US stocks drift mostly lower in listless trading
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are drifting mostly lower in midday trading as the market comes off its latest record high.
WORLD HEADLINES
US: NKorea 'many years' from developing submarine missile
WASHINGTON (AP) — A top U.S. military officer says North Korea is “many years” away from being able to launch ballistic missiles from a submarine.
Official: Zimbabwe not need gov't blessing to tour Pakistan
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Zimbabwe cricket players said they weren’t defying their government by coming to Pakistan, because they didn’t need permission.
Shi'ite forces move in on Iraqi city taken by Islamic State
A column of 3,000 Shi’ite militia fighters arrived at a military base near Ramadi on Monday as Baghdad moved to retake the western Iraqi city that has fallen to Islamic State militants in the biggest defeat for the government since mid-2014. Setting the stage for renewed fighting over the city, Islamic State militants advanced in armored vehicles from Ramadi towards the base where the Shi’ite paramilitaries were massing for a
Saudi-led air strikes hit Yemen after truce expires
By Mohammed Mukhashaf and Angus McDowall ADEN/RIYADH (Reuters) – Saudi-led forces resumed military operations in Yemen after a five-day ceasefire ended late on Sunday, and Yemen’s foreign minister blamed the Iranian-allied Houthis for failure to renew the truce. The end of the ceasefire came despite appeals by the United Nations and rights groups for extra time to allow the delivery of badly needed humanitarian supplies to the country of 25
Syrian insurgents battle army around military base in Idlib
Heavy clashes between Syria’s army and insurgents erupted around a military base south of Idlib city on Monday as part of a wider battle for control of the northwestern province, Syrian state television and a group monitoring the war said. Army units “inflicted great losses” on armed groups in battles to the north and around Mastouma, Syrian state television reported, citing a military source. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human
Iran uses maritime confrontations to project power in Gulf
By Parisa Hafezi ANKARA (Reuters) – Iran is using its sea power in the Gulf to show it will not be cowed by Washington’s newly assertive Arab allies, prompting critics to accuse Tehran of destabilizing the region. Iranian ships fired shots at a Singapore-flagged tanker which it said damaged an Iranian oil platform, causing the vessel to flee, and seized a container ship in the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s
Kerry says U.S. and China discuss further sanctions on North Korea
By David Brunnstrom and Ju-min Park SEOUL (Reuters) – The United States and China are discussing imposing further sanctions on North Korea, which is “not even close” to taking steps to rein in its nuclear weapons program, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday. Speaking in the South Korean capital, Kerry said Washington had offered the North the chance of an improved relationship in return for signs of
Assad, under pressure, may need his friends more than ever
By Laila Bassam and Tom Perry QALAMOUN MOUNTAINS, Syria/BEIRUT (Reuters) – When Lebanon’s Hezbollah first joined Syria’s war on the side of President Bashar al-Assad, its role was a closely guarded secret. Today, as Hezbollah plants its flag in land won from rebels north of Damascus, its role could hardly be more public. In the last week, the Iranian-backed guerrilla group has unleashed its powerful arsenal to drive insurgents from
Cuba's Elian Gonzalez, now grown up, hopes to return to US
Elian Gonzalez, who as a child was at the center of a bitter international custody battle between his Cuban father and his Miami relatives, now dreams of returning to the United States, he said in an interview broadcast Monday. Now 21, Gonzalez was just six years old when he was found floating off of Florida’s coast in November, 1999. Fifteen years later, asked where he would like to go if