearly 3,000 Syrians have since crossed, according to the semiofficial Anadolu Agency. Before Sunday, at least 15,000 Syrians fleeing the fighting in the area had entered Turkey over the last week, according to Turkish news outlets.

Throughout the war in Syria, Turkey has faced allegations that lax controls along its long border with Syria abetted the rise of extremist groups like the Nusra Front and the Islamic State.

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Clinton Confidant Testifies Before House Benghazi Panel
Tuesday June 16th, 2015 at 12:17 PM

ABC News: Politics

The chairman of a House panel investigating the deadly 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya, complained Tuesday that his committee should have received emails between Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton and a longtime Clinton confidant long ago.

The confidant, Sidney Blumenthal, testified in a closed session before the House Benghazi committee Tuesday morning about frequent emails on Libya he sent to Clinton when she served as secretary of state. Blumenthal worked in the White House under President Bill Clinton and is a longtime friend and adviser to the Clinton family.

The committee announced Monday night that it had received roughly 60 new emails totaling 120 pages from Blumenthal. The emails are between Clinton and Blumenthal and were not previously produced to the committee or released to the public, a committee spokeswoman said.

"I will leave it to you to figure out whether there was a failure to produce on the former secretary's part or a failure to produce on the Department of State's behalf," Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., told reporters before the start of Tuesday's deposition. "But clearly the committee should have gotten this information sooner."

Blumenthal's role in sending the near-monthly missives emerged when nearly 350 pages of emails about the 2012 attacks on the U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi were publicly released last month. The attacks killed four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens.

His testimony comes days after Clinton formally kicked off her presidential campaign on Saturday.

"Given the volume and frankly the details of the correspondence between this witness and former Secretary Clinton, it's important for the committee to probe the depth, breadth and frankly the reliability of that information that he passed on," Gowdy said.

State Department spokesman Alec Gerlach said the department has worked to make public all of the emails received from Clinton.

"We provided the committee with a subset of documents that matched its request and will continue to work with them going forward," Gerlach said in an email. "Secretary (John) Kerry has been clear that the State Department will be both transparent and thorough in its obligations to the public on this matter."

Blumenthal offered a flood of advice and intelligence to his former boss, sending frequent emails about the growing unrest in Libya to the personal email account Clinton continued to use as a government employee. The correspondence, which covered everything from warring Middle Eastern factions to political strategy, was absorbed by Clinton, who often forwarded the messages to aides.

Clinton's earlier efforts to hire Blumenthal, who has spent nearly two decades working for the Clinton family, as a State Department employee were rejected by White House aides. Those aides feared that Blumenthal's role spreading harsh attacks against Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential primaries would cause discomfort within the Obama administration.

Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, R-Ga., said he and other committee members want to know the depth of Blumenthal's involvement in Libya policy, why he had the information and who gave it to him.

The five Democrats on the Benghazi panel said their Republican colleagues were no longer interested in discovering facts about Benghazi, but merely were trying to prove that Clinton "engaged in some sort of conspiracy" over the attacks.

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ISIS 'Broken' in Tal Abyad: Kurds Claim Victory in Key Syrian Border Town
Tuesday June 16th, 2015 at 12:17 PM

Kurdish fighters took full control of a key town on the Syria-Turkey border Tuesday, dealing a major blow to ISIS by cutting off a vital supply line to its self-proclaimed Syrian capital, Raqqa.

A senior Kurdish commander, Haqi Kobane, told The Associated Press that Kurdish YPG fighters and allies from the Free Syrian Army had begun clearing booby traps and mines in Tal Abyad, which the extremists had held for more than a year.

"Daesh has been broken at the hands of the YPG," he said by telephone from northern Syria, using an alternate name for ISIS. "It is a victory for all Syrians."

The takeover of Tal Abyad marks the biggest setback yet to ISIS, depriving it of a direct route to Raqqa for foreign militants and supplies. It also links the Kurds' two fronts, putting even more pressure on Raqqa.

The defeat is a stunning reversal of fortunes for ISIS, which only last month captured the provincial capital of Ramadi in Iraq's Anbar province and the historic town of Palmyra in central Syria.

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Six Irish students die in California balcony collapse
Tuesday June 16th, 2015 at 12:16 PM

BBC News - Home

Six Irish students have been killed, and eight others have been injured, when a fourth-floor balcony in California gave way.

Police found debris on the street below after an emergency call at 01:00 local time (08:00 GMT) in Berkeley.

The students are believed to have been holding a birthday party at the time, Irish officials said, but the cause of collapse is unknown.

They were believed to be in the US on temporary worker visas.

Photos taken at the scene appear to show a balcony on the fourth floor of the building fallen to the balcony on the floor below.

Enda Kenny, the Irish Prime Minister, has said that police told him there were 13 people on the balcony when it collapsed.

Irish Foreign Minister Charlie Flanagan said that four of the victims died at the scene and another died in hospital.

The Alameda County coroner's office later told the BBC a sixth person had died in hospital.

The balcony, which is approximately 5 feet (1.5m) long and 10 feet wide, broke from the building around 12:41 local time.

Berkley Police spokesman Byron White said first responders described the scene as "quite disturbing".

Many of those hurt have life-threatening injuries, said Jennifer Coats, a Berkeley Police Department spokeswoman.

Police received a complaint about loud noise at the flat about an hour before the balcony collapsed, but did not go to the building to investigate, they said.

Two Irish students who were asleep in the building when the incident occurred described a loud sound when the balcony fell.

"I just heard a bang and a lot of shouting," said Dan Sullivan.

Another student, Mark Neville, said: "I walked out and I saw rubble on the street and a bunch of Irish students crying."

Mr Flanagan said the students who were injured in the incident were Irish as well.

The identities of the victims are not yet being released, pending family notification.

Irish President Michael Higgins said that he had "heard with the greatest sadness of the terrible loss of life of young Irish people and the critical injury of others in Berkeley, California today".

He said his heart goes out to the families and their loved ones.

The Irish consul general in San Francisco is helping those affected and there is an Irish helpline (+353 1 418 0200).

The apartment building was constructed in 2006, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Are you in the area? Are you affected by the balcony collapse? You can share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

If you are available to speak with a BBC journalist, please include a telephone number.

Read the whole story

· ·

Putin says Russian military will receive 40 new intercontinental ballistic missiles this year
Tuesday June 16th, 2015 at 12:14 PM

The Globe And Mail - World

Russia’s military this year alone will receive 40 new intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of piercing any missile defences, President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday in a blunt reminder of the nation’s nuclear might amid tensions with the West over Ukraine.

Putin made the statement at the opening of an arms show at a shooting range in Alabino just west of Moscow, a huge display intended to showcase the nation’s resurgent military might.

Russia-West relations have plunged to their lowest point since the Cold War times over Moscow’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and support for a pro-Russia separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine. The U.S. and the EU have slapped Russia with economic sanctions, and Washington and its NATO allies have pondered an array of measures in response to Russia’s moves.

The three Baltic members of the alliance, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, have asked NATO to permanently deploy ground troops to their nations as a deterrent against an increasingly assertive Russia. And Polish Defence Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said Sunday that he and U.S. Defence Secretary Ash Carter held talks about placing U.S. heavy army equipment in Poland.

Moscow bristled at the plans, warning Washington that the deployment of new U.S. weapons near Russian borders would foment dangerous instability in Europe.

“The United States is inciting tensions and carefully nurturing their European allies’ anti-Russian phobias in order to use the current difficult situation for further expanding its military presence and influence in Europe,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a comment late Monday.

“We hope that reason will prevail and it will be possible to save the situation in Europe from sliding toward a military standoff which could entail dangerous consequences,” it added.

Speaking at the arms show, Putin vowed to continue a big arms modernization program despite the nation’s economic downturn. He specifically mentioned the Armata tanks and other new armoured vehicles, which were first shown to the public during a Red Square military parade last month, saying they “have no analogues in the world.”

Putin also noted that the military was to start testing its new long-range early warning radar intended to monitor the western direction.

Victories over Islamic State give Syria Kurds claim to bigger role
Tuesday June 16th, 2015 at 12:13 PM

BEIRUT With a string of victories over Islamic State, Syria's Kurds are proving themselves an ever more dependable ally in the U.S.-led fight against the jihadists and building influence that will make them a force in Middle Eastern politics.

Aided by U.S.-led air strikes, the Kurdish-led YPG militia may have dealt Islamic State its worst defeat to date in Syria by seizing the town of Tel Abyad at the Turkish border, cutting a supply route to the jihadists' de facto capital of Raqqa city.

The Kurds in northern Syria now control an uninterrupted 400 km stretch of the Turkish frontier, positioning them to help secure an area where the United States says more needs to be done to stop the flow of fighters joining Islamic State.

The growing Kurdish sway is of no comfort to Turkey, worried by the risk of separatist sentiment among its own Kurds.

Ankara sees the widening Kurdish footprint as a possible threat to its border, and the YPG as little more than an offshoot of the PKK group which waged a decades-long insurgency for Kurdish rights in Turkey. President Tayyip Erdogan last week accused the West of helping "terrorists".

But for now, the United States appears willing to risk upsetting its NATO ally to advance the goal of driving back Islamic State in the Syrian half of its self-declared caliphate.

With Raqqa city just 80 km (50 miles) to the south, some analysts wonder whether Washington may now go even further by arming the YPG to help it wage war deeper into Islamic State-held territory and to seal the border.

The United States and its allies are bombing Islamic State positions in both Syria and Iraq. The coalition supports the government in Baghdad but is hostile to the government in Damascus, leaving it with few allies on the ground in Syria.

But even though that means the YPG is so far the only significant partner for the U.S.-led alliance in Syria, it says its request for arms has yet to be answered.

With or without new weapons, the YPG's growing role will only strengthen its international standing and its influence over any eventual outcome of the Syrian war.

"It gives the Kurds legitimacy and enhances their bargaining position," said Henri Barkey, a professor of international relations at Lehigh University in the United States.

Syria's Kurds are part of a Kurdish nation spread across Syria, Turkey, Iran and Iraq, one of the world's largest ethnic groups without a state.

With the onset of the Syrian uprising in 2011, the Syrian Kurds formed their own administration in three separate areas of northern Syria, coordinating with Damascus to expand into areas where the state was retreating. The capture of Tel Abyad means two of those regions are now geographically connected.

The Syrian Kurds say they do not aspire to found an independent state, but see their model of regional autonomy as one that could form the basis for an eventual settlement to the war now in its fifth year.

Turkey's Erdogan has accused Syrian Kurds of displacing Arab and Turkmen residents from some areas they occupy, and some Arab refugees fleeing area have complained of harsh treatment.

The YPG denies accusations of ethnic cleansing, and the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict with a network of sources on the ground, says there is no evidence of systematic YPG abuses.

BORDER CONTROL

The YPG is confident it can secure new areas of the frontier near Tel Abyad: the Kurdish administration in the northeast has already managed to secure large sections of Syria's border since early on in the crisis, said Redur Xelil, a spokesman.

"We are committed to protecting these borders because that way we are protecting our existence," he said. "We should be supported with weapons and equipment because the YPG has shown its effectiveness in expelling Daesh more than any other force."

Daesh is an Arabic name for Islamic State, also known in English as ISIS or ISIL.

The YPG and the United States joined forces for the first time last year to repel an Islamic State attack on the town of Kobani, or Ayn al-Arab. The cooperation has deepened since then.

Backed by U.S.-led air strikes, the YPG has driven Islamic State from swathes of the northeastern province of Hasaka - a region important in the fight against Islamic State because it borders areas held by the group in Iraq.

Brig Gen Thomas Weidley, the chief-of-staff of the anti-Islamic State coalition, specifically praised the YPG on Monday.

"Since fall 2014, Kurdish forces in both Iraq and Syria, enabled by the coalition, have only taken territory from Daesh, never ceding it," he said in a post on Facebook.

But the Syrian Kurds complain the support remains far below the level received by their Iraqi Kurdish cousins.

"If there is a decision to put pressure on Raqqa - the centre of the Islamic State - this an scenario where I can see the YPG getting more arms from (the United States)," said Barkey of Lehigh University.

Though that moment still appeared far off, U.S. officials were likely planning for such a contingency, he said.

"To me it is a logical next step."

TENSIONS WITH DAMASCUS

While they have proved effective fighting Islamic State in Kurdish areas, questions remain over how well the YPG would perform in Arab parts of Syria.

Their attack on Tel Abyad - an ethnically mixed area - was aided by smaller Syrian Arab rebel groups that are part of the more secular-minded opposition to President Bashar al-Assad.

In Hasaka province, the Syrian Kurds still share control of two cities with the Syrian government. The sides have mostly left each other to their own devices.

There are however signs of strain. The Kurds' alliance with Washington has fueled suspicions in Damascus of a conspiracy to break up Syria, while the Kurds are irritated by what they see as government attempts to recover lost influence in the region.

Tensions between the Syrian government and Kurdish security forces flared in the city of Qamishli overnight. Shots were fired, but no-one was hurt, the Observatory and a Kurdish official said.

"The regime will with time get weaker," said Nasir Haj Mansour, a Kurdish official in the northeast. "I do not imagine the regime will be able to strengthen its position."

(Additional reporting by Sylvia Westall; Editing by Peter Graff)

Read the whole story

· · · · ·

is prince harry gay? - Google Search
Tuesday June 16th, 2015 at 12:10 PM

Prince Harry: I might experiment with gay men if my ...

<a href="http://www.pinknews.co.uk/.../" rel="nofollow">www.pinknews.co.uk/.../</a>prince-harry-i-might-experiment-with...

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Mar 17, 2013 - Prince Harry has said he might try relationships with men if he “changes his mind” about women, while on a night out with his current girlfriend.

Is Prince Harry gay? - PinkNews.co.uk

<a href="http://www.pinknews.co.uk/.../" rel="nofollow">www.pinknews.co.uk/.../</a>is-prince-harry-gay-and-other-weird-...

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Dec 22, 2014 - Every day thousands of people come to PinkNews for our leading coverage of LGBT issues – but a lot of people also find our coverage by ...

The Conservative Heart

ISIS News Review

» Offering Services, ISIS Ensconces Itself in Seized Territories
17/06/15 00:00 from NYT > Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)
The jihadists’ governing efforts, from inspecting food to offering perks to newlyweds, have brought a stability unavailable from national governments.

» Offering Services, ISIS Digs In Deeper in Seized Territories
17/06/15 00:00 from NYT > Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)
The jihadists’ governing efforts, from inspecting food to offering perks to newlyweds, have brought a stability unavailable from national governments.

» Tracing a 17-Year-Old’s Path From Britain to an ISIS Suicide Attack
17/06/15 00:00 from NYT > Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)
Talha Asmal, a student from West Yorkshire, would be his country’s youngest known suicide bomber if his role in an attack in Iraq is confirmed.

» Kurds and Syrian Rebels Push to Evict ISIS From Border Town
16/06/15 00:00 from NYT > Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)
If the Islamic State loses Tal Abyad, a Syrian town on the Turkish border, it will lose its primary lifeline to Raqqa, a city it has ruled for more than a year.

» Kurds and Syrian Rebels Storm ISIS-Held Border Town
16/06/15 00:00 from NYT > Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)
Capturing the town, Tal Abyad, on the Turkish border, would subvert a major ISIS supply line and help create a contiguous slice of Kurdish-held land.

» Thousands Flee Syria as Kurds Gain on ISIS
15/06/15 00:00 from NYT > Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)
Refugees who had been gathering on the Syrian side of the border with Turkey broke through the crossing, passing babies and their belongings through a barbed-wire fence.

» Flickering Greatness
14/06/15 00:00 from NYT > Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)
The president learns the wages of neglect, in Congress and in Iraq.

» Obama’s Flickering Greatness
14/06/15 00:00 from NYT > Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)
The president learns the wages of neglect, in Congress and in Iraq.

» Success of Kurdish Forces Is a Rare Bright Spot for U.S. Policy in Iraq
13/06/15 00:00 from NYT > Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)
The ability of pesh merga forces to retake and defend territory has offered a glimmer of hope for the Obama administration’s policy of coordinating with local forces to battle the Islamic State.

» ISIS Is Winning Message War, U.S. Concludes
13/06/15 00:00 from NYT > Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)
An internal State Department assessment says the Islamic State’s social message machine is trumping efforts by the Obama administration and its foreign allies to combat it.

» ISIS Is Winning the Social Media War, U.S. Concludes
13/06/15 00:00 from NYT > Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)
An internal State Department assessment says the Islamic State’s social message machine is trumping efforts by the Obama administration and its foreign allies to combat it.

» Authorities Cite Plan by 3 Men to Aid ISIS
13/06/15 00:00 from NYT > Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)
An affidavit says Usaamah Rahim and two others hatched a terrorism plot on a Rhode Island beach, including plans to target the police, two days before Mr. Rahim was killed in Boston.

» Sending More Troops to Iraq
12/06/15 00:30 from NYT > Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)
Deploying American troops in Anbar Province may accomplish little in the long run, if past is prologue.

» U.S. Weighing More Military Bases in Iraq to Fight ISIS, Top General Says
12/06/15 00:00 from NYT > Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)
The move would require at least hundreds more American military trainers to help Iraqi forces retake cities lost to the Sunni militants.

» Obama Looks at Adding Bases and Troops in Iraq, to Fight ISIS
12/06/15 00:00 from NYT > Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)
The move would require at least hundreds more American military trainers to help Iraqi forces retake cities lost to the Sunni militants.

» Rules of Engagement
12/06/15 00:00 from NYT > Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)
American instructors offer some timely tips to warring Iraqis.

» U.S. Embracing a New Approach on Battling ISIS in Iraq
11/06/15 00:00 from NYT > Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)
The Obama administration is planning to send hundreds of additional military trainers to help Iraqi forces retake Ramadi and repel the Islamic State.

» In Shift, U.S. Will Send 450 Advisers to Help Iraq Fight ISIS
11/06/15 00:00 from NYT > Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)
The Obama administration will send hundreds of additional military trainers to help Iraqi forces retake Ramadi and repel the Islamic State.

» Libya Groups Vow to Crush Unit of ISIS
11/06/15 00:00 from NYT > Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)
A coalition of Islamist militias has vowed to eliminate a local unit of the Islamic State, testing its strength and emphasizing the deep divisions among the country’s Islamist forces.

» Trainers Intended as Lift, but Quick Iraq Turnaround Is Unlikely
11/06/15 00:00 from NYT > Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)
President Obama’s plan does not call for American troops to accompany Iraqi fighters onto the battlefield to call in airstrikes or advise them on combat operations.

» Syria: An American Dies in a Battle
11/06/15 00:00 from NYT > Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)
The American, Keith Broomfield of Massachusetts, died June 3 in a battle in a Syrian village near the border town of Kobani.

» Obama’s Jarring Honesty on Iraq
10/06/15 09:56 from NYT > Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)
“We don’t yet have a complete strategy,” the president admitted.

» ISIS Proves Its Persistence With Attacks in Libya and Iraq
10/06/15 00:00 from NYT > Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)
In Libya, the Islamic State captured a critical power plant, while in Iraq, gunmen in suicide vests attacked a council building in Amiriyat al Falluja, southwest of Baghdad.

» U.S. Adding Military Advisers in Iraq to Reclaim Ramadi, Officials Say
10/06/15 00:00 from NYT > Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)
The effort to retake Ramadi and push back the Islamic State effectively delays plans to recapture the city of Mosul this year.

» Rebels Seize Syrian Army Base in a Blow to Assad
10/06/15 00:00 from NYT > Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)
The Southern Front of the Free Syrian Army declared that they had seized the base in a six-hour lightning advance, suggesting the group still has some strength.

» ISIS Stages Attacks in Iraq and Libya, Despite U.S. Airstrikes
10/06/15 00:00 from NYT > Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)
In Libya, the Islamic State captured a critical power plant, while in Iraq, gunmen in suicide vests attacked a council building in Amiriyat al Falluja, southwest of Baghdad.

» Page2RSS Monitored Page: NYTimes.com Search
18/04/15 19:23 from NYTimes.com Search
The page http://query.nytimes.com/search/sitesearch/#/isis/since1851/allresults/1/allauthors/newest/ is monitored for updates. There are no changes detected since 04/18/15 16:23:29.

» Barack Obama's foreign policy doctrine takes shape - Financial Times
12/04/15 07:55 from Google News
Barack Obama's foreign policy doctrine takes shape Financial Times First-term presidents dislike the idea of a foreign policy doctrine, fearing that it will limit their choices and force them to answer hypothetical questions. But wit...

» Marriage ISIS-Style: Love in the Time of Caliphates - Daily Beast
11/04/15 12:49 from Google News
Daily Beast Marriage ISIS-Style: Love in the Time of Caliphates Daily Beast It's springtime in Mosul, can matrimony be far behind? Even under the blood-soaked tyranny of the so-called Islamic State, people persist in tying the knot. ...

» The Greatest Threat to Our National Security - Breitbart News
10/04/15 14:47 from Google News
Breitbart News The Greatest Threat to Our National Security Breitbart News When President-elect Obama declared that he was going to “fundamentally transform” America, not many Americans understood what that meant. They certainly did not ...

» ISIS News: 9-Year-Old Girl Pregnant After Being Raped By Islamic State Group ... - International Business Times
10/04/15 10:47 from ISIS - Google News
International Business Times ISIS News: 9-Year-Old Girl Pregnant After Being Raped By Islamic State Group ... International Business Times The girl was one of 216 people from the ethnic and religious minority community known as Yazidis r...

» Who is America's Worst Enemy? - Sputnik International
10/04/15 10:42 from Google News
Who is America's Worst Enemy? Sputnik International If Obama's words are anything to go by, among America's worst enemies are ISIL, Ebola, Iran and, of course, Russia which sometimes is even mentioned as enemy number one in t...

» The history of the Islamic State:rise of this Sunni terrorist group-STANLY JOHNY - JK Alternative Viewpoint
10/04/15 08:29 from Russia and ISIS - Google News
JK Alternative Viewpoint The history of the Islamic State:rise of this Sunni terrorist group-STANLY JOHNY JK Alternative Viewpoint It is in this haven that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi reinvented his struggling group, Al Qaeda in Iraq, as the wo...

» ISIS: the mad, bloody residue of the war on terror - Spiked
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Spiked ISIS : the mad, bloody residue of the war on terror Spiked By the end of the summer, ISIS controls a territory larger in size than Great Britain, spreading from Iraq's border with Iran to Iraqi Kurdistan and, thanks to its rol...

» Yazidi women 'gang-raped in public' by Isis fighters, harrowing accounts reveal - Times of India
10/04/15 06:52 from ISIS - Google News
Times of India Yazidi women 'gang-raped in public' by Isis fighters, harrowing accounts reveal Times of India Yazidi women released by Isis this week were gang-raped in public by fighters and tortured by their captors, according ...

» Mosul beckons - The Economist
10/04/15 05:28 from Google News
The Economist Mosul beckons The Economist IN A barren military camp near Mosul in Iraq, 500 balaclava-clad men train for urban warfare under the watchful eye of their leader, a former general in Saddam Hussein's army. They are among ...

» ISIS kills 52 men in Iraq - The Guardian Nigeria
10/04/15 05:07 from Google News
The Guardian Nigeria ISIS kills 52 men in Iraq The Guardian Nigeria ISIS killed 52 men, the majority Iraqi police officers, at the al Qaim border crossing with Syria this week, according to Sohaib al Rawi, governor of Iraq's Anbar pr...

» US official claims invasion of Mosul 'might be some time from now' - Business Standard
10/04/15 02:13 from Google News
US official claims invasion of Mosul 'might be some time from now' Business Standard A United States official has said that the invasion of Iraqi city of Mosul that is under that control of Islamic State (IS) militants "migh...

» ISIS launches English radio - The Nation
09/04/15 19:15 from Google News
The Nation ISIS launches English radio The Nation ISIS has launched English-language radio news bulletins on its Iraqi broadcast service - complete with information on the latest suicide bombings and 'martyrdom operations'. The e...

» US official: Mosul invasion 'might be some time from now' - CNN
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CNN US official: Mosul invasion 'might be some time from now' CNN (CNN) Do you remember the talk about plans for Iraqi-led force to try to take back Mosul this spring? Well, you might want to forget it. Nearly three months after ...

» Obama bets his presidency, and the 2016 election, on Iran - THE BUSINESS TIMES
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THE BUSINESS TIMES Obama bets his presidency, and the 2016 election, on Iran THE BUSINESS TIMES President Obama's policy in Iraq and towards Iran are becoming central to a heated political debate in Washington - pitting the White Hou...

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Northern Iowan Let's give Obama the recognition he deserves Northern Iowan Believe it or not, the 2016 Presidential Election is just 20 months away. This is an important election for both parties, who will each get the chance to put ...

» Why is ISIS destroying Iraq's cultural heritage? - The Daily Star
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» ISIS Frees 200 Yazidis Near Kirkuk, Iraq, After Months in Captivity - NBCNews.com
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» The Incredible Obama Doctrine: Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick (Which You ... - Fox News (blog)
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» Iraqi officials: next battle is regaining Anbar from ISIS - Al-Arabiya
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» International Criminal Court Has No Jurisdiction Over ISIS Leaders' Crimes; ISIS ... - International Business Times AU
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» ISIS May Be Guilty of Genocide, but Prosecuting It Will Be Tricky - Slate Magazine (blog)
08/04/15 17:29 from ISIS - Google News
Slate Magazine (blog) ISIS May Be Guilty of Genocide, but Prosecuting It Will Be Tricky Slate Magazine (blog) A report released last month by the U.N. Assistance Mission in Iraq and the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights concluded t...

» The war against ISIS has reached a crucial point - Business Insider
08/04/15 17:20 from ISIS - Google News
Business Insider The war against ISIS has reached a crucial point Business Insider The anti- ISIS ground force — which consisted mostly of Shi'ite militia groups fighting alongside Iraq's largely Shi'ite uniformed military an...

» Eight Syrians detained trying to sneak into Turkey with C-4 - BGN NEWS
08/04/15 17:17 from Google News
BGN NEWS Eight Syrians detained trying to sneak into Turkey with C-4 BGN NEWS Turkish authorities in the southeastern province of Mardin detained eight Syrian nationals attempting to illegally sneak into Turkey with 1.5 kilograms of the ...

» ICC has no jurisdiction to prosecute Isis despite 'crimes of unspeakable cruelty' - The Guardian
08/04/15 15:40 from ISIS - Google News
The Guardian ICC has no jurisdiction to prosecute Isis despite 'crimes of unspeakable cruelty' The Guardian Bensouda said even though she had information that “several thousand foreign fighters”, including citizens of countries t...

» FBI: Beware ISIS takeovers of your website - Komando
08/04/15 15:39 from ISIS - Google News
Komando FBI: Beware ISIS takeovers of your website Komando There's one mega-popular system that millions of websites (including mine) use to manage online content. Maybe you use it, too. Now the FBI is warning that extremist hackers ...

» Isis releases over 200 Iraqi Yazidis after eight months in captivity - The Guardian
08/04/15 15:22 from ISIS - Google News
The Guardian Isis releases over 200 Iraqi Yazidis after eight months in captivity The Guardian The Islamic State group released more than 200 Yazidis on Wednesday after holding them for eight months, the latest mass release of captives b...

» ICC unlikely to investigate ISIS leaders over war crimes – prosecutor - RT
08/04/15 14:46 from ISIS - Google News
RT ICC unlikely to investigate ISIS leaders over war crimes – prosecutor RT The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor says the chances to probe Islamic State leaders despite evidence of numerous war crimes are low, as they ...

» ISIS Mass Grave Death Toll in Iraq and Syria Surpasses 3000 - Newsweek
08/04/15 14:14 from ISIS - Google News
Newsweek ISIS Mass Grave Death Toll in Iraq and Syria Surpasses 3000 Newsweek The combined number of bodies discovered in ISIS mass graves has surpassed 3,000 after the gruesome extent of the terror group's mass murder in the Iraqi c...

» FBI warns WordPress users of ISIS threat: Patch and update now - Naked Security
08/04/15 13:48 from ISIS - Google News
FBI warns WordPress users of ISIS threat: Patch and update now Naked Security FBI warns WordPress users of ISIS threat: Patch and update now. Sorry, something happened and we could not sign you up. Please come back later and try again. C...

» Palestinians Meet to Plan Attack on ISIS in Damascus - TIME
08/04/15 13:39 from ISIS - Google News
TIME Palestinians Meet to Plan Attack on ISIS in Damascus TIME Syria's Palestinian factions met Wednesday in an attempt to form a united front to fight the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria ( ISIS ), whose fighters now control ...

» Syria Offers to Arm Yarmouk's Palestinian Refugees to Fight ISIS - Newsweek
08/04/15 13:17 from ISIS - Google News
Newsweek Syria Offers to Arm Yarmouk's Palestinian Refugees to Fight ISIS Newsweek The Assad regime has offered to arm Palestinians within the embattled Yarmouk refugee camp with weapons to beat back ISIS from the outskirts of the Sy...

» Iraq Starts Drive Against ISIS, but Reports on Scale Differ - New York Times
08/04/15 13:16 from ISIS - Google News
New York Times Iraq Starts Drive Against ISIS , but Reports on Scale Differ New York Times Mr. Abadi has promised that Iraqi forces would soon turn their attention to Anbar Province, an overwhelmingly Sunni and largely desert area where ...

» ISIS free more than 200 Yazidi prisoners in north Iraq - Daily Mail
08/04/15 12:53 from ISIS - Google News
Daily Mail ISIS free more than 200 Yazidi prisoners in north Iraq Daily Mail More than 200 Yazidi prisoners have been set free in northern Iraq after nearly a year in Islamic State captivity, Kurdish military has said today. The freed pr...

» Turkish army arrests eight Syrians at border, finds C4 explosives - Europe Online Magazine
08/04/15 11:41 from Google News
Turkish army arrests eight Syrians at border, finds C4 explosives Europe Online Magazine Istanbul (dpa) - The Turkish army said Wednesday it arrested eight Syrians trying to cross into Turkey and found 1.5 kilogrammes of C4 plastic explo...

» 15 Chinese among dozens arrested at Turkey-Syria border - Business Standard
08/04/15 11:38 from Google News
15 Chinese among dozens arrested at Turkey-Syria border Business Standard Ankara, April 8 (IANS/AKI) Turkish security forces on Wednesday said 15 Chinese nationals were among dozens of people arrested as they sought to enter Syria and jo...

» ICC Not to Prosecute ISIS for War Crimes - Arutz Sheva
08/04/15 11:20 from ISIS - Google News
Arutz Sheva ICC Not to Prosecute ISIS for War Crimes Arutz Sheva Iraq and Syria have not signed the ICC's founding Rome Statute that would give the court jurisdiction, but the ICC could prosecute some of the thousands of foreign ISIS...

» Little Chance of Investigating ISIS War Crimes, Prosecutor Says - Newsweek
08/04/15 11:06 from ISIS - Google News
Newsweek Little Chance of Investigating ISIS War Crimes, Prosecutor Says Newsweek Remnants of a body belonging to Shi'ite soldiers from Camp Speicher who have been killed by Islamic State militants is seen at a mass grave in the pres...

