World

Russia, Syria blockade Aleppo, offer corridors out

Published on Thu, 07/28/2016 - 12:42pm
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BEIRUT— After months of fighting to encircle its opponents in Aleppo, Syrian authorities backed by Russia on Thursday offered safe corridors out for residents and rebels in the northern city's besieged quarters, underlining the government's determination to seal off the metropolis and force an eventual surrender by the opposition.

Many residents dismissed the offer, saying it presents them with an impossible choice between a slow death if they stay behind and possible detention if they attempt to leave.

UN warns of dangers as Iraqis displaced by IS return home

Published on Thu, 07/28/2016 - 12:39pm
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BAGHDAD (AP) — Tens of thousands of Iraqis uprooted by the Islamic State group are now returning home after a string of Iraqi government victories in Anbar province, but the United Nations is warning civilians may be returning too soon as much of "liberated" Iraq is still dangerous, littered with roadside bombs and bobby-trapped explosives.

French ID 2nd church attacker; police had warning about him

Published on Thu, 07/28/2016 - 12:37pm
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PARIS— French officials on Thursday identified the second man who attacked a Normandy church during morning Mass, saying he's a 19-year-old from eastern France who was spotted last month in Turkey as he supposedly headed to Syria — but who returned to France instead.

The prosecutor's office identified him as Abdel-Malik Nabil Petitjean following DNA tests on his corpse. A security official confirmed that he was the unidentified man pictured on a photo distributed to French police on July 22 with a warning that he could be planning an attack.

Minister: Bavaria bomber in online chat before attack

Published on Wed, 07/27/2016 - 12:39pm
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BERLIN— A 27-year-old Syrian asylum-seeker who blew himself up in the southern German town of Ansbach was chatting online with a still-unidentified person immediately before the explosion, Bavaria's interior minister said Wednesday.

Attacker Mohammed Daleel died and 15 people were wounded when his bomb exploded outside a wine bar Sunday night after he was denied entry to a nearby open-air concert because he didn't have a ticket.

US: Fighting in Syrian city yields trove of IS intelligence

Published on Wed, 07/27/2016 - 12:34pm
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WASHINGTON— The U.S. is exploiting an enormous amount of digital information about the Islamic State obtained by Syrian rebels fighting for control of the city of Manbij, a spokesman for the American-led military coalition said Wednesday.

Speaking by phone from Baghdad, Col. Christopher Garver told reporters at the Pentagon that it's unclear how this trove of intelligence might affect the direction of the war, but he suggested it has been of considerable value.

"We think this is a big deal," he said.

Trump says Russia should find Clinton's missing emails

Published on Wed, 07/27/2016 - 12:27pm
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MIAMI— Donald Trump has a message for Russia: find Hillary Clinton's missing emails. But his running mate, Mike Pence, is sending mixed signals.

In a Miami press conference Wednesday, the Republican presidential nominee said that the 30,000 missing emails from Clinton's private email server would reveal "some beauties" and made an extraordinary plea for a foreign power to locate them.

"Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing," Trump said. "I think you'll be rewarded mightily by our press!"

Pope Francis: The world's at war, but not a war of religions

Published on Wed, 07/27/2016 - 12:22pm
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KRAKOW, Poland— The world is at war, but it is not a war of religions, Pope Francis said Wednesday as he traveled to Poland on his first visit to Central and Eastern Europe in the shadow of the slaying of a priest in France.

IS group claims attack that killed 85-year-old French priest

Published on Tue, 07/26/2016 - 1:04pm
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SAINT-ETIENNE-DU-ROUVRAY, France— Two attackers slit the throat of an 85-year-old priest celebrating Mass in a French church, killing him and gravely injuring one of the few worshippers present before being shot to death by police. A nun who escaped said she saw the attackers take a video of themselves and "give a sermon in Arabic" around the altar.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, the first inside a church in the West.

Pope to find a Catholic Poland out of step with his vision

Published on Tue, 07/26/2016 - 12:50pm
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KRAKOW, Poland— When Pope Francis arrives in Poland this week for World Youth Day, he will meet a nation still deeply committed to its conservative Catholic traditions and to the memory of St. John Paul II, who inspired this country's successful struggle against communism in the 1980s.

But Francis will also find a nation under international censure for backtracking on some of its democratic gains, and a clergy deeply entwined with a ruling right-wing party that analysts say is out of sync with his philosophy of humility and mercy.

Letter foretold Japan rampage that killed 19 disabled people

Published on Tue, 07/26/2016 - 12:46pm
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SAGAMIHARA, Japan— A young Japanese man went on a stabbing rampage Tuesday at a facility for the mentally disabled where he had been fired, officials said, killing 19 people months after he gave a letter to Parliament outlining the bloody plan and saying all disabled people should be put to death.