Clashes in Iraq's Anbar kill at least 17 government troops:
A police officer, an army officer and a Sunni tribal fighter said the deadliest clashes took place east of Daesh-held Ramadi, where six soldiers, four Sunni tribal fighters and two police officers were killed. Nine other troops were wounded, they said.
Iraq: At least 10 killed in blast at Shia neighborhoods in Baghdad:
Six civilians were killed when a car packed with explosives was detonated in the northeastern district of Sadr City. Twelve others were wounded in the crowded residential neighborhood, the sources said.
Assad Forces, Hezbollah Advance in Syria-Lebanon Border Region :
Syrian government forces backed by members of Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah group advanced Wednesday from different directions in the mountain resort of Zabadani near the border with Lebanon, state media reported.
IS jihadists seize key Syrian town: monitor; -
Islamic State jihadists seized control of a key town in the central Syrian province of Homs overnight after heavy clashes with forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, a monitor said on Thursday.
Syria: US fighter plan criticised by key rebel:
Capt Ammar al Wawi said the US and its allies failed to protect and support his men
US-trained Syrian rebels say they won't fight al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra:
Division 30 signals rejection of Washington's strategy, even as US vows to step up air support to defend the group from attacks by the radical Islamist faction
Turkey Says Comprehensive Battle Against ISIS to Be Launched Soon :
Turkey said on Wednesday a U.S.-led coalition will soon launch a "comprehensive battle" against Islamic State militants from Turkish air bases, but Syria said any military action not coordinated with Damascus would breach its sovereignty.
U.S. launches 1st Syria airstrike from Turkey:
It was carried out on Tuesday by a remotely piloted aircraft which took off from Incirlik Air Base near the Syrian border.
Syria says fight against Islamic State must include Damascus:
Syria supports any efforts to combat Islamic State if they are coordinated with Damascus but anything else would "be a breach of Syrian sovereignty", state television quoted the country's foreign minister as saying on Wednesday
Syria foreign minister in first visit to Gulf since conflict: Media:
Syrian media suggests a meeting with Iranian and Saudi officials may take place in Oman
Texas soldiers to be deployed to Kuwait to fight ISIS:
Hundreds of soldiers will ship out of Texas to help fight the Islamic State group next month. - "We are trained and ready to perform our mission and we thank our Central Texas community partners for their unwavering support as we answer the call once again," said Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland, commanding general of III Corps at Fort Hood.
16 killed as suicide attack targets security forces at Saudi mosque:
The Interior Ministry's statement said 10 of those killed in the attack on Thursday in the city of Abha in Asir province were members of the security forces.
Saudi Arabia Kills More Yemenis:
Saudi warplanes bombed the Hajjah province's Meissar area, and killed 8 people and injured several others, reports said late Wednesday.
Al-Qaida exploits Yemen chaos to seize 3 towns:
Yemen's al-Qaida branch has exploited the chaos in this embattled country to capture three towns near the southern port city of Aden, where pro-government forces have been advancing against Shiite rebels in recent weeks, officials said Thursday
Four Palestinians killed in Gaza war rocket explosion;
At least four Palestinians from the same family have been killed, and 43 people were injured, in the Gaza Strip after Israeli military ordnance left over from last summer's 50-day war exploded, a Palestinian health official has said.
Obama: Abandoning Iran nuclear deal could mean war:
He said the alternatives to military action "will have been exhausted once we reject a hard-won diplomatic solution that the world almost unanimously supports".
Iran's Rafsanjani: Terrorists Posing Threat of New World War:
"The threat of the outbreak of the third world war by the terrorists is serious," Rafsanjani said in a meeting with visiting Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni in Tehran on Wednesday.
New estimates put cost of US nuclear weapons upgrade at $963 billion:
President Barack Obama's plans to modernize the U.S. nuclear arsenal over the next 30 years could cost taxpayers nearly $1 trillion, according to a new study that suggests the project's long-term price tag will far outpace available Pentagon estimates.
US Military Doesn't Know Who It's Killing In Drone Attacks:
The United States continues to fire drone missiles at people whose identities it does not know.
Boko Haram abducts 135, kills 8 in Cameroon raid:
Boko Haram militants kidnapped 135 people and killed at least eight others in a raid in northern Cameroon, as the Islamists continued to strike beyond their strongholds in neighbouring Nigeria, police and local sources said Wednesday.