» ISIS leaders unlikely to face war-crimes inquiry, prosecutor says - CBC.ca
08/04/15 10:56 from ISIS - Google News
CBC.ca ISIS leaders unlikely to face war-crimes inquiry, prosecutor says CBC.ca The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor said on Wednesday there is evidence of war crimes by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria ( ISIS ) insurge...

» ISIS frees dozens of Yazidi women, kids - CBS News
08/04/15 10:12 from ISIS - Google News
CBS News ISIS frees dozens of Yazidi women, kids CBS News Tens of thousands of Yazidi people fled in August last year when ISIS captured the town of Sinjar. Wednesday's was the second such mass-release of Yazidi prisoners by ISIS thi...

» ISIS releases more than 200 Yazidi prisoners in Iraq - Fox News
08/04/15 09:58 from ISIS - Google News
ISIS releases more than 200 Yazidi prisoners in Iraq Fox News BAGHDAD – An Iraqi Kurdish security official says the Islamic State group has released more than 200 Yazidi elderly and children after eight months of captivity. Gen. Hiwa Abd...

» Iraq exhumes remains of 47 from Tikrit graves: Spokesman - Al-Arabiya
08/04/15 09:32 from Google News
Al-Arabiya Iraq exhumes remains of 47 from Tikrit graves: Spokesman Al-Arabiya Iraq has exhumed the remains of 47 people believed to have been massacred by militants from mass graves in Tikrit, the human rights ministry's spokesman s...

» ISIS Releases More Than 200 Captive Yazidis In Iraq - Huffington Post
08/04/15 09:27 from ISIS - Google News
ISIS Releases More Than 200 Captive Yazidis In Iraq Huffington Post KIRKUK, Iraq, April 8 (Reuters) - More than 200 elderly and infirm Yazidis were freed on Wednesday by Islamic State militants who had been holding them captive since ove...

» Official: 30 Kurdish Yazidis escape clutches of ISIS - Rudaw
08/04/15 09:14 from Google News
Rudaw Official: 30 Kurdish Yazidis escape clutches of ISIS Rudaw DUHOK, Kurdistan Region - Dozens of Kurdish Yazidis have escaped from ISIS militants in the extremist-held Tal Afar in northern Mosul province, a Peshmerga official said. A...

» Forensic teams dig up mass graves of ISIS victims in Tikrit - ChristianToday
08/04/15 09:09 from ISIS - Google News
ChristianToday Forensic teams dig up mass graves of ISIS victims in Tikrit ChristianToday Forensic teams began exhuming the bodies of up to 1,700 people buried in mass graves in Tikrit, northern Iraq, on Monday, after the city was retake...

» ISIS sympathizers exploiting WordPress plugins to hack websites, FBI warns - PCWorld
08/04/15 08:41 from ISIS - Google News
PCWorld ISIS sympathizers exploiting WordPress plugins to hack websites, FBI warns PCWorld The Federal Bureau of Investigation warned Tuesday that attackers claiming to be sympathetic to the extremist group ISIS are targeting websites th...

» Despite Crackdown, IS Says Turkey-Syria Border Still Open - RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
08/04/15 08:17 from Google News
RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty Despite Crackdown, IS Says Turkey-Syria Border Still Open RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty On April 6, Ahlul Hakk, a Russian-speaking pro-IS group on the VKontakte social network issued an emergency announcement....

» Iraq teams exhume bodies from mass graves following Isis's departure - Irish Independent
08/04/15 07:22 from Google News
Irish Independent Iraq teams exhume bodies from mass graves following Isis's departure Irish Independent A soldier prays at a mass grave for Shi'ite soldiers from Camp Speicher who Open Gallery 3 A soldier prays at a mass grave f...

» FBI: Expect ISIS hacks if you don't patch WordPress plugins - ZDNet
08/04/15 06:29 from ISIS - Google News
ZDNet FBI: Expect ISIS hacks if you don't patch WordPress plugins ZDNet The US Federal Bureau of Investigations is urging WordPress users to patch plugins for the popular content management system following a spate of ISIS -branded ...

» 10 foreigners, including Tunisian who 'lied to police,' detained near Turkey's ... - Hurriyet Daily News
08/04/15 06:17 from Google News
Hurriyet Daily News 10 foreigners, including Tunisian who 'lied to police,' detained near Turkey's ... Hurriyet Daily News Turkish security forces arrested 10 foreign nationals on April 7 for attempting to cross into Syria, T...

» Peshmerga have received a fraction of promised US support - NRT
08/04/15 05:26 from Google News
Peshmerga have received a fraction of promised US support NRT WASHINGTON -- Peshmerga forces have received just a fraction of promised U.S. military support, a top Kurdish official said at a Bipartisan Policy Center event on Monday. Baya...

» Photos from the front lines against ISIS - Mashable
08/04/15 04:02 from Google News
Mashable Photos from the front lines against ISIS Mashable TIKRIT, Iraq—As the sun set, helicopters lifted off the ground and flatbed Toyota Landcruisers carrying Iraqi soldiers rolled past the air base. Airstrikes rumbled in the distanc...

» FBI: Hackers Exploiting ISIS Notoriety To Promote WordPress Hacks - Forbes
08/04/15 03:48 from ISIS - Google News
Forbes FBI: Hackers Exploiting ISIS Notoriety To Promote WordPress Hacks Forbes Self-described sympathisers of extremist group ISIS have hacked their way into websites to leave messages for visitors, the FBI has warned. The law enforceme...

» Iraq begins unearthing militants grim toll - Boston Globe (subscription)
08/04/15 03:29 from Google News
Boston Globe (subscription) Iraq begins unearthing militants grim toll Boston Globe (subscription) EPA. Members of a forensic team worked Tuesday at a Tikrit site believed to be a mass grave. BAGHDAD — Iraqi officials have begun exhuming...

» Iraqi forces still battling ISIS in Tikrit week after city 'retaken' - The Daily Star
08/04/15 02:34 from Google News
Iraqi forces still battling ISIS in Tikrit week after city 'retaken' The Daily Star BAGHDAD: Iraqi security forces and allied paramilitaries battled militants from ISIS in Tikrit Tuesday, the Interior Ministry said, a week after ...

» Iraqi teams start exhuming mass grave of soldiers in Tikrit - The Denver Post
08/04/15 02:04 from Google News
Iraqi teams start exhuming mass grave of soldiers in Tikrit The Denver Post A Shiite militiaman kisses the grave at the site believed to be a mass grave where Islamic State militants killed hundreds of Iraqi soldiers when they overran th...

» Mass graves discovered in Iraq after ISIS massacre - New Vision
08/04/15 00:13 from Google News
New Vision Mass graves discovered in Iraq after ISIS massacre New Vision A hand is seen as Iraqi forensic teams recovered dead bodies from a mass grave. mail. img. newvision. mail; img. FORENSIC teams have begun excavating suspected mass...

» FBI says supposed ISIS sympathizers exploiting WordPress plugins - Network World
07/04/15 23:12 from ISIS - Google News
FBI says supposed ISIS sympathizers exploiting WordPress plugins Network World The attackers voice support for ISIS , sometimes referred to as ISIL, “to gain more notoriety than the underlying attack would have otherwise garnered,” the F...

» 10 Things to Know for Wednesday - Newsday
07/04/15 22:52 from Google News
10 Things to Know for Wednesday Newsday Iraqis run in a marathon, organized by the youth ministry, to celebrate the Iraqi security forces victory over the Islamic state group in Tikrit, in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, April 6, 2015. The Iraqi ...

» After Victory Over ISIS in Tikrit, Next Battle Requires a New Template - New York Times
07/04/15 22:46 from ISIS - Google News
New York Times After Victory Over ISIS in Tikrit, Next Battle Requires a New Template New York Times Iraqi and American officials say some progress in that region, Anbar Province, will be necessary before a serious effort is mounted to r...

» Iraq Empties Mass Graves in Search for Cadets Killed by ISIS - New York Times
07/04/15 21:51 from ISIS - Google News
New York Times Iraq Empties Mass Graves in Search for Cadets Killed by ISIS New York Times When extremists of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, overran Tikrit in June, officials at the air force academy ordered 1,700 cadets ...

» FBI says ISIS website defacements not by terror group, but urges patching - CSO Australia
07/04/15 19:53 from ISIS - Google News
CSO Australia FBI says ISIS website defacements not by terror group, but urges patching CSO Australia The Federal Bureau of Investigations has warned Wordpress admins to patch their sites to halt website defacements that use ISIS name to...

» Another deadly Isis discovery - New Zealand Herald
07/04/15 17:23 from ISIS - Google News
Another deadly Isis discovery New Zealand Herald Iraqi forensic teams have started recovering the remains of hundreds of cadets who were slaughtered by Isis fighters near Tikrit, after the city was recaptured by Shia militiamen and gover...

» Beware of pro-ISIS script kiddies exploiting WordPress sites, FBI warns - Ars Technica
07/04/15 16:45 from ISIS - Google News
Beware of pro- ISIS script kiddies exploiting WordPress sites, FBI warns Ars Technica The FBI is advising people responsible for WordPress websites to be on the lookout for attacks carried out by individuals sympathetic to the Islamic St...

» ISIS appeal for ceasefire with Kurdish forces - reports - Newstalk 106-108 fm
07/04/15 16:41 from Google News
ISIS appeal for ceasefire with Kurdish forces - reports Newstalk 106-108 fm ISIS are appealing for a ceasefire with Kurdish forces in Iraq, after a succession of battlefield losses to Peshmerga forces, it has been reported. A Kurdish com...

» FBI warns of ISIS-sympathetic hackers attacking and defacing WordPress sites - VentureBeat
07/04/15 16:38 from ISIS - Google News
VentureBeat FBI warns of ISIS -sympathetic hackers attacking and defacing WordPress sites VentureBeat The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued a warning today about an ongoing spree of website defacements allegedly perpetrated by...

» FBI: ISIS using WordPress glitch to deface websites - The Hill
07/04/15 15:59 from ISIS - Google News
FBI: ISIS using WordPress glitch to deface websites The Hill Hackers claiming affiliation with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria ( ISIS ) are using security problems in WordPress to deface sites around the Web, the Federal Bureau of In...

» Bad to worse: ISIS brings fight to Syrian capital - CNBC
07/04/15 15:13 from ISIS - Google News
CNBC Bad to worse: ISIS brings fight to Syrian capital CNBC Fighting in and around the Yarmouk refugee area in southern Damascus puts thousands of civilians in serious danger, prompting the United Nations to call Tuesday for an evacuatio...

