(Reuters) – The semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq is pressing the Obama administration for sophisticated weapons it says Kurdish fighters need to push back Islamist militants threatening their region, Kurdish and U.S. officials said. A Kurdish official said the
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Shi’ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and his security officials are to blame for the rise of Sunni insurgents who have seized parts of Iraq, the country’s Kurdish foreign minister said. Hoshiyar Zebari’s comments are likely to further
(AFP) Argentina said it does not expect to resolve the legal battle that forced it into default at a hearing Friday called by US District Judge Thomas Griesa in New York. In partial default since Wednesday, Argentina can, however, hope
(Reuters) – The U.S. government will begin testing on people an experimental Ebola vaccine as early as September, after seeing positive results from tests on primates, according to media reports on Thursday. The National Institutes of Health’s infectious disease unit
(Reuters) – Rights activists called on Thursday for the immediate release of a transgender women allegedly raped by her cellmate at an Arizona immigrant detention center, accusing authorities of refusing to provide for her safety. The activists say immigration and
LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Bank of Scotland said on Friday that a vote by Scotland to become independent from the rest of the United Kingdom could significantly increase its costs and have a material impact on its business. RBS, which
ALGIERS (Reuters) – A magnitude 5.5 earthquake hit southeast of the Algerian capital on Friday, shaking building and sending panicked families rushing in the streets in Algiers and nearby towns, witnesses and officials said. The United States Geological Survey said
TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Booms of outgoing artillery shaking the ground, militia fighters from the remote Libyan mountain town of Zintan hunker down in the passenger terminal to defend Tripoli airport, the biggest prize in the capital. Across the city a
DEBALTSEVE, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian authorities said Friday that at least 10 government troops were killed in an ambush by pro-Russian separatists in an area near the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, but international inspectors nonetheless set off for
Google told European officials that forgetting isn’t easy, especially when details are few and guidelines are murky regarding when personal privacy trumps public interest. The world’s leading Internet search engine said that as of July 18 it had received more
Baseball fans were still trying to sort out the dizzying deals for postseason aces Jon Lester and John Lackey, Home Run Derby champ Yoenis Cespedes and All-Star shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera when they were treated to a most curious sight Thursday.
(AF) Whimsical TV disaster movie “Sharknado 2” reeled in 3.9 million viewers, the Syfy specialty channel said Thursday, one day after the sequel’s broadcast. The followup to last year’s instant cult classic about a freak weather system that rains a
NEW YORK (AP) — Dick Smith, the Oscar-winning “Godfather of Makeup” who amused and fascinated moviegoers by devising unforgettable transformations of Marlon Brando in “The Godfather” and Linda Blair in “The Exorcist,” among others, has died. He was 92. Smith,
GENEVA (AP) — The U.N.’s top human rights official accused both Israel and Hamas militants of committing war crimes in the latest Gaza war, but reserved her harshest words for the Israeli government, which she said Thursday was deliberately defying
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The deadliest recorded Ebola outbreak surpassed 700 deaths across West Africa on Thursday as the World Health Organization announced dozens of new deaths reported in the last several days. In Sierra Leone, President Ernest Bai Koroma
(AFP) A fierce battle between Syrian Kurds and Islamic State jihadists has killed nearly 50 fighters from both sides as the Kurds seized several IS positions, a monitoring group said Thursday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported fighting
WASHINGTON (AP) — A sharply divided House approved a Republican plan Wednesday to launch a campaign-season lawsuit against President Barack Obama, accusing him of exceeding the bounds of his constitutional authority. Obama and other Democrats derided the effort as a
NATO is not prepared to deal with a military threat from Russia and must adjust to be able to respond to an “unconventional attack”, British lawmakers warned on Thursday. A report by the committee urged the 28-country alliance to put
The former personal assistant of Prince Philip has been charged with sexually abusing a girl while he was working for the royal family in the 1970s, prosecutors said. Benjamin Herman, 79, was the personal assistant or “equerry” to the 93-year-old
The scientist who helped discover the Ebola virus said the outbreak in west Africa was unlikely to trigger a major epidemic outside the region, adding he would happily sit next to an infected person on a train. But Professor Peter
Britain will on Thursday formally open an inquiry into the radioactive poisoning of Russian former spy Alexander Litvinenko in a case that threatens to increase tensions with Moscow amid the crisis in Ukraine. The government announced last week that it
CLEVELAND (AP) — Justin Masterson began the season as the Indians’ ace. He’ll end it with a different team in a different league. The Indians traded the disappointing Masterson on Wednesday to the St. Louis Cardinals, a deal that will
Penelope Cruz is worried her recent comments on the Israeli/Hamas conflict might be “misunderstood.” So the Oscar winner issued an updated statement, according to Deadline.com, further explaining why she thought the Israeli government was committing “genocide” against the Palestinians. The
NEW YORK (AP) — Production on a new season of “The Big Bang Theory” is being delayed because of a contract dispute with its top actors. The Warner Brothers Television studio, which makes television’s most popular comedy, said that Wednesday’s
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House condemned the shelling Wednesday of a U.N. school in the Gaza Strip that was sheltering Palestinians displaced by the fighting between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza. The U.S. didn’t assign responsibility for the
