BAGHDAD – A quiet middle-class Shiite neighborhood in western Baghdad was transformed recently into a mini-boot camp, training teenagers for battle against the Islamic State group. The Shiite boys and young men ran through its normally placid streets carrying out mock exercises for urban warfare since the toughest battles against …
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UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations humanitarian chief says the latest attempt at a humanitarian pause in Yemen “has not been respected by any party to the conflict.” Stephen O’Brien says a plan to reach 3 million people with aid is ready to go if only the fighting would stop. …
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MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin has praised a deal between Iran and world powers in a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Putin told Netanyahu in Thursday’s phone conversation that the agreement “provided reliable guarantees” that Iran’s nuclear program is exclusively peaceful, according to the Kremlin. The deal …
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BRUSSELS – The increase in the scale and number of military exercises being undertaken by NATO and Russia is making armed conflict in Europe more likely, a think tank warned Wednesday. Ian Kearns, director of the London-based European Leadership Network, told The Associated Press that the war games “are contributing …
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CANBERRA, Australia – Australia is considering joining airstrikes against Islamic State fighters in Syria. Prime Minister Tony Abbott told reporters on Thursday that while the United States has yet to make a formal request for airstrikes in Syria, “the matter has been raised.” Australian F/A-18 Super Hornet jet fighters have …
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HONG KONG – China’s unexpected move this week to lower the value of its tightly-leashed currency, the yuan, sent shockwaves through global financial markets. The impact on consumers around the world and China’s neighbors will take longer to play out but possible winners and losers are already emerging. ___ SHOP …
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JOHANNESBURG – A private medical emergency service said all five people on board an ambulance aircraft were killed when it crashed while transporting a patient from Namibia to South Africa. The emergency service, E-med Rescue 24, said in a statement that the plane crashed Sunday in the Tygerberg Nature Reserve …
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BUDAPEST, Hungary – The Hungarian government says the country is under an “organized human trafficking attack” and will send several thousand police officers to the southern border with Serbia in a new effort to stem the rising flow of migrants. Minister Janos Lazar said Tuesday that police companies of “border …
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MANILA, Philippines – Philippine military officials say hundreds of troops have launched an assault on a southern jungle camp belonging to Abu Sayyaf militants in a bid to rescue two kidnapped coast guard personnel and other hostages, sparking a two-hour clash in which up to 15 militants may have died. …
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MOMBASA, Kenya – A Kenyan court has released on bail a man suspected to be a high level operative in illegal ivory trafficking in the region, causing an uproar among wildlife conservationists who fear that he may flee or interfere with witnesses. Magistrate Davis Karani released the suspect, Feisal Mohammed …
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