» Cost of Fighting ISIS Nears $2 Billion - The Fiscal Times
07/04/15 13:50 from ISIS - Google News
The Fiscal Times Cost of Fighting ISIS Nears $2 Billion The Fiscal Times There have been bits of good news here and there regarding the U.S.-led war against ISIS . Last week, for example, Iraqi government forces with the help of allied S...

» Syria and Iraq are awash with Russian, Iranian, and Chinese weapons - Business Insider
07/04/15 13:40 from Russia and ISIS - Google News
Business Insider Syria and Iraq are awash with Russian , Iranian, and Chinese weapons Business Insider A large amount of the Russian , Iranian, and Chinese ammunition flooding the battle zones were likely looted by ISIS and other jihadis...

» Why Yarmouk's takeover by ISIS is good news for Bashar al-Assad - CNN
07/04/15 11:22 from ISIS - Google News
CNN Why Yarmouk's takeover by ISIS is good news for Bashar al-Assad CNN Lina Khatib is director of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut. Previously, she was the co-founding head of the Program on Arab Reform and Democracy at Sta...

» The US is Under-Arming the Kurds against ISIS - Arutz Sheva
07/04/15 10:14 from Google News
Arutz Sheva The US is Under-Arming the Kurds against ISIS Arutz Sheva As ISIS employs modern equipment, the Kurds are not getting new weapons at the same time Iran makes gains instead. By Gedalyah Reback. First Publish: 4/6/2015, 11:51 P...

» ISIS severely weakened, unsuccessfully suing for truce with Peshmerga - Rudaw
07/04/15 08:55 from Google News
Rudaw ISIS severely weakened, unsuccessfully suing for truce with Peshmerga Rudaw SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region – Through village chiefs and tribal leaders, Islamic State (ISIS) has apparently been appealing for a ceasefire with Kurds in I...

» In Reclaimed Tikrit, Mass Graves From Brutal ISIS Occupation - NPR (blog)
07/04/15 07:55 from ISIS - Google News
NPR (blog) In Reclaimed Tikrit, Mass Graves From Brutal ISIS Occupation NPR (blog) "A survivor of the attack told NPR that ISIS were supported by Sunni local people in their attack on the mostly Shiite soldiers. The area remains fra...

» Isis mass execution: Soldier describes surviving brutal Tikrit massacre by playing ... - The Independent
07/04/15 06:26 from ISIS - Google News
Isis mass execution: Soldier describes surviving brutal Tikrit massacre by playing ... The Independent Isis militants killed up to 1,700 men in mass executions at five locations in Tikrit after seizing the city in northern Iraq in June. ...

» Bodies of soldiers killed by Isis exhumed from Tikrit mass grave - The Guardian
07/04/15 06:21 from ISIS - Google News
The Guardian Bodies of soldiers killed by Isis exhumed from Tikrit mass grave The Guardian Nine months ago, scenes of 1,700 captured soldiers being marched through the streets of Tikrit became a defining emblem of the Isis takeover of no...

» Yarmouk Siege: ISIS Seizes Camp, Sparking Calls for Evacuation of Civilians - NBCNews.com
07/04/15 06:18 from ISIS - Google News
NBCNews.com Yarmouk Siege: ISIS Seizes Camp, Sparking Calls for Evacuation of Civilians NBCNews.com When Christianne Boudreau's son, Damien, converted to Islam, adopted a strict set of rules and grew his beard out four years ago at t...

» Social Media Show 'ISIS Fighters', Deserted Streets in Yarmouk - NBCNews.com
07/04/15 05:18 from ISIS - Google News
NBCNews.com Social Media Show ' ISIS Fighters', Deserted Streets in Yarmouk NBCNews.com NBC News Videos posted on social media claim to show ISIS fighters inside Yarmouk refugee camp, south of Damascus, Syria, and widespread dest...

» Kurdish envoy slams Iraq PM, anti-ISIL coalition - www.worldbulletin.net
07/04/15 05:11 from Google News
www.worldbulletin.net Kurdish envoy slams Iraq PM, anti-ISIL coalition www.worldbulletin.net Diplomat says Iraq has not adequately funded Kurdish government. Peshmerga fighting ISIL, some of the weapons date back to the Second World War....

» Kurdish envoy slams Iraq PM, anti-Daesh coalition - Journal of Turkish Weekly
07/04/15 05:10 from Google News
Kurdish envoy slams Iraq PM, anti-Daesh coalition Journal of Turkish Weekly The representative of Iraq's regional Kurdish government to the U.S. said Monday that Kurdish forces fighting Daesh are being deprived of sufficient military...

» US and Iran Pressured Abadi to Visit Erbil - BasNews
07/04/15 03:50 from Google News
BasNews US and Iran Pressured Abadi to Visit Erbil BasNews The first visit of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to Erbil was the result of pressure from the United States and Iran, according to sources close to the matter. On Monday P...

» KRG Representative to United States: “We Need US to Step Up” - BasNews
07/04/15 03:23 from Google News
BasNews KRG Representative to United States: “We Need US to Step Up” BasNews In a address at a Bipartisan Policy Centre event, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) representative to the United States has said that the Peshmerga are fa...

» ISIS Takes Over Palestinian Refugee Camp in Syria - Breitbart News
06/04/15 23:34 from ISIS - Google News
Breitbart News ISIS Takes Over Palestinian Refugee Camp in Syria Breitbart News The New York Times reports that ISIS recently had a falling-out with a Hamas-affiliated militia in the area of the Yarmouk camp, leading to an escalating con...

» 'Beyond inhumane' - Shelling and sporadic clashes strike Syrian refugee camp - Irish Independent
06/04/15 21:35 from Google News
Irish Independent 'Beyond inhumane' - Shelling and sporadic clashes strike Syrian refugee camp Irish Independent Residents walk amid rubble of damaged buildings after what activists said was a mortar shell thrown Open Gallery 14 ...

» Crisis in Palestinian Camp in Syria Has Worsened Since ISIS Invasion, UN Says - New York Times
06/04/15 20:23 from ISIS - Google News
New York Times Crisis in Palestinian Camp in Syria Has Worsened Since ISIS Invasion, UN Says New York Times UNITED NATIONS — Relief officials at the United Nations expressed alarm on Monday about a deepening humanitarian disaster in Syri...

» Emptied Yarmouk Camp Shows Devastation in Wake of ISIS Attack - NBCNews.com
06/04/15 15:30 from ISIS - Google News
NBCNews.com Emptied Yarmouk Camp Shows Devastation in Wake of ISIS Attack NBCNews.com Some civilians were evacuated from a Palestinian refugee camp on the Damascus outskirts, the United Nations said on Sunday, fleeing an advance by Islam...

» Palestinian envoy to UN urges Security Council to help besieged refugees - Haaretz
06/04/15 13:31 from Google News
Haaretz Palestinian envoy to UN urges Security Council to help besieged refugees Haaretz UN official: Situation at Palestinian refugee camp in Syria 'beyond inhumane'; 18,000 civilians remain trapped in Yarmouk camp, which is und...

» Skepticism surrounds Houthi calls for dialogue - Al-Arabiya
06/04/15 11:25 from Google News
Al-Arabiya Skepticism surrounds Houthi calls for dialogue Al-Arabiya Yemen's Houthi militias are ready to sit down for peace talks as long as a Saudi coalition-led air strikes are halted and the negotiations are overseen by “non-aggr...

» The Slow-Motion Push To Drive ISIS From Anbar - BuzzFeed News
06/04/15 09:49 from ISIS - Google News
BuzzFeed News The Slow-Motion Push To Drive ISIS From Anbar BuzzFeed News AL-GARMA, Iraq — With the high-profile battle for Tikrit underway 100 miles to the north, a militia commander and his men were working on a recent afternoon to sec...

» PLO to hold talks with Syria on Yarmuk - 9news.com.au
06/04/15 09:31 from Google News
PLO to hold talks with Syria on Yarmuk 9news.com.au A senior Palestinian official says he was headed to Damascus for talks on helping residents inside the Yarmuk refugee camp, parts of which have been overrun by the Islamic State group. ...

» State of Syrian refugee camp 'beyond inhumane' - News24
06/04/15 08:53 from Google News
News24 State of Syrian refugee camp 'beyond inhumane' News24 Beirut - Shelling and sporadic clashes struck a Palestinian refugee camp under attack by Islamic extremists in the Syrian capital on Monday, a situation that a UN offic...

» State Of Syrian Refugee Camp Under ISIS Attack Is 'Beyond Inhumane,' UN ... - Huffington Post
06/04/15 08:33 from Google News
Huffington Post State Of Syrian Refugee Camp Under ISIS Attack Is 'Beyond Inhumane,' UN ... Huffington Post BEIRUT (AP) -- Palestinian fighters clashed with Islamic State militants Monday in a heavily contested Palestinian refuge...

» Hamas leaders threaten revenge on ISIS over Yarmouk camp massacre - Daily Mail
06/04/15 08:16 from Google News
Daily Mail Hamas leaders threaten revenge on ISIS over Yarmouk camp massacre Daily Mail ISIS militants besieging a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria's capital have savagely beheaded the leaders of a Hamas-linked group opposed to Pres...

» Syria camp is 'beyond inhumane' - Irish Independent
06/04/15 06:06 from Google News
Irish Independent Syria camp is 'beyond inhumane' Irish Independent Shelling and sporadic clashes have struck a Palestinian refugee camp in the Syrian capital, a situation a UN official describes as "beyond inhumane". A...

» UN official: State of Yarmouk refugee camp 'beyond inhumane' - Ynetnews
06/04/15 05:46 from Google News
Ynetnews UN official: State of Yarmouk refugee camp 'beyond inhumane' Ynetnews Shelling and sporadic clashes struck a Palestinian refugee camp under attack by Islamic extremists in the Syrian capital Monday, a situation that a Un...

» State of Syrian refugee camps 'beyond inhumane': UN official - Economic Times
06/04/15 04:36 from Google News
State of Syrian refugee camps 'beyond inhumane': UN official Economic Times BEIRUT: Activists say shelling and sporadic clashes are striking a Palestinian refugee camp in the Syrian capital, a situation a U.N. official describes ...

» Hundreds of ISIS fighters, suicide bombers holed up in Tikrit district - Rudaw
06/04/15 03:41 from ISIS - Google News
Rudaw Hundreds of ISIS fighters, suicide bombers holed up in Tikrit district Rudaw TIKRIT, Iraq – As Iraqi security forces fortify their control of Tikrit, they still wait for the battle with Islamic State over a remaining district where...

» Top Islamic State leaders are former Iraqi officers - Yahoo7 News
06/04/15 00:46 from saddam hussein baath party - Google News
Yahoo7 News Top Islamic State leaders are former Iraqi officers Yahoo7 News The U.S. military failed in the early years to recognise the role the disbanded Baathist officers would come to have in the extremist group, said Col. Joel Raybu...

» Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein lives on in Islamic State - NEWS.com.au
06/04/15 00:32 from saddam hussein baath party - Google News
NEWS.com.au Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein lives on in Islamic State NEWS.com.au Saddam's former commanders were treated with prejudice by Nouri al-Maliki, who was installed as prime minister in 2006. After Saddam's downfall, he h...

» Baathists “pervade” ISIS; weren't they supposed to be secularists? - Power Line (blog)
05/04/15 23:42 from saddam hussein baath party - Google News
Power Line (blog) Baathists “pervade” ISIS; weren't they supposed to be secularists? Power Line (blog) Slay observes that “at first glance, the secularist dogma of Saddam Hussein's tyrannical Baath Party seems at odds with the Is...

» After Tikrit victory, Iraq's new challenge: Win over Sunnis - Chicago Tribune
05/04/15 19:21 from saddam hussein baath party - Google News
Chicago Tribune After Tikrit victory, Iraq's new challenge: Win over Sunnis Chicago Tribune Analysts believe members of Saddam's outlawed Baath Party , stacked largely with Sunnis, also aided the extremists. The few Sunni tribes ...

» What do recent gains in Syria mean for the Islamic State? - PBS NewsHour
05/04/15 19:11 from saddam hussein baath party - Google News
What do recent gains in Syria mean for the Islamic State? PBS NewsHour Part of what is driving ISIS' success is the growing role of former officials from Saddam Hussein's military, members of the once dominant Baathist Party . Th...

» Washington Post: ISIS Led by Saddam Hussein's Commanders - Newsmax
05/04/15 16:43 from ISIS - Google News
Washington Post: ISIS Led by Saddam Hussein's Commanders Newsmax Experts told the Post that the former Baathist members were steered to ISIS when the Iraqi army was disbanded after the American invasion of 2003. The Iraqi forces were...

» How Saddam Hussein's former military officers and spies are controlling ISIS - Times of India
05/04/15 12:46 from saddam hussein baath party - Google News
Times of India How Saddam Hussein's former military officers and spies are controlling ISIS Times of India The raw cruelty of Hussein's Baathist regime, the disbandment of the Iraqi army after the US-led invasion in 2003, the sub...

» After victory over Islamic State in Tikrit, Iraq's new challenge: Win over Sunnis - LA Daily News
05/04/15 12:09 from saddam hussein baath party - Google News
After victory over Islamic State in Tikrit, Iraq's new challenge: Win over Sunnis LA Daily News In this file photo taken Sunday, March 15, 2015, an Iraqi soldier inspects the demolished tomb of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein i...

» Beating ISIS in battle leaves bigger test for Iraq - CBS News
05/04/15 10:51 from ISIS - Google News
CBS News Beating ISIS in battle leaves bigger test for Iraq CBS News BAGHDAD - Iraq won the battle to retake the city of Tikrit from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria ( ISIS ), backed by a coalition of the unlikely in Iranian advisers,...

» Most of Islamic State's Leaders Were Officers in Saddam Hussein's Iraq - AINA (press release)
05/04/15 03:30 from saddam hussein baath party - Google News
Most of Islamic State's Leaders Were Officers in Saddam Hussein's Iraq AINA (press release) Iraqi President Saddam Hussein , center, chairs a joint meeting of the Revolutionary Command Council and the regional command of the ruli...

» Ghosts of Saddam calling shots for Islamic State - Dallas Morning News
05/04/15 00:24 from saddam hussein baath party - Google News
Dallas Morning News Ghosts of Saddam calling shots for Islamic State Dallas Morning News All of the men, however, were former Iraqi officers who served under Saddam Hussein , including the masked man, who once had worked for an Iraqi int...

» The hidden hand behind the Islamic State militants? Saddam Hussein's. - Washington Post
04/04/15 20:44 from saddam hussein baath party - Google News
The hidden hand behind the Islamic State militants? Saddam Hussein's . Washington Post Two decades ago, the elaborate and cruel forms of torture perpetrated by Hussein dominated the discourse about Iraq, much as the Islamic State'...

» Looting reported in Iraqi city of Tikrit after ISIS forces driven out - CNN
04/04/15 17:06 from ISIS - Google News
CNN Looting reported in Iraqi city of Tikrit after ISIS forces driven out CNN Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) Looting broke out in Tikrit hours after ISIS forces were driven out, a senior Iraqi security official in the city told CNN. The official sa...

» International Business Times: Russia readying up to $1.2 billion for Tajikistan to ... - Kyiv Post
04/04/15 03:21 from Russia and ISIS - Google News
Kyiv Post International Business Times: Russia readying up to $1.2 billion for Tajikistan to ... Kyiv Post ... as much as $1.2 billion in military equipment to Tajikistan to aid its fight against the Islamic State group, Russian newspape...

» Russia to Send Military Aid to Tajikistan to Fight ISIS - Silk Road Reporters
03/04/15 23:03 from Russia and ISIS - Google News
Russia to Send Military Aid to Tajikistan to Fight ISIS Silk Road Reporters Russia is set to deliver a $1.23 billion military aid and equipment package to the Republic of Tajikistan, according to a Russian general staff member, Polly Mos...

» Russia Readying Up To $1.2 Billion For Tajikistan To Fight Against ISIS: Report - International Business Times
03/04/15 16:30 from Russia and ISIS - Google News
International Business Times Russia Readying Up To $1.2 Billion For Tajikistan To Fight Against ISIS : Report International Business Times Russia's ambassador to the meeting told Russian state-run newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta that IS...

» Russia Plans to Send Tajikistan Military Aid to Combat ISIS - Newsweek
03/04/15 14:21 from Russia and ISIS - Google News
Newsweek Russia Plans to Send Tajikistan Military Aid to Combat ISIS Newsweek According to Eurasianet, Igor Frolov-Lyakin, Russia's ambassador to Tajikistan, claimed Taliban and ISIS fighters were stationed near the Tajik-Afghan bord...

» Russia Ready to Give Tajikistan $1.2 Billion Military Aid to Fight ISIS - The Moscow Times
03/04/15 08:54 from Google News
The Moscow Times Russia Ready to Give Tajikistan $1.2 Billion Military Aid to Fight ISIS The Moscow Times Ako Rasheed / ReutersKurdish forces celebrate on the eve of Newroz Day, a festival marking their spring and the Persian New Year, t...

» As Russia Raises Alarm On Afghan "Spillover," Tajikistan Complains It's Not ... - EurasiaNet
03/04/15 07:50 from Russia and ISIS - Google News
As Russia Raises Alarm On Afghan "Spillover," Tajikistan Complains It's Not ... EurasiaNet He added that there are ISIS cells, "albeit so far small" in the area as well: "how serious their role is now is diff...

» Russia ready to deliver almost $1.23 billion worth of arms to Tajikistan - Russia Beyond the Headlines
03/04/15 04:55 from Google News
Russia ready to deliver almost $1.23 billion worth of arms to Tajikistan Russia Beyond the Headlines Russia is ready to deliver about 70 billion rubles (approximately $1.23 billion) worth of military-technological assistance to Tajikista...

» FM Idrissov Attends Afghanistan-Focused CSTO Council in Dushanbe - Astana Times
03/04/15 03:39 from Google News
Astana Times FM Idrissov Attends Afghanistan-Focused CSTO Council in Dushanbe Astana Times DUSHANBE – Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Erlan Idrissov took part in the meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO)...

» Armenian and Tajik FMs discuss cooperation within international organizations - Armenpress.am
02/04/15 11:39 from Google News
Armenian and Tajik FMs discuss cooperation within international organizations Armenpress.am YEREVAN, 2 APRIL, ARMENPRESS. On April 2, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia Edward Nalbandyan met with Minister of Foreign A...

» CSTO Foreign Ministers Convene In Dushanbe - RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
02/04/15 06:34 from Google News
CSTO Foreign Ministers Convene In Dushanbe RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty DUSHANBE -- Foreign Ministers from a Russian-dominated regional security alliance held talks in Tajikistan's capital, Dushanbe, on April 2. Tajik Foreign Ministe...

» Ignoring Syria is not an option - The National
31/03/15 12:20 from Google News
The National Ignoring Syria is not an option The National Turkey is reportedly sealing the last of its border crossings with Syria. The news, which has yet to be confirmed by officials but was revealed by the international press, is a so...

» Worst ever migrant tragedy in the Mediterranean feared – Witness speaks of 950 ... - euronews
31/03/15 09:19 from Google News
euronews Worst ever migrant tragedy in the Mediterranean feared – Witness speaks of 950 ... euronews BEIRUT (Reuters) – Two car bombs set off by Islamic State insurgents killed at least 31 people in northern Syria including a senior riva...

» Five Dutch citizens arrested in Turkey after attempt to cross into Syria (VIDEO) - Malay Mail Online
31/03/15 02:55 from Google News
Five Dutch citizens arrested in Turkey after attempt to cross into Syria (VIDEO) Malay Mail Online ISTANBUL, March 31 — Turkish authorities detained five Dutch citizens on Sunday as they attempted to cross into Syria, apparently with the...

» Russia, Iran, Syria share same vision, says Assad - Al-Arabiya
31/03/15 02:44 from Google News
Al-Arabiya Russia, Iran, Syria share same vision, says Assad Al-Arabiya Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says he shares the same goals as Iran and Russia when it comes to the brutal war tearing apart his country. Assad, speaking on PBS t...

» Russia, Iran, Syria share same vision: Assad - The Daily Star
31/03/15 02:38 from Google News
The Daily Star Russia, Iran, Syria share same vision: Assad The Daily Star In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian President Bashar Assad, right, speaks during an interview with a U.S. magazine, in Damascus...

» An Anxious Wait in Syrian City Held by Insurgents - New York Times
31/03/15 02:19 from Google News
New York Times An Anxious Wait in Syrian City Held by Insurgents New York Times BEIRUT, Lebanon — Residents of the northern Syrian provincial capital of Idlib are waiting anxiously to learn who will govern them, and how, after Islamist i...

» 'Turkey helping IS fighters enter Syria' - Sky News Australia
30/03/15 22:09 from Google News
Sky News Australia 'Turkey helping IS fighters enter Syria' Sky News Australia Jihadists who travel to Syria to join Islamic State are being 'logistically and militarily' supported by Turkey on a daily basis, according to...

