TheRepublic.com - War and unrest News

Bomb threat made at courthouse near Fort Hood

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:44:14 -0400

BELTON, Texas - Someone threatened to bomb a county courthouse near Fort Hood unless officials met the "demands" of the Army psychiatrist charged in the 2009 shooting rampage on the Texas Army post, a sheriff said Wednesday.

Former TWA Flight 800 investigators want new probe

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:22:19 -0400

MINEOLA, New York - Former investigators are pushing to reopen the probe into the 1996 crash of TWA Flight 800, saying new evidence points to the often-discounted theory that a missile strike may have downed the jumbo jet.

Navy holds hearing in Va on deaths of divers in Md

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:59:28 -0400

NORFOLK, Virginia - The Navy identified the two sailors on Wednesday who could face formal criminal charges in the drowning deaths of two divers at Aberdeen Proving Ground near Baltimore.

US calls out China, Russia over human trafficking

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:49:53 -0400

WASHINGTON - The U.S. accused China and Russia of failing to meet minimum standards in fighting human trafficking, ranking them on a par with North Korea and Syria.

Best-selling author Vince Flynn dies at age 47

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:19:10 -0400

MINNEAPOLIS - Best-selling author Vince Flynn, who wrote the Mitch Rapp counterterrorism thriller series and sold more than 15 million books in the U.S. alone, died Wednesday in Minnesota after a more than two-year battle with prostate cancer, according to friends and his publisher. He was 47.

Russia could stand in way of Obama's nuke cuts

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 18:30:40 -0400

WASHINGTON - By saying he intends to bargain with Russia over new reductions in nuclear weapons, rather than make cuts on his own, President Barack Obama is asking for cooperation from a former Cold War foe in no mood to agree.

Mueller urges caution on NSA program changes

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 18:29:31 -0400

WASHINGTON - FBI Director Robert Mueller on Wednesday urged Congress to move carefully before making any changes that might restrict the National Security Agency programs for mass collection of people's phone records and information from the Internet.

US tries saving Taliban talks after Karzai objects

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 18:20:19 -0400

KABUL, Afghanistan - Hopes dimmed for talks aimed at ending the Afghan war when an angry President Hamid Karzai on Wednesday suspended security negotiations with the U.S. and scuttled a peace delegation to the Taliban, sending American officials scrambling to preserve the possibility of dialogue with the militants.

Militants storm UN compound in Somalia; 20 killed

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 17:32:05 -0400

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Seven al-Qaida-linked militants on a suicide mission attacked the U.N. compound Wednesday with a truck bomb and then poured inside, killing at least 13 people before dying in the assault.

Former TWA Flight 800 investigators want new probe

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:57:15 -0400

MINEOLA, New York - Former investigators are pushing to reopen the probe into the 1996 crash of TWA Flight 800 off the coast of New York, saying new evidence points to the often-discounted theory that a missile strike may have downed the jumbo jet.

Syria troops fight rebels near major Shiite shrine

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:44:29 -0400

BEIRUT - Hezbollah fighters joined Syrian forces in battling rebels in a Damascus suburb that is home to a revered Shiite Muslim shrine, in a push to secure the area around the ornate, golden domed mosque.

Obama urges 'bold' nuclear cuts in Berlin speech

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:24:07 -0400

BERLIN - Summoning the harsh history of this once-divided city, President Barack Obama on Wednesday cautioned the U.S. and Europe against "complacency" brought on by peace, pledging to cut America's deployed nuclear weapons by one-third if Cold War foe Russia does the same.

Syrian exiles get taste of home: Beloved ice cream

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:16:27 -0400

AMMAN, Jordan - For Syrians, no visit to Damascus' Old City is complete without a stop at a more than century-old ice cream parlor in its main souq where you can watch them make their distinctive desert by pounding it into shape with giant wooden mallets, then enjoy a bowl of it sprinkled with pistachios.

Militants kill 6 soldiers in northwest Pakistan

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:50:14 -0400

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - A senior police official says militants attacked a military convoy with rocket-propelled grenades and other heavy weapons in northwest Pakistan, killing six soldiers.

Unmanned aircraft struggle to shed 'drone' image

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:30:03 -0400

LE BOURGET, France - Unmanned aircraft have helped rescue stranded hikers, worked to contain wildfires and gathered data at nuclear accidents. One helped a Russian tanker find its way through Arctic ice to bring oil to a stranded Alaskan community.

Egypt top cleric: Protests against Morsi permitted

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:14:04 -0400

CAIRO - Egypt's top Muslim cleric declared Wednesday that peaceful protests against the president are permitted, in a snub to hard-line Islamist backers of Mohammed Morsi who declared that those behind opposition protests planned for June 30 are heretics.

World powers to meet on Syrian rebel demands

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:35:12 -0400

PARIS - World powers will meet this weekend in Qatar to decide on how to answer a list of requests for help from Syrian rebels, a French diplomat said Wednesday.

Bombings kill 7 people in Iraq

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:34:49 -0400

BAGHDAD - Bomb attacks in Iraq have killed seven people, including a local political leader and four of his relatives, authorities said Wednesday.

Judge: Terror case evidence may be 'classified'

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:55:34 -0400

BOISE, Idaho - An Idaho federal judge has appointed a security specialist in the case of an Uzbek national accused of terrorism-related crimes in Idaho and Utah to prevent unauthorized disclosure of classified information.

Palestinians toughen line on Israel talks

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:52:30 -0400

RAMALLAH, West Bank - The Palestinian president and his Fatah movement on Wednesday signaled a tough line on talks with Israel, casting new doubt on U.S. efforts to revive long-stalled negotiations.

Correction: Reenacting Shiloh story

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:51:44 -0400

MINTURN, Colorado - A member exchange story by the Vail Daily distributed May 29 by The Associated Press reported erroneously that Tom Adorney helped Darrell Osburn start the group that organizes the reenactments, YouCanLiveHistory. Beverly Nigh was the 5th grade teacher who came up with the idea in 1991 and encouraged Osburn to create the re-enactments.

Military: Thurayas banned in northeast Nigeria

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:08:18 -0400

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria - Soldiers fighting to halt an insurgency by Islamic militants are banning the use of Thuraya satellite telephones by civilians in Nigeria's northeastern Borno state, throttling communications already made difficult by cut cell phone service.

Myanmar court convicts 2 Muslims over violence

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:53:07 -0400

YANGON, Myanmar - A court in Myanmar has found two Muslim women guilty of sparking a recent outbreak of sectarian violence, one of them by bumping into a Buddhist novice monk.

Correction: Jordan-Syria-War Games story

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:33:43 -0400

ZARQA, Jordan - In a June 18 story about U.S.-led war games in Jordan, The Associated Press reported erroneously the organization that employs Tawfiq Hennawi. He works for the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization, not the International Committee of the Red Cross.

UAE charges 30 suspects with plotting coup

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 10:53:20 -0400

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates - The United Arab Emirates broadened its crackdown on perceived threats and risked deepening its rift with Egypt on Wednesday with plans to bring 30 Egyptian and UAE suspects to trial for alleged coup plotting linked to Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood.