 |
 | February 17, 2015 |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
| ISIS LATEST |
|
BBC News: Islamic State Militants Reportedly Burn To Death 45 In Iraq
Jihadist militants from Islamic State (IS) have burned to death 45 people in the western Iraqi town of al-Baghdadi, the local police chief says. Exactly who these people were and why they were killed is not clear, but Col Qasim al-Obeidi said he believed some were members of the security forces. IS fighters captured much of the town, near Ain al-Asad air base, last week. Col Obeidi said a compound that houses the families of security personnel and local officials was now under attack. He pleaded for help from the government and the international community. The fighting and poor communications in the area make it difficult to confirm such reports. Read more..
Reuters: U.S. To Train And Equip Moderate Syrian Rebels
The United States and Turkey have reached a tentative agreement to train and equip moderate Syrian opposition fighters and expect to sign the pact soon, U.S. and Turkish officials said on Tuesday with Ankara predicting a signing in days. The U.S. military has said it is planning to send more than 400 troops, including special operations forces, to train Syrian moderates at sites outside Syria as part of the fight against the Islamic State. Three U.S. officials, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the training could begin in mid-March. The vetted Syrian fighters would be equipped with items including pickup trucks with mounted machine guns, radios and global positioning system trackers, the officials said. Read more..
Mediaite: Eric Holder: If Fox Didn’t Obsess Over Term ‘Radical Islam,’ ‘They’d Have Nothing Else to Talk About’
Attorney General Eric Holder today dismissed the debate over the usage of the term “radical Islam” — specifically, why the Obama Administration refused to use the term to describe militants such as ISIS — and called out Fox News for being overly preoccupied with the terminology. “We spend more time, more time talking about what you call it, as opposed to what do you do about it, you know? I mean really,” Holder said with some exasperation at a National Press Club luncheon today in Washington, D.C. “If Fox didn’t talk about this, they would have nothing else to talk about, it seems to me.” Read more..
Washington Times: Obama Avoids Islam Focus In 'Extremism' Summit
The White House opened a summit Tuesday aimed at countering generic “violent extremism” amid complaints that the administration is partnering in the effort with a Boston-based mosque with past links to terrorism. At the start of the three-day conference with American community leaders and foreign ministers from 60 nations, Vice President Joseph R. Biden said the U.S. might be avoiding the kinds of terrorist attacks that have struck Europe recently because the U.S. traditionally has been more welcoming to immigrants. “We are a nation of immigrants, and our strength is that we are a melting pot,” Mr. Biden said. The summit is aimed at combating the root causes of terrorism, and President Obama and his top advisers are determined not to portray extremists as motivated by radical Islam. But some critics said the administration is partnering in its three-city pilot program with a group called the Islamic Society of Boston and its political arm, the Muslim American Society, which have ties to people convicted of terrorist activities. Read more..
NYT: Islamist Faction In Libya Now Strikes From The Sky
The Islamist-backed faction in Libya’s civil conflict said Tuesday that it had carried out its first airstrike, targeting opponents in the town of Zintan in an escalation of the violence tearing the country apart. The attack occurred two days after the Islamic State, the extremist group also known as ISIS or ISIL, released a video showing fighters for one of its Libyan branches beheading as many as 21 Egyptian Christians. In retaliation, Egypt carried out an airstrike on Monday against a town in eastern Libya that is a hub of Islamist militancy and the home of another Islamic State branch. The extent of the damage was unclear. But the attack on Tuesday raised the possibility of an air war between the rival Libyan factions and diminished hopes for United Nations-sponsored talks about ending the conflict. “This may well upend the U.N.’s mediation efforts,” said Wolfram Lacher, a Libya researcher at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. Read more..
|
|
|
|
|
| More News |
|
|
|
|
|
| POLITICAL NEWS |
|
NYT: Rand Paul Is Looking to April To Announce Plan To Run For President, Associates Say
Senator Rand Paul is eyeing April 7 as the day he will announce his plans to run for president, people close to him said, a step that would position him ahead of his potential Republican rivals as a declared candidate and allow him to begin raising money directly for his campaign 10 months before the Iowa caucuses. Mr. Paul, the junior senator from Kentucky and the heir to the robust Ron Paul grass-roots network, will take the next month to continue talking with members of his family about whether they are comfortable moving forward with the exhausting and, at times, agonizing rigors of a modern presidential campaign. Only his family’s doubts could change his mind at this point, said associates of the senator, who insisted on anonymity because Mr. Paul’s plans had not yet taken final shape. Read more..
WSJ: Foreign Government Gifts To Clinton Foundation On The Rise
The Clinton Foundation has dropped its self-imposed ban on collecting funds from foreign governments and is winning contributions at an accelerating rate, raising ethical questions as Hillary Clinton ramps up her expected bid for the presidency. Recent donors include the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Australia, Germany and a Canadian government agency promoting the Keystone XL pipeline. In 2009, the Clinton Foundation stopped raising money from foreign governments after Mrs. Clinton became secretary of state. Former President Bill Clinton, who ran the foundation while his wife was at the State Department, agreed to the gift ban at the behest of the Obama administration, which worried about a secretary of state’s husband raising millions while she represented U.S. interests abroad. Read more..
NYT: Hillary Clinton, Privately, Seeks The Favor Of Elizabeth Warren
Hillary Rodham Clinton held a private meeting with Senator Elizabeth Warren in December, seeking to cultivate the increasingly influential senator and to grapple with issues raised by a restive Democratic left, such as income inequality. The two met at the Northwest Washington home of the Clintons, without aides and at Mrs. Clinton’s invitation. Mrs. Clinton solicited policy ideas and suggestions from Ms. Warren, according to a Democrat briefed on the meeting, who called it “cordial and productive.” Mrs. Clinton, who has been seeking advice from a range of scholars, advocates and officials, did not ask Ms. Warren to consider endorsing her likely presidential candidacy. Read more..
Huffington Post: Obama: 'The Law Is On Our Side' On Immigration Actions
President Barack Obama said Tuesday that he remains confident he acted within his legal authority with executive actions on immigration that have been halted by a federal judge. "I think the law is on our side and history is on our side, and we are going to appeal it," Obama told reporters at the White House. U.S. District Judge Judge Andrew Hanen in Brownsville, Texas, ruled Monday that the Obama administration could not move forward with the president's 2014 executive actions on immigration while the court considers a lawsuit from 26 states contending the policies are unconstitutional. The Department of Justice will appeal. Cecilia Muñoz, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, said on a call with reporters that the administration would determine whether to take additional steps, such as requesting a stay of the judge's decision, in the "next couple of days." Read more..
Miami Herald: 'That's Not Leadership,' Jeb Bush Says Of Obama's Executive Action On Immigration
Jeb Bush took to Facebook Tuesday to criticize President Obama's executive action on immigration last year, following the ruling by a federal judge in Texas late Monday temporarily blocking Obama's move. "Last year, the president overstepped his executive authority and, in turn, hurt the effort toward a commonsense immigration solution," Bush wrote. "That's not leadership. The millions of families affected across the country deserve better. "Now, more than ever, we need President Obama to work with Congress to secure the border and fix our broken immigration system." Bush's support of an immigration overhaul -- he co-authored a book about it, Immigration Wars -- doesn't sit well with some of the GOP's conservative grassroots. By calling out Obama for the way he has gone about letting millions of immigrants in the country illegally stay, Bush has found a way to oppose the president, at least when it comes to process. Read more..
The Hill: Poll: GOP would take hit in DHS shutdown
Republicans would take most of the blame if ongoing budget negotiations cause a shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security, according to a new poll. Fifty-three percent of Americans would blame Republicans for a shutdown, CNN/ORC pollsters found, compared to 30 percent who blame President Obama. Tuesday’s poll comes just weeks before the department’s funding is set to run out. Republicans have tried to use a new budget as a vehicle to defund the president’s upcoming actions on immigration. While the Republican majority in the House approved that measure, Senate Republicans can’t cobble together enough votes to overcome a Democratic filibuster. Read more..
CNN/ORC Poll: Majority Of Americans Oppose Netanyahu Invite
A large majority of Americans believe that Republican congressional leaders should not have invited Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak to Congress without consulting the White House, according to a new CNN/ORC survey. The nationwide poll, released Tuesday, shows 63% of Americans say it was a bad move for congressional leadership to extend the invitation without giving President Barack Obama a heads up that it was coming. Only 33% say it was the right thing to do. And as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict continues to simmer in the Middle East, the survey found that a similar majority thinks the U.S. should stay out of that fight altogether. Read more..
AP: Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu Faces New Scandal Over Alleged Lavish Expenses
With Israeli elections looming and the region in turmoil, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu found himself once more enmeshed in a gossipy scandal on Tuesday: Israel's government watchdog released a report into alleged financial malfeasance at the prime minister's residence, while his wife faced criticism for pettiness and possible security breaches after complaining in a video about the shabbiness of the kitchen at their official Jerusalem residence. The uproar jolted an election campaign in which Netanyahu's opponents have tried to portray him as enjoying a lavish lifestyle and being out of touch with the struggles of average Israelis. Netanyahu's allies angrily dismissed the allegations as part of a campaign to deflect attention from more serious issues over Israel's security challenges.Read more..
Washington Post: Ash Carter Sworn In As New U.S. Defense Secretary
Ashton B. Carter officially became the 25th U.S. secretary of defense on Tuesday, taking the oath of office at the White House in a ceremony with Vice President Biden. Carter, standing next to his wife, Stephanie, took the oath of office in the Roosevelt Room at the White House. He said that becoming secretary of defense was the “highest honor,” and he thanked his wife, two children and others who have helped him prepare for the job. Carter has served previously in senior posts at the Pentagon, including as its No. 2 leader from October 2011 to December 2013. He was characterized by Biden as a “profoundly capable manager” who has a long record of negotiating Washington’s bureaucracy to rush equipment needed by U.S. troops into the field. Biden cited Carter’s role in rushing 24,000 mine-resistant vehicles to Iraq and Afghanistan. Not everyone on Capitol Hill or the Pentagon was in favor of spending the more than $20 billion the effort required, but Carter helped shepherd the project against skepticism, the vice president said. Read more..
Huffington Post: Joe Biden Draws Criticism For Remark About Somali Cab Drivers
Vice President Joe Biden drew criticism on Tuesday after he spoke about the Somali community in his home state of Delaware. During a White House roundtable discussion on the fight against violent extremism, Biden touted his relationship with Somali-Americans by noting that many of them drive cabs in Wilmington. "I might add if you come to the train station with me you'll notice I have great relationships with them because there's an awful lot driving cabs and are friends of mine," he said. "For real. I'm not being solicitous. I'm being serious," he added. Read more..
Reuters: Some 11.4 Million Americans Have Enrolled In Obamacare: White House
Some 11.4 million Americans enrolled in private health insurance through Obamacare during the open enrollment period, the White House said in a tweet on Tuesday. "The Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, is working. It's working better than we anticipated, certainly working a lot better than many of the critics talked about early on," President Barack Obama said in a video linked to the White House tweet. Administration officials have said they expected 9.1 million people to be enrolled in coverage and up to date on insurance payments by the end of the year. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office had predicted 12 million enrollees for 2015. Read more..
Austin-American Statesman: Judge Rules Texas Gay-Marriage Ban Unconstitutional
A Travis County judge ruled Tuesday that the Texas ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional, but there was no rush to the altar after county officials — scrambling to understand the impact of the judge’s 3 p.m. order — decided against issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, at least for now. Travis County Probate Judge Guy Herman ruled as part of an estate fight in which Austin resident Sonemaly Phrasavath sought to have her eight-year relationship to Stella Powell deemed to have been a common-law marriage. Powell died last summer of colon cancer. Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir, who praised Herman for his ruling, said she will confer with county lawyers to determine her options. Read more..