» Russia selling weapons to Syria - Irish Examiner
30/03/15 20:47 from Google News
Irish Examiner Russia selling weapons to Syria Irish Examiner Russia is supplying weapons to Damascus via contracts signed since the conflict in Syria began in 2011, as well as under earlier deals, says president Bashar al-Assad. Assad&#...

» The Turkey connection to the ISIS network - The Straits Times
30/03/15 20:03 from Google News
The Straits Times The Turkey connection to the ISIS network The Straits Times The Cilvegozu border gate between Syria and Turkey earlier this month. An average of 3,000 Syrians were said to have crossed into Turkey daily through this gat...

» Fighters flock back to resurgent al-Nusra - Financial Times
30/03/15 19:15 from Google News
Financial Times Fighters flock back to resurgent al-Nusra Financial Times Jabhat al-Nusra, Syria's al-Qaeda affiliate, is once more in the ascendant after being eclipsed by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, its former ally. More....

» Assad: ISIS has expanded since start of US strikes - Al-Arabiya
30/03/15 19:13 from Google News
Al-Arabiya Assad: ISIS has expanded since start of US strikes Al-Arabiya Syrian President Bashar al-Assad giving an interview to journalists from various Russian media outlets in the Syrian capital Damascus. (File: AFP). Text size A A A....

» Syria's Assad says Islamic State has expanded since start of US air strikes - Daily Times
30/03/15 17:31 from Google News
Syria's Assad says Islamic State has expanded since start of US air strikes Daily Times WASHINGTON: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in a US television interview that Islamic State, which has seized swaths of territory in Syria ...

» Kilford: Syria a 'you break it, you buy it' scenario - Ottawa Citizen
30/03/15 13:51 from Google News
Ottawa Citizen Kilford: Syria a 'you break it, you buy it' scenario Ottawa Citizen A handout picture dated February 8, 2015, and released by the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on February 10, 2015 shows Syrian President Bashar al...

» Obama's envoy says talks with Turks resulted in peshmerga transit to Kobani - Today's Zaman
30/03/15 12:20 from Google News
Today's Zaman Obama's envoy says talks with Turks resulted in peshmerga transit to Kobani Today's Zaman John Allen, the US special presidential envoy for the global coalition to counter the ISIL. (Photo: AP, Karim Kadim). March 28, 2...

» Turkey Detains Five Dutch Citizens Trying to Join ISIS - KMBZ
30/03/15 11:55 from Google News
KMBZ Turkey Detains Five Dutch Citizens Trying to Join ISIS KMBZ iStock/Thinkstock(ISTANBUL) -- Turkish military officials say they have detained five Dutch citizens who were attempting to cross the border into Syria to join ISIS. Nearly...

» Turkey closes two border crossings with Syria amid fears of 'terrorist attack' - Telegraph.co.uk
30/03/15 04:36 from Google News
Telegraph.co.uk Turkey closes two border crossings with Syria amid fears of 'terrorist attack' Telegraph.co.uk Turkey has partially closed its two remaining border crossings with Syria, exacerbating a serious refugee crisis amid ...

» Five Dutch citizens detained in Turkey - DAWN.com
29/03/15 21:42 from Google News
Five Dutch citizens detained in Turkey DAWN.com ISTANBUL: Turkish security forces have detained five Dutch citizens who were trying to cross the border illegally from Turkey into Syria, the Turkish military said in a statement on Sunday....

» Turkey Moves to Close All Gates at Border With Syria - New York Times
29/03/15 21:42 from Google News
Turkey Moves to Close All Gates at Border With Syria New York Times ISTANBUL — After maintaining an open-door policy throughout the four-year conflict in neighboring Syria, Turkey has moved this month to close the two remaining border ga...

» Syrian refugee crisis outstrips international aid - The Seattle Times
28/03/15 21:06 from Google News
The Seattle Times Syrian refugee crisis outstrips international aid The Seattle Times THE United Nations food agency has announced that it is being forced to cut off aid to thousands of Syrian refugees in Turkey because of a lack of fund...

» The Syrian odyssey in Istanbul - Aljazeera.com
28/03/15 07:40 from Google News
Aljazeera.com The Syrian odyssey in Istanbul Aljazeera.com While Istanbul has long been a hub for migrants, Syrians have found themselves trapped in Turkey. Mauro Prandelli | 28 Mar 2015 13:32 GMT | Politics, Humanitarian crises, War &am...

» Turkey shuts Syrian border crossings amidst intense fighting - BGN NEWS
12/03/15 06:48 from Google News
BGN NEWS Turkey shuts Syrian border crossings amidst intense fighting BGN NEWS Turkey has closed two border crossings with Syria as a security precaution as fighting around the northern Syrian city of Aleppo intensifies, Turkish official...

» Turkey shuts border crossings as fighting worsens around Syria's Aleppo - Reuters
12/03/15 04:48 from Google News
Turkey shuts border crossings as fighting worsens around Syria's Aleppo Reuters ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey has closed two border crossings with Syria as a security precaution as fighting around the northern Syrian city of Aleppo int...

» Turkey closes border with Syria “for security concerns” - ARA News
11/03/15 18:33 from Google News
Turkey closes border with Syria “for security concerns” ARA News Aleppo, Syria – As violence intensified around Aleppo, the Turkish authorities closed two crossings on Wednesday in the southern province of Hatay at the Syrian border for ...

» Two Turkish Borders Shut Over Fighting in Syria's Aleppo - Sputnik International
11/03/15 11:49 from Google News
Two Turkish Borders Shut Over Fighting in Syria's Aleppo Sputnik International Two Turkish border crossings with Syria are closed as a security precaution over the growing intensity in fighting around the northern Syrian city of Alep...

» Jihadi General Hospital - Huffington Post
10/03/15 18:41 from Google News
Jihadi General Hospital Huffington Post Controversy erupted in Turkey last week, after local government officials in Denizli province in western Turkey confirmed that a Turkish citizen allegedly wounded while fighting for the Islamic Sta...

» Turkey tightens border to stem flow of would-be IS jihadists - TODAYonline
10/03/15 16:30 from Google News
TODAYonline Turkey tightens border to stem flow of would-be IS jihadists TODAYonline Syrians being searched by Turkish soldiers before being allowed to cross back into Syria at a border crossing in Suruc. Turkey has made it harder for wo...

» Turkey releases 3 Koreans after questioning near Syria border - Korea Times
10/03/15 09:16 from Google News
Turkey releases 3 Koreans after questioning near Syria border Korea Times Three Korean nationals were released by Turkish police after being arrested for crossing a restricted military area on the Turkish-Syrian border, the government sa...

» Path to Join Islamic State Winds Through Porous Turkish Border - NDTV
10/03/15 00:39 from Google News
NDTV Path to Join Islamic State Winds Through Porous Turkish Border NDTV Syrian Kurdish men are searched by Turkish soldiers before being allowed to cross back into Syria at a border crossing in Suruc, Turkey on September 24, 2014. (Brya...

» A Path to ISIS, Through a Porous Turkish Border - New York Times
09/03/15 21:18 from Google News
New York Times A Path to ISIS, Through a Porous Turkish Border New York Times GAZIANTEP, Turkey — Under pressure from its allies in the West, Turkey has made it harder for would-be jihadists to slip across the border and join the ranks o...

» Turkey closes border crossings with Syria owing to clashes - Business Standard
09/03/15 16:47 from Google News
Turkey closes border crossings with Syria owing to clashes Business Standard Ankara, March 10 (IANS/EFE) Turkey closed two border crossings with Syria on Monday as a result of heavy clashes in Syria between government forces and rebels. ...

___________________________________________________

Updates

4.10.15

Yazidi sex slaves 'gang-raped in public' by Isis f...

Hundreds of bodies found in mass grave (raw)

The Iran Nuclear Deal Is Good–for the Mullahs - Wa...

» The Iran Nuclear Deal Is Good–for the Mullahs - Washington Wire
10/04/15 13:20 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Washington Wire. By Aaron David Miller Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in Tehran on April 9. Agence France-Presse/Getty Images The agreement over Iran’s nuclear program wil...

» Opinion: Contradictions in Obama's Doctrine
10/04/15 13:20 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from ASHARQ AL-AWSAT. I tried to ignore US President Barack Obama’s interview with the New York Times because I was sure it would be part of his propaganda campaign for the framework nuclear deal with Ira...

» US liberal groups push congressional Democrats on Iran nuclear bills - Middle East
10/04/15 13:19 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story . US progressive groups rallied on Thursday to persuade Democratic senators not to support a bill giving Congress a vote on a nuclear deal with Iran, echoing the White House's insistence that the measure could ...

» White House Takes Shot At Netanyahu On Twitter Using Iran Bomb Diagram « CBS DC
10/04/15 13:19 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from CBS DC. Latest News WASHINGTON (CBS DC/AP) — The White House Twitter account took a shot at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, tweeting a cartoon bomb graphic nearly identical to...

» Obama’s doctrine and legacy | New York Amsterdam News: The new Black view
10/04/15 13:18 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Amsterdam News stories. Special to the AmNews If President Barack Obama’s intention is to forge a legacy, one mainly based on his foreign policy, he has made several decisive steps toward that goal. ...

» The White House's Netanyahu-trolling cartoon is pretty misleading
10/04/15 13:16 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Vox - All. The White House tweeted out a cartoon on Wednesday afternoon, defending the Iran nuclear framework agreement, that was unmistakably designed to mock Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It...

» When Debating Iran's Nuclear Program, Sort Fact from Fiction | Scott Ritter
10/04/15 13:15 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from The Huffington Post | Full News Feed. American policy makers have made it a point, expressed consistently over time, to emphasize that intelligence estimates do not, in and of themselves, constitute policy...

» Poll Finds Most Americans Don't Trust Iran on Nuclear Deal - NBC News.com
10/04/15 13:15 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story . Poll Finds Most Americans Don't Trust Iran on Nuclear Deal collapse story Most Americans don't trust that Iran will abide by an eventual agreement to curtail its nuclear program and not develop an atomic weap...

» More than 100,000 fake Turkish passports given to ISIL
10/04/15 13:10 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story . Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ( ISIL ) militants were given more than 100,000 fake Turkish passports in order to travel to Turkey and then enter Syria to join ISIL, a daily reported on Thursday. Accord...

» Obama Telephones Corker to Discuss Iran Nuke Agreement
10/04/15 13:10 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from ABC News: Politics. The White House says President Barack Obama and Sen. Bob Corker have discussed the tentative agreement to limit Iran's nuclear program. Corker, a Tennessee Republican and the Senate For...

