The Long, Strange Trip Continues with New VW Camper Bus
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Blog
U.S. troops at Taqaddum to help Iraqis plan fight for Ramadi
By David Alexander WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama has said American forces being sent to a new operations center in the heart of the war against Islamic State will not engage in combat, but they will do almost everything but fight to support the beleaguered Iraqi forces. U.S. defense officials say the tasks of the troops going to Taqaddum air base will range from advising Iraqi commanders how to
Armed group storms Tunisian consulate in Libyan capital, kidnap 10 staff
An armed group stormed the Tunisian consulate in the Libyan capital Tripoli and kidnapped 10 staff on Friday, the Tunisian Foreign Ministry said. The ministry did not identify the armed group, but called the assault a “blatant attack on Tunisian national sovereignty and a flagrant violation of international laws”. Tunisia is one of only a few countries which still has a mission in Tripoli, a city which is controlled by
North Korea, in letter to U.N., claims U.S. targeted it with anthrax
North Korea has accused the United States of targeting it with anthrax and asked the United Nations Security Council to investigate Washington’s “biological warfare schemes” after a live anthrax sample was sent to a U.S. base in South Korea. Live anthrax samples, which can be used as a biological weapon, were inadvertently sent to Australia, Canada, Britain, South Korea and laboratories in 19 U.S. states and Washington, D.C., the Pentagon
Strauss-Kahn acquitted in French vice trial
By Pierre Savary and Brian Love LILLE, France (Reuters) – Dominique Strauss-Kahn was acquitted of sex crime accusations by a French court on Friday, the final chapter in a transatlantic scandal that destroyed the political ambitions of a man once tipped to become his country’s president. A court in the northern city of Lille dismissed charges that the former International Monetary Fund chief’s sexual escapades with prostitutes amounted to “aggravated
U.S. and Russian navies hold talks on avoiding accidental clash
By Adrian Croft BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The U.S. and Russian navies met this week for the first time since the Ukraine crisis began to discuss how to avoid an accidental clash at sea or in the air, a U.S. naval commander said on Friday. Russia has stepped up its probing of NATO’s defenses since Moscow’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region last year caused the worst crisis in East-West relations since
Pentagon again asks China to end island building, seeks more military contact
By David Brunnstrom WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter met a top Chinese general on Thursday and repeated a U.S. call for a halt to land reclamation in the South China Sea, while stressing that the Pentagon remained committed to expanding military contacts with China. In the meeting with General Fan Changlong, a deputy head of China’s powerful Central Military Commission, Carter stressed his commitment to developing “a
Station chaos deepens Italy migrant crisis
Italy’s immigration crisis intensified Friday after a build-up of asylum-seekers at two major train stations resulted in clashes with police, an outcry from the right and fresh calls from Rome for EU help. Milan Central and Rome’s Tiburtina station were left looking like refugee camps at times this week as hundreds of migrants heading to northern Europe saw their progress delayed or halted by a temporary reintroduction of border controls
Pope may add Kenya leg to Africa trip in November
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis says he may add a stop in Kenya on his trip to the Central African Republic and Uganda in November.
Burundi's Khadja Nin joins anti-Nkurunziza ranks
Celebrated Burundian singer Khadja Nin added her voice on Friday to the chorus of critics of President Pierre Nkurunziza, whose bid for a third term in office has sparked protests and fears of a return to ethnic conflict in the east African nation. Speaking on the sidelines of an African Union (AU) summit in South Africa, Nin called for greater regional diplomatic pressure on Nkurunziza to step aside before protests