Huffington Post: Eric Holder: Moratorium On Death Penalty 'Would Be Appropriate' Pending Supreme Court Decision
Attorney General Eric Holder called Tuesday for a moratorium on the death penalty pending a Supreme Court decision on the use of lethal injection drugs in Oklahoma. Speaking at a luncheon at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., Holder, noting that he was speaking in a personal capacity and not as a member of the administration, said the "inevitable" possibility of executing an innocent individual is what makes him oppose capital punishment. "Our system of justice is the best in the world. It is comprised of men and women who do the best they can, get it right more often than not, substantially more right than wrong," Holder said. "There's always the possibility that mistakes will be made ... It's for that reason that I am opposed to the death penalty." He continued: "I think fundamental questions about the death penalty need to be asked. And among them, the Supreme Court's determination as to whether or not lethal injection is consistent with our Constitution is one that ought to occur. From my perspective, I think a moratorium until the Supreme Court made that determination would be appropriate." Read more..
The Hill: Pelosi Leads House Delegation To Cuba
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is leading a delegation to Cuba on Tuesday while Congress is out on recess. It is the first official House delegation trip to Cuba since President Obama announced lifting certain restrictions on Cuba in December. The delegation, comprised of eight other Democratic lawmakers specializing in foreign affairs, trade and agriculture, will meet with Cuban government officials, local community leaders, American officials stationed in Cuba, and Cardinal Jaime Ortega y Alamino, the archbishop of Havana. Read more..
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| UKRAINE LATEST |
|
Washington Post: Cease-Fire In Peril As Rebels Trap 5,000 Ukrainian Troops
The Ukrainian military admitted Tuesday that it no longer had full control over the strategic railway hub of Debaltseve, as rebel leaders claimed to have seized broad swaths of ground in street-by-street combat, including the train station. The apparent gains in Debaltseve by pro-Russian separatists came as they and Ukrainian forces picked up the pace of their artillery battles, trading fire in areas around the city despite a three-day-old cease-fire under which the two sides were to remove their heavy weapons from the front lines starting Tuesday. Read more..
|
|
|
|
|
| MILITARY DRONE RULES ANNOUNCED & OTHER STORIES FOR THIS WEDNESDAY MORNING... |
|
AP: U.S. To Allow Export Of Armed Military Drones
The Obama administration is amending its regulations for weapons sales to allow the export of armed military drones to friendly nations and allies. The State Department said Tuesday the new policy would allow foreign governments that meet certain requirements — and pledge not to use the unmanned aircraft illegally — to buy the vehicles that have played a critical but controversial role in combatting terrorism and are increasingly used for other purposes. Recipient countries would be required to sign end-use statements certifying that the drones would not be used for unlawful surveillance or force against domestic populations and would only be used in internationally sanctioned military operations, such as self-defense. Each sale would be reviewed individually and the pledges would be monitored for compliance, the department said in a statement. Read more..
Huffington Post: Video Aims To Show What 10 Hours Of Walking In Paris As A Jew Looks Like
A month after a gunman killed four people at a kosher market in Paris, following a larger attack on Charlie Hebdo, Jewish journalist Zvika Klein decided to record 10 hours of walking through the French capital to show what it's like for a Jew in the city. Klein embarked on the 10-hour trek wearing a kippah, or yarmulke. A photographer traveled with Klein through the streets of Paris and nearby suburbs, recording the journey using a GoPro hidden in a backpack. The footage was edited down to a 90-second clip and published on the Israeli news site NRG. In the video, Klein can be seen walking silently. Things got tense when he leaves popular tourist destinations and heads for public housing neighborhoods. There, Klein is met with remarks like "Jew," "homo" and "Viva Palestine." Some spit at him and others follow him. In his report for NRG, he wrote that a little boy asked his mother "What is he doing here Mommy? Doesn’t he know he will be killed?" The video has garnered more than 1 million views since being posted to YouTube Sunday. Read more..
Reuters: Hispanic Group Calls For U.S. Probe Into Police Slaying Of Mexican Immigrant
A Hispanic advocacy group urged the U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday to conduct its own investigation into the fatal police shooting in Washington state of an unarmed Mexican immigrant who ran from officers after throwing rocks at them. Consejo Latino Chairman Felix Vargas complained of an inherent conflict of interest in having local authorities investigate the Feb. 10 slaying of Antonio Zambrano-Montes in Pasco, a small city in an agricultural hub with a large Hispanic community and a largely white power structure. "It appears inescapable that the lethal force applied by these police officers was excessive in the extreme and, as such, it constituted a violation of Mr. Zambrano's constitutional rights," Vargas wrote in a letter to the Justice Department. Read more..