» Should the U.S. guarantee safety in the Mideast?
10/04/15 13:09 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Should the U.S. guarantee safety in the Mideast? - Los Angeles Times. To the editor: Professor Steven L. Spiegel's idea of the U.S. entering into formal defense treaties with Israel, Saudi Arabia and other...

» Could the Corker-Menendez bill kill an Iran deal? A top Dem supporter pushes back.
10/04/15 13:09 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story . Virginia Senator Tim Kaine is among the most prominent Democratic supporters of the Corker-Menendez bill on Iran. He may be one of the most important players in determining whether it passes and what it ultim...

» White House swipes at Netanyahu with tweet of Iran bomb diagram
10/04/15 13:08 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story . Now Playing Amb. Gillerman: WH 'deteriorating' relationship with Israel The White House took an apparent swipe at Benjamin Netanyahu on Twitter Wednesday, posting a diagram similar to one used by the Israeli ...

» The Arab Reaction to the Iran Deal
10/04/15 13:07 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from From the Potomac to the Euphrates. Saudi King Salman attends the opening meeting of the Arab Summit in Sharm el-Sheikh (Stringer/Courtesy Reuters). My research associate, Amr Leheta, wrote this terrific po...

» Chertoff: Iran Deal Worthless Without the Right Enforcement Mechanisms | TIME
10/04/15 13:06 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story . Michael Chertoff was secretary of Homeland Security from 2005 to 2009. He is now executive chairman of The Chertoff Group, a global security and risk-management advisory firm. How will we enforce Iranian comp...

» 5 reasons Iran nuke deal fails: Column
10/04/15 13:05 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story . Kicking the nuclear can down the road while praying Iran changes doesn't offer much hope. A handout picture made available by the official website of the Iranian Supreme Leader shows the Supreme Leader, Ayato...

» Nuke deal 'fact sheets' vary between US, Iran, others
10/04/15 13:04 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story . Officials and pundits have repeatedly emphasized that the devil is in the details for an Iran nuclear deal, but there may also be demons in the basics. Key disagreements about what's been decided have emerged...

» A Struggle to Secure Iraq’s Shared Past, and Perhaps Its Future
10/04/15 13:02 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story . BAGHDAD — Looted and shuttered after American troops seized Baghdad a dozen years ago, the National Museum of Iraq has officially reopened its doors — a response to Islamic State thugs’ taki...

» Differences Emerge in U.S., Iran Interpretations of Nuclear Deal
10/04/15 13:01 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from U.S. News - News. By: Shahir Shahidsaless, Contributor for Al-Monitor Al-Monitor After eight days and nights of intense negotiations, on April 2 Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Federica M...

» Hundreds of bodies found in mass grave (raw)
10/04/15 12:59 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story . Hundreds of bodies found in mass grave (raw) Forensic teams examined and worked to remove hundreds of bodies found in a mass grave in Tikrit, Iraq. The victims are believed to be hundreds of soldiers killed b...

» Why is ISIS destroying Iraq’s cultural heritage? | Opinion , Commentary
10/04/15 12:58 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from The Daily Star >> Opinion. In recent months ISIS has taken to destroying priceless architecture and antiquities in northern Iraq. Since declaring a “caliphate” in June 2014 ISIS has targe...

» U.S. official: No timetable on Mosul invasion
10/04/15 12:56 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story . Story highlights U.S. official said in February that Iraqi troops could go into Mosul in April or May Officials say now that there's no timetable, an invasion could come sooner or later They note that recaptu...

» ISIS launches English radio
10/04/15 12:22 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story . DM London ISIS has launched English-language radio news bulletins on its Iraqi broadcast service - complete with information on the latest suicide bombings and ‘martyrdom operations’. The extremis...

» US to Tehran: Hands off Yemen
10/04/15 12:21 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story . ADEN: Washington warned Thursday it would not “stand by” while Iran supports rebels in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition hit anti-government targets at the start of a third week of bombings. In t...

» The Saudi concert | The Jakarta Post
10/04/15 12:20 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story . The war within a religion in the Afro-Arab world is set to intensify if Pakistan responds positively to Saudi Arabia’s appeal and joins the military offensive against the Shia militants in Yemen. While ...

» Tensions Between Iran and Saudi Arabia Deepen Over Conflict in Yemen
10/04/15 12:18 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story . CAIRO — Tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia deepened on Thursday as Iranian leaders lashed out with rare vehemence against the continuing Saudi air campaign in Yemen , even hurling personal insults a...

» Obama’s Mindless Spin on Iran
10/04/15 12:18 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from The latest from The Weekly Standard by Jay Cost. Widget tooltip If one were to deny Barack Obama the use of straw-man attacks, misrepresentation of facts, accusations that opponents are operating in bad fa...

» It Begins: The Shaping and Selling of Obama's Legacy
10/04/15 12:16 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from RealClearPolitics - Articles. Perhaps it’s the field of potential and actual candidates who claim to want his job, or thoughts of a presidential library where two terms of Barack Obama history will g...

» Yazidi sex slaves 'gang-raped in public' by Isis fighters, harrowing accounts reveal - Middle East - World
10/04/15 12:15 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story . Hundreds of women and children were abducted from the town of Sinjar, in northern Iraq, and held hostage by Isis for over eight months. Some were sold to fighters as sex slaves or given as ‘prizes’...

» ISIS kills 52 men in Iraq
10/04/15 12:14 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from The Guardian Nigeria. ISIS killed 52 men, the majority Iraqi police officers, at the al Qaim border crossing with Syria this week, according to Sohaib al Rawi, governor of Iraq’s Anbar province...

» The war against Islamic State (2): Mosul beckons
10/04/15 12:13 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story . Planting the Iraqi flag in Tikrit. But too many fight only for their sect IN A barren military camp near Mosul in Iraq, 500 balaclava-clad men train for urban warfare under the watchful eye of their leader, a...

» Iran is not cooperating with the deal
10/04/15 12:12 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from American Thinker. Like some of you, I had my doubts about all this talk of a deal with Iran. First, I get very nervous when they cheer in the streets of Iran but worry in Israel. Sorry, but I'd...

» Yazidi women 'gang-raped in public' by Isis fighters, harrowing accounts reveal
10/04/15 12:11 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Gulf News, News in Gulf, Latest Middle East News, Daily News | World News - Times of India. Yazidi women released by Isis this week were gang-raped in public by fighters and tortured by their captors, acco...

» ISIS: the mad, bloody residue of the war on terror
10/04/15 12:10 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Spiked. Key to the emergence of ISIS, in Cockburn’s telling, has been the civil war in Syria, a conflict that was rapidly transformed from a popular uprising against the brutal, economically struggli...

» JK Alternative Viewpoint » Blog Archive » The history of the Islamic State:rise of this Sunni terrorist group-STANLY JOHNY
10/04/15 12:08 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from JK Alternative Viewpoint. The veteran journalist Patrick Cockburn’s latest book traces the history of the Islamic State and identifies the reasons for the rise of this Sunni terrorist group. By STANL...

» Sweden to Join U.S.-Led Coalition Against ISIS
10/04/15 12:04 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Comments on: Sweden to Join U.S.-Led Coalition Against ISIS. by AFP 10 Apr 2015 0 (AFP) Sweden will send up to 120 troops to northern Iraq to train Iraqi and Kurdish fighters as part of the U.S.-led coalit...

» 10 doctors ‘shot dead’ after refusing to treat ISIS militants
10/04/15 12:04 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from | 10 doctors ‘shot dead’ after refusing to treat ISIS militantsNew York Post. Ten doctors who refused to treat wounded Islamic State militants faced a familiar punishment meted out by the terror group R...

» Who Is to Blame for the Rise of ISIS — Bush or Obama?
10/04/15 11:52 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Christianpost.com > Church & Ministries. March 19, 2015 | 3:49 pm (Photo: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque) U.S. President Barack Obama speaks at the White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism in Wash...

» Obama Realigns American Foreign Policy
10/04/15 11:51 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from American Thinker. Foreign policy pundits are not quite sure about the Obama administration’s Middle East strategy. It appears that the administration is either playing a balance-of-power game in the ...

» Why Obama chose the Iran talks to take one of his presidency’s biggest risks
10/04/15 11:48 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story . A handout picture released by the White House on April 1, 2015 shows President Obama and Vice President Biden, with the national security team, participating in a secure video teleconference from the Situatio...

» Rand Paul: Kurds would fight ISIS 'like hell' if promised a country
10/04/15 11:46 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story . Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) says he supports creating a new nation for the Kurds in exchange for their help fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). “I think they would fight like hell if we prom...

» U.S. Advisers May Be Working With Terrorist-Labeled PKK to Fight ISIS - The Daily Beast
10/04/15 11:44 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story . The U.S. relationship is informal amid a tangled roster of Kurdish warriors, but the PKK troops are too good to ignore. MATARA, Iraq — On the volatile front lines facing the so-called Islamic State outs...

» China’s March Westward and the ISIS Challenge
10/04/15 11:41 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from International Policy Digest. By Aurangzeb Qureshi for Global Risk Insights In recent years, China is slowly returning to its former glory as the “Middle Kingdom” as it was once was during the 6...

» National View: InsideSources — Cyber security and the importance of investing and innovating - Opinion - southcoasttoday.com
10/04/15 11:39 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story . © Copyright 2015 Local Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Local Media Group Publications Original content available for n...

» Normalization and a De-facto Alliance Between Washington and Tehran | Raghida Dergham
10/04/15 11:35 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from WorldPost Blog on The Huffington Post. Within one week, this is what Tehran sowed and reaped: The Islamic Republic of Iran celebrated the opening of a new historical chapter with the United States and the ...

» ISIS 'demand $30m ransom for Assyrian hostages'
10/04/15 11:29 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story . Reuters Displaced Assyrians, who fled from the villages around Tel Tamr, gather outside an Assyrian Church in al-Hasaka city. More than 250 Assyrian hostages held by Islamic State could be released in return ...

» Russian warns of ISIS' influence in Russia | News , World
10/04/15 11:28 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from The Daily Star >> News. MOSCOW: A senior Russian intelligence official has warned of the potential influence of ISIS inside Russia. Gen. Sergei Smirnov, deputy chief of the FSB intelligence agency, w...

» US bombs ISIS in Saddam Hussein's hometown after Iran-backed offensive stalled
10/04/15 11:26 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Military & Defense Contributors. REUTERS/Stringer A military vehicle, belonging to Shi'ite fighters known as Hashid Shaabi, burns after being hit by Islamic State militants, during clashes in northern ...