The U.S. commando killed in a special operations raid on Thursday in Iraq against Islamic State was a 39-year-old soldier from Oklahoma, the Pentagon said on Friday. Master Sergeant Joshua L. Wheeler, of Roland, Okla., was killed during an overnight mission to rescue hostages held by Islamic State militants in northern Iraq, becoming the first American to die in ground combat with the group. Sixty-nine hostages were rescued in the
Police said on Friday they had recovered a pistol and were looking for suspects after gunfire erupted on the campus of Tennessee State University in Nashville, killing one man. The shooting, which occurred just before 11 p.m. local time on Thursday, stemmed from a dispute over a dice game in an outdoor courtyard that escalated into a physical fight, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department said. There have been several incidents
WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Paul Ryan on Thursday formally declared his candidacy for speaker of the House after getting unified support from across the Republican conference.
The two key figures in the drama are set to square off at Thursday’s Capitol Hill hearing.
A knife-wielding masked man stabbed four people Thursday at a school in southern Sweden, killing a teacher and a student before being shot dead by police, authorities said. One student thought the man had something to do with Halloween.
By Jonathan Allen and John Whitesides WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton kicked off high-stakes testimony to a Republican-led panel on Benghazi on Thursday with an admonition that U.S. diplomats must inherently work in unstable and dangerous parts of the world. In her opening statement in what was expected to be a contentious and highly partisan hearing, Clinton said the deadly 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya, when she
A Florida musician who was shot and killed by a plainclothes police officer after his car broke down on a highway exit ramp never fired the handgun he was carrying and was running away at one point, lawyers for the dead man’s family said on Thursday. Corey Jones, a 31-year-old black drummer, was waiting for a tow truck around 3 a.m. on Sunday when he was approached by Nouman Raja,
The new contract will be used as a basic pattern for contracts at U.S. automakers General Motors Co and Ford Motor Co . The UAW is expected to soon name the company with which it negotiates next. Last month, 65 percent of Fiat Chrysler UAW members rejected a previous proposed agreement, which led to a threat by the union to strike Fiat Chrysler’s U.S. operations.
The vice president is being praised by Democrats and Republicans for his decision to stay out of the presidential race.
The gunman who allegedly shot and killed a New York City police officer has been charged with murder, officials said. Tyrone Howard, 30, of East Harlem, who has prior gang-related offenses, was also charged with robbery in the shooting death of Officer Randolph Holder and stealing a bike in the process, officials said. Holder and other officers were responding to reports of gunshots in East Harlem, which police sources said
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats on the House committee investigating the deadly attacks in Benghazi, Libya, on Wednesday released a full transcript of testimony by a top aide to former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
By Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said on Wednesday he would not seek the Democratic nomination for president in 2016, ending months of suspense and removing a huge political obstacle for front-runner Hillary Clinton. “While I will not be a candidate, I will not be silent,” Biden told reporters in the White House Rose Garden with President Barack Obama and Biden’s wife Jill at his
By Luke Baker JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu provoked a Holocaust controversy on Wednesday, hours before a visit to Germany, by saying that the Muslim elder in Jerusalem during the 1940s convinced Adolf Hitler to exterminate the Jews. In a speech to the Zionist Congress late on Tuesday, Netanyahu referred to a series of Muslim attacks on Jews in Palestine during the 1920s that he said were
A US F-18 fighter jet crashed near a British air base on Wednesday, killing the pilot, police and the US Embassy in London said. The single-seater US Navy plane came down near the town of Ely, around 130 kilometres (80 miles) north of London, after taking off from RAF Lakenheath airforce base in Suffolk. “We can confirm that the aircraft was a military aircraft,” a police spokesman said.
It’s the Syrian leader’s first trip abroad since war broke out in his country in 2011.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Tuesday that the U.S. plans to step up its attacks against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, possibly escalating American action on the ground.
Delegates to a climate summit in December remain divided over fundamental issues including a framework for measuring carbon emissions, the envoy of the host nation said on Tuesday, though she believes a deal to cut global warming will be signed. Representatives from almost 200 countries will meet in Paris from Nov. 30 to Dec. 11, tasked with reaching an accord to keep temperatures below a ceiling of 2 degrees Celsius
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Prosecutors in north-central Mexico said Tuesday they have found the severed heads of four men in Styrofoam coolers along with gang messages directed at rivals.
By Krista Mahr and Jibran Ahmad KABUL/PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) – A major earthquake struck the remote Afghan northeast on Monday, killing more than 200 people in Afghanistan and nearby northern Pakistan, injuring hundreds and sending shock waves as far as New Delhi, officials said. The death toll could climb in coming days because communications were down in much of the rugged Hindu Kush mountain range where the quake was centered.