NYT: Miss P, A Beagle, Wins The Westminster Dog Show
Miss P, a beagle, won the 139th annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Showon Tuesday night, defeating six rivals at Madison Square Garden. Miss P, who won the hound group, is a grandniece to Uno, who won Best in Show in 2008. The winner succeeds last year’s champ, Sky, a wire fox terrier, and will appear on the “Today” show on Wednesday morning and host the victor’s traditional news conference Wednesday at Sardi’s. David Merriam, a retired California state judge, made his choice at roughly 11 p.m. Eastern. Read more..
Huffington Post: New York City Could See Up To Six Feet Of Sea Level Rise This Century: Report
Climate change is already impacting New York City with rising temperatures and sea levels, which will only worsen as the century continues, according to a report released Tuesday from a panel of scientific experts. In its 2015 report, the New York City Panel on Climate Change found that the most populous city in the United States is expected to see more frequent heat waves and extreme precipitation events. This is in line with the national and international trends other leading scientific bodies have observed. The city's average annual temperatures, measured from Central Park, have risen about 3.4 degrees Fahrenheit since 1900. From 1971 to 2000, the average annual temperature in the city was 54 degrees, and models predict a a 4.1- to 5.7-degree increase by the middle of the century. Temperatures are projected to rise 5.3 to 8.8 degrees Fahrenheit by the 2080s. Read more..
Reuters: S&P 500 Ends At Record High
The S&P 500 ended above 2,100 at another record high on Tuesday as optimism grew that a debt deal would be reached with Greece and as bond prices sold off. In a possible sign of progress for Greece, a source told Reuters the country intends to ask for an extension of a loan agreement Wednesday. The report follows a collapse of deal negotiations on Monday, which led to European Union finance ministers pressuring the country to remain in an international financial rescue program. Late in the session, though, broadcaster ZDF reported the German finance minister said an extension was not up for debate. U.S. Treasury debt prices sold off, pushing benchmark 10-year note yields to seven-week peaks, on expectations the Federal Reserve could bump up rates as early as June. Minutes from the last Fed meeting are due Wednesday. Read more..
Bloomberg: Snapchat Said To Seek Up To $19 Billion Value In Financing
Snapchat Inc. is seeking a new round of funding that would value the company as high as $19 billion, a person with knowledge of the matter said, making it the third-most valuable venture-backed company in the world. Snapchat, which makes a mobile application for sending photos and videos that disappear within seconds, wants to raise as much as $500 million, said the person, who asked not to be named because the talks are private. Executives are in advanced discussions with fund managers, the person said. Read more..
ESPN: Alex Rodriguez Formally Apologizes
Alex Rodriguez extended his apology tour to include the fans Tuesday, releasing a handwritten letter in which he says he is sorry for his mistakes that led to his suspension for performance-enhancing drug use. In the letter obtained by ESPN on Tuesday afternoon, Rodriguez called the New York Yankees"gracious" for offering him the chance to use Yankee Stadium for a news conference. But Rodriguez chose to forgo a formal media session. "I take full responsibility for the mistakes that led to my suspension for the 2014 season," Rodriguez said in the statement. "I regret that my actions made the situation worse than it needed to be. To Major League Baseball, the Yankees, the Steinbrenner family, the Players Association and you, the fans, I can only say I'm sorry. Read more..
NYT: Italian Soccer Has Too Many ‘Colored Players,’ Revered Coach Says
After watching the final match of a prestigious tournament for young soccer players in Italy on Monday, the revered former coach of Italy’s national team, Arrigo Sacchi, told reporters that he had spotted just one problem with the winner: too many of the players were not white. In remarks captured on video, Mr. Sacchi, who took Italy to the World Cup final in 1994, argued that the presence of a large number of foreigners in the junior ranks of the nation’s professional clubs was hindering the development of young Italian players. In doing so, however, he referred not to the nationalities of the non-Italians, but to the color of their skin. Read more..
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
댓글 없음:
댓글 쓰기