7 killed in attacks by Boko Haram in Nigeria: official:
The attackers stormed the remote Malari community on motorbikes, firing at everyone in sight and causing residents to flee for refuge before proceeding to other villages in the district late Monday, Ali Bukar Dalori, provincial chairman of the ruling party said.
Taliban truck bomber kills six people in Afghanistan;
Truck detonated at the gate of police compound in Logar province, in first attack since death of Mullah Omar confirmed.
Civilian casualties rise as Afghan war intensifies in 2015;
The war in Afghanistan claimed almost 5,000 civilian casualties in the first half of 2015, the United Nations said on Wednesday, a one percent increase on last year as fighting intensified following the withdrawal of most foreign troops in 2014.
Afghanistan: 4,000 Soldiers Desert Their Posts Monthly:
Gen. Campbell: General John F. Campbell, the Resolute Support Mission and the U.S. Forces commander in Afghanistan, said on Tuesday that at least 4,000 Afghan security force members are deserting their posts every month.
Our government has been lying about schools in Afghanistan for years:
We now know that our government has been consistently deceptive about the success of its educational projects in Afghanistan. The schools which our government actually did build were of low-quality construction and soon became dangerous for any children using them:
Attack on convoy kills Indian troops in Kashmir:
Two paramilitary soldiers dead and at least eight more wounded in ambush near garrison town of Udhampur, police say.
Kerry says U.S. will not accept restrictions in South China Sea: "Let me be clear:
The United States will not accept restrictions on freedom of navigation and overflight, or other lawful uses of the sea." China has repeatedly warned Philippine military aircraft away from the artificial islands in the Spratly archipelago of the South China Sea, Philippine military officials have said.
France to Reimburse Russia in Deal Over Undelivered Warships:
Under the deal, France will repay all advance payments made by Russia and in return will have full freedom to do whatever it wants with the vessels, which contain some Russian technology.
NASA signing $490M contract with Russia:
NASA informed lawmakers on Wednesday that because Congress has failed to fully fund its Commercial Crew Program for the last five years, it is signing a $490 million contract extension with Russia to send Americans to space.
Russia files UN claim over vast swathe of Arctic: -
Russia pressed a claim at the United Nations Tuesday for an additional 1.2 million square kilometres (463,000 square miles) of Arctic shelf, stepping up a race for the region's hydrocarbon and mineral wealth.
More than 200 feared dead in latest migrant sea tragedy: -
Hopes faded of finding survivors of the latest Mediterranean boat tragedy, in which an estimated 200 migrants drowned, on Thursday as rescue ships were called to the aid of more migrant boats in the same area.
Former UK Prime Minister Investigated for Child Sex Abuse:
Sir Edward Heath, the late Tory leader, is accused of various sex offenses including raping a 12-year-old boy.
'Hard to think' UK didn't know about US torture program - Ex-CIA exec :
"We already know that the UK played a central role in some of the worst abuses of the 'War on Terror' - notably, the kidnapping and rendition of a pregnant woman and young children to Gaddafi's Libya," said Kat Craig, Legal director of the charity Reprieve, in a blog on the group's website.
'Assange is my hero': Australian defense employee on trial for 'leaking confidential intel report' :
A junior Australian defense staffer is on trial after he allegedly downloaded and leaked a "highly sensitive" intelligence report to an online forum.
Chris Martenson-$40 Trillion Lost in Next Crash : Video -
This is the mother of all crashes because the crash of 2008 was actually a side show. . . . We are going to discover that, like all bubbles, you return from where you started. . . . That means $40 trillion will have to get wiped out in the U.S. market alone."
The Point of No Return: Climate Change Nightmares Are Already Here:
Historians may look to 2015 as the year when s**t really started hitting the fan. Some snapshots: In just the past few months, record-setting heat waves in Pakistan and India each killed more than 1,000 people.
Court Rules Warrantless Cell Phone Tracking Violates Fourth Amendment:
The decision is the strongest assertion of the Fourth Amendment rights of mobile phone users out of three appellate court decisions on the matter, setting up a likely Supreme Court hearing.
FBI: Middle Eastern Men Intimidating U.S. Military Families In Colorado & Wyoming:
The wife of a military member was approached in front of her home by two Middle Eastern males. The men stated that she was the wife of a U.S. interrogator. When she denied their claims the men laughed. The two men left the area in a dark-colored, four-door sedan with two other Middle Eastern males
How Jeb and the GOP Got Trumped:
Bush-described Trump as "a buffoon," "clown" and "asshole."
