World

Most Syrian refugees arriving in US are kids; schools adapt

Published on Thu, 10/20/2016 - 5:09pm
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EL CAJON, Calif. — Seated at his desk at a suburban San Diego middle school, 12-year-old Abdulhamid Ashehneh tries not to let his mind wander to the painful memories of his life in civil war-torn Syria.
 
His father disappeared suddenly four years ago and, the family believes, was killed. Months later, Abdulhamid's mother boarded a bus with her six children, the youngest 2, and fled to Jordan, the sound of bombs ringing in the distance.
 

Iraqi special forces join battle for Mosul, US soldier dies

Published on Thu, 10/20/2016 - 4:44pm
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BARTELLA, Iraq — In a significant escalation of the battle for Mosul, elite Iraqi special forces joined the fight Thursday, unleashing a pre-dawn assault on an Islamic State-held town east of the besieged city, and the U.S. military announced the first American combat death since the operation began.
 

Super typhoon slams into northeastern Philippines

Published on Wed, 10/19/2016 - 2:57pm
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BINALONAN, Philippines (AP) — Super Typhoon Haima slammed into the northeastern Philippine coast late Wednesday with ferocious winds and rain that rekindled fears and memories from the catastrophe wrought by Typhoon Haiyan in 2013.

Haima, which has sustained winds of 225 kilometers (140 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 315 kph (195 mph), made landfall at Penablanca town in Cagayan province shortly before midnight, weather officials said. Many villages lost power and intense winds tore tin roofs off houses.

US general said Mosul battle could last months

Published on Wed, 10/19/2016 - 2:53pm

WASHINGTON (AP) — The fight for Mosul, launched this week by Iraqi security forces supported by U.S. air power and advisers, could take months and is likely to feature periods of fierce combat, the commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East said Wednesday.

Norway asked to host rotational force of US Marines

Published on Wed, 10/19/2016 - 2:51pm

STOCKHOLM (AP) — The United States wants to send a 300-strong rotational force of U.S. Marines to Norway, a NATO member that shares a border with Russia in the Arctic.

Norwegian Defense Ministry spokesman Lars Gjemble said Wednesday that "a limited rotational U.S. Marine Corps presence in Norway is a possible option currently being considered."

European Mars lander's fate unclear, signs 'not good'

Published on Wed, 10/19/2016 - 2:49pm

DARMSTADT, Germany (AP) — The European Space Agency lost contact with an experimental Mars probe shortly before its planned landing on the red planet Wednesday. Scientists said that wasn't a good sign for the Schiaparelli lander, but it was too soon to give up on the craft.

ESA successfully put Schiaparelli's mother ship, which will analyze the Martian atmosphere, into orbit. But several hours after the lander was supposed to have touched down at 1448 GMT, there was no firm word on its fate.

Retaken villages show IS increasingly driven underground

Published on Tue, 10/18/2016 - 2:25pm
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BADANA, Iraq — This farming village east of Mosul was turned into a bunker during more than two years of Islamic State rule: A network of tunnels and cramped living quarters betrays an extremist group increasingly forced to operate underground by a punishing air campaign and mounting territorial losses.
 

WikiLeaks: Assange's internet link 'severed' by state actor

Published on Mon, 10/17/2016 - 4:21pm
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PARIS — WikiLeaks says that founder Julian Assange's internet access has been cut by an unidentified state actor. Few other details were immediately available.
 
Assange has been up holed up at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London for more than four years after skipping bail to avoid being extradited over sex crimes allegations.
 

Mosul is more than a potentially climactic military battle

Published on Mon, 10/17/2016 - 4:13pm
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WASHINGTON — More is riding on the battle for Mosul than the recapture of the Islamic State's main stronghold in northern Iraq. Also on the line is the Obama administration's theory that the extremists can be defeated in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere without American ground troops doing the fighting.
 

US removes limits on bringing in Cuban rum, cigars

Published on Fri, 10/14/2016 - 5:08pm
The Obama administration announced Friday that it is eliminating a $100 limit on the value of Cuban rum and cigars that American travelers can bring back from the island.
 
The administration is also lifting limits on cargo ship travel between the U.S. and Cuba and easing U.S. and Cuban researchers' ability to conduct joint medical research. The measures are contained in a new round of regulatory changes meant to ease U.S. trade with Cuba.