By Krista Mahr and Jibran Ahmad KABUL/PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) – A major earthquake struck the remote Afghan northeast on Monday, killing more than 200 people in Afghanistan and nearby northern Pakistan, injuring hundreds and sending shock waves as far as New Delhi, officials said. The death toll could climb in coming days because communications were down in much of the rugged Hindu Kush mountain range where the quake was centered.
LONDON/BEIRUT (Reuters) – An alliance of Free Syrian Army-related insurgent groups said on Monday it was skeptical about a Russian proposal to help rebels, and that Moscow must stop bombing rebels and civilians and withdraw its support for President Bashar al-Assad. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday the Russian air force, which has been bombing insurgents in Syria since Sept. 30, would be ready to help the “patriotic” Syrian
By Alastair Macdonald and Francesco Guarascio BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union plans to persuade refugees to wait in Greece for paid flights to other countries offering asylum rather than risk dangerous winter treks through the Balkans, EU officials said on Monday. Pledging to act fast on agreements by Balkan leaders on Sunday to slow and control the flow of Syrians and others making their way to Germany from Turkey,
By Paul Brian TOFINO, British Columbia (Reuters) – Five Britons were killed when a Canadian whale-watching boat sank on Sunday, the British foreign secretary said on Monday. The boat, carrying 27 passengers, sank off the coast of British Columbia on Sunday afternoon, sparking a rescue effort by the Coast Guard, fisherman and private mariners. “My thoughts are with the family and friends of all those affected by this terrible accident,”
By Margarita Antidze and Jack Stubbs GORI, Georgia/MOSCOW (Reuters) – In the courtyard of an apartment building in the town of Gori in ex-Soviet Georgia is a clue to whether Russia’s air strikes on targets in Syria are as accurate as the Kremlin would like the rest of the world to believe. Fashioned out of fragments of ordnance is a makeshift shrine to the five residents killed during the Russian-Georgian
By Ahmed Rasheed BAGHDAD (Reuters) – An Iraqi Trade Ministry media adviser killed last month by a bomb attached to his car had been about to hand over files accusing the ministry of corruption to the country’s Integrity Commission, officials in the ministry’s legal department told Reuters. Baghdad’s Central Investigative Court for Terrorism and Organised Crime said in a statement that four Trade Ministry security guards confessed to blowing up
GENEVA (AP) — With Michel Platini expected to be ruled out of the FIFA presidential election because of his suspension, UEFA made a surprising last-minute decision Monday to throw its support behind the Frenchman’s right-hand man.
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria’s former national security adviser pleaded not guilty to money laundering Monday in connection with $423,000 in U.S. dollars and Nigerian naira seized at his homes.
LONDON (AP) — Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Britain has complained of a lack of “mutual respect” between the two countries and warned of “potentially serious repercussions.”
VALENCIA, Spain (AP) — Vasek Pospisil advanced to the second round of the Valenica Open following a 6-4, 6-3 win over Santiago Giraldo on Monday.
By Robin Emmott and Jan Strupczewski BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union leaders will on Sunday consider sending hundreds of guards to its borders with the western Balkans, as well as deploying more ships off Greece, as the bloc seeks to balance Germany’s welcome for refugees with tougher security measures. Central and eastern European leaders meeting in Brussels may agree to send 400 border guards and set up new checkpoints if
By Robin Emmott and Jan Strupczewski BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union leaders will on Sunday consider sending hundreds of guards to its borders with the western Balkans, as well as deploying more ships off Greece, as the bloc seeks to balance Germany’s welcome for refugees with tougher security measures. Central and eastern European leaders meeting in Brussels may agree to send 400 border guards and set up new checkpoints if
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair acknowledged the 2003 invasion of Iraq played a part in the rise of the Islamic State militant group, and apologized for some mistakes in planning the war, in an interview broadcast on Sunday. Blair’s decision to send troops to back the U.S.-led invasion is still a live political issue in Britain, where a six-year public inquiry into the conflict is yet to publish its
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair acknowledged the 2003 invasion of Iraq played a part in the rise of the Islamic State militant group, and apologized for some mistakes in planning the war, in an interview broadcast on Sunday. Blair’s decision to send troops to back the U.S.-led invasion is still a live political issue in Britain, where a six-year public inquiry into the conflict is yet to publish its
The United States and Saudi Arabia agreed to increase support to Syria’s moderate opposition while seeking a political resolution of the four-year conflict, the U.S. State Department said after Secretary of State John Kerry met King Salman on Saturday. Kerry was in Riyadh for meetings with the Saudi monarch, crown prince, deputy crown prince and foreign minister – the last stop in a trip that also included Vienna, where he
By David Alire Garcia PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico (Reuters) – Hurricane Patricia, one of the strongest storms ever recorded, crashed into western Mexico with rain and winds of up to 165 mph (266 kph), hammering coastal areas but causing less damage than had been feared as it skirted cities and major tourist resorts. Mowing down trees, flooding streets and battering buildings, Patricia plowed into Mexico as a Category 5 hurricane on
